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Chapter 91: Ice cream, Hamsters and New Beginnings
🕑 Added 2025-04-28 13:09:23 +0000 UTCWith Lin Yi's conversation skills and a bunch of college basketball stories, Elizabeth easily warmed up to him.
Turns out, Elizabeth was a total foodie. The moment she saw the coffee and caramel ice cream, her big beautiful eyes lit up like Christmas lights, although she tried to hide.
After some casual chat, Lin Yi learned that Elizabeth had come to L.A. for the summer to hang out with her sisters. She wasn’t the Scarlet Witch yet, hadn’t starred in any R-rated movies either. At best, she was just a "cameo girl" showing up at her sisters' events. Basically unknown.
The reason she even recognized Lin Yi?
Well, Elizabeth was studying at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and kept up with basketball.
After sharing ice cream and getting to know each other better, Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised by how Lin carried himself and made her feel like his equal. She being a no name and him being the no.1 pick of the NBA earning millions of dollars. She was starting feel like this was a happy accident.
For Lin Yi though, he thought it was a good idea to befriend a future star. But after having a nice conversation with Elizabeth, he surprisingly enjoyed his time with her. Having several topics they agreed on.
After footing the bill, he decided to walk her to her home.
They walked in a comfortable silence, appreciating the bustle of the city.
They soon passed by a pet shop.
“Ohhh my god, look! Hamsters!” Elizabeth squealed, pressing her face against the glass.
In the cage, a fat little furball looked up and squeaked back at her.
“Are you sure that's a hamster?” Lin Yi said, laughing. “Look at how fat it is. You sure that’s legal?”
“Squeak! Squeak!” The hamster seemed to be protesting being body-shamed.
Elizabeth giggled. “It’s sooo cute, though. ”
Lin Yi seeing how exited about the cutie, just bought it for her, no questions asked. Pet, cage, starter food—everything.
Holding the hamster, Elizabeth beamed at Lin Yi. "Today was the best. Although it started badly. Best ice cream, best surprise pet... Lin, you’re seriously a nice guy."
He soon brought her to her doorsteps.
"Thanks again for the ice cream and Wiggles."
"Wiggles, already got it named? No problem, I did enjoy your time too."
" So... can I have your number...? Maybe catch up when free, plus some free courtside tickets." Lin said while trying to sound natural.
Elizabeth looked taken aback, but soon smiled and nodded.
After the exchange of phone numbers, they bid their goodbyes.
...
Lin Yi headed back to Griffin’s private gym.
When he walked in, the guys were just finishing their baseball game, all sweaty and laughing.
“Where the hell were you, man?” Curry asked, tossing a baseball up and down.
Lin Yi just shrugged. "Having fun ‘cause someone—" he side-eyed Curry, "—hit a damn home run. Although grateful for that."
They tried to pry the information out of Lin, but the guy refused to budge. They smelled gossip.
“Tomorrow we’re playin’ football!" Blake Griffin announced. “Basketball’s gettin’ boring!”
"Football?" Lin Yi lit up. "Hell yeah, I’m in."
And so the six of them continued their summer of training, goofing off, and getting better...
With Lin sneaking off from time to time to only God knows where.
...
Meanwhile, the NBA offseason had its share of drama.
Ben Wallace signed a one-year deal with the Pistons after getting cut by the Suns. Allen Iverson ended up signing with the Grizzlies. The Knicks added Earl Barron and Doug Norris on cheap deals.
Fast forward—September 10th.
Lin Yi’s phone buzzed.
[Knicks] Training Camp Starts Tomorrow. Be ready.
Here we go.
...
After three months of hardcore training, Lin Yi was feeling himself. Six-pack abs, baby. Weight locked in at 116 kg. Body fat? 10%. He wasn’t just strong—he was lean and fast. Even Blake Griffin had a hard time out-benching him now.
When Lin Yi showed up at the Knicks facility, Coach Mike D'Antoni's eyes practically sparkled.
Forget just the No. 1 pick hype—this kid looked ready.
But Lin Yi knew better than to get cocky. This team had a ton of veterans on contract years—guys like Al Harrington—and rookies always had it rough. If you weren’t careful, the locker room politics would eat you alive.
And Lin Yi wasn’t planning on being anyone’s punching bag.
...
After practice, Coach D'Antoni pulled him aside.
"I talked to your college coach, McKillop," D'Antoni said, sizing him up. "He said you’ve got your own ideas about tactics."
Lin Yi grinned. "Yeah, Coach. I like to think about the game a little differently."
D'Antoni looked intrigued. "Alright, humor me. If you were the core of this team... how would you run things?"
Lin Yi didn’t hesitate.
"Simple. I'd run heavy pick-and-rolls between me and the guards to create switches and mismatches. The others spread the floor and stay ready to shoot or slash. We keep the ball moving until somebody gets a good look."
D'Antoni nodded, interested.
"And on defense?"
Lin Yi continued, "Shrink to protect the paint if the other team's good at driving. Otherwise, switch everything. I’m confident I can hang with guards off screens."
"And the pace?"
"Push it. Fast breaks whenever possible. If my teammates are willing to run, I can hit them with outlet passes right away. I want us to wear teams down."
"And the three-pointers?"
Lin Yi smiled. "We should be taking 35–40 threes a game, easy. I've got a shot too, but I'd rather anchor the second unit if needed. Play six minutes in the first, rest, and then run with the bench."
D'Antoni stared at him for a long moment—then broke into a wide smile.
"You’ve been studying us, huh?"
Lin Yi just shrugged. "Ever since the draft, Coach. Figured I better be ready."
Bro, I watched your future playbook back when you coached Harden and CP3, Lin Yi thought to himself.
D'Antoni couldn’t stop grinning. He hadn’t expected this. Not only was Lin Yi physically ready, he got the system. He wasn’t just some big body, no brain—they could actually build something around him.
...
And so, Lin Yi’s NBA journey really began.
In a world full of doubters and old-school hazers, he was about to crash the party.
Big time.
