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Chapter 100: Pre-season Drama
🕑 Added 2025-05-03 12:50:14 +0000 UTCThe Knicks-Hawks preseason game didn’t just make headlines—it blew up.
The game got stopped for almost half an hour because of the chaos.
New York media, especially The New York Documentary, didn’t hold back. They praised Lin Yi’s NBA debut—“composed, sharp, commanding”—and then went all in on Zaza Pachulia. One article even dug up an old photo of Zaza grabbing Yao Ming by the throat like some kind of WWE move, just to show this wasn’t his first rodeo.
As for the Knicks' guys—Ewin Jr and Earl Barron—nobody dared criticize them too harshly. Let’s be honest: New York had finally gotten itself a good-looking player who could ball and draw in fans. Were they seriously going to toss him aside now? That’d be asking to get roasted by every media outlet in the city.
Meanwhile, over in Atlanta, The Atlanta Post tried to play the “innocent victim” card. They claimed Zaza didn’t mean to do it, that Lin Yi walking off after sinking his tech-free throws was “unprofessional,” and even floated the idea that he should be suspended.
Yeah... that didn’t land.
Public opinion? Nuked them.
Even NBA stars started chiming in.
Stephen Curry, who still remembered being stomped on in college, went on record:
“That was 100% deliberate. Zaza’s move was dirty as hell. Lin could’ve been out for the season. The league has to start cracking down on this.”
Steph’s dad, Dell Curry, added:
“I can’t believe stuff like that still happens in the NBA. If the league lets it slide, more players are going to try it.”
Vince Carter, who’d taken his share of cheap shots back in the day, said:
“No way that was an accident. I’m just glad Lin’s okay. I’ve played with Yi before—tough and hardworking. He doesn’t deserve this.”
When Yao Ming heard what happened, he immediately called to check on Lin. After hearing he was okay, he went public:
"Some players have never really gotten a fair shake in the NBA, unless you are superstar level. I remember Zaza trying the same thing on me. No call, no consequences. Honestly, I’m disappointed.”
Even Kobe Bryant weighed in with a signature dramatic flourish:
“That wasn’t a foul, that was an assault. Lin’s lucky he walked away. The league better do the right thing.”
Durant added, blunt as ever:
“Disgusting. Dude should be banned. That kind of move doesn’t belong in basketball.”
LeBron? He brought up his own experience:
“Back in the ‘07 Finals, I got undercut, same type of thing. The guy just missed. Lin was lucky. The league better act, or this stuff won’t stop.”
Basically, it turned into a full-on PR nightmare for Atlanta. The Hawks tried to spin it by releasing a video of Zaza getting wheeled into the hospital, like he was the victim. But the internet wasn’t buying it. Too late. The league had already made up its mind.
Behind closed doors, the Hawks’ execs were panicking. They eventually decided to pull Zaza for the whole season—even if he could play, they weren’t putting him back out there. The guy had become a league-wide pariah, and the Hawks didn’t want to take the hit.
That night, Commissioner David Stern called an emergency meeting. The fighting in New York had to be punished, no question. Zaza’s suspension? Not even up for debate.
The only real discussion was: Should Lin Yi be punished too?
The verdict came out fast:
Ewing Jr: Suspended 30 games, $50k fine.
Earl Barron: Suspended 20 games, $50k fine.
Zaza Pachulia: Suspended an extra 10 games, $50k fine.
Lin Yi: Just a $10k fine for mouthing off.
In other words: New York got spanked—but also got a pat on the back. And Lin? Well, Lin Yi just became one of the few players in league history to curse out the refs and not get suspended for it.
Lin knew exactly what the NBA was doing. This wasn’t arrogance—it was politics. Players had to protect themselves. If you played it too nice, too quiet, you got walked all over. The NBA wasn’t a place for Boy Scouts.
Zaza’s 10-game suspension didn’t seem like much, but with the Hawks benching him indefinitely, it was a season ban. They weren’t going to put their whole organization on the line for a guy everyone now hated.
Later that night, Stern held another meeting—this time with the refs. He made it clear: no more of this “stepping on guys” garbage in the new season. The refs got the message loud and clear.
In the end, Lin Yi’s fight ended up changing the rules. In his past, The league had originally addressed the stepping fouls in 2017. The Lin situation had forced them to do it now.
And that was exactly Stern’s style. He hated dirty play. He wasn’t going to let the NBA turn into the Wild West.
When the punishments were made public, Lin Yi spoke up. He said he’d cover both the fines and the lost wages for Ewing and Barron. “They were protecting me,” he told the press. “That’s what brothers do.”
LeBron gave him props right away.
“That’s what I’m talking about. No brothers, no basketball.”
Other stars echoed the same support. The Knicks front office, who were initially thinking about waiving Ewing and Barron, changed their minds.
That suggestion had come from Lin’s agent, Javier Stanford. Even team owner James Dolan, who hated “troublemakers,” got on board. There was a clear cause here, and even Dolan couldn’t deny it.
And just like that, the two “enforcers” went from almost jobless to local heroes in New York. Meanwhile, Zaza became a walking punchline.
Online, Chinese fans were fired up. People started realizing that playing it humble and quiet didn’t work in America. You had to speak up—or swing back.
Of course, some haters called Lin arrogant or disrespectful, but hey, you can't win all of them.
Lin didn’t know it yet, but this game had flipped the script.
Nobody was going to call him “soft” again. The fans loved the way he stood up, the way he handled business, the way he fought back.
He’d barely stepped into the league, and already:
He’d stood up to a dirty vet.
He’d earned the respect of half the stars in the league.
He’d taken a fine and turned it into a badge of honor.
.....
Nickname suggestions for Lin Yi.
Comment down below.
Comments
Ju
Something like Handyman since he can do it all
