Chapter 740: Jeremy Lin Is Here
"You are Jeremy Lin?" Nelson asked, studying the young Asian face in front of him.
Jeremy Lin did not answer immediately. The assistant coach beside him spoke first.
"Yes, this is Jeremy Lin."
Only then did Jeremy Lin recover from his nervousness.
"Hello, Coach."
Nelson nodded.
"I have watched your Development League film. You have considerable potential, and our team happens to need a point guard. Starting tomorrow, you will train with the 1st team."
Nelson's understated words struck directly at Jeremy Lin's heart.
After more than 1 year in the league, he had finally received an opportunity.
It had arrived suddenly.
However, Jeremy Lin was not completely unprepared.
When he saw the news that the Knicks point guards were suffering injuries one after another, he had a feeling that his chance might be coming.
Although he had only been in the league for a little over 1 year, Jeremy Lin had already changed teams 3 times.
First came the Warriors.
Then came a brief signing with the Rockets, only for him to be cut almost immediately.
Now he had arrived with the Knicks.
Jeremy Lin could not even be considered a league journeyman.
At least journeymen appeared in official NBA games.
Jeremy Lin could only fight for opportunities in the Development League.
But he refused to waste any chance.
In the Development League, he played with everything he had. Over the previous week, he averaged 20.8 points and 6 assists.
It was precisely those numbers and performances that caught Nelson's attention.
There were so many players in the Development League. Without proving himself, why would Nelson have specifically called him up?
Overall, Jeremy Lin's luck was not bad.
D'Antoni had always favored point guards, and after the Knicks suffered repeated injuries at the position, Jeremy Lin received more opportunities and control of the ball.
In this world, Nelson was equally unconventional when using players.
As long as Jeremy Lin performed well in the minutes he received, remaining with the team would not be too difficult.
The next day, at the Knicks training facility, Chen Yan saw someone practicing 3 pointers as soon as he entered.
Chen Yan was usually the 1st person to arrive.
Someone had actually beaten him there today?
Curious, Chen Yan walked closer.
It was Jeremy Lin.
Hearing footsteps, Jeremy Lin turned around. The excitement on his face could not be concealed, and his voice trembled slightly when he spoke.
"Hi, Chen. It is great to see you. I am a huge fan. I grew up watching you play."
Chen Yan immediately asked, "How old are you this year?"
Jeremy Lin froze.
He had spent 4 years in college and was the same age as Chen Yan.
In fact, Chen Yan was even a few months younger.
But Jeremy Lin had not been flattering him.
He truly had grown up watching Chen Yan play.
After all, this was already Chen Yan's 5th season in the NBA.
As a fellow Asian player, Chen Yan had always inspired Jeremy Lin.
Seeing Jeremy Lin's awkward expression, Chen Yan patted him on the shoulder.
"I am joking. Welcome to the Knicks."
In truth, on the day Anthony Carter was injured, Chen Yan had already thought of Jeremy Lin.
After all, Linsanity had erupted around this time in his previous life, and Jeremy Lin should still have been playing for the Knicks Development League affiliate.
Chen Yan had planned to mention him to Nelson today.
He had not expected Nelson to move so quickly.
Jeremy Lin did not show much during the training session.
It was obvious that he was playing too tensely, perhaps because he wanted too badly to remain with the 1st team.
After the scrimmage, Chen Yan walked over to encourage him.
"You will definitely get a chance to play tonight, and probably in the next few games too. But if you cannot relax, even 10 more opportunities will not help you."
Chen Yan smiled.
"Just play freely. You have nothing to lose. Can your situation become any worse than it already is? Stop burdening yourself with unnecessary thoughts and go for it."
Chen Yan's words were direct, but they were also effective.
A light immediately appeared in Jeremy Lin's eyes.
That was right.
What did he have to fear?
He did not even have a guaranteed contract. He was a player who could be cut at any moment.
If he played freely and performed well, perhaps he could remain in the NBA.
If he failed, he would simply leave.
There was nothing unacceptable about that.
That night, the Knicks faced the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Before the game began, Jeremy Lin sat alone in a corner and prayed.
He was a devout believer and placed great faith in such things.
Yi Jianlian pointed toward him.
"Chinese?"
Yi Jianlian had missed the morning scrimmage because of discomfort in his elbow.
"Chinese American," Chen Yan replied.
"Can he speak Chinese?"
"Ask him yourself."
Yi Jianlian smiled and walked away.
He was not the type to actively approach strangers and start conversations.
Chen Yan did not pay too much attention to Jeremy Lin.
His focus was already on the game.
Because this was a shortened season with only 66 regular season games, every matchup carried greater importance.
Tonight's opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, currently held a record of 6 wins and 10 losses.
That was not too bad.
At least it was better than Chen Yan had expected.
After James left, Cleveland received the number 1 draft pick and selected Kyrie Irving, a talented young guard.
Chen Yan specifically observed Kyrie Irving during warmups.
The young man looked extremely enthusiastic.
As long as Kyrie Irving approached the game seriously, Chen Yan respected his ability.
Tonight, the Knicks starting point guard was Beverley.
He looked extremely excited.
At this rate, he might remain the team's starting point guard for quite some time.
The rest of the Knicks starting lineup remained unchanged.
The Cavaliers started Kyrie Irving, Anthony Parker, Omri Casspi, Antawn Jamison, and Anderson Varejão.
The game officially began.
DeAndre Jordan overpowered Varejão on the opening tip and tapped the ball toward Chen Yan.
DeAndre Jordan's success rate on jump balls was extremely high.
Both his physical measurements and athletic ability ranked among the best active big men in the league.
Beverley did not ask for the ball.
He ran directly toward the frontcourt.
He was very smart and understood who the boss of this team was.
Anthony Parker was responsible for guarding Chen Yan.
For Chen Yan, Parker was an old opponent.
During Parker's time with the Toronto Raptors, he had frequently been assigned to defend Chen Yan.
Chen Yan first burst 1 step to the right, then quickly pulled the ball back.
Anthony Parker's leg trembled, and he nearly fell to the floor.
The combination of Chen Yan's speed and rhythm made his dribbling extremely difficult to read.
Often, a simple move was enough to make a defender stumble.
Anthony Parker steadied himself and continued following.
Chen Yan paused slightly, then accelerated again, using the change of rhythm to get past him.
Anthony Parker had once been a good defender.
But as he aged, experience was almost all he had left.
Chen Yan stopped abruptly near the free throw line and rose for a jumper.
Swish.
Good.
2 to 0.
Chen Yan scored the opening basket, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Cleveland attacked.
Kyrie Irving immediately responded.
He dribbled into the frontcourt and called for a pick and roll, then burst through the gap between Varejão and DeAndre Jordan.
Facing David West's help defense, Kyrie Irving made an elaborate adjustment in the air and finished with a hanging reverse layup.
The entire move was smooth and seamless.
Kyrie Irving possessed the fearlessness of a young player who had not yet learned to be intimidated.
He did not believe Chen Yan was anything extraordinary.
In his mind, the outside world had merely exaggerated how great Chen Yan was.
.....
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