Lin Yi stayed in his hotel room and took the night off.
The schedule during All-Star Weekend could get exhausting if a player let it. Lin Yi had learned that lesson after his first appearance. This time, he planned to keep things simple. Rest when he can, enjoy the weekend, and stay healthy.
At dinner that evening, Chris Paul leaned back in his chair and looked at Lin Yi with a teasing smile.
"So," Paul said casually, "are you going for a fourth straight NBA All-Star Game MVP or are you finally letting someone else have it?"
Lin Yi laughed and shook his head.
"Honestly? I'm not that interested anymore."
Paul raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?"
Lin Yi shrugged.
"It's fun for the fans, but it's still an exhibition game. Half the time, people are throwing alley-oops instead of playing defense. Winning MVP there doesn't really prove much."
Paul smirked.
"You said the same thing last year."
"And yet you were the one feeding me passes," Lin Yi replied.
Paul grinned but did not argue.
This year, Lin Yi had a different priority.
If there was one event he absolutely wanted to win, it was the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Too many fans were waiting for it.
Lin Yi had already seen the reactions online. Expectations were ridiculous. People were debating whether he could top his previous performances.
He planned to try.
Most of the ideas he prepared came from streetball moves he had watched and practiced for years. The difficulty level was high. If he executed them cleanly, he believed he had a strong chance to win a third dunk title.
Execution was the key.
Miss a dunk or lose rhythm, and the whole performance could collapse.
Before going to sleep that night, Lin Yi opened the familiar system panel he occasionally checked.
The badge list appeared in front of him.
Dream Footwork, Amethyst.
Rebounding Maniac, Amethyst.
Ankle Breaker, Diamond.
Tough Shotmaker, Amethyst.
Limitless Range, Amethyst.
Nothing surprising there.
With the way he had been playing lately, the Dream Footwork badge would likely upgrade to Diamond early next season. His post-game had become more aggressive and creative, partly because he enjoyed studying the moves of Hakeem Olajuwon.
Tough Shotmaker was also close.
That one improved every time he practiced the kind of off-balance jumpers his idol Kobe Bryant loved to take.
If things continued at the current pace, that badge might reach Diamond before the season ended.
The two slowest badges were Rebounding Maniac and Limitless Range.
Those required constant grinding.
Lin Yi had already pushed himself harder than most players during the season, yet both were still far from upgrading.
Below the badges were his positional development stats.
Center (Amethyst, 57%)
Power Forward (Amethyst, 41%)
Small Forward (Amethyst, 61%)
Shooting Guard (Amethyst, 59%)
Point Guard (Amethyst, 56%)
Ever since all his basic abilities reached Amethyst earlier in the season, the system had started showing percentage progress. The higher the number, the more refined and balanced his abilities were at that position.
Lin Yi stared at the panel for a moment.
Then he closed it.
"The job isn't finished," he muttered quietly.
Improving during the season had become his biggest advantage against the Anti-Lin Alliance, which was forming around the league.
Most players simply did not push themselves that hard once the season started.
The NBA schedule alone drained energy. Long flights, back-to-backs, late games, media appearances. During the season, most teams focused on recovery and tactical preparation.
Few players were willing to wake up at four in the morning every day to refine their skills.
The Knicks were strong this year.
But basketball was not a math equation.
Five All-Stars on paper did not guarantee victory.
Lin Yi still remembered the bitter feeling from last year's playoff disappointment.
If someone had to experience that pain this season, it would not be him.
Growth required failure.
Someone else could learn that lesson.
The crown was heavy, and not everyone could wear it.
The future belongs to everyone, Lin Yi thought.
"But right now?"
He smiled slightly.
"For now, it's mine."
. . .
On February 15th, the NBA Rising Stars Challenge opened the All-Star weekend at the Toyota Center.
The format remained the same as the previous year.
Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley served as opposing coaches again.
Unfortunately for Team Shaq, the results were brutal.
Lin Yi watched the game from the stands and shook his head halfway through.
Shaq's roster decisions were questionable at best.
The league's style had shifted toward perimeter play in recent years, and Shaq clearly disliked that trend. In response, he filled his roster with guards and wings who could attack the basket.
The problem was simple.
He forgot one thing.
Rim protection.
Without interior defenders, Team Shaq's paint turned into an open runway.
Team Barkley had two dominant big men, Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried.
The result was predictable.
The pair combined for seventy-four points and twenty-five rebounds, completely controlling the interior.
Meanwhile, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who Shaq had placed near the basket for stretches of the game, looked miserable as Davis and Faried dunked repeatedly over him.
Every highlight seemed to include him standing underneath the rim.
By the end of the night, Anthony Davis won the Rising Stars MVP.
Faried's numbers were similar, but Davis's performance was far more spectacular.
Before the game, Davis had openly said he wanted to pay tribute to Lin Yi.
During the game, he attempted several coast-to-coast fast breaks, dribbling from one end of the floor to the other before finishing at the rim.
In a game where defense was relaxed, the plays looked effortless.
Even his three-point shot suddenly caught fire. During the season, his percentage hovered around thirty percent.
That night, he shot four for six from deep.
When Davis accepted the MVP trophy, he smiled and mentioned Lin Yi directly.
Davis said during the interview. "He's THE MAN currently. One day, I want to get a quadruple-double too."
Lin Yi's influence on the league was becoming obvious.
Years ago, a quadruple-double sounded impossible.
Now, the younger players spoke of it as a challenge.
In another sport happening at the same time, something similar was unfolding.
As the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo intensified, scoring fifty goals in a season suddenly felt normal.
Records that once looked untouchable started to feel closer.
Sometimes, all it took was a player or two to prove it could be done.
. . .
After the warm-up act of the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, the real spotlight of All-Star Weekend began to take shape.
On the morning of the 16th, both conferences held their practice sessions ahead of the NBA All-Star Game.
This year's Eastern roster looked… crowded.
Four Knicks. Three Heat players.
Fans had already started calling it The Eastern Power Bloc, and honestly, no one on the team seemed interested in arguing with that.
For the first time, the atmosphere felt completely different.
Paul George and Jrue Holiday stood off to the side during stretches of practice, watching the veterans talk and joke like they were at a private gathering. Neither of them said much.
At one point, George leaned slightly toward Jrue.
"Feels like we showed up to the wrong place," he said under his breath.
Jrue let out a quiet laugh.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm just trying not to mess anything up."
Across the court, Chris Paul was chatting with a group, while Rajon Rondo kept to himself.
There was no interaction between the two.
Not even eye contact.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra understood the situation well enough. He kept rotations loose during practice and did not attempt to pair them together.
Spoelstra moved around the court with a clipboard, speaking in a calm, measured tone.
"Keep it simple," he told the group. "We'll run a few sets, but don't overthink it. Let the game flow."
His voice was steady, but there was a hint of caution there.
Coaching a roster full of All-Stars was less about strategy and more about balance.
Say too much, and someone might take it the wrong way.
Say too little, and the team looks unorganized.
From a talent standpoint, the East still had the edge this year.
On paper, they were deeper, more athletic, and more cohesive.
If everything went as expected, they could make it four straight wins over the West.
Meanwhile, the Western All-Stars looked far more relaxed.
At one end of the court, a few veterans were joking around, barely taking the drills seriously.
During the warm-ups, LeBron James walked directly toward Lin Yi.
That alone caught a few people's attention.
Lin Yi noticed him coming and paused his shooting.
"Didn't expect you to come find me," Lin Yi said, spinning the ball lightly in his hands.
LeBron smiled.
"Figured we should talk," he said. "We don't really get the chance during the season."
Lin Yi studied him for a second.
LeBron did not usually make casual approaches like this without a reason.
"Alright," Lin Yi replied. "What's on your mind?"
LeBron glanced around briefly, then looked back at him.
"You've been on a run," he said. "Forty-plus, night after night. Then the recent quadruple double. Congrats."
Lin Yi shrugged.
"I'm just playing my game."
LeBron nodded slowly.
"Yeah. And it's working."
There was a short pause.
Then LeBron continued, his tone shifting slightly.
"Look, I'll be straight with you. When you're playing at that level, everything changes. The way teams defend you. The way your own team depends on you."
Lin Yi did not interrupt.
"I've been there," LeBron James said. "You carry that kind of load for long enough, it catches up with you if you're not careful."
Lin Yi gave a small smile, almost amused.
"I carried that load and got a ring out of it," he replied. "So yeah, I understand it. Probably better than most."
He paused, eyes steady.
"But do you?"
LeBron stopped for a second, the words landing.
Then he let out a breath and shook his head, a reluctant smile creeping in.
"You really had to go there?"
Lin Yi just shrugged, calm as ever.
A brief silence followed before LeBron's expression tightened, just slightly more serious now.
"When the Finals come," he said, "it won't be the same. I will have my coronation."
Lin Yi met his eyes without hesitation.
"Nah, I have grown a taste for hanging banners."
LeBron held his gaze for a moment, searching, then nodded once.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I figured you would say that."
The tension eased, not gone, but settled into something closer to respect.
LeBron reached out, tapped the ball loose from Lin Yi's hands, then tossed it back.
"Enjoy the weekend," he said, stepping away. "Just don't go too crazy in the dunk contest."
Lin Yi caught the ball, a light grin forming.
"No promises."
LeBron laughed under his breath as he turned and walked off.
. . .
Please do leave a review and powerstones, which helps with the book's exposure.
Feel like joining a Patreon for free and subscribing to advanced chapters?
Visit the link:
[email protected]/GRANDMAESTA_30
Change @ to a