Chapter 54

"Hey? Damn, what about the shot? If you can't score, you play assists, trying to show off your versatility?"

Once again, Lin Han was left behind by Hardaway's sudden burst of speed. However, this time, Lin Han did not fall; he kept following behind. Hardaway's offensive space was also limited, with a pursuer behind and a defender in front.

What left Lin Han speechless was that this time, Hardaway did not force an attack in the upcoming double-team situation. Instead, when Spencer, the Jazz's interior player, took a step out from the paint, Hardaway smoothly passed the ball with his left hand. The ball flew to the rim, where Shaquille O'Neal was waiting to dunk it with an alley-oop.

Defending a mismatched O'Neal who was already in motion was extremely difficult, especially considering the height and weight disadvantage.

"Are you conceding? Next time, I won't pass like you did?"

Although he was still completely outplayed on defense, what did it matter? Hardaway had actually backed down on the scoring front, which was a victory for Lin Han. In Lin Han's mind, he didn't care if Hardaway's assists were boosting his teammates' morale. The focus of today's game was the one-on-one battle between them.

"Don't measure me by your basketball standards, idiot."

Faced with Lin Han's taunt, Hardaway's expression turned sour. This usually reserved young man rarely lost his temper, but when it came to Lin Han, he couldn't stay calm.

He had indeed backed down on the personal scoring front, or rather, he hadn't expected Lin Han to be so strong in one-on-one situations, even stronger than himself. He had used every weapon in his arsenal, but none of them could keep up with Lin Han's scoring. Lin Han, on the other hand, had only one offensive weapon, but it was almost invincible. If this was the case, Lin Han was indeed very much like Jordan. Jordan could use his signature fadeaway jump shot to score from the start to the end of the game, and no matter how many other players tried, none could match him. The gap in scoring skills was too large.

In the end, Hardaway realized he had fallen for Lin Han's trap. He was never a player who excelled in extreme scoring. Although he could score, his scoring burst was never his strong point.

So, by the end of the first quarter, he felt like he had been dragged down from his position as a team player into another toxic player, and then Lin Han, the professional toxic player, used his rich experience to defeat him, the amateur toxic player.

If Hardaway still continued to play high-scoring games with Lin Han, he would be as foolish as Lin Han. A fool drags a smart person down to his level and then beats him with his rich experience.

"Hmph, no matter how you argue, I'm going to win this game. You want to control the game your way, let's see if your way can lead the team to victory."

To Lin Han, Hardaway was just being stubborn. With such a high shooting percentage, why pass to teammates? As long as he could score, everything else could be ignored.

If Hakeem Olajuwon could hear Lin Han's thoughts at this moment, he would laugh out loud. Young Olajuwon was just like this, and all toxic players were the same. If his shooting percentage was higher than his teammates', why pass?

The pace of the game was extremely fast, and the score in the first quarter was shockingly high. Although the current NBA had a fast pace, with many teams averaging over 105 points per game, it was still shocking when the score after the first quarter was 46-42.

"The score is really too high. Lin Han and Hardaway's shooting percentages in the first quarter were incredibly high. It's unlikely the next three quarters will have such high scores. Perry is clearly struggling to score."

"15 shots, 10 made, 23 points in a single quarter. Anyone would feel exhausted, both physically and mentally, except for that Chinese kid."

"I notice the Jazz kid seems completely indifferent to his teammates' gazes. Even though they seem to support him, does he really think it's justified? The Jazz will eventually have internal conflicts."

Lin Han was a player that these journalists couldn't really like. The NBA's values were never just about scoring. Before Jordan won his first championship and Phil Jackson came to the Bulls, Jordan's scoring was high, averaging 37 points per game in one season and 35 in another. The result was that Jordan won fans with his beautiful offense but nothing else. The entire media mocked his toxic play style, saying he couldn't assist or lead the team forward.

In the following season, an angry Jordan averaged 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. With 8 assists per game, he couldn't be called toxic anymore, right? But the media didn't care about Jordan's assists because his deliberate play style led to the Bulls' record being worse than the previous season. The media wouldn't let him off, especially since Jordan won his first MVP in the season he averaged 35 points. At that time, Jordan didn't want to be called toxic, and the pressure of the MVP was immense. His deliberate play style led to a less efficient season with 8 assists per game, and he set a career-high in turnovers.

It wasn't until the 1991 NBA Finals, where Jordan and Magic Johnson competed in assists and near triple-doubles, and Jordan easily defeated Magic and the Lakers, that he truly earned everyone's respect. No one called him toxic anymore. Even a player like Jordan had to bow to the media's experts. What about a small fry like Lin Han?

NBA experts didn't like players who only scored. Such players had very low status in the media. Unless they could be like Jordan, who, after winning his first MVP, set career-highs in assists in the next two seasons, a compromise to the trend. After winning the championship and gaining respect, Jordan immediately stopped playing assists, and no one called him toxic anymore. Jordan was the most successful toxic player in NBA history to transform.

Lin Han hadn't thought about all this. For him, he didn't need to transform like Jordan. He hadn't reached that level, and he didn't care much about what the media experts thought. After all, he had already weathered the storm of nationwide ridicule last summer. Did he need to care about this now?

So, when Lin Han came off the bench after the first quarter, he was stunned by his own stats. Although he didn't score 33 points, his performance was still outstanding. He took 19 shots, made 13, and scored 28 points, just 5 points short of tying his own record of 33 points in a quarter.

It was clear that Lin Han's improved Kobe Bryant's fadeaway jump shot had significantly enhanced his skills compared to his first career game.

However, when Lin Han came off the bench, his Jazz teammates, except for Aaron Williams, who gave him a thumbs-up, mostly ignored him or were indifferent.

"Hmph, the whole team only had 29 shot attempts in the first quarter, and he took 19 of them. Is the whole team going to watch him shoot?"

Humphries, sitting on the bench, spoke softly, but all the players around him heard. This time, neither Malone nor Stockton said anything. They were also somewhat dissatisfied with Lin Han.

In the NBA, besides competing for the championship, everyone was just trying to make a living. If Lin Han continued like this, the Jazz's other players' stats would suffer, making it hard for them to sign big contracts.

Although Stockton and Malone were supporting Lin Han unconditionally in this game, his selfishness was too obvious. Look at Hardaway on the other side; he was more mature and had returned to a normal playing style after understanding the situation.

However, Lin Han's shooting percentage was so high that others could only complain, which was a form of dissatisfaction.

"Alright, stop talking. It's time to get back on the court."

Although Jerry Sloan really appreciated Lin Han, he couldn't explain anything to him at this moment.

"Hmph, we'll see what you do when you don't have this luck anymore."

Humphries threw a harsh comment and left the bench to head to the court.

"Alright, Lin, don't worry about it. As long as the team wins, being wrong is right."

"Also, you probably won't have as many one-on-one opportunities in future games. Enjoy the last bit of good times."

Finally, after a moment of silence, Stockton and Malone looked at each other and smiled, patting Lin Han on the shoulder.