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Chapter 223: 'Third Wheel'
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 13:41:45 +0000 UTCApril 1st. April Fool’s Day.
Since Curry made it to the NBA, he and Ayesha could finally enjoy a life together, without counting pennies or excuses.
It was an off-day. Ayesha was prepping a meal, when a warm presence embraced her from the back and placed a head on her shoulders.
“Ayesha, don’t forget to prep a little extra food,” he said, pecking her cheeks. “You know Lin eats like three people.”
Ayesha groaned, folding her arms. “Seriously? Again? It’s April Fool’s, you have to be kidding me.”
Curry grinned innocently. “You know I don’t joke about Lin’s appetite.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was warmth behind them. “You two and your little bromance… Honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m the third wheel in my own house.”
Curry chuckled, grabbing his jacket. “Don’t be jealous, babe. You were the first.”
“Uh-huh,” Ayesha said, shaking her head as she shoved him toward the door. “Tell your other wife I said hi.”
Curry laughed out the door.
...
“Oh, Stephen. Happy April Fool’s Day,” Curry grinned as he pulled up to pick him up.
“Happy April Fool’s Day!” Lin echoed.
As they went in for a handshake, both burst out laughing—each of them had hidden a toy buzzer in their palm.
“You’re still a kid, Stephen.” Lin shook his head, laughing.
“You’re one to talk!” Curry grinned back.
Fun and games aside, Lin Yi had been thinking ahead.
Curry was set to marry Ayesha next year during the expected NBA lockout. Curry, being Lin’s first real friend in the States, was already stressing over what kind of wedding gift to get him.
On the way back, Curry glanced at Lin. “Hey, don’t you usually have someone with you? Still walking around without a bodyguard?”
“You think I have time to care about all that?” Lin replied casually. “Besides, the media writes nonsense half the time. Same stuff used to annoy me when I was just a fan.”
Curry laughed. “You haven’t changed. I’m not talking about tabloid junk. I meant Oakley’s comments about you.”
Ah, that.
Former Knicks enforcer Charles Oakley had recently thrown shade at Lin in an interview, accusing him of stat-padding, questioning the legitimacy of his numbers, and even throwing shots at today’s NBA.
“This league’s soft now,” Oakley had said. “Basketball’s boring.”
Lin had already heard. Dolan, the Knicks' owner, had called him almost immediately. Oakley was a Knicks legend from the old fight club days, so Dolan was understandably upset at Oakley for trying to dim the Knicks' new light.
Lin Yi, though? He didn’t care.
He knew Oakley was about to get himself banned from Madison Square Garden. And as far as the criticism went?
Lin just scoffed.
Sure, he was stacking stats, but he had the tools to do it whilst helping his team to win nine consecutive matches.
Did Oakley forget that in Wilt’s era, the average big man was built like a high school PE teacher?
Wilt was a freak, no question. But how many teams were even in the league back then?
Some fans still believe Wilt once put up 53 points, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 11 steals, and 24 blocks in a game.
Really? If that stat line were real, the final score should’ve been 200–50.
Let’s not even talk about the I slept with over 20,000 women quote.
Respect the legends? Of course. Worship everything they said as gospel? Absolutely not.
Every era has its context, rules, pace, and physicality. What mattered was what you did in your era.
Seeing how chill Lin was about all of it, Curry felt a little admiration.
He’d always been a bit too sensitive to media noise.
...
Today wasn't only April Fool's Day, but it was the day the NBA officially announced the March award winners.
Lin had put up ridiculous numbers:
29.8 points, 13.4 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 3.1 blocks, 1.5 steals.
He’d won Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month in the East.
No surprise there. He’d already taken Player of the Week twice in March. Even LeBron had stopped raising his eyebrows.
In the West, Curry had claimed Rookie of the Month honors again. Just like in Lin Yi’s memory, once Don Nelson started easing off Monta Ellis, Curry’s breakout was inevitable.
His March averages?
19.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.0 steals.
Shooting 47.6% from three. Averaging 2.4 threes per game.
The Player of the Month in the West went to Stoudemire, who’d been a monster—27.7 points on 57.7% shooting, and the Suns were winning.
That competition in the West? Much tighter than the East.
He found himself wondering: if he somehow kept Stoudemire from coming to New York, would Stoudemire stay with the Suns? With Phoenix’s famous medical staff, would his career even last longer?
History was already being rewritten. Lin Yi had made sure of that.
...
Later that night, at Curry’s home, Lin also met Ayesha. Ayesha welcomed him warmly and hugged him.
Curry cherished his family life. His love story with Ayesha was the kind young people envied: a sweet, down-to-earth woman with a big heart, amazing cooking skills, and a bright future ahead running her own restaurant and publishing cookbooks.
That said… Lin couldn’t help but chuckle privately at how Curry seemed cursed like his idol, Kobe. By the time Lin crossed over to this timeline, Ayesha was already pregnant with their third. He wasn’t even sure of the child's gender.
Kobe and Curry—two guys who shot with deadly accuracy on the court and off it.
Over dinner, Lin noticed how much better Curry looked compared to when he’d visited New York earlier. The kid had a strong mental game. Lin had to respect that.
“I envy you,” Curry admitted after dinner. “You’re about to play in the playoffs.”
“You’ll envy me even more tomorrow,” Lin grinned, ruffling Curry’s hair. “Trust me. I’m getting my tenth triple-double tomorrow night in Golden State.”
Curry smirked, subtly flipping him off under the table. “Then I’ll break the NBA three-point record while I’m at it.”
Lin couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, Stephen… you don’t even have to bet on that one. Those records are already yours.
They talked more basketball after dinner. Curry was set to join the U.S. team at the World Championships later that year. Lin made a mental note to remind him to focus on his core strength when he got to training camp—it’d pay off down the line.
That 2010 World Championship would turn out to be quite the story. The U.S. team entered under the radar; even their fans didn’t expect much. But they steamrolled everyone and won the gold easily.
Lin chuckled to himself. The U.S. team had started borrowing European tactics since 2006, and Durant? Well… playing FIBA rules almost felt like cheating for a guy like him.
European teams would set up to guard him one way… only to realize they couldn’t keep up with his first step.
...
When it was time to leave, Curry walked him to the door.
“Lin,” he said a little wistfully, “you think we’ll ever get to be teammates someday?”
Lin patted his shoulder and smiled. “Who knows?”
Curry perked up. “Looking forward to tomorrow’s game, though!”
Lin smirked back. “Of course. Chamberlain was a Warrior, after all. No better place to break his record than on his old floor.”
He ducked just in time to dodge Curry’s playful punch.
“I’ll just drop 13 threes in Madison Square Garden, then!” Curry shot back, rolling his eyes.
Lin threw up his hands. “Hey now—don’t go jinxing me. I don’t need you torching my home court like that!”
On his way out, Lin turned and teased, “By the way, Stephen… you’re not still doing that dumb mouthguard, are you?”
Back in college, Lin had constantly told Curry to cut out those two corny celebrations. Biting the mouthguard? Unsanitary. Shaking your head after a three? That one was cool but didn't have the oomph. Paul George will eventually copy it just to annoy people.
“Relax,” Curry grinned. “I’m working on a new one.”
Lin exhaled in relief. “Good. I’d hate to see you become another highlight reel for trash talkers.”
Tomorrow night was the big one. Lin would have his shot at breaking Chamberlain’s record of nine straight triple-doubles—in Golden State’s house.
It was the last time he’d go all-in on stat-chasing, though. The grind wasn’t sustainable. But while he was still leveling up, he might as well go for it.
...
After everything was over, Lin preparing to leave was called out by Ayesha from the kitchen doorway.
“Hey, Lin! Don’t forget to take your husband with you this time!”
Lin laughed. “No promises, Ayesha.”
Curry just grinned sheepishly. “She loves me, really.”
Ayesha raised a brow. “Debatable.”
After saying goodbye to the Baby-faced Assassin and giving Ayesha a goodbye hug for the delicious dinner, he headed back to the Knicks’ hotel.
What he didn’t know yet… was that tomorrow night’s game would go down in history.
