Three: Hill, It Shouldn't Be Like This

As a basketball fan, who hasn't imagined that one day he will be able to fly in the professional arena? Who has never imagined that they can fight side by side with the familiar superstars and win championships one after another, gaining money and fame.

It is precisely because fans have this fantasy that the career mode of the NBA2K series of basketball games is so popular. Because in the game, every basketball lover can fulfill his dream once. Since the emergence of career mode in NBA 2K10, this player-oriented mode has become the mainstay of the series.

But outside of games and fantasies, there are very few fans who can make this dream come true. After all, professional basketball is not as simple as in the game.

But now, Link has a chance to realize his dream.

He suddenly has the physical condition of a professional player, and also has the starting foundation to break into the NBA. But whether he can fulfill his dream or not depends on whether he can unleash the full power of this body.

After resting for a while after dinner at the Upshaw's house, the two came to the dilapidated basketball court next to the house as scheduled.

The backboard of this court is wooden, and the original white backboard has been stained everywhere. The net is formed by a string of iron chains, because a real net is easily damaged by friction.

There were several cracks in the cement floor of the course, and the barbed wire surrounding the course was full of holes. Although this course is very simple, it is the only place nearby where two people can play quietly.

Link held the basketball nervously. Although he has a height of 2.03 meters and a weight of 200 jins, he is still worried about his basketball level that he can't even get into the college team.

Although there are indeed many monsters in the NBA that do not rely on technology to dominate the league, such as O'Neal and Antetokounmpo who will be born in the future. But those people are only technically rough in the NBA. In front of ordinary people, their skills are beyond the reach of most people.

Let's just say O'Neal, the guy plays fancy dribbling and looks like a nimble guard.

Therefore, it is obvious that the body alone cannot stand in the NBA. What's more, Link's body can only be regarded as an average level in the entire NBA.

"Why don't you shoot the ball first and find your touch?" Seeing Link standing in a daze holding the basketball, Upshaw pointed to the basket.

"Oh... oh..." Link nodded. His favorite way to score in school was shooting, and he thought that shooting was very accurate.

But in fact, this is because his only scoring method is shooting, and Link, who can break through, is completely incapable, so he naturally mistakenly thinks that shooting is what he is best at. Actually, Link's previous shooting wasn't that great either.

Just as Link raised the basketball and was about to throw it, a line of text suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

"Ah!" Link screamed in fright, and the basketball fell to the ground.

"What's the matter, man? What's wrong?" Upshaw stepped forward to check with concern, he thought it was Link's sequelae. After all, falling to the back of the head and directly fainting is a very serious problem. Even though the doctor had said there was nothing serious, Upshaw was still worried.

"It's nothing, I just... uh, you can play first, Zeke, I'll warm up later." Link waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

After confirming that only he could see the line of text, Link stepped aside and pretended to press his leg, but he actually studied the content of the word in front of him.

This text is very simple, just one sentence: "Grant Hill's ability has been injected into the 2010-11 season."

After Link read this sentence in his mind, a progress bar appeared in front of him, but the progress bar was empty.

There is also a small line on the strip: "Grant Hill's ability in the 09-10 season."

"Grant Hill!?" Link was shocked. Grant Hill was Link's favorite basketball star! He still remembered that he was watching Hill's game video on the night of the thunder before he crossed over, and then he was electrocuted. Maybe there is a relationship between the two!

Different from the idols of most fans of the same age, Link has always had no great feelings for McGrady, Iverson, Kobe and others. He only likes Grant Hill, who was once known as "Jordan's successor".

Before crossing over, Link knew that Grant Hill had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. There were a lot of people who questioned Hill's induction into the Hall of Fame at the time. After all, Hill doesn't have any hard honors. In reality, however, those skeptics simply don't know enough about Hill's resume.

In the summer of 1993, Jordan announced his retirement for the first time.

The NBA league has fallen into a panic in the face of the plummeting ratings. Officials began to search non-stop for Jordan's successor to save the decline.

As a result, the great title of "Jordan Successor" was once crowned on two players, one was Anfernee Hardaway nicknamed "Penny". The other is Grant Hill.

Grant Hill was very famous during his college days. In the 1990s, Hill led Duke University to two consecutive NCAA championships. His versatile style of play, dashing and elegant style of play, coupled with his unmistakable character, made Hill quickly become an all-American icon. Before landing in the NBA, his fame was already comparable to that of some stars.

Rumor has it that Hill once led a collegiate team to a scrimmage victory over the "Dream Team" who were preparing for the Barcelona Olympics at the time. That's right, the dream team that includes Jordan, Pippen, "Magic", Bird and others!

Although there is no video evidence to support it, the authenticity of this incident has been controversial. But at the time such rumors could spread, it was enough to prove how popular Hill was.

In 1994, the high-profile Grant Hill finally entered the draft. He was selected by the Pistons with the third overall pick and started his career in the Motor City. Hill really lived up to expectations. In his rookie season, he could score 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.8 steals, and was elected as the 1994-95 Rookie of the Year.

It is worth mentioning that Grant Hill became the All-Star vote king with super popularity in his rookie season. People are full of infinite expectations for Hill. In that era without Jordan, Grant Hill seemed to be the last straw to save the league.

In the second year, even if the real Jordan came back, it still did not shake Hill's status as the All-Star vote king.

Of course, Hill's strength is also worthy of his high popularity. In his peak season, Hill averaged 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. His first step was unparalleled, his change of direction was comparable to that of a guard, and his fly dunks were always impressive. People are pleasing to the eye.

The reputation of "Jordan's successor" seems to be fitting for Hill. He is only one O'Brien Cup away from the real Jordan.

But then things took a turn for the worse. When Hill learned to read the game and was entering his prime, the story of "Jordan's successor" came to an abrupt end because of injuries.

Three years after leaving the Pistons, Hill played a healthy 47 games in all three years. Although he became healthy after that, Hill was no longer in the state he was in the past. Later in his career, Hill was limited to a role player and never got his hands on a championship.

By age 40, Grant Hill's career was over. 7 All-Star starts, 0 championships, and even being inducted into the Hall of Fame has been questioned.

Grant Hill, it shouldn't be.

However, despite all the hardships, Grant Hill still insisted on retiring at the age of 40 and became a well-respected veteran. And this is actually the main reason why Link likes Hill.

What he likes is not only the graceful almightiness of Hill at his peak, but also his never-give-up spirit! Because Link, who was a poor diaosi graduate at the time, knew that he also needed such a spirit to motivate himself.

But now, he was accidentally involved with Grant Hill.

2010-11 season Grant Hill's ability has been injected, what does this mean? Could it be that he now possesses the abilities of Elder Hill?

"Hey, Link, why are you in a daze!? The warm-up is almost done, let's try some shots."

Upshaw's shouting pulled Link out of his thoughts, and the progress bar and small print in front of him disappeared.

Link nodded, then thought back to Hill from the 10-11 season.

Although Grant Hill had no athletic ability at this time, he was only a role player in the Suns. But his contribution of 13.2 points per game is not something that any NBDL player can get!

During this period, Hill's strengths were mainly three-point shooting and experience. His shooting is very solid, if he is really injected with the ability of the old Hill, then the open 3 should be very accurate.

"Pass the ball to me." So Link stood outside the three-point line and waved to Upshaw.

Upshaw looked stunned, because Link would never shoot three-pointers before. But he didn't think much about it. It was a warm-up shot anyway, and it didn't matter where he shot.

Link received the ball and immediately felt more comfortable in his control of the basketball. In other words, Link felt better on the ball.

Taking off, pressing his wrist, dialing his fingers, and making a shot, Link did it very smoothly. Link has never had this wonderful shooting feeling before!

The basketball crossed a perfect arc in the air, fell into the net, and made a "zola" sound between the chains. Link looked at his hands, could it be that this is his own time-travel welfare! ?

"Yo, not bad, another one!" Upshaw smiled, thinking that this kid has a really good shit luck today.

So Upshaw picked up the basketball and passed another one to Link. This time, Link switched to the right three-point shot. Shooting feels as comfortable as ever, and the basketball hits again.

After that, Upshaw passed 10 consecutive passes to Link, resulting in 10 three-pointers! It wasn't until the 11th, when the basketball went two laps around the rim that it fell down due to bad luck.

NBA-level players can shoot at a high rate in practice, and making 10 three-pointers in a row is not a problem. But for NBDL players, especially Link, who has never been able to shoot 3-pointers before, the shooting percentage is a bit scary.

"I said," Upshaw walked up to Link in surprise and circled around him twice, "Did you smash the crosshair yesterday when you fell?"

"Actually, I've been secretly practicing 3-pointers all the time. Hehe, it was just good luck just now." Link scratched his head embarrassedly. At this time, the progress bar appeared in front of Link's eyes again.

I saw that the originally empty progress bar seemed to be filled with a trace of white. It seems that the way to fill the progress bar is to train or play games.

Could it be that, as long as the progress bar is full, he will be able to acquire the abilities of Grant Hill in the 2009-10 season, and so on?

If he has been upgraded to Hill's peak...

The picture was so beautiful that Link didn't dare to think about it any further.

To be an NBA-level professional player? It might actually work!