Champion Creed

Roger's performance in the state finals had catapulted him into the ranks of the most popular high school students in the entire U.S.

Those five astonishing scoring abilities convinced everyone that even in college games, Roger would still be a terrifying top scorer.

So, the "Blue Chips" crew approached Roger.

Because the director insisted that all players must be genuine top basketball athletes to create realistic gaming scenes and smooth movement. And Roger was exactly the kind of top player they were looking for.

It must be said, such demands from the director were still somewhat naive.

Could a real basketball player execute movements as fancy as "Orchid Butterfly Slashing the Clouds?" If they could pull off such stunts in the movies, would "Forrest Gump" still have won the 1995 Oscars?

In any case, Paramount Pictures believed that by the time the movie was released in 1994, Shaq and Roger would have already become superstars of the NBA and NCAA, respectively.

By then, even if it was just to see them act in a movie, audiences would buy tickets.

Roger had not anticipated any such windfall beyond the state championship.

It seemed Andy Li was right; the first bucket of gold Roger earned in his life would still come from making movies!

Since Roger did not yet have an agent, the crew had to negotiate the contract with Roger's guardian, his uncle.

When the uncle found out that Paramount Pictures was willing to pay $500,000 to Roger, he almost fainted.

Put it like this, even when buying lottery tickets, Lu An had only ever hoped to win $50,000.

$500,000 was a very fair price for Roger at the time.

After all, it was 1993, and a superstar like Barkley earned just $2.42 million a year.

For a player like Roger who had not even played in the NCAA yet, $500,000 for a movie was quite sincere.

After signing the contract, Lu An looked at Roger, his voice shaking with nervousness, "Jie, does this mean... we won't have to haggle when buying second-hand clothes ever again?"

Roger smiled slightly, "It means, from now on, you could be the one selling second-hand clothes."

Overnight, Roger had money.

Of course, $500,000 was still not enough for Roger to really start enjoying life.

Since he had graduated from high school, Abunassar could no longer act as his coach under the guise of being a school coach.

Next, he would have to pay Abunassar's salary himself.

And, preparing for the draft, whether it was renting training facilities or hiring trainers, all would cost money.

Even so, Roger still took his uncle out to buy a car that afternoon.

The Mercedes saleswoman worked very hard to introduce various models to Roger, even causing her stockings to ladder.

Eventually, Roger bought his uncle a sixth-generation E-class.

It's not that your aunt doesn't want to love you; it's just that you lack a Mercedes E.

Uncle touched the Mercedes emblem on the front of the car with trembling hands, "Are we... really not going to haggle?"

"At least for today, we don't need to haggle." Roger patted his uncle's shoulder, considering it compensation for his receding hairline.

Lu An nodded with emotion, and then...

He spent half an hour forcing them to include a set of floor mats for free.

The moment he scored the free floor mats, he looked even happier than if he had bought a new car.

This car was Roger's only major expense after getting that $500,000.

Afterwards, he took Andrae to New Orleans, rented an indoor basketball court, and shamelessly spent his days grappling intensely.

During this time, Andrae found that it was getting tougher and tougher to go up against Roger.

Thanks to the training program and diet provided by Abunassar, Roger had now increased his weight to 85 kilograms.

Roger's ultimate goal was to reach 90 kilograms by the time he entered the NBA.

And in the latest measurement, Roger's barefoot height had grown to 1.96 meters, approximately 1.98 meters with shoes.

If the final weight gain went according to plan, that height and weight would be more than sufficient for playing as a shooting guard in the NBA.

All these data made Abunassar increasingly confident about Roger's draft prospects.

At this time, a well-known writer from Sports Illustrated, Jack McCollum, wrote an article that excited Abunassar even more.

McCollum's article mainly criticized the quality of the 1993 draft.

He believed that 1993 was not a big draft year; there were truly only four players with top potential: Webber from the Fab Five, Penny from Memphis State, Jamal Mashburn with his versatile offensive skills, and Shawn Bradley, the Enormous Mormon.

As for the rest of the players, McCollum commented:

"I know Bobby Hurley is the legendary NCAA assist king with excellent tactical knowledge, but I don't think a 1.83-meter, poorly athletic white point guard could survive in the NBA.

Isaiah Rider plays shooting guard, but we all know his real height is just 1.94 meters. I admit he has some talent, but this guy always does inexplicable things on the court. He has decent finishing ability under the basket, yet he absurdly prefers to shoot threes. His no-look passes almost half the time end up in the stands. He hardly gets along with anyone on the team because he's too aggressive.

Unless you want to plant a time bomb in the locker room, he's definitely not a good choice.

Vin Baker, a tall forward at 211 centimeters with outstanding offensive skills and athleticism. In his junior season, he averaged 27.6 points, second in the nation, and in his senior season, he averaged 28.3 points, fourth in the nation. But he is the laziest rebounder I've seen among 211-centimeter players. On defense, he's only passionate about blocking stats."