As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone rushes in to push it down.
After the Sterling Recording Gate erupted, the NBA acted quickly. The league announced a lifetime ban for Clippers owner Donald Sterling and issued a $2.5 million fine.
The punishment received widespread approval.
After the league's decision was announced, LeBron James publicly supported the move, saying it represented a strong defense of the values that made the NBA special.
Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, Eric Bledsoe, and other players also expressed their approval, saying the league's response gave them confidence and reassurance.
Meanwhile, Lin Yi was spending time in New York with his daughter.
He was not surprised by the outcome.
After all, no matter how divided the United States could be, it would never allow a controversy involving racial discrimination to continue damaging the image of its beloved professional sports league.
The NBA went even further.
The league announced that it would pressure Sterling to sell the Clippers.
From a moral standpoint, Sterling was hardly someone worthy of sympathy. His history of controversial remarks was well known, and regardless of personal feelings, racial discrimination was simply unacceptable.
But what caught Lin Yi's attention was not the punishment.
It was the timing.
Something felt strange.
In his original memories, David Stern was supposed to retire in February 2014.
The Sterling recording scandal was supposed to explode in April 2014.
But now...
Everything had happened months earlier.
The timing was too unusual.
Lin Yi knew that the league had wanted to deal with Sterling for years.
The Clippers had one of the most valuable locations in professional sports. They played in Los Angeles, one of the biggest entertainment markets in the world.
After the Lakers secured their own massive television deal with Time Warner Cable, the league had even more reason to help elevate the Clippers into a legitimate rival.
Unfortunately, Sterling had always been the biggest obstacle.
He was basically the NBA's version of Scrooge.
Cheap, stubborn, unwilling to spend, and he was constantly creating unnecessary problems. Therefore, Lin Yi believed that even without this recording, another Sterling scandal would eventually appear.
For someone like Sterling, who had a habit of speaking without considering the consequences, finding evidence of controversy was never going to be difficult.
Lin Yi had read countless conspiracy theories in his previous life.
Most of them were ridiculous.
People loved connecting unrelated dots, turning coincidences into elaborate schemes.
Lin Yi did not want to believe the world was always so complicated.
But sometimes...
Timing was a strange thing.
Adam Silver had just taken over as NBA commissioner.
A new leader needed a defining moment.
He needed an opportunity to prove that he was not simply David Stern's successor, but someone capable of guiding the league into a new era.
And then Sterling appeared.
A perfect storm.
A scandal involving racism.
A hated owner.
A chance to show the entire basketball world that the NBA had changed.
Was it just a coincidence?
Lin Yi could not help thinking about it.
If David Stern was the emperor who had ruled the NBA for three decades, then Adam Silver was the crown prince waiting to inherit the throne.
And Sterling...
Sterling was almost like a target left behind for the new ruler.
The emperor had spent years watching the problem grow.
The crown prince simply needed to step forward, remove the problem, and prove his authority.
Lin Yi remembered what happened in his previous life.
Silver's decisive handling of the Sterling scandal, combined with the NBA's massive television deal announced later that year, pushed his reputation to another level.
Owners trusted him.
Players respected him.
The league embraced him.
Even future labor negotiations became much smoother under his leadership, with both sides finding common ground instead of immediately preparing for war.
However...
The earlier arrival of the Sterling incident made Lin Yi uneasy.
In his original memories, this was supposed to be one of Silver's greatest moments.
But now it had happened before Silver had even fully established himself.
If that opportunity disappeared, what would become his first major achievement?
What would convince the league that Adam Silver was the right man for the job?
Of course, Lin Yi knew he might simply be overthinking things.
Conspiracy theories were entertaining because they made the world seem more mysterious than it really was.
Maybe there was no grand plan.
Maybe Sterling had simply managed to destroy himself earlier.
Maybe the NBA had merely found an opportunity to remove a problematic owner and bring in someone better suited to represent the league.
Sometimes, the simplest explanation was the right one.
But after experiencing the butterfly effect firsthand...
Lin Yi had learned one thing.
History was far more fragile than people imagined.
...
On November 15, the Knicks traveled to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers.
Anthony Davis once again experienced the cruel reality of meeting Lin Yi. The young big man had finally started building confidence this season.
Then he ran into Lin Yi.
And Lin Yi had returned to playing center.
It was terrible timing.
If Anthony Davis could already completely shut down Lin Yi at this stage of his career, then Lin Yi might as well retire.
However, to be fair, this Cavaliers team was genuinely impressive. People could criticize Carmelo Anthony for dominating the ball too much, but nobody could deny that he was still an elite scorer when given the right system.
Mike Brown's tactics fit this roster surprisingly well. Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo focused on defense and energy. Carmelo controlled the offense.
And when JR Smith entered one of his unpredictable shooting streaks, Cleveland suddenly became dangerous.
By this point in the season, the Cavaliers had climbed to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
The city of Cleveland had fallen in love with basketball again.
Lin Yi watched the situation unfold and could only sigh.
NBA friendships really are fragile.
Because he knew something nobody else did.
Carmelo Anthony was currently standing in the way of his good friend LeBron James returning home. This season, Melo's reputation had reached new heights.
Fans didn't mind that Melo takes around 20 shots per game while shooting roughly 45%.
In the eyes of Cavaliers fans, that is not ball-hogging.
That is called taking responsibility.
A superstar who dares to take the final shot is a hero.
A superstar who dares to carry the offense is a leader.
That was how Cleveland viewed Carmelo Anthony.
Besides, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis were both incredibly easygoing personalities. Neither of them entered the league proclaiming that they were destined to conquer the NBA.
They simply worked.
They improved.
They played.
For the Cavaliers front office, this was the kind of future they had dreamed about.
No panic.
No disastrous trades.
No desperate attempts to recreate the past.
As long as they avoided making stupid decisions, this young Cavaliers team had everything needed to grow into a contender.
Even Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was slowly getting over his obsession with LeBron James.
After all...
What could be better?
A young core developing year after year.
A talented roster.
No luxury tax nightmare.
A team getting better right in front of his eyes.
This was the kind of fairy tale rebuild every owner dreamed of.
Of course, Lin Yi could not help wondering...
If LeBron secretly looked at that enormous Carmelo Anthony poster hanging in Cleveland when in town with the Heat, would he shed a tear?
After all, the city that once waited desperately for him had found a new hero. Unfortunately for Cleveland, that new hero happened to be the man blocking his way home.
. . .
On the night of the 15th, the Knicks gave the Cavaliers no chance.
Lin Yi completed another triple-double in only three quarters before leaving the game early.
The final quarter was simply garbage time.
After the game, Carmelo even invited Lin Yi out for a late-night meal in Cleveland.
. . .
On the 17th, the Knicks returned home and defeated the visiting Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks' paint was basically an open highway.
Larry Sanders was supposed to be the guardian of Milwaukee's interior defense. Unfortunately, Sanders' heart was slowly drifting away from basketball. This season, he had already missed multiple team practices because his passion for the game was fading.
Bucks head coach Larry Drew had tried everything.
Private conversations.
Public encouragement.
Warnings.
Nothing worked.
Once Sanders had made up his mind, there was nothing anyone could do.
He wanted to pursue another life.
Basketball simply was no longer his priority.
Meanwhile, Otto Porter had inherited the glorious tradition of former Bucks star Brandon Jennings.
This season, after repeatedly producing shooting performances like one-for-ten, Porter earned a loving nickname from Bucks fans:
One-Shot Porter.
But what could Porter do?
He was suffering in his own way.
He knew he was not naturally that kind of player.
But the Bucks believed he had superstar potential.
So they kept giving him opportunities.
In Lin Yi's opinion, Porter's development environment was actually better than Giannis Antetokounmpo's.
If Giannis had received Porter's level of opportunity and trust early in his career, he might have entered the star conversation much sooner.
Because in the NBA, talent alone was never enough.
Opportunity mattered.
Development mattered.
Most importantly...
The player himself mattered.
Anthony Bennett was the perfect example.
Even if he had avoided the pressure of being the first overall pick in Cleveland, Lin Yi doubted he would have suddenly become a star elsewhere.
Great players became great because something inside them refused to accept failure.
Jimmy Butler.
Kawhi Leonard.
Their situations changed.
Their teams changed.
Their environments changed.
But their mentality never did.
Sometimes, personality truly determines destiny.
If Kobe Bryant had not possessed that terrifying obsession with improvement...
Would Kobe Bryant still have become the Black Mamba?
. . .
On December 18, the Knicks flew to Los Angeles to prepare for their matchup against the Clippers on the 19th.
Interestingly, in Lin Yi's original memories, the Clippers' season had been heavily affected by the Sterling scandal.
The locker room had been shaken.
Players had been distracted.
The entire organization had fallen into chaos.
But this time, history had changed.
Because the scandal happened much earlier, and the league responded immediately, the Clippers players did not remain trapped in the controversy for long.
They returned their focus to basketball.
Currently sitting eighth in the Western Conference, the Clippers were still fighting for playoff positioning.
Doc Rivers, who had found a new opportunity in Los Angeles, constantly reminded his players:
Ignore the noise.
Focus on winning.
Blake Griffin was having another incredible season.
Griffin was averaging over 25 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Eric Bledsoe had also continued improving.
And with Griffin and Amar'e Stoudemire forming a powerful frontcourt partnership, the Clippers had become one of the league's most entertaining teams.
Whether they could win a championship was another question.
But every game was worth watching.
However...
There was one player, Blake Griffin, who missed every night.
DeAndre Jordan.
The two had once dreamed about dominating Los Angeles together.
They had talked about chasing championships.
They had talked about conquering the league.
So why...
Why did DeAndre quietly leave him behind and join the Bulls for money?
. . .
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