After reaching Philly, Jeff and Julius went straight to their hotel rooms and rested for a bit to ward off the fatigue from travel. At this time, the comfort of a plane trip was not that sophisticated. Jeff wanted Julius to be in top-notch physical condition when they took the test.

When afternoon rolled around, Jeff took Julius to the Corestates Spectrum, where the 76ers home games were to be held this season. Arriving at the Corestates Spectrum arena, Julius took in the huge stadium with wide eyes. Just imagining playing in this arena was enough to send goosebumps across Julius's skin. Even though the NCAA games were played amongst a huge audience, the feel that an NBA arena brought to Julius was something different.

Jeff guided him through the physical test and registration procedures. Ron Adams, the Assistant Coach of the 76ers was the person who met their group and headed the procedures. Midway through their trip, another person appeared in the Corestates Spectrum.

Sharone Wright, the 6ft 11in Center, was the 6th overall pick and key rookie of this year for the 76ers. He was accompanied by his agent and he too underwent the formalities in an orderly manner. Julius thought about waiting for a while and establishing initial contact with the yellow rookie, but under Jeff's constant urging, they stepped out of the arena while Wright was undergoing entrance formalities.

“The signing is tomorrow, both you and Sharone Wright will sign with the 76ers tomorrow. There will be a small media gathering to report the signing. So, don't play around and take a good rest. After that, the 76ers will advance 50% of your salary,” Jeff said on the way to the hotel.

“First things first, buy a house with the advance they give you. Somewhere near the 76ers should do. Do not rent. Renting indicates that you are planning to leave as soon as an opportunity comes up. It will give a bad signal to the management and they will not focus on you after that.”

“Apart from that, maintain your fitness. I know you will want to party and stuff but do it moderately. Don't slack off on your fitness. When the team announces when the training camp starts, I will notify you. Make sure you show up on time.”

“After the signing, you are free to go wherever you want. But, make sure not to get into trouble. The league is currently cracking down on some dangerous behaviors. So avoid getting into trouble.”

Jeff listed out some popular science and educated Julius earnestly. After the physical test, Julius understood why Jeff’s attitude towards him had improved recently. He was vaguely aware of the fact that the 76ers were indeed paying attention to him. He wasn't just a draft pick to them. The 76ers were planning to train him and retain him for some time. If not for that, Ron Adams would not have accompanied him throughout the physical test.

While he wasn't a key training target like Sharone Wright, the attention that the 76ers paid him was quite significant as well. Jeff might have noticed it during his negotiations with the 76ers yesterday. That might be the reason for his slightly better attitude in recent times.

However, the damage in their relationship was already done. If Jeff had not tried to coerce him by speaking out in front of his ignorant mother, things could have been fine. Now, he didn't dare to have an agent like Jeff beside him for a long time.

In his past life, he had often heard stories about agents cheating sports athletes out of their money. An agent like Jeff, who obviously didn't value him much but was willing to incite discord between him and his mother just for the sake of an extended contract, would be a prime candidate for such money swindling types.

So, Julius would never tie himself up with Jeff for a long time.

“Do the 76ers have summer league or camp?” Julius cut in after some time.

“What summer league?” Jeff asked in confusion.

“I heard some teams have summer games to train their rookies, is there anything like that?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“No, nothing like that exists. It will be up to you to maintain your fitness. There is a training camp two weeks before the pre-season games begin. Apart from that, nothing else. Who did you hear it from?” Jeff asked in surprise.

“Mates in the college,” Julius shrugged and acted nonchalantly, not revealing his inner thoughts.

So, the summer leagues haven't become popular yet. At this time, the fitness is entirely based on individual dedication during the off-season. It was both freeing and disappointing in a way.

With no summer league, his chance to shine was no longer available. So, the training camp and preseason are the only two methods through which he could establish himself in the team. It was a bit of a drawback, but it wasn't an issue. Julius already had a plan on what to focus on before the training camp began. So, he wasn't worried about it.

After arriving at the hotel, Julius refreshed himself and started watching some TV to kill some time. Tuning into ESPN, Jeff found that they were discussing the draft selections and what their future prospects will be.

The league was going all-in with selecting a successor for Jordan. Now that Jordan has retired, the commercial value of the league has dropped significantly. Jordan was a money printing machine for both the league and Nike. With him gone, the league needed a new superstar to take on the mantle that Jordan had vacated.

Currently, last year’s rookie Anfernee Hardaway and this year's Grant Hill were being positioned as Jordan's successors. Watching the ESPN hosts debate who was better, Julius couldn't help but mock them in his heart. He knew what the result would be. That man will return in a year and make this entire debate useless.

Chuckling to himself, Julius watched with relish as the hosts waxed poetry on the skills of both parties. Looking at their game footage, Julius had to admit that both Hardaway and Hill were really good. Their highlights showcased their incredible breakthrough performances and breathtaking skills.

However, Julius also noticed that most analysts vaguely sided with Hardaway in their analysis. Julius didn't see any big difference between the duo. They both looked equally strong. As for the experience factor in big games, Hill would soon obtain them within a year. So, this pessimistic attitude looked very odd.

Intrigued, Julius watched the entire program closely and realized some things while reading between the lines. First, no one denied Hill's talent. They all said Hill was good, but they added on later that Hardaway was better. Second, the comparison between them always had the tone of using Hill to highlight Hardaway. It was as if they were using Hill as a background board to showcase Hardaway.

This made no sense as Hill had just entered the league and Hardaway had already played for a year. If anything, the comparison should be quite opposite to how it was done. By then, it was clear to Julius that the league was more hopeful for Hardaway.

This made him snort. It wasn't that Hardaway was worse. Currently, it really looked as if Hardaway had a better chance to succeed Jordan than Hill. Hardaway had a great teammate in the form of Shaq. Hill's Detroit Pistons team was currently in the midst of rebuilding. The Bad Boys were a thing of the past, the Pistons weren't competitive enough yet.

However, Orlando Magic looked poised to win a championship in this year or next one. With Shaq terrorizing the basket and Hardaway on the perimeter, Magic had all the right ingredients to become a champion. So, it was natural for Hardaway to be most likely to succeed Jordan in the shortest possible time.

However, in their haste to crown the next Jordan, the league seemed to have not looked carefully at some aspects. First, Shaw isn't Pippen. Pippen may be willing to play second fiddle to Jordan, but Shaq definitely wasn't. Now was the prime confrontational era of the Big 4 Centers. How could Shaq be willing to let Hardaway take the lead?

Furthermore, Hardaway's body would give out in the coming years. In the long run, Hill would be the winner between them. But, it would all become pointless with Jordan's return and next three-peat. Such was the dominance of the man who will be called Basketball God.

Shaking his head, Julius watched the program with a mentality of entertaining himself. He didn't get worked up seeing people similar to him being praised on the program. Rather, he was content to sit back and watch the show. Soon the program shifted to discussing other promising rookies in this year's drafts.

Glenn Robinson and Jason Kidd were also favored heavily to make a huge impact in the NBA. As the discussion continued, even his name was mentioned occasionally. The analysts were pessimistic about his future development. They predicted that Jason Kidd would lead the point guards of this year's draft quite comfortably.

Julius wasn't affected much. Jason Kidd was indeed good. His tactical mind was one of the best that Julius had seen. So, he wasn't bothered with that comparison like other young men would be. As for the pessimistic attitude towards his future, Julius ignored it calmly.

After being baptized with the constant noise of the internet commentators and keyboard warriors, anyone who experienced that wouldn't be bothered with such reviews and analysis. Julius wasn't an exception to this either.