Chapter 794: Fan Discussion
The Knicks fans were reluctant to leave Madison Square Garden.
Even after the final buzzer, thousands remained in their seats and continued celebrating.
For many of them, it had been so long since New York reached the Eastern Conference Finals that they could barely remember the last time it happened.
The Knicks players were just as happy.
Most of the roster had never reached the Eastern Conference Finals either.
Chen Yan smiled as he exchanged high 5s with his teammates.
Then he walked over to Yao Ming.
"Congratulations, Little Yan," Yao said with a forced smile. The disappointment on his face was impossible to hide. "Keep going. Try to win another championship ring."
"Brother Yao, this was 1 of the most memorable series of my career," Chen Yan replied. "It was also a historic moment. 2 Chinese players finally faced each other as opponents in the NBA Playoffs."
Yao waved him off.
"Little Yan, spare me the polite speech. I did not lose. I just get to go home early and prepare for the Olympics."
Chen Yan immediately laughed.
Yao had already confirmed that he would participate in the 2012 London Olympics.
It would most likely be the final Olympic Games of his career.
"Then I will see you in London, Brother Yao."
The 2 embraced.
After saying goodbye to Yao, Chen Yan walked toward Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony.
Both spoke with him amicably for a few moments.
"We will see each other again soon in London," Deron said.
"Not necessarily," Chen Yan replied. "China and the United States are not in the same group this time."
Deron smiled faintly.
"I think China will advance far enough for us to meet. You have Yao, Yi, and yourself."
"Of course we will advance," Chen Yan said. "I meant the United States might not."
Deron almost laughed.
Almost.
He had just been eliminated from the Playoffs, and the disappointment was still too fresh.
Anthony would not be going to London.
After such a physically and mentally exhausting season, he had decided to spend the offseason resting instead.
"Carmelo, you impressed me in this series," Chen Yan told him. "Every time I tried to score against you, there was pressure. That made it more exciting."
"Same here," Anthony replied. "I enjoyed competing against you."
He did not say much more.
Like Deron, he still needed time to process the loss.
On the broadcast, Kenny Smith looked over Chen Yan's numbers.
"Chen finished tonight with 41 points, 15 assists, and 13 rebounds. For the series, he averaged an unbelievable 50 points, 10 assists, and 8.9 rebounds. Those numbers do not even look real."
Barkley shook his head.
"And they could have been worse for Brooklyn. A lot of these games were over early, so Chen did not even play every possible minute. And remember, he was seeing double teams, sometimes 3 defenders, sometimes practically the whole team."
Kenny laughed.
"The scary part is that this still might not be the best basketball we have seen from him."
Barkley nodded.
"No question. This is Chen Yan's era."
Kenny looked toward him.
"The last player who controlled the league this completely was Michael Jordan."
Barkley grinned.
"I know that guy pretty well."
The praise continued after the game.
Kenny later summed up the significance of the victory.
"Congratulations to Chen Yan and the New York Knicks. They are now 1 step closer to the championship."
Barkley added, "And Yao deserves respect too. He fought hard throughout the series. His season ends tonight, but he still has the Olympics ahead of him. We are going to see him and Chen on the same side soon enough."
At the post game press conference, Yao did not hesitate to praise New York.
"We felt tremendous pressure throughout this series," Yao said. "It was different from what we experienced against other teams."
"Their perimeter shooting puts enormous pressure on the defense. The Knicks are a championship caliber team. There is no doubt about that."
He paused.
"And Chen Yan is the center of everything. He is the most important player on that team and the spirit of the entire group."
The series was already over.
Yao no longer needed to worry that praising the opponent might damage Brooklyn's confidence.
He simply said what he believed.
Anthony offered similar praise before promising that the Nets would return stronger next season.
Some fans were skeptical when they looked at Anthony's increasingly heavy frame.
Meanwhile, Chen Yan accepted congratulations from reporters inside New York's locker room.
"Thank you," he said. "But do not praise us too much yet. We only reached the Eastern Conference Finals. We have not won the championship."
A reporter smiled.
"But I saw champagne in the locker room. You are not planning to open it early, are you?"
Chen Yan laughed.
"Absolutely not. We do not have anyone arrogant enough to celebrate before the job is finished."
He gestured toward the bottles.
"That champagne stays right there until we win the championship."
The Knicks held a brief celebration in the locker room after eliminating Brooklyn.
It did not last long.
Nelson reminded everyone that the real celebration would come only after they won the title.
Soon, attention shifted toward Chen Yan's astonishing series statistics.
50 points.
10 assists.
8.9 rebounds.
Those were numbers that looked more like something produced in a video game than across an entire Playoffs series.
Fans quickly filled online discussions.
"Take Chen Yan off this Knicks roster and Brooklyn destroys them. Put Chen back on the floor and New York wins the series 4 to 1. That tells you everything."
"The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference Finals. I do not care whether they face Boston or Miami. They are not losing."
"Their perimeter offense is ridiculous. Chen shoots from the moment he crosses half court and somehow it still feels like a good shot. Maybe teams need to bring in an enforcer just to slow New York down."
"1 enforcer? That probably is not enough for Chen."
"I forgot. Chen used to be the league's unofficial boxing champion."
"He probably still is. He just grew up and stopped throwing punches."
"The Knicks have no pressure this year. Their offense is too far ahead of everyone else. The only way to stop them is for the NBA to create a new rule tomorrow banning 3 point shots."
The joke was exaggerated.
But the idea behind it was not completely absurd.
Throughout NBA history, rules had sometimes changed in response to overwhelmingly dominant players.
The league once widened the lane from 6 feet to 12 feet partly to reduce George Mikan's dominance near the basket.
Later, the lane expanded again from 12 feet to 16 feet during the era of Wilt Chamberlain.
When Bob Cousy and other skilled ball handlers could protect leads by simply dribbling away enormous amounts of time, the introduction of the 24 second shot clock transformed the game.
Later, the league adjusted defensive rules and the structure around the paint during the era of dominant interior forces such as Shaquille O'Neal.
So when Chen Yan saw fans joking about the league eventually creating a rule specifically to limit him, he could not help feeling pleased.
Because the joke carried an implication.
In the eyes of those fans, Chen Yan had already joined the ranks of the most dominant players in NBA history.
There was only 1 major difference.
Finding a rule that could actually limit him would be extremely difficult.
Chen Yan could attack the basket.
He could shoot from anywhere.
He could pass.
He could play with the ball or without it.
Unless the league created a rule preventing Chen Yan from touching the basketball, there was no obvious way to legislate him out of dominance.
....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]