A one-day, one-game short-term contract. After surviving a hellish nutrition lunch, Brian Carter followed the Suns’ financial staff to send an email to the players’ union for registration...

It was all quite formal, just like signing an ordinary player. The minimum salary for a player for one game, taken from Nash’s salary, had to go through the players’ union, which would deduct taxes and membership fees before transferring the remainder to Brian Carter’s credit card savings account.

Every year, there are six or seven hundred players registered in the NBA. When there are lots of injuries and many 10-day contracts, there could be as many as seven or eight hundred registered players. These procedures go smoothly, with nothing out of the ordinary.

After finishing all that, Brian Carter was arranged to rest in the lounge. There would be a tryout in the afternoon, but before that, there was an interview, which the Suns were helping Brian Carter arrange.

While waiting, Brian Carter was looking at the “Phase Burst” item card in the system.

“How strong is a B+ rating, really?”

Brian Carter had no concept of this at all. Whether in his previous life or the original owner of this body, he was a basketball enthusiast, but after graduating from college in his previous life, he barely touched basketball again—survival was the priority, and there were student loans to pay off.

This life was even “better”—he spent his freshman year chasing girls...

But from the little impression he got from training, Brian Carter could tell that the physical talent this body possessed made his original basketball skills several times stronger, on a completely different level from his previous life.

Even so, his ability rating was only D! Across the various professional leagues in America—CBA, NBDL, ABA, plus the NBA and regional leagues—there are two to three thousand active players, and over ten million people registered with the American players’ association, with many leagues so obscure that no one outside the community knows about them.

Brian Carter felt that if he hadn’t wasted this past year, he might have had a shot at playing in some lower-level professional leagues, but he couldn’t control the year that was already lost.

“How big is the gap between D-level and the NBA’s average C-level? And how much stronger is B+ compared to C?” Without a comparison, Brian Carter was completely clueless.

Chapter 0012: Game On, Game On!

Brian Carter felt a headache coming on, filled with a sense of crisis, and couldn’t help but complain: “Seriously, if only I knew the ratings of the Suns’ players...”

Just as he finished complaining, a screen appeared in front of Brian Carter, showing the Suns’ players’ avatars and names.

Brian Carter clicked through for a quick look.

“Steve Nash, ability rating S; Amar’e Stoudemire, ability rating S; Shaquille O’Neal, ability rating S-; Jason Richardson, ability rating B+; Grant Hill, ability rating A-; Leandro Barbosa, ability rating B-...”

When he got to Barbosa, Brian Carter stopped looking.

Honestly, Brian Carter thought the Suns’ roster was really strong! Even without looking at the ratings, just seeing those names, Brian Carter knew the lineup was stacked.

But this season, they’d changed coaches twice—first from D’Antoni to Terry Porter, then after the All-Star break to Alvin Gentry. Too much upheaval, and most importantly, O’Neal just didn’t mesh with Nash, Stoudemire, and the other core stars. No matter who was in charge, the results weren’t good.

Even though O’Neal, protected by the tough team doctor Thomas Carter, had his highest attendance since his rookie contract and even made a late-career All-Star appearance, incompatibility was still incompatibility. The NBA isn’t just about piling up stars, and the Suns lost playoff hopes with five games left in the season.

But whether the Suns made the playoffs or not had nothing to do with Brian Carter. What caught his attention was that Barbosa’s ability rating was B-, and Jason Richardson’s was B+, giving Brian Carter a sense of what a B+ rating meant.

To shock these NBA stars, Brian Carter felt that a single B+-level “Phase Burst” item card probably wasn’t enough. Jason Richardson, rated B+, was just a role player on the Suns.

But if, as an amateur, he could show a level close to Jason Richardson’s... that would definitely be impressive!

...

...

“Noah, let me tell you, back in the day...”

Brian Carter was resting in the lounge when O’Neal came over and dragged Brian Carter out for a walk to help digest.

“This big guy is so friendly! Is it because we went to the same college? I don’t see any cameras around, looks like filming doesn’t start until afternoon practice. O’Neal really is nothing like Kobe. I heard that during the Lakers’ three-peat, O’Neal got along with most teammates, while Kobe was always a loner...”

Listening to the old Shaq reminisce about his glory days, Brian Carter found it pretty interesting. Hearing the Big Diesel brag about things you couldn’t possibly refute was way more fun than looking up info online.

Around two o’clock, a staff member found the chatting Brian Carter and O’Neal.

After the interview, Brian Carter went to the practice court to warm up again.

To Brian Carter’s surprise, he thought it would be a technical tryout, but it turned out to be a direct scrimmage!