"Jiang! It's your turn to play!"
"Just pass the ball to Kobe!"
"Pass the ball to Kobe! Are you daydreaming?"
"Temp, if you can't play, get out!"
"Idiot, I told you to follow Ray Allen. Are your feet made of lead?"
"Asian guy, you can't make the shot. Give me the ball!"
"Beep! The Los Angeles Lakers request a timeout!"
...
When Jiang Lin woke up, he heard deafening roars around him.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to open them in the bright light.
Whoa!
All he saw were countless spectators, and he was wearing a purple and gold jersey, standing on the shiny wooden floor. This is the Lakers' home jersey!
Am I in... Staples Center???
No wonder it's so luxurious and packed with spectators. This is the world-class arena that has witnessed countless basketball honors!
Who is that guy in a suit with a mustache? Why is he yelling at me?
And that number 24 player with the back of his head exposed, is that... Kobe???
At this moment, a string of electronic sounds buzzed in Jiang Lin's head.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, host, on successfully time traveling and acquiring the Street Basketball Superstar System."
"Basketball comes from the street and will return to the street!"
"The host will acquire the exclusive abilities of various superstars by achieving accomplishments on the foundation of being a street basketball superstar!"
"The host will start from street basketball and reach the pinnacle of world basketball, becoming the true King of Street Basketball."
Jiang Lin retorted, "Stop with the pretentious talk. Get to the point."
The system continued:
"After achieving accomplishments, the host can acquire the abilities of various superstars, with ability ratios assigned randomly."
"Based on detection, the host's height is 196 cm, weight is 89 kg, and age is 20."
"Based on the host's previous playing style, the initial superstar template is selected: PG (Point Guard)."
"Street Basketball Superstar System big gift package is being distributed..."
"Ding! The host has acquired Allen Iverson's 99% speed change technique!"
"Ding! The host has acquired the streetball Professor's 99% dribbling skills!"
"Ding! The host has acquired the streetball Alston's (The Skip-to-My-Lou) 99% dribbling skills!"
"Ding! The host has acquired the streetball Sam Gold's 99% dribbling rhythm technique!"
"Ding! The host has acquired the streetball Hot Sauce's 99% dribbling speed technique!"
"Ding! The host has acquired the streetball Crawford's (Crawford 6) 99% isolation skills!"
"Gift package distribution completed. Basketball comes from the street..."
"Current strength rating of the host: NBA star, Street Basketball Hall of Fame level (top tier)."
"Next target: NBA superstar. Please continue to work hard."
"Host Jiang Lin: NBA career officially starts now."
...
"Hey, kid, get on the court!"
"We haven't subbed you out yet, get up there!"
"Bang!"
"Beep beep!"
Before Jiang Lin could savor the moment in the system, the noise in reality woke him up.
With his head buzzing, he fully realized where he was.
He was now an NBA player!
And he had just been on the court playing. It was the guy with the mustache who called for the timeout.
He finally recognized the guy with the mustache. Isn't that Mike D'Antoni, the head coach who later had a successful tenure with the Rockets after being fired by the Lakers?
Seeing the familiar faces, his memories started to come back: Metta World Peace (Ron Artest), Pau Gasol, Kobe...
This was the Lakers during the F4 era!
I time-traveled to the 2012-2013 season!
No wonder Dwight Howard looks so young. He probably didn't expect that seven years later, he would be playing as a backup center on a $2.5 million salary here.
Today's game is the Lakers' 16th game of the season. Under the operation of legendary general manager Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers built a super F4 lineup of Nash, Kobe, Gasol, and Howard to compete against the Heat's Big Three in the East.
With a salary exceeding $100 million, and a luxury tax of $30 million at the end of the season, this lineup is definitely the strongest on paper.
But unexpectedly, Nash got injured at the beginning of the season, and after losing four games in a row, Mike Brown was fired, and D'Antoni took over as head coach, slowly pulling the record back.
Jiang Lin touched his nose. At that time, the Lakers had emptied their resources to build this lineup, leading to six years of futility afterward, which is quite a sigh.
And today's opponent is the Heat led by LeBron James, the future new leader of the Lakers!
The Lakers built this lineup just to compete with the defending champion Heat, so today's game is packed, with the 23 vs. 24 matchup and the Big Three battle... there are too many key points.
Nash is out due to injury, and the Lakers are short on point guards. They signed Chinese player Jiang Lin to a 10-day contract...
With so much information flooding in, Jiang Lin's head was about to explode.
He was just an ordinary PE teacher. Yesterday, he was partying with friends at a nightclub and met a girl who looked like Gulnazar, so he stayed a bit longer.
And now he's here?
Are you kidding me?
Jiang Lin was indeed a basketball coach in his previous life, and he was also a dominant player in the local city's streetball (1V1 city challenge hosted by Hupu). But precisely because of that, he knew he couldn't play in the NBA!
But...
It's a different story with the system.
Having just arrived, this Street Basketball Superstar System gave him a luxurious gift package, and his height and weight are now perfect compared to his previous life. Isn't that wonderful?
After feeling his heartbeat again to confirm it wasn't a dream, he thought, "Alright."
Although he really wanted to go back to school to teach and dominate his students, since he couldn't go back, he might as well go crazy here!
"Jiang, this is your last chance. Your task is to dribble past half-court and then pass to Kobe. Don't make any mistakes, OK?"