Chapter Four: Trouble on the First Day of Boot Camp!

The only people in all of Chicago who truly liked Lin Tian were probably the female fans of all ages who adored handsome men. They genuinely adored this newcomer who looked like a Hollywood star, wishing he would stay here for ten years and never be traded!

So, on Klaus’s desk, right after the letters hoping Lin Tian would be traded, were those pleading for him to remain with the Bulls forever.

Perhaps Lin Tian’s current predicament was partly due to how popular he was with the female fans.

Jealousy is one of the most basic human emotions.

If it were just the fans’ hostility, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Fans are the most pragmatic and easiest group to win over; if Lin Tian performed well, he would instantly gain a massive following.

In fact, as Lin Tian recalled, this season the Bulls had achieved an astonishing 72 wins and 10 losses!

In such a consistently winning team, Lin Tian might not even need to do much.

Just sitting on the bench, waving his towel, and Chicago fans would fall in love with him.

That’s the true power of winning.

But some things couldn’t be changed by winning or individual performance.

That was the malice within the team itself.

One must understand that each NBA team is a small society.

Within the team, there are hierarchies and different social circles.

The superstars formed their own circle, which role players found hard to penetrate.

Among the role players, cliques formed based on team status, playing time, and relationships with influential teammates.

Between these groups, there could even be ridicule, bullying, and harassment.

This was inevitable for any team.

After all, this was the NBA—the world’s premier basketball arena that countless people fought tooth and nail to enter.

Currently, the Bulls’ core was undoubtedly the iron triangle of Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman. Beyond them, players like Luke Longley, Toni Kukoc, and Ron Harper, thanks to their brilliant pasts or their chemistry with the team, had become indispensable.

These players only needed to focus on their own tasks assigned by the coach during training.

Unless something unexpected happened, their positions on the team were rock-solid.

So during training camp, they didn’t stir up any trouble.

Of course, with the terrible personalities of guys like Jordan and Pippen, it was quite possible that by the end of camp, neither of them would utter a word to Lin Tian or even remember his simple two-syllable name!

But outside this worry-free core group, the rest of the Bulls players were far from peaceful.

Especially players like Lin Tian, who had to fight tooth and nail for playing time or even to keep their spot on the team, had to stay perpetually vigilant. For them, every opportunity was precious, and every mistake or lapse in training could mean sitting on the bench endlessly or even getting cut.

Conversely, whenever the team cut one player, the remaining players’ chances to stay increased.

Therefore, during training camp, before the final roster was set, these fringe players were not teammates or brothers—they were mortal enemies.

“There’s only room for one of us!”

Forget about teammates being like family or everyone helping each other improve.

That simply didn’t exist.

Your presence threatened my livelihood; if you got cut, I got to play—that was the harsh reality for fringe NBA players.

On the very first day of camp, Lin Tian felt this hostility keenly.

“Kid, I bet you only got picked because you kissed Phil’s ass clean!” said a slightly shorter but obviously bulkier black guard. Lin Tian recognized him—Randy Brown, a perennial benchwarmer guard with career averages of just 4 points and 2 assists per game. He had just transferred from the Kings to the Bulls in the offseason.

Normally, Brown was the third option at point guard behind Harper and Cole, poised to earn some minutes and stats this season.

But Phil Jackson had drafted Lin Tian, a point guard with better height and size than Brown, even if it was at the 52nd pick and from an obscure college. This made Brown wary and worried that Lin Tian might steal his spot as the third point guard.

So Brown didn’t hesitate to deliver a warning.

Lin Tian didn’t hold back at all. Without a second thought, he flipped him off and retorted, “What about you? Got an ass to offer? I guess you’re just jealous of those who do, which is why you spout such stupid nonsense.”

“Am I right or am I right, you idiot with your ass for a brain who only craps out words?”

Brown had never expected a rookie Asian player, unheard of in the league, to talk back like that. He thought Lin Tian would tremble with fear, run away, or stammer out some weak excuse.

But instead, he fired back a string of insults that left Brown powerless to respond.

“Randy Brown’s mood fluctuates, experience drops by 10!”

At that moment, Lin Tian’s mind echoed with the system’s voice.

Being a perfect match professionally, gaining experience was lightning fast! Just one sentence earned Lin Tian his first bit of experience!

Lin Tian would remember the name Randy Brown.

Just as a man never forgets the girl who helped him become a man.

“Hey kid! You think graduating from an Ivy League school makes you special? Let me tell you, that degree means nothing here!” Brown snarled, refusing to back down. Unnoticed, two others gathered beside him.

The three of them glared fiercely at Lin Tian, clearly ready to teach him a lesson.

Glancing over, Lin Tian saw Jack Haley and Jason Caffey.

Also fringe players and perennial benchwarmers, but since their positions didn’t compete with each other, they banded together to exclude others.

Lin Tian was obviously their first target.

Faced with their hostile stares, Lin Tian knew exactly how to provoke them. Spitting once on the floor, he sneered disdainfully and muttered, “Useless cowards, not even worth trash.”

Then he walked right past them without so much as a glance.

Contempt! Absolute contempt!

That single act ignited fury in these three, desperate for acceptance yet filled with arrogance and insecurity.