The previous part was the same as before, except that all those training tasks had become completed, with an added 'available' tag. However... there was a line at the end that Brian Carter had only noticed before: "If training is not completed," so he hadn't paid attention to what came after.

"If training is not completed, the effectiveness of use is determined by the completion rate. The minimum effect of a B-level phase burst is to temporarily gain C-level ability, with no overall evaluation improvement."

"...Damn! What the hell? Complete the training in full? So it can also be incomplete? Even casual practice can get a C-level overall evaluation? Whatever, B-level is much better than C-level, so it's a win, and the evaluation temporarily rises to B+ level. The trial will definitely go better, a little more effort is worth it."

Seeing that the overall evaluation had improved to some extent, Brian Carter eagerly opened the overall evaluation section.

"Overall evaluation: D;

Physical fitness C-: Speed A+, Strength D+, Endurance D, Jumping C-;

Shooting evaluation D: Three-point F, Mid-range D-, Layup C+;

Technical evaluation C: Ball handling C, Passing C.

Physical condition: Drained by wine and women, insufficient kidney energy, mild injuries to waist, back, and legs..."

"Endurance went from D- to D, ball handling from C- to C, nothing else really changed. Makes sense, it was only one training session, even a little improvement is already pretty good..." When Brian Carter saw the physical condition, he couldn't help but complain: "Isn't this still the same kidney deficiency? I still have to complete that stunning performance trigger event."

No new tasks were triggered either. Brian Carter knew that he probably had to complete the "stunning performance" to trigger new events or tasks.

Even if it was just for his kidneys, Brian Carter wanted to do his best in what came next.

Besides...

The comfort in his body after this crazy training... that feeling of crawling back from the edge of death, Brian Carter found himself a little fascinated by it...

He opened his phone's text messages...

"Bro, you’re famous..."

Seeing the message from John, Brian Carter didn't know what had happened. He checked other messages and roughly figured out what had happened yesterday, then went online to take a look...

"I'm an internet celebrity now?" Brian Carter closed the website in exasperation. The motivational posts online made even him blush.

He just wanted to stop being kidney deficient, but now he looked like some kind of dream chaser.

But to be honest, Brian Carter actually kind of liked the feeling of becoming famous through basketball.

Other than replying to John's message, he didn't respond to the others who knew his number but weren't close. He needed to get ready—he had to get to the West America Arena before noon!

Chapter 0009: Opportunity

Phoenix West America Arena, General Manager's Office.

"This boy is even more suitable as the face of our promotion than we expected." Steve Kerr looked at the news about Brian Carter's crazy training yesterday and felt that the boss's expectations might actually have a chance of success.

This season, hopes for making the playoffs had long been lost, so they could only do some flashy things to attract the fans' attention.

With the regular season almost over, the Lakers had also signed a 22-year-old Chinese point guard this season, but that guard hadn't brought much popularity to the Lakers.

He was lazy and unmotivated, with only average skills. The Lakers had only let him play 15 minutes the whole season.

Cole didn't have much faith in the boss's publicity plan. Besides Sun Yue, Cole also paid some attention to the CBA—after all, he was the general manager—but after seeing the scouts' reports on Chinese players, he felt that Chinese people were only good at business, not the three major ball sports... especially men's sports... But seeing Brian Carter's crazy training, he felt that he was very different from the Chinese basketball players in his impression.

What really impressed Cole was Brian Carter's six hours of intense shooting practice from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Cole himself wasn't particularly talented, but he managed, through hard work, to achieve the highest three-point shooting percentage in history during his playing days—a record he still holds.

"This kid is pretty good." At first, Gentry didn't like this kind of hype, but after seeing the news yesterday, seeing a young man who only got a chance to participate in an NBA tryout and game experience work so hard for that opportunity, as an old-school basketball man who switched to coaching after failing to make it as a pro in the 70s, Gentry was moved.

However, a good impression is just a good impression. Gentry only had a good impression of Brian Carter as a person, but as for the game itself... even though it was just a meaningless farewell game, Gentry wasn't planning to let Brian Carter play for long.

But Brian Carter's tryout had piqued Gentry's interest. He had originally just planned to take a photo together and play along with the "show," but now he really wanted to talk more with Brian Carter.

From what Gentry saw of Brian Carter's shooting practice—the form was so standard it was almost scary—he wanted to see it with his own eyes, and if possible, talk to Brian Carter about being a shooting coach.

A shooting coach doesn't necessarily need to be a great shooter. In fact, most shooting coaches might be terrible at basketball, but they have great form and are skilled at customizing the right shooting mechanics for players.

Gentry wanted to give Brian Carter a chance, to give a young man who, like himself back in the day, wanted to chase his basketball dream, an opportunity.

...