Just as the league's superheroes were busy forming new alliances to chase headlines away from Lin Yi…
Lin Yi and Li Ruoqi had just wrapped up filming a Nike commercial.
Originally, the shoot had been scheduled for September, but after Olivia was born, Nike wisely pushed the schedule back. No one wanted to interrupt Lin Yi's new life as a father.
Lin Yi's part was simple. A few setups, a few lines, half a day of work at most.
Li Ruoqi, on the other hand, was the focus of the entire concept.
She played an overweight, awkward girl struggling with self-image, who gradually transforms through discipline and training into a confident, glowing version of herself.
After reading the script, Lin Yi couldn't help shaking his head.
"Nike writers must have watched too much anime," he muttered. "So I'm the mysterious person who shows up at the end?"
In the final scene, when Li Ruoqi's character hits her lowest point, Lin Yi steps in and delivers Nike's slogan in a calm voice.
"Just. Do. It."
Then the story closes with her transformation and a clean ending, where she finally stands up for herself and moves on from people who once looked down on her.
Simple, effective, and very on-brand.
Still, if Lin Yi had written it himself, it probably would've gone in a different direction.
Not because the message was wrong, but because reality didn't always match the script. Li Ruoqi was already naturally beautiful. The "transformation" idea felt more like marketing than truth.
Lin Yi had a blunt opinion on these kinds of narratives.
. . .
During her stay in New York, Li Ruoqi ended up helping take care of Olivia for two days.
It all started with Elizabeth and Li Ruoqi hitting it off.
Li Ruoqi and Olsen got along faster than either of them expected. What started as a polite conversation in the living room turned into easy laughter once they discovered they both had little patience for formalities and a shared interest in simple routines around home life.
Olsen talked about life around Lin Yi's chaotic schedule with a kind of relaxed honesty, while Li Ruoqi admitted she had imagined the household to be far more intimidating before actually stepping into it.
By the time Olivia woke up crying from her nap, the two of them were already standing side by side out of instinct.
Olsen handed her over without hesitation, and Li Ruoqi followed naturally, adjusting her hold after a bit of awkward trial and error.
From there, it became an unspoken arrangement. Olsen guided her through feeding and soothing, and Li Ruoqi picked up the rhythm quickly.
It was supposed to be a short visit, but somehow she ended up doing diaper duty like she had signed a temporary contract.
At one point, she finally worked up the courage to ask Lin Yi for tickets to a Knicks home game.
"I didn't expect it to be this hard to get seats," she admitted. "Everything sells out so fast."
Lin Yi laughed lightly and patted her head.
"Next time you're in New York, just tell me. I'll sort it out."
Li Ruoqi froze for a second.
Then she lowered her head slightly, clearly a bit embarrassed.
"…You just patted my head."
Lin Yi shrugged.
"Is that a problem?"
"It feels like I'm a little kid or something," she said quietly.
Lin Yi chuckled. "That's not how it works. I do it to all my teammates."
. . .
On the 14th, the Knicks had a rest day. The next game would come on the 15th, at home against the Spurs. A rematch of last season's Finals.
Even without Paul and Chandler, fans were eager to see how New York would handle it.
San Antonio, meanwhile, had not started the season well. Popovich's team looked nothing like the machine people were used to seeing, sitting at 1–4 after a rough opening stretch.
Losses piled up quickly.
Dallas.
Golden State.
Even a disappointing home loss to the Lakers, where Kobe Bryant went off for 46 points, shooting volume and confidence were fully intact.
Around the league, people were already starting the usual talk.
"Spurs might be done."
The same conversation that somehow came back every single year.
. .
During practice on the 14th, Lin Yi stayed behind after training and organized another internal three-point contest for the Knicks.
Nothing complicated.
Just competition, rhythm, and a little noise in the gym before a big game.
The Knicks' internal shooting contest ended in chaos and laughter.
Klay Thompson and Danny Green were all knocked out in the first round, leaving Ellington and Korver to face off in the final.
Korver didn't miss much. By the time the rack settled, he had already put up 28 points, calm and mechanical, like he was running the same drill he had done a thousand times before.
No one complained about the result.
If it came down to pure catch-and-shoot rhythm, Korver wasn't just good, he was in a category of his own. Among active shooters, nobody argued the point.
Danny and Klay were used to quicker release contests and off-movement shooting, so in a pure spot-up format, they were clearly outmatched.
Vince Carter sat on a chair, watching it all unfold, and slowly started to understand why Miami had looked so helpless against this group last season. It wasn't just talent. It was how loose everything felt, like winning was the default setting in their environment.
Then Carter's turn came.
Lin Yi turned to Carter, casually pointing toward the court.
"You know what, Vince," Lin Yi said with a slight smile, "You can't sit down all lonely. Let's see your legendary dunk."
Carter raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "You sure about that? I'm not here to embarrass anyone."
"Just do your thing," Lin Yi replied. "No expectations."
That was enough.
Then Carter took off.
The man rolled back the years before a clean 360 windmill that hit every memory from his prime happened in one motion.
The gym went quiet for half a second before exploding.
Lin Yi stood there, eyes wide.
For a moment, he didn't even speak.
"You're still doing that?" he finally said, half disbelief, half respect.
Carter just whistled. "Still have the legs."
. . .
On the 15th, the Knicks returned to business at home against the Spurs.
On TNT, Charles Barkley leaned forward with a look of sudden realization.
"Wait a second, fellas. Are we missing something here?"
Kenny Smith frowned. "We probably are, because that sounded serious."
Shaquille O'Neal rubbed his head. "I swear I feel like I forgot something important."
Barkley snapped his fingers. "In two weeks, it's Lin's 24th birthday."
Kenny laughed. "Here we go again. Are we betting on this?"
O'Neal immediately shook his head. "No. I'm not doing that. That 'birthday thing' is not real. It's just a coincidence people keep repeating."
Barkley tilted his head. "But that coincidence happened three times. So you're confident?"
O'Neal kept quiet.
Kenny smirked. "That sounded like doubt."
Barkley leaned back, satisfied. "Alright then. Let's see what logic does against Lin Yi."
. .
Inside Madison Square Garden, Lin Yi had no idea his name was already tied to another TNT theory.
He was too busy greeting Tim Duncan at center court like an old rival meeting again.
Around the arena, the atmosphere was already building. The Spurs were here. The Knicks were ready. And whatever theories TNT was cooking up, none of it mattered once the ball went up.
. . .
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