GRANDMAESTA_30
patreon
Chapter 254: Shaq, The Man Of Spice
🕑 Added 2025-07-23 20:34:34 +0000 UTCThe 2010-11 NBA's new season schedule was full of spice.
The Knicks, who’ve been rolling with the slogan “One Man, One City,” will kick off their campaign in Miami, taking on the Heat and their new Big Three.
Classic Stern—always with a flair for drama. All four Knicks-Heat matchups are nationally televised: season opener, Christmas Day, after the All-Star weekend, and the showdown before the playoffs. It's almost like he's writing a script.
After Shane Battier agreed to shift to the power forward spot, D'Antoni’s new rotation strategy was finally taking shape. He plans to try it out early in the preseason.
Convincing Battier wasn’t hard. Instead of lobbying the front office for another backup four, Lin backed Battier for the role, believing in the versatility it brought.
And it makes sense. With six players battling over 96 minutes at the 2 and 3 spots, having Battier swing to the 4 just opens things up.
Battier’s a real pro—no ego, no complaints. He’s good with coming off the bench and sliding into the four spot when needed.
With that, D'Antoni and the coaching staff have essentially locked in their 15-man roster, with a core 12-man rotation for the season:
Centers: Tyson Chandler, Shaquille O’Neal, Hassan Whiteside
Power Forwards: Lin Yi, Shane Battier
Small Forwards: Danilo Gallinari, Marco Belinelli, Tony Allen
Shooting Guards: Wilson Chandler, Danny Green, Lance Stephenson
Point Guards: Shaun Livingston, Lou Williams, Patrick Ewing Jr., Patrick Beverley
No surprises—Beverley, Ewing Jr., and Whiteside will probably start the season as backups, warming the bench. But the Knicks are going to lean into a 12-man rotation.
Livingston is set to start at point, but it’s more of a ceremonial role—his minutes will be carefully managed. When he sits, Lou Williams and even Lance Stephenson will get some run at the one.
In games where O’Neal’s size doesn’t fit the matchup, the Knicks will go small and fast with their Five-Defense Death Lineup—a terrifying group defensively.
This rotation gives the Knicks a constant defensive presence, no matter the quarter. Lin Yi looked at the squad and joked they might get charged with assault for bullying teams with such lockdown defense.
And truthfully, the first week of training camp nearly broke him.
Every time he got a break, he’d challenge the O’Neal—not to spar, but to run one-on-ones. He got to let him sweat out all those Big Macs.
Without cameras around, everyone turned it up a notch.
This Knicks defense is no joke. When you’ve got a unit with Chandler, Battier, Tony Allen, Green, and Livingston switching everything, even pick-and-rolls become dead ends. Lin tried to take it head-on on but mismatches weren’t real mismatches—he still had to grind for every shot.
Even pulling up from five feet behind the arc didn’t help. They were snapping at his heels at every turn.
What stung most was that after a summer of hard work, Lin Yi thought he’d be the one dishing out pain. Instead, his teammates had a bowl full of Carolina reapers.
Adding insult to injury was the big guy on the sideline.
O’Neal, who tried to skip drills by pretending his jersey was a microphone, provided live commentary during scrimmages.
“And from Lin’s reckless jumper, Shane Battier had no chance... but wait—THE RIM REJECTS HIM AGAIN!”
“Back in 2000, we had half-man, half-amazing. But now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Newton of Bricks! Lin Yi!”
You hate to admit it, but the big fella’s got a future in broadcasting.
Still, Lin had had enough. One day, after yet another roast, he walked over, gave Shaq a pat on the head, and said:
“Shaq, man... the future’s yours.”
Then he ran for his life.
You don’t poke the bear—especially when the bear’s 300 pounds and used to delivering haymakers.
The Knicks’ coaches couldn’t help but laugh. Every intense training session somehow descended into chaos thanks to this crew. Gallinari would even give mini TED Talks about New York nightlife during breaks. And whenever he got carried away, O’Neal would chime in:
“Weld the doors shut—no one’s leaving!”
Still, not everyone was amused.
Third assistant coach Dan muttered to his brother, “Mike, our opener is against the Heat... and you’re letting them clown around like this?”
But D’Antoni just smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
“Dan, have you seen anyone skipping practice? Shaq hasn’t missed a single session.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t do anything,” Donaldson argued. “He just stands there, cracking jokes. I think he’s showing up just to troll.”
D’Antoni sighed. His brother didn’t get it.
A good locker room matters. These guys joke around, but when it’s time to go, they flip the switch. Every drill gets done, and the intensity is always there.
He wasn’t counting on a 37-year-old Shaq to run wind sprints. The man’s here as a vet presence and to meet the cap floor—but he’s still the second-highest-paid player on the team. No way they can afford him getting hurt from overtraining.
D’Antoni’s not Pat Riley—he’s not running boot camps.
Lin Yi nailed it: Respect your opponent in preparation. But mentally? Treat them like prey.
This team may be playful, but they’re focused. No one’s sulking about the media or panicking over preseason drama. That calm confidence is exactly what D’Antoni wanted.
And with joint training wrapping at the end of September, the Knicks are about to take their show global.
First stop: China.
A pair of preseason games in Beijing and Shanghai against the Houston Rockets await before they fly back to the States—hopefully a little sharper, a little tighter, and a lot more ready.
The return of Yao Ming reignited all the buzz around the long-awaited Chinese Showdown between Lin Yi and Yao Ming. With Shaq now suiting up for the Knicks and Shane Battier switching sides from Yao’s teammate to Lin’s, many Chinese fans couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
The dream of a Yao vs. Shaq showdown rekindled—even if just for a moment—felt like a bittersweet tribute to a bygone era.
...
It’s unclear whether Knicks owner James Dolan was feeling overly generous after a summer of saving on contracts, but the team’s trip to China became an eye-opener for many of the new faces in New York. Even Shaq—who’d seen it all during his Lakers days—was impressed.
Dolan had gone the extra mile, literally flying in fresh ingredients from the U.S. on a private jet just for the team’s meals. It was luxury on another level.
The season was right around the corner, and the Knicks' nutrition was under tight control. Still, the media couldn’t help but marvel at the extravagant logistics—the private plane, the elite support staff, the attention to detail. Even someone of Shaq’s size could lounge on that plane like he was in a five-star suite.
“Man... I think I made a mistake. Should’ve joined New York last season,” Shaq said with a sigh, lying back with a grin.
“Shaq, since we’re going to China,” Lin Yi leaned in with a sparkle in his eye, “how about taking the crew out for some spicy hotpot?”
Shaq’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
He’d been to China before—he knew the power of hotpot. Battier, sitting nearby, just smiled quietly. He didn’t say a word, but it was clear he wasn’t planning to touch that stuff.
The Knicks landed in Beijing on October 2nd, right in the middle of China’s National Day celebrations. Word spread fast that the NBA’s Knicks were coming to book out a popular Chongqing-style hotpot spot, and even the restaurant owner showed up to personally oversee things.
Of course, the Knicks brought their ingredients. It wasn’t about doubting the restaurant—it was just that every calorie had to be accounted for. Nothing could be left to chance.
Still, that didn’t stop the curiosity.
And what followed? A mix of joy and disaster.
Most of the players weren’t ready for the full heat experience. They sweated, they cried, but they loved every second of it. Later, some admitted the burn lasted longer than expected… in places they'd rather not mention.
Shaq, for all his bravado, was in pain. The guy had a glass of milk and a bowl of ice cubes besides him and was trying to cool his mouth.
Battier, ever the sensible one, had held out at first. But watching everyone dig in and laugh in pain and joy, he finally gave in. He picked up his chopsticks—no amateur—and eventually muttered, after a few bites:
“Man... that’s good.”
...
The next day, D’Antoni walked into practice only to see his players... moving funny. They shuffled onto the court like penguins. During drills, they kept subtly reaching back to cover their rears.
D’Antoni blinked.
“What the hell is going on with these guys?”
He was genuinely concerned. For a moment, he wondered if the team had picked up... some unusual new interests.
And given that Lin Yi was still single, D’Antoni got extra suspicious.
Thankfully, First Assistant Coach Kenny Atkinson figured it out quickly. After a quiet word, he explained the side effects of last night’s dinner.
D’Antoni let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Thank God. For a second, I thought I was coaching a team of masochists.”
