While Lin Yi was once again flooding Twitter, YouTube, and Weibo…
Oakland.
Stephen Curry had been on a tear. Since coming back from injury, The Baby Faced Assassin had been shooting with such precision that reporters joked he must've installed an aimbot. Fans couldn't help but sigh—no wonder Davidson once stunned North Carolina; with Lin Yi and Curry, any game could turn into a one-sided highlight reel.
In the Warriors' locker room, Cousins leaned over and nudged him.
"Stephen, why are you always so low-key with the media? You just hit eight threes again. Man, you've earned the right to be a bit louder. And shouldn't you have a signature celebration by now?"
Curry smiled and shook his head.
"No, DeMarcus. Our dorm motto back at 4001 was simple—humility."
Cousins blinked.
"…What?"
He'd known that "4001" was the dorm Curry shared with Lin Yi in college—just like he'd roomed with Wall at Kentucky, and they'd had their own motto to hype themselves up.
But humility?
Lin Yi? Humble?
Cousins almost laughed out loud. I
Curry, in a good mood from his hot streak, hummed to himself as he walked out of Oracle. He glanced at the Koenigsegg Lin Yi had given him and muttered, amused, "Lin was right. Being humble is good… but padding stats? That's the real future."
Yes—4001 had multiple mottos.
"Pad—that's king" was another one they lived by.
And lately, Curry had been playing with just a bit more selfishness.
The result? His numbers jumped, and suddenly the praise rolled in.
Even better, his agent team was deep in early contract-extension talks with the Warriors, and Curry's rising stat line was giving them new leverage by the day.
Jerry West watched Curry's growth with quiet certainty. In his eyes, this baby-faced shooter wasn't done—he was just getting started.
...
New York.
With the 404 duo firing on all cylinders, the Knicks launched into another surge. ESPN said that the Knicks were like a dozing beast—quiet one second, tearing through everything in sight the next.
The 76ers, Raptors, Pistons, Bucks, Magic, and Hawks all fell one after another during New York's March blitz.
"The Knicks are ridiculous," Barkley said on air. "Injuries don't even slow them down. And look at Tracy—New York's given him a second career. This team is something else."
On CCTV, Sun Zhengping was energized:
"This season, whenever the Knicks score 110 and hold opponents under 100, they are undefeated!"
During a Knicks–Magic broadcast late in March, Zhang Heli delivered what became an instant meme:
"Haha, Howard fouled out—but honestly, it doesn't matter. He wasn't doing much tonight anyway."
Although the Knicks hit a brief speed bump with their first back-to-back losses of the season, they snapped out of it fast and resumed steamrolling the league.
And during that run, Lin Yi averaged 16.5 rebounds, including 5.5 offensive boards per game.
As Lin Yi explained afterward with a straight face:
"My shot wasn't falling…
but that doesn't mean the rest of my stats have to suffer."
Lin Yi understood that his chances of winning the scoring title were slipping away. Even so, after a steady March sprinkled with a few explosive nights, he still averaged 26.1 points for the season. And more importantly, the 404 duo had cemented themselves as the most dangerous pairing in the league.
James and Wade were scoring slightly more, sure—but Lin Yi and Paul were combining for 22+ rebounds and 17+ assists per game. On top of that, with Lin Yi taking on more playmaking duties, Paul could fully unleash himself on defense. He was averaging 3.7 steals, hounding ball handlers like it was personal.
If teams weren't being extra careful about sending their shots into Lin Yi's hands, the 404 duo would be sitting on top of even more statistical categories.
Across the league's five major metrics, both of them were in the top ten in scoring. Lin Yi led the league in rebounds, ranked fourth in assists, Paul topped the steals chart, and Lin Yi sat third in blocks.
As Klay—who insisted on anonymity—put it, "Those two have turned stat-padding into a form of organized craftsmanship."
Lin Yi had already registered 29 triple-doubles this season. Plenty of players don't hit that number in their entire careers.
Even Kobe.
Then again, hitting thirty-plus triple-doubles is tough when you're not the lone superstar. It's not like Lin Yi could just nudge Paul mid-game and say, Hey, mind missing one so I can grab the rebound?
So, in his own way, he had to give Westbrook some credit. When you're launching fourteen shots a night that don't go in, the boards suddenly become much easier to tally. No wonder Kobe used to say Westbrook reminded him of himself.
The Knicks closed out March with a long winning streak, pushing their record to 48–4, comfortably first in the league. After missing out on Eastern Conference Player of the Month in February, Lin Yi reclaimed the award—his eighth in nine months.
In the West, Durant picked up another monthly honor. The Rookie of the Month awards stayed with Klay and Kyrie, as usual.
With March behind them, the season moved into its final stretch. Because of the lockout, the regular season would wrap up on April 26th.
Inside the Knicks' training facility, Lin Yi glanced at the schedule during a break.
"Only twenty-nine more rebounds. I'll try to knock it out in two games."
Paul walked over with two sports drinks, tossing one his way.
"Lin, you've been hunting rebounds like crazy lately. Haven't you already grabbed more offensive boards this season than your first two years combined?"
Lin Yi cracked open the bottle and took a sip.
"Chris, I'm an optimistic, hard-working guy. Grabbing rebounds is part of my job description. Don't worry—just shoot with confidence. I'll clean up the rest."
Paul gave him a look that translated perfectly: Sure. Totally believable.
The more he got to know Lin Yi, the more convinced he was that something else was going on. Why would someone who normally preferred defending the spaces suddenly turn into an offensive rebounding machine?
Detective Paul wanted answers.
But Lin Yi couldn't exactly tell him the truth.
Even D'Antoni had pulled him aside.
"Lin, I don't think you need to chase every offensive rebound that hard…"
The coach was genuinely concerned he'd get undercut or blindsided. In the NBA, plenty of players who looked harmless could be unpredictable. Metta World Peace alone had more highlight elbows than some players had dunks.
Lin Yi understood the concern, but still replied with a straight face,
"Coach, if I start worrying about getting hurt and stop going after them, who's going to secure those rebounds?"
D'Antoni sighed.
"I get it. Just… pick your moments. You can rest on the floor when you need to."
Lin Yi looked up at the ceiling, exasperated. Thibodeau would've happily played him fifty minutes a night, and here his own coach was encouraging him to relax.
It was a superstar perk, he knew. After losing Billups for the season and Livingston for a stretch, D'Antoni was simply terrified of another injury.
But Lin Yi wasn't afraid of getting hurt. What scared him was not being strong enough.
And there was no way he'd stop padding rebounds—he needed the numbers.
Because among his five badge tracks, only one wasn't at the amethyst level:
Rebounding Maniac.
...
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