On April 1st—April Fool's Day—Lin Yi found himself on the receiving end of a full-blown Knicks team beatdown.
The trouble had started between 3 and 4 a.m., when Lin Yi, for reasons no one could understand, decided to call almost every player on the team.
"Isn't the team off today for April Fool's? No practice?"
"Lin, if I don't beat you up this time, I'm not even human!"
"Oh my God… Lin, you're on vacation! Why are you calling us at this hour?"
Paul had organized the morning siege. By the time the Knicks finally stormed Lin Yi's villa with the permission of the resident's Big Mama Olsen, gave him a proper thrashing, and left, it was clear that April Fool's Day pranks were only funny in theory. Most NBA players, after all, have a strong preference for sleep—daily practices and games were already exhausting. Who voluntarily jumps out of bed at 3 a.m. to shoot hoops?
The aftermath was predictable: the Knicks collectively blocked Lin Yi's number… at least temporarily.
Meanwhile, April Fool's Day mischief was spreading across the NBA in its own way. On TNT that afternoon, Shaquille O'Neal almost blew up alongside Charles Barkley over the network's "top ten centers in history" debate.
Barkley, mid-discussion with Kenny Smith, said, "After consulting 101 experts, we all agree: Kareem, Bill Russell, and Wilt are the top three centers of all time."
O'Neal nodded politely. Sure, he thought he belonged in that conversation, but he understood respecting the legends who came before.
Then Barkley listed fourth through eighth: Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Alonzo Mourning.
O'Neal's eyes narrowed. Especially when Mourning's name came up, he glanced at Barkley like, "Wait… where am I in this list?"
Barkley, grinning, said, "Hold on, we're not done. Jack Sikma is ninth, Dwight Howard is tenth."
O'Neal's jaw dropped. "Dwight… ahead of me? No way!"
The Big Diesel stood up, ready to storm off. The TNT director finally intervened: it was just an April Fool's joke.
Barkley laughed, "Kenny, did you see that? When Shaq found out Dwight was ranked ahead of him, his face said, 'Don't stop me—I'm coming out of retirement!'"
Kenny Smith added, "Shaq, you talk about respecting your peers, but hearing Hakeem, Alonzo, and others ranked ahead of you… your expression was priceless!"
O'Neal, half-angry, half-amused, missed those Knicks days. At least then, he could vent by taking a beating out on Lin Yi. Now, pranked as the newest member of TNT, there was nothing he could do… except plot a comeback.
Lin Yi happened to catch the TNT segment that afternoon and immediately called O'Neal.
"Shaq, TNT's really bullying you this time!"
O'Neal chuckled. "Man, you get me. I'll find a way to get even."
"And don't forget," Lin Yi added with a grin, "as a center, I should be ranked ahead of you too!"
April Fool's Day seemed to fill everyone with a mischievous streak. O'Neal laughed and decided to visit Knicks practice in a few days—partly to mess with Lin Yi, partly to hang out.
This time, though, Lin Yi had a serious suggestion: "Shaq, you should host a show called Shaqtin' a Fool."
Lin went on to explain the idea.
The original show highlighted NBA bloopers, and O'Neal immediately loved the idea. "You're a genius!" he said, clapping Lin Yi on the back.
Lin Yi knew it would take until next season for the show to launch, but he was already excited at the thought of personally sending his opponents straight onto Shaqtin' a Fool.
Of course, Lin Yi forgot one eternal truth: sometimes, digging your own grave starts with a perfectly harmless prank.
...
After a day of rest, on April 2nd, the Knicks hosted the Cavaliers. Lin Yi quickly noticed just how much New York's home-court advantage mattered when facing Anthony and JR.
Where was the slightest hint of Melo's scoring-champion flair tonight?
Anthony fired up 29 shots—and made just seven. His partner-in-arms, JR Smith, went 0-for-8 from three. Meanwhile, Lin Yi dominated the boards, snatching a monstrous 24 rebounds. Honestly, it felt like Anthony and JR hadn't even come to New York in this life; they were more like moles sent by the Knicks to sabotage Cleveland.
Even Lin Yi's idol wouldn't have helped that much on the glass.
Home court really messes with these guys, or is it the nightlife again? Lin Yi thought with a smirk after the game.
Two days later, April 4th, the Knicks took down the Pacers 117-104 in Indianapolis, becoming the first team in the 2011/12 NBA season to hit 50 wins.
Lin Yi's beautiful fadeaway was on full display. As April rolled in, his shooting touch had finally warmed up. It was proof that even if your rhythm faltered sometimes, it would never betray you completely.
That night, Lin Yi went 14-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-7 from three and 8-of-9 at the line, racking up a game-high 41 points. He also grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out 9 assists, and swatted 3 shots.
Reporters swarmed afterward, curious if this was Lin Yi's way of sending a message to Bird by scoring 41 points again in Indianapolis.
Lin Yi just shook his head. No matter what he did, the media would twist it. In reality, he'd simply caught fire that game. Scoring 41 points wasn't a calculated stunt—it wasn't some magical 58-point masterpiece that required precision planning.
But the result did have a silver lining: after this scoring spree, Lin Yi finally met the requirements to upgrade his Rebounding Maniac badge.
With that, all five badges tied to his positions had reached Amethyst level. At the same time, this meant his badges were now ready to challenge Diamond level—a whole new frontier.
...
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