System Rewards

After defeating the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks returned to New York, and for Lian Dao, it felt like a warm homecoming. Despite their return, the Knicks didn't have much time to enjoy the city, as they only had two home games scheduled—one against the New Jersey Nets and another against the Portland Trail Blazers.

In the game against the Nets, Yi Jianlian was still sidelined due to injury, disappointing many fans who had hoped for a "Chinese Derby" matchup. Without him, the Knicks easily handled the Nets, securing a 116-97 victory.

The following day, the Knicks faced the Portland Trail Blazers, but Portland's roster was hindered by yet another injury to Greg Oden. Oden had been injured during a game against the Rockets, suffering a left patella fracture that ended his season. Before the injury, Oden was averaging 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Lian Dao felt a deep sympathy for Oden, who had once been hailed as one of the most talented players ever to enter the NBA. Teams were willing to tank seasons just for a shot at drafting him, but injuries continually derailed his promising career. Lian Dao had seen a video in his previous life where Oden was teased by an elderly woman on the street, but he responded with a smile. That attitude, smiling through the struggles, had made Lian Dao admire Oden even more.

Many fans believed that, despite the injuries, Oden would always have been the No. 1 pick in 2007, no matter how many times the draft played out.

In the Knicks' game against the Blazers, the absence of Oden left a glaring hole in Portland's defense. The Trail Blazers' remaining options in the center position were stretched thin, with 35-year-old Juwan Howard unable to hold his own against the Knicks' aggressive offense.

Darko Milicic took full advantage, repeatedly dunking under the basket while David Lee dominated inside. Even Aldridge, pulled outside the three-point line by Paul Millsap, couldn't make a significant impact.

Despite their struggles, the Blazers stayed competitive thanks to the brilliance of Brandon Roy, who kept Portland within reach. However, the Knicks' defense held strong, and they clinched the game 93-84.

It was a rare game where the Knicks didn't surpass 100 points, but it extended their winning streak to three games, continuing their strong form.

After the Knicks' short home stint, they embarked on a new road trip, facing off against the New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, and Chicago Bulls.

In this series, the Knicks had mixed results. They managed to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 113-94, handing Chris Paul a two-game losing streak. However, the Knicks struggled in their other two games, suffering losses on the road to both the Hornets and the Bulls.

These setbacks brought the Knicks' overall record to 17 wins and 8 losses, signaling a need to regroup as they returned to New York for a much-anticipated five-game home stretch. Knicks fans were excited; after a grueling road trip, they could finally cheer on their team in Madison Square Garden.

However, despite the homecoming, the first game back in New York proved tough for the Knicks—not because of the opponent's strength but due to fatigue from playing back-to-back games.

Off the court, Knicks games had become a hot ticket this season, with a high demand for seats. Knicks home games were selling out quickly, and fans who missed out on tickets resorted to buying them at inflated prices online. The surge in demand led to a frenzy, with Knicks home tickets being sold at premium rates across resale platforms.

Adding to the excitement surrounding the team, the NBA released the jersey sales rankings for November, and Lian Dao's Knicks No. 1 jersey was at the top, a testament to his growing popularity.

For Lian Dao, November was also a period of personal milestones. He completed two significant tasks set by his mysterious system:

Task 3: Exchange jerseys with an opponent in his rookie season.

Task 4: Win a Player of the Month award as a rookie.

Completing these tasks came with rewards. For Task 3, Lian Dao earned a Jersey Talent Draw. Task 4's reward was even better, with the system boosting one of his potentials, specifically his physical fitness, from a previous upper limit of 89 to 94.

While these were great accomplishments, Lian Dao couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated by the rewards from the system's jersey talent lottery. In two consecutive draws, he had hoped to obtain some of Kobe Bryant's basketball skills. However, instead of Kobe's on-court abilities, Lian Dao won a 10% stake in Facebook, which included 5% non-dilutable shares, along with an unexpected bonus: Kobe's acting skills.

Just to clarify, Kobe's "acting skills" did not involve flopping but rather film and television acting—a skillset that seemed a bit out of place for Lian Dao at the time. Nevertheless, the ownership of Facebook was a major win. Even though Lian Dao wasn't lacking in money, the future value of that 10% Facebook stake would surpass all of his commercial endorsements and NBA contracts combined.

In 2009, Facebook's market value stood at around $10 billion, but by 2021, that valuation would skyrocket to $1 trillion. The 5% non-dilutable shares alone would amount to an incredible $50 billion—making it a long-term reward that far outshined any immediate skill gain on the basketball court.

After Lian Dao drew the rewards from his system, the equity agreement for his Facebook shares inexplicably appeared in his system space. Though unexpected, he could take out the document at any time—essentially giving him physical control over a significant portion of Facebook's future value.

However, it was the second lottery win, Kobe's acting skills, that left Lian Dao feeling puzzled. Despite Kobe's impressive basketball legacy, his acting talents weren't exactly renowned, though he had produced notable film and television projects, such as "Muse" and the Oscar-winning "Dear Basketball". But even then, Lian Dao couldn't help but question: does Kobe actually possess acting skills, or was he just being himself in these works? A documentary-style performance hardly counted as true acting, in Lian Dao's opinion.

"Is the system trying to fool me with these documentary acting skills?" he thought. As a film and television student at the University of Southern California, Lin Dao expected the system to at least respect his academic background. The acting skill reward seemed to be a bit of a stretch, even for a basketball legend like Kobe.

But there was a silver lining—this exchange of jerseys had earned Lian Dao an additional 100,000 points. Combined with the points from his record-breaking achievements, he now had over 160,000 points available. Without hesitation, Lian Dao invested all these points into improving his physical fitness, raising his stat from 85 to 88.

As a result of the recent competitions and training, Lian Dao's system data showed significant improvement:

{

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Host: Lian Dao

Position: Small Forward

Evaluation: 88 (A+) - NBA All-Star Bench Strength, Key Player 

Points: 12,903 

Included Jerseys: 3

Birthday: December 15, 1990 

Height: 205 cm

Wingspan: 223 cm

Weight: 108 kg 

Bounce: 94 (94) 

Strength: 90 (94) 

Speed: 92 

Agility: 80 (86) 

Fitness: 88 (94) 

Court Vision: 88 (93) 

Basketball IQ: 98 

Skill Evaluation:

Ball Handling: 88 (94) 

Passing: 91 (96) (Special Training Ongoing) 

Dribbling: 92 

Finishing at the Rim: 81 (87) 

Mid-Range Shooting: 78 (85) 

Three-Point Shooting: 91 (97) 

Rebounding: 81 (93) 

Defense: 89 

Injury Resistance: 93 (Extended Stamina) 

Special Abilities:

Badge: Grant Hill's Fastest First Step: 5% faster in driving to the basket. 

Training Space (Level 1):

1. Immersive Training (open for 2 hours per day, providing double training efficiency. Training time can be extended by 1 point per minute. Can stack with training effect bonus cards.

2. Exclusive Skill Training with Retired Players (Ongoing special training with Magic Johnson for Passing Mastery.). Upon completion, Lian Dao will receive the Passing Master badge.

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Current Missions:

Rookie Set Sail!:

1. Win Rookie of the Year in his NBA rookie season (Incomplete). 

2. Lead the team to the NBA Playoffs (minimum eighth seed; the higher the ranking, the bigger the reward) (Incomplete). 

3. Exchange jerseys with an opponent in the rookie season (Completed). 

4. Win Player of the Month once in the rookie season (Completed). 

5. Win Player of the Week once in the rookie season (Completed). 

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Rewards:

1. Rookie of the Year**: Exclusive skill training with a retired superstar (Pending). 

2. Lead team to playoffs: 10 potential attribute points for any talent (reward increases by 5 points per rank achieved) (Pending). 

3. Jersey exchange: Additional jersey talent lottery (Received). 

4. Player of the Month: Random increase in the potential upper limit of a talent to 94 (received—fitness increased). 

5. Player of the Week: Randomly max out the value of one attribute (Received).

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}