The Anti-Lin Alliance had found a new target to blame.
Joakim Noah.
In their eyes, every problem traced back to him.
Had it not been for Noah, Tyson Chandler would never have sustained his injury.
This would have meant that Tyson Chandler was healthy, and Lin Yi would not have returned to the center position.
This had voided their carefully crafted plans, honed over the years, to contain Lin in the Small Forward position. However, those plans were pretty useless since Lin Yi was still unstoppable.
The more they thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
It was all Noah's fault.
After Lin Yi returned to the center position, the Knicks improved to 4-0 on the season.
The most frustrating part for Lin Yi's critics was that reality refused to cooperate with their arguments.
When Lin Yi was suspended, the Knicks kept winning.
When Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler were unavailable, the Knicks kept winning.
No matter which star was missing, New York somehow continued rolling forward.
. .
Lin Yi should sometimes read online comments. They could have the funniest of content.
While scrolling through Reddit, he accidentally entered enemy territory.
Five minutes later, he was laughing so hard that Olivia woke up.
The thread title alone nearly took him out.
"Lin Yi fans have become impossible to argue with."
Curious, Lin Yi clicked.
What followed was one of the funniest things he had read all season.
r/nba
Lin Yi fans have become impossible to argue with
The Knicks are 4-0 since Lin Yi returned, and I've come to a terrible realization.
You literally cannot win an argument against his fanbase anymore.
Example:
Hater: "You can't judge a player based on two good games."
Lin Yi Fan: "Lin already has a triple-double this season."
Hater: "That doesn't really prove..."
Lin Yi Fan: "Lin scored 86 points in a game."
Hater: "..."
Hater: "We're discussing something completely different. You can't just bring up random achievements."
Lin Yi Fan: "Lin scored 86 points."
Hater: "..."
Lin Yi Fan: "86 points."
Hater:Account deleted.
At this point, every discussion follows the same pattern.
Team record? 86 points.
MVP debate? 86 points.
Defensive impact? Believe it or not, 86 points.
Best player in the league? Also 86 points.
Favorite pizza topping? Somehow still 86 points.
I asked one of them if they planned on bringing up the 86-point game forever.
The response?
"If people still talk about Kobe's 81, why can't we talk about Lin's 86?"
I hate how hard that is to argue against.
Honestly, the funniest part of the NBA right now isn't even the games.
It's opening a comment section and watching Lin Yi fans and haters fight like it's Game 7 of the Finals.
At this stage, I'm convinced half the league is competing for championships and the other half is competing to survive conversations with Lin Yi fans.
Edit: Please stop replying with "86 points." You're proving my point.
Edit 2: 147 comments in and somehow every argument still ends with "86 points."
Edit 3: Never mind. Lin scored 86 points.
. .
He sometimes felt that the comments section was more entertaining than the news itself.
Whether they were trolls, critics, or genuine supporters, they always managed to create drama.
Reading the discussions occasionally felt like watching a group of comic fans arguing over whose superhero was stronger.
It was ridiculous.
And strangely entertaining.
At the same time, perhaps because Lin Yi had once again stolen the headlines, many of the league's stars seemed to be responding with monster performances of their own.
Of course, Lin Yi knew that had little to do with him. The NBA was naturally entering a period of transition. Veterans were approaching the end of their primes while a new generation was rapidly rising.
Even without him, these breakout performances would still be happening. The difference was that now every storyline somehow found its way back to Lin Yi.
If someone exploded for fifty points, people said Lin Yi had motivated him.
If someone struggled, people blamed Lin Yi for raising the league's standards.
If someone got injured, Lin Yi would probably be blamed for that, too.
The man had somehow become basketball's weather forecast. As the season progressed, Lin Yi's attention gradually shifted away from individual statistics.
The Knicks' true rivals remained the same.
The Heat.
The Spurs.
But several Western Conference teams were beginning to demand serious attention as well.
The Mavericks.
The Warriors.
The Thunder.
At the moment, besides the undefeated Knicks, all three teams had opened the season 4-0.
Among them, Dallas looked particularly dangerous.
The Dallas Mavericks were beginning to resemble a championship machine.
Dirk Nowitzki remained the team's spiritual leader.
Gerald Wallace provided experience and toughness.
DeAndre Jordan was entering his athletic prime.
Kyrie Irving's offensive talent was blossoming before everyone's eyes.
Youth and experience had blended together perfectly.
Dallas had become a legitimate threat.
The Warriors were even more frightening.
Through the first four games, Stephen Curry was averaging seven made three-pointers per game.
Seven.
Every opponent knew exactly what he wanted to do.
And they still couldn't stop him.
If Curry maintained anything close to this pace, Lin Yi's biggest MVP challenger might not come from Miami or Oklahoma City.
It might be his baby-faced assassin best friend in the Golden State. This version of Curry reminded Lin Yi of the player who would dominate the 2015-16 season. After Golden State's disappointing playoff exit the previous year, Curry had spent the summer working relentlessly.
Talent was terrifying.
A talented player who worked harder than everyone else was even worse.
Had Lin Yi not been monopolizing headlines, Curry would probably have been the league's biggest story.
Klay Thompson certainly noticed.
Every time he saw another article praising Curry, he became slightly annoyed.
In the newest version of 2K14, Klay's three-point rating had finally surpassed 90.
Unfortunately, Curry's was practically maxed out with 98.
The gap remained obvious.
Klay had reportedly complained multiple times.
The developers could only shrug.
What were they supposed to do?
The Knicks were already the strongest team in the game.
If the New York Knicks received another boost, nobody else would stand a chance.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard's development was accelerating rapidly. Now in his third season, Leonard looked far more polished than he had a year ago.
With DeMarcus Cousins constantly creating headaches both on and off the court, Golden State's front office had quietly begun preparing Kawhi as the franchise's second cornerstone.
His mid-range jumper had become increasingly reliable.
His offensive game was still developing.
But defensively, he was already terrifying.
Night after night, he erased opposing stars from games.
Warriors fans had started calling him a nightmare.
And they weren't exaggerating.
As for Cousins, he remained one of the most dominant big men in the Western Conference.
He might have looked immature whenever he encountered Lin Yi.
That was hardly a fair comparison.
Against everyone else, Cousins was still capable of overwhelming opponents with his size, skill, and physicality.
Add Khris Middleton's steady growth.
Add Harrison Barnes leading the second unit.
Add Andre Iguodala, signed during the summer before Golden State's financial flexibility disappeared.
The result was a roster overflowing with talent.
Even Lin Yi felt a slight headache studying them.
He knew better than anyone what this Warriors team would eventually become.
Their first true peak was approaching.
By the 2014-15 season, they would become the Western Conference equivalent of the Knicks.
A team capable of dominating the entire league.
Finally, there was Oklahoma City.
Although Lin Yi still believed the Thunder would struggle to reach the Finals, he never allowed himself to underestimate them.
After all, Oklahoma City possessed two genuine MVP-caliber superstars.
Kevin Durant.
Russell Westbrook.
They possessed the ability to change a series in an instant.
And in the playoffs, that was often all it took.
Westbrook had already established himself as one of the league's premier two-way guards.
Durant had clearly entered the season with a mission.
The Slim Reaper was chasing the scoring title.
His field goal attempts had climbed to a career-high 23 per game.
Sometimes Lin Yi genuinely couldn't understand Durant.
The guy was practically a walking cheat code.
He could score from anywhere on the court.
Would it really kill him to take one or two extra shots?
Back when Carmelo Anthony stole the scoring title, one of the biggest reasons was Durant's reluctance to shoot more. If Durant had simply increased his volume slightly, Melo probably wouldn't have had a chance.
And to be fair, when it came purely to scoring ability, Durant was still one of the most terrifying players in basketball.
At present, besides Lin Yi himself, Durant was the only player in the league capable of creating mismatches against virtually every defender.
Too tall for guards.
Too quick for forwards.
Too skilled for centers.
Defending him was a nightmare.
Even more importantly, Westbrook seemed perfectly comfortable with Durant taking more shots. This was the part Lin Yi found amusing.
The Thunder coaching staff often acted as though shot attempts were some kind of limited natural resource.
A modern NBA team could easily generate ninety shot attempts per game. Even if Durant and Westbrook combined for fifty of them, there were still forty shots available for everyone else.
Sure, some role players might see fewer touches.
But was that really a problem?
When you have two nuclear weapons on your roster, shouldn't you use them?
At the same time, Westbrook had recently found a new favorite teammate.
Steven Adams.
The rookie center followed Westbrook everywhere.
Whether at practice, on road trips, or during team activities, the two were practically inseparable.
To Adams, Westbrook was the veteran leader.
To Westbrook, Adams was a
The chemistry between them was developing rapidly.
Of course, Lin Yi knew something nobody else did.
Later in the season, Westbrook may suffer a major injury. It wasn't certain since the timeline was different due to him.
And if that happened, Durant would produce one of the greatest individual campaigns of his career.
Without his co-star, Durant would carry Oklahoma City all the way to the second seed in the Western Conference.
Night after night, he would dominate opponents.
Night after night, he would strengthen his MVP case.
By season's end, Durant would not only win the 2013-14 MVP Award but officially enter the conversation for best player in the NBA.
Lin Yi suddenly laughed.
The more he thought about it, the more interesting the season became. Of course, if Lin Yi wanted to secure a fourth consecutive MVP trophy, simply playing well wouldn't be enough.
He had to outperform everyone else.
And this year, the list of challengers was growing longer.
LeBron James.
Kevin Durant.
Stephen Curry.
Every one of them possessed a realistic chance of winning the award. More importantly, Lin Yi himself had become their greatest source of motivation.
For three consecutive years, he had monopolized headlines, awards, endorsements, and media attention.
Nobody enjoyed living in another player's shadow.
The challengers were coming.
And they were hungry.
. . .
On November 11th, the Knicks traveled to Atlanta and defeated the Hawks.
Kyle Korver came off the bench and immediately reminded everyone why he was considered one of the greatest shooters alive.
He knocked down all five of his three-point attempts.
Lin Yi collected four assists directly from Korver's shooting.
Simple and beautiful basketball.
The Hawks organization, however, was furious.
They had actually made an offer to Korver to try to retain him in the Hawks during the offseason. Unfortunately for Atlanta, there was one small problem.
How exactly were they supposed to compete with New York?
Championship contender.
Global media exposure.
Playing alongside Lin Yi.
The choice had never been particularly difficult.
After securing their fifth straight victory to open the season, Knicks fans grew increasingly confident.
Never mind that Chris Paul was still injured.
Never mind that Tyson Chandler remained unavailable.
The chants continued growing louder.
The 2013-14 season was beginning to resemble complete chaos.
And everyone loved it.
. . .
That same night, another superstar delivered a statement performance.
In New Orleans, against the newly renamed Pelicans, Stephen Curry erupted.
The Warriors guard made ten of his eleven three-point attempts.
Ten.
Out of eleven.
He finished with 48 points.
One day later, during the second game of a back-to-back against the same opponent, Curry somehow surpassed himself.
Eleven three-pointers made.
Thirteen attempts.
Another shooting clinic.
With those performances, Curry became the first player in NBA history to record consecutive games with ten or more made three-pointers.
The basketball world was stunned.
Coincidentally, LeBron James was also making headlines.
Free from much of the pressure that had surrounded him previously, LeBron recorded back-to-back triple-doubles.
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Durant scored forty or more points in three consecutive games.
One superstar after another was putting together signature performances.
Whether they openly admitted it or not.
Whether they even realized it themselves.
The battle for the NBA's throne had officially begun.
And at the center of it all stood one man.
Lin Yi.
The four-time MVP chase was underway.
. . .
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