Nash saw Brian Carter looking around, and immediately understood Brian Carter's confusion. He said, “Noah, tomorrow you’ll be starting the game in my place, so my locker is now yours.”

Brian Carter was stunned for a moment. Looking at Nash’s back brace, he remembered that ever since the team lost hope for the playoffs this season, Nash hadn’t played in any games.

The main reason was the back injury Nash suffered in the 99-00 season. Although it was healed at the time, and even after he joined the Suns in his thirties—with the league’s best medical staff—there weren’t too many issues. But now Nash is already 35, and the back injury occasionally affects his performance. Since the team has lost hope for the playoffs, even if Nash wanted to play, the Suns wouldn’t let him. Judging from the second half of the season, they still have a chance next year.

Brian Carter was a bit dazed, using Nash’s locker, but then he noticed a cameraman filming behind him...

Alright, it was all arranged from the start. From the moment O'Neal pretended to be “focused on training,” Brian Carter realized that everything had probably been planned in advance.

But for Brian Carter, none of that mattered. What mattered was doing well in the upcoming tryout!

Nash introduced the items in the locker to Brian Carter. There was a number 13 jersey—not the one Brian Carter would wear in the game, but a gift from Nash, complete with his signature.

There was also a new pair of basketball shoes, in the size Brian Carter had filled out on the application form earlier. They were shoes endorsed by Nash, and he told Brian Carter that this pair was for him...

After the introduction, Nash, Gentry, and the cameraman all left the locker room—after all, you can’t keep filming while changing clothes.

Once everyone else had left, Brian Carter pulled up a stool and sat down, trying to calm his excitement after meeting so many basketball stars.

“Next, I have to perform well—amaze them, even if I’m just putting on a show, it has to be impressive!”

It wasn’t that Brian Carter had huge ambitions; he just didn’t want to feel weak anymore.

Of course, with this kind of “close contact” with the NBA, Brian Carter naturally wanted to go further.

After changing into his jersey and shoes, Brian Carter pushed open the door and stepped outside the locker room. Nash, Gentry, and the others took Brian Carter to the therapy room for massages and stretching as part of his warm-up.

After all the hustle and bustle, it was almost 11 o’clock when Brian Carter was brought to the court for physical testing.

Brian Carter went over to stand next to Suns assistant coach Jay Triano and glanced at the list of physical tests.

“40 yards, 100 yards, shuttle run, bench press...” Brian Carter counted—there were more than a dozen test items. “Looks like the skills tryout will have to wait until the afternoon. According to the schedule, there’s also an NBA team lunch experience at noon... That’s fine, I’ll save my explosive performance for the skills tryout...”

...

“40 yards: 4.62 seconds.

Average starting speed: 6.902 yards/second.

100-yard average speed: 8.755 yards/second.

Vertical jump: 49CM.

Running jump: 55CM.

Bench press: 4 reps...”

Brian Carter’s physical test results... actually exceeded Gentry’s expectations! That physique wasn’t wasted.

Although it took 11.42 seconds for the 100 yards, that’s actually very good for an amateur basketball player. 100 yards is about 91.4 meters. Allen Iverson’s best 100-yard time at his 1996 tryout was 10.23 seconds. TJ Ford holds the historical best since this stat has been tracked, with a rookie tryout best of 10.18 seconds. Not many NBA players can break 11 seconds in the 100 yards—usually only perimeter players have a shot. In this regard, Brian Carter was quite impressive, especially considering he’s an amateur who never even played NCAA ball and never received professional training, yet still reached this level.

His jumping ability was average, but still better than the team’s star player, Steve Nash.

But as for endurance and explosiveness...

The NBA standard for bench press testing is 185 pounds, or 84 kilograms. Since 1994, the average number of reps for rookies under two meters tall is 8.4. Brian Carter managed less than half the average...

He could lift it, but was done after three or four reps.

His starting speed was poor, far below his average speed, which is largely due to a lack of professional starting technique training. For NBA perimeter players, starting speed is very important, and they all receive highly specialized training in college and early in their NBA careers.

But this poor starting speed actually made Brian Carter’s average speed look even more impressive.

After looking at Brian Carter’s test data, Gentry said to Brian Carter, who was getting a massage from the therapist to relax his muscles, “Noah, your physical fitness is great, but your endurance isn’t good enough. You need to work out more, not just focus on studying. I know you Chinese people love to read, but your body is important too, understand?”

“You’re the one who’s not enduring!”

Brian Carter almost blurted it out. Gentry’s words sounded way too much like an insult.

Still, Brian Carter hadn’t expected his physical fitness to be rated so highly by an NBA coach. Maybe they were just being nice, but looking at the test data himself, it really was pretty good!

No wonder he had the potential to be noticed by an NCAA Division II team!

During his previous 6+6+6 training, Brian Carter had already felt that his physical fitness was good, but hadn’t had a direct sense of it. Now, with the detailed test results, he realized he really did have some solid potential.