In early October, the Knicks were scheduled to play two China Games—one on the 8th in Beijing against the Rockets, and another on the 10th in Shanghai against the Wizards.
This year, Lin Yi brought Olsen back home with him.
Compared to their son's achievements and national glory, Lin Yi's parents were clearly far more interested in Olsen.
As a result, Lin Yi, who had planned to spend some quiet time with his parents, was promptly pushed to the sidelines.
The moment Olsen stepped through the door, Lin Yi's parents froze for half a second.
Then Lin Yi's father broke into a wide grin and waved enthusiastically.
"Hey, hey! You finally bring your pretty, pretty white girlfriend!" he said in halting English. "Come, come, come! Don't stand there."
His mother hurried over, gently pulling Olsen closer by the arm, smiling so hard her eyes nearly disappeared.
"Very bu-tiful," she said, nodding repeatedly. "Very, very butifull."
Lin Yi hadn't even had time to put his bag down before his father was already gesturing toward the living room.
"Come, come. Sit. I show you small Lin Yi," he said proudly. "Little boy, very naughty. Always break things. Haiyaa."
He pointed toward the old photo wall. "This, this… Yi's family small boy."
Olsen laughed, covering her mouth, and leaned in to look at the pictures.
Lin Yi groaned. "Dad…"
"No Dad me. Don't call. Always busy. Little Yun show me pictures of you and daughter-in-law on blue bird at..." He looked to his wife. "What the name again?"
"Boa Boa." Her wife replied whilst sitting Olsen at the dining table.
"Bora Bora," Lin corrected.
"So you now you grow tall and earn dorras, you get big chest to correct your mother. Haiyaa. You beat me, too. Come. Come."
His father kept on scolding Lin while his mother ignored him completely.
"Eat first, eat first," she said warmly to Olsen. "You like Chinese food? If not, I make other. Anything okay."
Lin Yi's father nodded seriously, shifting attention to Liz. "Fuiyoh. You eat good. You family now."
Olsen's face turned red, but she smiled and bowed her head slightly.
"Thank you, Father… Mother," she said in careful Chinese.
The room went silent for a beat.
Then both parents lit up.
"Ohhh!" his mother clapped her hands. "She speak Mandarin! Good! Good! Fuiyoh!"
Lin Yi's father laughed loudly.
"Good girl, unlike him," he said, pointing sternly at Lin Yi with absolute satisfaction.
Lin Yi sighed. He already knew how this visit was going to go.
Olsen spoke acceptable Mandarin, far better than most foreigners, and Lin Yi's parents adored her. Within a day, the elderly couple had already moved on to their favorite topic.
So… when were they going to have a "little Lin Yi"?
That question completely caught Olsen off guard and prompted a full-blown blush.
As her relationship with Lin Yi continued to deepen, she had already begun thinking seriously about starting a family with him. Whilst Lin was at the Olympics this summer, Tijana had even teased her about it on calls.
Still, hearing it directly from Lin Yi's parents made Olsen blush uncontrollably.
"You can't mess around with a girl like that," his mother said in Mandarin. "She learned Chinese just for you. Her Mandarin is smoother than that of foreigners."
They even added that while they had never been interested in living in the United States, things might be different if there were a grandchild involved.
Lin Yi didn't argue. He knew this wasn't just about his parents' expectations anymore. As his relationship with Olsen matured, this was becoming a very real conversation they would eventually have to face.
He told himself he'd think it through once he returned to New York.
…
On October 8th, at Beijing's Wukesong Basketball Arena, the preseason matchup between the Knicks and the Rockets drew a massive crowd.
The Knicks' popularity in China that season was off the charts. When Yao Ming and Lin Yi appeared on the court, the roar from the crowd was so loud it made players from both teams visibly stunned.
Before tip-off, Knicks sophomore Klay took part in a shooting event with Anta. He attempted ten three-pointers at midcourt, and for every shot he made, Anta gave away a pair of Anta KT1s on the spot.
Klay made all ten.
He didn't smile, just absolute concentration, making sure he made every bucket. That serious expression alone convinced fans that this was no gimmick. He was all business.
As expected, the Uncle Klay commercial shot in China also exploded in popularity shortly after it aired.
In the ad, Klay appeared in heavy makeup as a seventy-year-old grandfather who joined a streetball game with a group of young players. At first, they barely took him seriously.
Then the old man started shooting.
Step-back threes. Fadeaway threes. Deep threes.
Shot after shot splashed through the net, leaving the young players frozen and increasingly uncomfortable. All while in his signature shoes.
The cameras were hidden throughout the filming, capturing the genuine shock on bystanders' faces. When Klay finally removed the beard and disguise, the crowd completely lost it.
Fans later confirmed online that it wasn't staged. According to people who were there, Klay had hit over twenty consecutive threes during the shoot.
Klay's popularity surged almost overnight.
On the Knicks' jersey sales list for the new season, he jumped past Paul and into second place on the team.
His rise made both Harden and Jeremy Lin more than a little envious.
Harden openly declared that he needed to start learning Mandarin, too. After all, the Rockets still had a massive fan base in China.
Ironically, the league had originally scheduled the Knicks–Rockets China Games, hoping to leverage Jeremy Lin's Asian-American background and bring more eyes as they did with Yao Ming and Lin. Unfortunately, his popularity in China didn't reach the level the league had expected.
. . .
In this China Game, the Knicks played as if they were at home.
Lin Yi logged just fifteen minutes before calling it a night, while Yao Ming, after checking in, couldn't help but sigh—this Rockets team was completely different from the one he remembered.
With Hayes, Scola, and others gone, the Rockets of the Yao–McGrady era had officially become a memory. And when Yao Ming and McGrady appeared in Knicks jerseys together that night, many Chinese fans couldn't hold back their emotions.
For a brief moment, it felt like their youth had returned.
As Lin Yi remembered, the Rockets had traded Kyle Lowry to the Raptors before the season. This was now James Harden's team. Jeremy Lin still had solid performances, but his rhythm with Harden was inconsistent.
Jeremy Lin's style was better suited to leading a second unit—pushing the pace, attacking aggressively off the bench. Lin Yi remembered that the best-rated season of Jeremy Lin's career would eventually come when he embraced that sixth-man role with Charlotte.
When he shared the floor with Harden, his touches naturally shrank. And the newly arrived coach still hadn't quite figured out how to maximize Jeremy Lin's role.
As for Harden?
Once he landed in Houston, he was finally unleashed.
The Space City magnet. The master of drawing contact. The man who turned free throws into an art form.
Harden's game was far more pragmatic than it looked. Behind the step-backs and the flair was ruthless efficiency—his true shooting percentage hovered near 60% year after year, and his points per shot were well above league average.
Still, when Harden repeatedly drew fouls against the Knicks, the Wukesong Arena erupted in boos. Harden looked genuinely aggrieved.
Lin Yi draws fouls too! he thought.
Fans, however, were unanimous on one point.
"The difference," they insisted, "is that Lin Yi rarely does it."
Harden could only stay silent.
The highlight of the game came in the second quarter.
Lin Yi attacked the rim hard, shouldered past Asik, and detonated a vicious two-handed dunk. The moment instantly set the arena on fire.
Many fans felt that the dunk alone was worth the price of admission.
With Lin Yi set to return to the Slam Dunk Contest this season, he made sure to give Chinese fans a preview during halftime.
Starting from just inside the free-throw line, he took one long step, rose into the air, and threw down a reverse dunk. The arena exploded once again, MVP chants rolling through Wukesong like thunder.
After the game, entertainment stars seated courtside rushed over for photos and autographs, eager to ride the wave of Lin Yi's popularity.
That summer, Zhong Muchen had secured Lin Yi an absurd number of endorsements.
Everyone understood one thing: once you caught Lin Yi's momentum, opportunities followed naturally.
That level of popularity, however, gave Olsen a mild sense of crisis.
Several actresses behaved as if she didn't exist at all, pressing close to Lin Yi during photos, deliberately brushing against his arm.
"That's completely shameless," Olsen said afterward, clearly annoyed.
"Easy," Lin Yi said with a smile, dipping down for a kiss which drew 'awws' from the crowd. "I've got only eyes for my witch. Plus, my parents will skin me alive if I dare mistreat you."
In the end, in a game that doubled as a showcase of Lin Yi's influence, the Knicks defeated the Rockets 115–110.
The standout for New York was Klay, who drilled seven three-pointers and finished with a game-high 28 points.
For Houston, Harden scored 23, buoyed by a near-perfect night at the line—15 of 16 free throws.
After the game, Harden and Klay chatted briefly. Few people knew it, but the two were genuinely close.
Harden invited Klay out to a Beijing nightclub.
Klay shook his head.
"No time," he said calmly. "This season, I'm taking care of that married baby in Golden State who doesn't know his place."
As a proud member of the 2009 "plastic friendship group," Harden gave his full support.
. . .
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