Inside the Lakers practice facility, the gym lights hummed overhead while Link pushed through another grueling defensive session.
Time had flown. The All-Star Weekend hype was long gone, and the NBA had entered the brutal sprint toward the playoffs. Every single game now felt like a street fight—no room for mistakes, no room for excuses.
Link was locked in, feet chopping low and fast, arms spread wide like wings, eyes darting between two trainers who were attacking him from opposite angles. He was running full-court one-on-two defensive drills—pure hell for reaction time, spatial awareness, and defensive coverage.
The System kept feeding him quiet updates as he worked.
[Mission: Defense (Advanced)]
[Progress: 9,786 / 10,000]
After two straight hours of extra work, his jersey was soaked through and his lungs were burning. He finally stepped to the sideline, grabbed a towel, and dropped onto the bench.
Brian Shaw walked over and sat beside him, handing over a cold bottle of Gatorade with a grin.
"Damn, Link—you're killing yourself out here."
Link gave him a quick pat on the back and took a long pull from the bottle. "How'd the Rockets do tonight?"
Shaw's smile faded. "They won. Beat Cleveland. Now they're 1.5 games ahead of us."
The Rockets, led by Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, had just ground out a tough road victory. That win locked them firmly into the fourth seed in the West.
The Lakers sat in fifth.
Only five games remained in the regular season.
To climb into the top four and secure home-court advantage in the first round, the Lakers would need to win almost every remaining game—and hope the Rockets dropped a few along the way.
"Still five left," Link said, wiping sweat from his face, eyes steady. "Plenty of time."
The Western Conference was a bloodbath.
Dallas, Phoenix, and San Antonio had already locked up the top three spots. After that, the standings turned into a knife fight.
Houston held the fourth seed by the slimmest of margins.
Right behind them: the Los Angeles Lakers.
Then came Utah, Denver, and Golden State—separated by half a game or less. One bad night could flip the entire order.
Every remaining matchup carried the weight of a playoff game. The air in every Western arena felt thick with tension.
"It's shaping up just like last season," Shaw said, frowning. "The fight for those last playoff spots might not be decided until the final night."
That kind of pressure seeped into every practice, every film session, every huddle.
The Lakers' goal was crystal clear: push hard, climb as high as possible, and earn that precious home-court edge for the first round.
Phil Jackson had hammered the point in every team meeting: "Every single win right now is building the road to the playoffs."
Compared to the war in the West, the Eastern Conference looked almost peaceful.
Detroit sat comfortably at the top with their ironclad defense.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were locked in right behind them.
After those two, though, the East fell off a cliff. Most teams were treading water, and the gap was massive.
Around the league, the quiet consensus was the same: whoever survived the meat grinder of the West would probably be the one lifting the O'Brien Trophy in June.
The East was just a ticket to the Finals.
Off the court, the individual award races were heating up too.
On the scoring leaderboard, Kobe Bryant's name sat alone at the top. In the final stretch of the season his scoring had only gotten more efficient. Since late February he was averaging an absurd 42.5 points per game. The scoring title was basically his to lose.
The MVP race was a dogfight.
Dirk Nowitzki and the league-leading Mavericks were the clear frontrunners in every media poll.
But right on their heels were Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and a handful of others—all still very much alive.
And then, almost unexpectedly, Link's name had popped up on another list.
Most Improved Player.
He was sitting second, just behind Monta Ellis of the Warriors.
From water-boy tryout last season to full-time All-Star starter this year, averaging a steady 20+ points as Kobe's most reliable sidekick—that kind of leap turned heads.
Shaw chuckled and shook his head. "Man, I still remember the day you showed up for that tryout last year. Skinny kid nobody had ever heard of. Now you're an All-Star. The NBA scouts missed on you big time."
The gym went quiet for a beat.
Link just smiled, crushing the empty bottle in his hand and tossing it cleanly into the far trash can.
"That wasn't talent," he thought to himself. "That was the System."
Out loud he kept it humble. "Back then I was just trying to stick around. Now I'm thinking about how we finish this thing the right way."
He stood up, nodded at the two trainers, and walked back to the center of the floor.
"Last set," he called out, voice steady even though he was breathing hard.
The trainers exchanged a quick glance but reset.
Link dropped into his stance again—low, wide, arms active.
The final rep came fast.
One trainer tried to blow by him on the left.
Link read the move like he'd seen it coming a mile away. He slid laterally in one explosive step, cut off the angle, and whipped his long arm out at the exact right moment.
WHACK!
A clean deflection. The ball sailed out of bounds.
The System chime sounded in his head.
[Mission: Defense (Advanced)]
[Progress: 9,999 / 10,000]
Link stopped, chest heaving, sweat dripping from his hair. One more rep and the mission would be complete. His heart hammered, but a calm satisfaction settled over him.
He nodded to the trainers. "One more."
They ran it again.
The final slide-step was perfect—anticipation, footwork, length, all clicking at once.
The ball never had a chance.
[Congratulations, Host. Mission Complete!]
[Rewards: Steal +20%, Block +20%, Shot Contest +20%, Help Defense +20%]
[Defensive Ratings Updated: Steal – A, Block – B+, Shot Contest – A+, Help Defense – A]
[Unlocked Skill: Defensive Specialist Lv3]
[Defensive Specialist Lv3: Dramatically increases reaction speed and disruption on both on-ball and help defense (cooldown removed, bonuses now permanent). Additional Effect: Extra bonus when fighting through ball screens.]
[Shot Contest upgraded to A+]
[New Training Unlocked: Vision Denial (Advanced)]
[Completing this advanced training will upgrade Shot Contest to S-tier and unlock a new skill.]
[Locked Advanced Trainings: Death Wrap (requires Steal to A+), Aerial Denial (requires Block to A+)]
Link stood in the middle of the empty court, hands on his hips, breathing deep.
The long grind was finally paying off.
He could feel it in every fiber—his defense wasn't just good anymore.
It was becoming elite.
And with only five games left in one of the most savage Western Conference races in years, he was going to need every single point of it.