Rewind
On May 6th, after a full week of waiting, New York finally got its team back.
At Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks opened the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a statement. A clean, controlled 25-point win over the Brooklyn Nets, and the series was 1–0 before it ever felt competitive.
Lin Yi never needed to press.
In just 27 minutes, he went 8-of-12 from the field, 2-of-4 from deep, and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. 22 points, 10 boards, 7 assists, 2 blocks. Efficient and completely in control.
The Nets looked flat. Two days removed from a Game 7, their legs were gone early. If Lin Yi had decided to push, 60 was there.
He just did not care.
This was not the series for that.
The Knicks were thinking ahead, and so was he. The regular season had already taken its toll, especially after chasing down Michael Jordan's record. What mattered now was recovery, rhythm, and timing.
There is a difference between taking what is there and forcing it. Lin Yi understood that line.
Burning energy here made no sense. Not when the real target was waiting.
LeBron James.
…
If New York looked in control, the Miami Heat looked anything but.
They dropped Game 1.
The Indiana Pacers walked into Miami and took it, powered by Paul George, who put up 41 on 14-of-27 shooting. Confident, aggressive, and completely unfazed by the stage.
Something had shifted in his game.
…
Out West, the Oklahoma City Thunder grabbed Game 1 at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant dropped 31, but it came on 11-of-31 shooting, and it was not enough.
The series still felt open.
Dwight Howard remained a factor inside, and Kevin Durant's rhythm could swing either way from night to night. That matchup was far from settled.
…
In San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs took Game 1 from the Dallas Mavericks.
Lin Yi watched the replay afterward and understood immediately.
This Spurs team was not pacing itself anymore.
They were locked in.
Kyrie Irving had his moments, but Tony Parker controlled the tempo when it mattered. Dallas struggled on the wings, and once the game slowed, it tilted toward San Antonio's comfort zone.
Manu Ginóbili was chaos as usual. Shot selection did not matter when the ball kept going in.
And then there was Tim Duncan.
12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks. Nothing that jumps off the page.
Everything that wins games.
His positioning, his timing, and his communication, it all held the structure together. The kind of impact that never shows up fully in the box score.
Across from him, Dirk Nowitzki fought the same battle he had for over a decade.
Lin Yi knew how this story could end. In another timeline, Duncan's defense was one of the reasons the Heat never completed their three-peat.
And this version of the Spurs had another piece growing into that identity.
Jimmy Butler was still developing, still rough in stretches, but the foundation was there. Even when the shots did not fall, his presence did not hurt the system. He fit into it.
By this stage of the playoffs, the shape of the race was becoming clearer.
For the Knicks, the priority was simple. End this series fast.
Every extra game the Miami Heat had to play mattered. Every bit of rest New York could secure mattered more.
…
That night, while the games dominated the headlines, the league's attention shifted elsewhere.
Tonight's meeting wasn't about the playoffs.
Tomorrow, May 7th, the league will officially announce the winners of the 2012–2013 regular season awards.
Stern had a headache.
The main issue wasn't trivial. Could the Knicks' 75 wins really be credited solely to the players? If not, should the Coach of the Year award go to D'Antoni again?
To many, the Coach of the Year didn't carry the weight of a championship. Yet if D'Antoni claimed it this season, it would mark his fourth career award and make him a back-to-back winner. At that point, who could still doubt he was the best active coach?
Klay, the Knicks' sixth man, had dominated the competition statistically. Giving him the Sixth Man award again, handing the MVP to Lin Yi, and selecting multiple Knicks for the All-NBA First and Second Teams… would any team even want to compete?
The league often executed moves that challenged fans' intelligence. It was about balance. If one team dominated too easily, viewership could drop. Stern's headache stemmed from this explosive Knicks season—so explosive that even deciding the awards felt impossible.
In the meeting room, Stern looked over the assembled executives. He spoke first: "Everyone, feel free to share your thoughts. Adam and I discussed this yesterday. He suggested LeBron for MVP and D'Antoni for Coach of the Year. What do you all think?"
Stern handed out the regular-season MVP voting results.
Jalen Dis, the NBA Deputy Commissioner, shook his head. "That won't work. Isn't that essentially changing votes?"
The MVP vote, since 2009–10, included media, reporter, and fan input. Tampering could trigger backlash. Dis couldn't support Silver's suggestion.
Silver, however, dismissed his concerns. "Jalen, Lin already has two MVPs, and he's only 23. If we let him win three straight, how will other players from his era compete? LeBron's stats this year deserve recognition, too. We invested heavily in him. Why not use his performance to help him return to peak form? As for Lin, we can consider his next MVP later."
Dis disagreed. "Adam, MVP is about dominance this season. The Knicks won 75 games. Lin broke Michael's regular-season scoring record and led in votes. How can we deny him?"
He added, "Three consecutive MVPs aren't a problem. And if Lin struggles next season and we award him 'false MVP,' do you think fans will accept it?"
Suppressing Lin made no sense. His performance was driving the NBA's overseas growth.
A foreign player, if truly exceptional, could reshape perceptions.
Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, and others were foreign players who helped globalize the game. Lin won't be the first or last.
After the Chinese men's team won silver at the London Olympics, skepticism about the NBA from international players shifted. The influx of international talent was proof.
Dis supported Stern's global strategy: the strongest basketball still came from the U.S., but the best player didn't have to be American.
"Look at soccer," Dis said. "Even a global powerhouse like Brazil can't guarantee a World Cup. The NBA needs commercialization and fresh talent. China's promotion of Lin over the past two years has outpaced U.S. activity. China is already the second-largest basketball nation, with a fan base far larger than ours. Promoting Lin wasn't just about inspiring young Chinese players; it was about engaging their audience. Why shoot ourselves in the foot?"
Stern paused, deep in thought. "Jalen, if Lin gets MVP, how do we distribute the other awards?"
Dis proposed a plan. Silver immediately objected.
In his eyes, fairness and justice were naive concepts. Why restrict resources for tradition's sake?
He didn't have any grudge against Lin Yi; he liked the guy, in fact, for bringing more eyes to the NBA.
But letting him win three consecutive MVPs would raise eyebrows because, at the end of the day, this was an American sport.
The league had the power to allocate as it saw fit. Since Larry Bird, no one had won three straight MVPs.
Furthermore, after Stern gained complete control of the league, three consecutive MVPs became extinct in the NBA.
Even His Airness never achieved the feat of three consecutive regular-season MVPs.
Silver believed that after the Knicks achieved 75 wins, the influence of the Bulls team from back then had already diminished significantly.
If Lin Yi kept dominating the NBA MVP, players of his era would simply be unable to further their careers.
Additionally, in Silver's mind, the league hadn't fully utilized the MVP as a highly marketable topic.
Silver had previously suggested moving the MVP award ceremony to after the NBA Finals.
Silver hoped to make the NBA more commercialized because only then could the NBA make more money.
Dis did not agree with Silver's point of view. He said, "Adam, commercialization is fine, but don't forget, basketball is also a competitive sport, and the essence of competitive sports lies in competition."
"Why does the NBA have so many legendary stories? If the NBA becomes purely a show, what's the point?"
Silver was furious, "Jalen, trust me, my plan will definitely help the league maintain its topicality more."
"Take this year's playoffs, for example. If the Knicks and Heat meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, the attention on that series will definitely break records, right?"
"So why don't we secretly assist at the appropriate time to make that series go to seven games?"
"Legendary stories can also be created by humans. If there are no stories, we'll fabricate stories for the fans. An NBA like that will not only make money but also be more attractive to fans!"
Silver ended his speech passionately.
Dis shook his head, "Adam, too much interference from referees will only cause fan backlash. Take the 2009-10 NBA Finals, for example; even if the Lakers and Celtics didn't go to seven games, it was still a classic for many fans."
Dis did not want too much human interference in the game itself.
In Dis's mind, hype was completely fine.
Didn't the league also hype up 23 vs 24 back then?
But Stern didn't put the Cavaliers in the Finals just for hype.
Why did the NBA have such an ugly Finals like Spurs vs Pistons at the turn of the century?
It was because Stern understood that too much human interference would only cause public resentment.
So, hype is hype, pushing is pushing, but the script ultimately has to be returned to the players.
The league can suppress dynasty teams by changing rules or allocating draft picks, and can even find ways to dismantle powerhouses, but if they rely on referees to write the script...
They'd be criticized to death sooner or later.
Stern certainly didn't pursue fairness or justice, but on some matters, the old man had his own bottom line as a person.
And Stern himself had played with fire... He knew that once referees interfered too much with the game, the results often easily spiraled out of control.
For example, in the 2010-11 season, Silver had suggested that referees help the Mavericks, because a seven-game series would be more beneficial for ratings.
However, Stern rejected Silver's suggestion.
Because Stern knew very well that the Knicks and Mavericks were very evenly matched at the time, and once the series score became 3-3, the Knicks might just lose their morale.
Similarly, even if the Mavericks were leading the Knicks 3-1 at that time, Stern would not have interfered with that Finals series.
However...
It was still such a headache.
Giving LeBron James the regular-season MVP would further help him recover, and it would also maintain the league's consistent policy of not putting all its eggs in one basket.
But...
Dis's suggestion also made a lot of sense.
Lin Yi winning three consecutive MVPs would further elevate his historical status, further demonstrate the NBA's fairness and justice, and, in the future, international players would be more willing to play and pursue their dreams in the NBA.
Stern no longer hesitated.
Indecision was not his style.
However, Stern perhaps never expected that before his retirement, he would encounter such a difficult situation to decide upon.
Stern motioned for Dis and Silver to stop arguing.
"After hearing Adam and Jalen's suggestions, I've decided to arrange things this way," Stern slowly began.
May 7th.
The NBA officially announced the winners of the 2012/2013 NBA regular season awards.