Chapter 91

"John, Karl, don't you find it tiring to work out so intensely every day? Even during the team's break, you still stay in the gym. I, an outsider, am already feeling nauseous just watching you."

After making up his mind to train hard, Lin Han had been following the two leaders of his team. After the back-to-back victories against the Pistons on November 30, the team took a day off due to the back-to-back games.

Originally, on this day off, Lin Han's two teammates, Brian Russell and Aaron Williams, had invited him to play fighting games. However, because of the summons from Malone and Stockton, Lin Han refused his teammates. What Lin Han did not expect was that these two team leaders had called him to join them at the gym.

These two fitness enthusiasts clearly wanted Lin Han to join them, but Lin Han directly refused. During his training in the space, the historical NBA trainers Lin Han had hired did not recommend him to do too much strength training or other high-intensity fitness training, as it would not benefit his speed and explosiveness. As an Asian, Lin Han did not have as many options as Stockton and Malone. Moreover, his current physical attributes had been adjusted to the optimal state by the trainers in the system space. If he increased his strength now, his speed and explosiveness, or even other attributes like agility, would decrease. This was a frustrating aspect for Asians, as their physical potential was limited compared to that of African Americans or Caucasians, who had ample potential for improvement in various aspects.

Therefore, when Malone and Stockton saw Lin Han refuse, they did not insist much, as Lin Han's current playing style did not heavily rely on physical attributes. Since Lin Han was unwilling, they were not too concerned.

"If it weren't for our excellent strength training, both Karl and I would have probably retired from the NBA long ago. Now, we are used to it and can't change. Lin, this is a great era for you to enter the NBA. Seize this opportunity."

After Stockton finished speaking, Lin Han was speechless. "What a great era? What kind of era would be considered bad?" Lin Han thought to himself, feeling a bit sarcastic.

Of course, since Lin Han did not want to join Malone and Stockton for fitness training during the break, these two team leaders were not as crazy as usual. Instead, they ended their training early and took Lin Han to Stockton's house. Lin Han met a few adorable little boys in Stockton's family. It was clear that since Lin Han's rise in the Jazz, both Stockton and Malone had been intentionally closing the gap between Lin Han and themselves. This was the first time they had invited Lin Han to their home.

However, what surprised Lin Han was that after Malone arrived at Stockton's house, he kept looking at Stockton's children with a strange expression. According to a joke told by Jeff Malone in the past, Malone had once asked Stockton for the secret to having boys. Stockton's answer was interesting. Looking at the pleading face of Karl Malone, Stockton said that if Malone stayed at his house for a while, Malone's wife would definitely have a son. Now, Lin Han thought this was probably not a joke. Seeing the envy and jealousy in Malone's eyes, Lin Han even wondered if these kids were his illegitimate children.

After the Jazz's game against the Pistons, the team finished all their games in November. In November, the Jazz achieved a terrifying 13-0 record, second only to the Rockets' 14-0. In fact, both the Rockets and the Jazz had a 100% win rate. In this situation, even the usually serious head coach Jerry Sloan had a smile on his face recently.

Because now, the entire nation's media was considering him a strong candidate for the Coach of the Year. If he really won the Coach of the Year this year and, by chance, led the team to a championship in the highly competitive league, he would rise to prominence, leaving his contemporary, George Karl, far behind. However, what slightly annoyed Jerry Sloan was that George Karl's Supersonics were also performing well this year, making him a strong rival for both the Coach of the Year and the championship. In Jerry Sloan's mind, this guy was really persistent.

However, one thing that made Jerry Sloan very proud was that his team, with a unique rookie like Lin Han, had a level of exposure that George Karl could not match. Thinking about how even with Stockton and Malone, the Jazz's exposure was not very high, but now just with Lin Han, the difference was significant. This made Sloan sigh, as the NBA, after all, was a world that valued appearance.

"Jerry, our team has another Player of the Month."

Just as Jerry Sloan was thinking about these things and feeling a bit excited in his office, the team's general manager, Rayden, walked in with a smile, interrupting his thoughts.

"Another Player of the Month? Could it be Lin?!"

When Jerry Sloan heard Rayden's words, he was first stunned, then overjoyed. If the NBA's Weekly Best Player was already hard to obtain, even for NBA superstars, then the Monthly Best Player was even more difficult. Even the Jazz's core players, Stockton and Malone, had only achieved it once and three times, respectively. Stockton's last one was six years ago, and Malone's was three years ago. Now, Rayden said the Jazz had another one, which clearly meant Lin Han.

"Really didn't expect him to win the Monthly Best Player in his first year. It's incredible."

After the initial excitement, Jerry Sloan sighed. Even Michael Jordan probably didn't achieve this as quickly. However, this was not entirely unexpected, given the Jazz's shocking record and the rookie's strong performance, despite some flaws.

"This is not entirely unexpected. Lin's average points in November were 34.46, ranking first in the league, with a shooting percentage of 49.7%, which is also quite efficient."

After Jerry Sloan sighed, Rayden nodded and smiled, adding that Lin Han's scoring data was indeed impressive. Of course, averaging 27.4 attempts and 13.6 successful shots per game was a bit high, but in this Jazz team, a high number of attempts was not a big issue.

Of course, at this moment in the Jazz's head coach's office, even though the team had a break on December 1, the head coach and the general manager were discussing issues related to Lin Han. When Lin Han returned home from Stockton's house, he immediately received a notification from the system and Aili.

"Bronze Milestone: Monthly Best Player, Bronze Milestone: Monthly Best Rookie?"

When Lin Han realized what had happened, his heart immediately burned with excitement because he knew that his strength finally had another chance to improve, which made the recently struggling Lin Han almost tremble with excitement.

"Hey, Aili, wasn't the Monthly Best Rookie a Bronze Milestone? Why is it now a Silver Milestone?"

When Lin Han excitedly entered the system space and saw his rewards, he was a bit confused. Lin Han had previously received four system rewards: breaking Rick Barry's youngest 50+ points record, tying the Ice Man's highest points in a quarter, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's rookie scoring record, and breaking his own rookie scoring record. The rewards given at that time were for breaking single-game records, which were single-game rewards, not milestone rewards. Breaking his own record gave him a chance to draw a card, while breaking other records gave him attribute points, happiness, and a designated training card.

However, even though the single-game rewards obtained through bursts of luck were all gold or higher, the milestone rewards, even at the Bronze and Silver levels, were not bad.

Sure enough, Aili quickly provided an answer.

"Because you are the first player in history to win the Monthly Best Rookie award, which was created because of you, the reward level has been upgraded. The milestone reward is that you have a chance to obtain a skill from a designated player. For example, a Bronze Milestone gives you a 10% chance to obtain a Bronze-level skill from a designated Bronze-level legendary player, an 80% chance to obtain a Silver-level skill, and a 10% chance to obtain a Gold-level or higher skill. If the player does not have a Gold-level or higher skill, the probability will be added to the Silver level. Similarly, a Silver Milestone gives you a 10% chance to obtain a Silver-level skill from a designated Silver-level legendary player, an 80% chance to obtain a Gold-level skill, and a 10% chance to obtain a Purple Gold-level or higher skill. If the player does not have a Purple Gold-level or higher skill, the probability will be added to the Gold level."

After Aili finished speaking, Lin Han was once again overjoyed. What did it mean to have a chance to obtain a skill from a designated player? It meant that using the Silver Milestone reward, Lin Han had a high chance, 90%, of obtaining another Gold-level skill!

"Aili, can you list the Silver-level legendary players for me to see?"

However, what frustrated Lin Han was that when Aili listed the names of the Silver-level legendary players, he was completely stunned because most of them were unfamiliar to him.

Chris Wilkins? Who is this? What, he only entered the NBA in 2040?

Russell Westbrook, who is this? He entered the NBA in 2008.

Carmelo Anthony, this name sounds familiar.

Tracy McGrady, finally, someone I know.

......

Dominique Wilkins, finally, a familiar face.

......

Chauncey Billups, who is this?

Joe Dumars, this one I know.

Ben Wallace, who is this?

Manu Ginobili, still don't know.

......

After reading through these names, Lin Han was at a loss as to how to choose.