"Are you sure about this?" Olsen's voice came softly through the phone, a mix of concern and curiosity.
"Yes, I'm sure," Lin Yi replied, stepping out of the cab with his duffel bag slung over one shoulder. He handed the driver some cash before continuing, "Your sisters can come by the villa anytime. Stop overthinking it—the idea was mine in the first place."
There was a small pause on the line, then Olsen's voice turned warm. "Thanks, Lin."
He smiled faintly. "Don't mention it. I'd love to talk more, but I'm already outside the facility."
"Alright, love. Go make some noise. And say hi to the boys for me, okay?"
"You got it," Lin said, chuckling. "Talk later."
"Bye."
"Bye."
He ended the call, pocketed his phone, and took a deep breath before walking toward the training facility—ready to meet the boys again.
…
Once again, the venue was the same training facility used before, and Lin Yi's summer training camp was back in session.
Griffin wasn't thrilled. He'd offered up the gym, but everyone seemed to be here for Lin Yi instead.
This year's lineup was a bit different. Flynn had gone off to China, signing with the Shandong men's basketball team in the CBA. From that 2009 draft class, only Lin Yi, Curry, Griffin, Harden, and DeRozan were still part of the annual summer grind.
John Wall decided to stay in Washington to train with Yi Jianlian. The poor guy still hadn't recovered from the trauma of Lin Yi's dominance last year.
"Hey, John," Lin Yi teased over the phone, "you do realize you're turning down personal coaching from the MVP, right?"
Wall: "…"
Aside from the usual crew, Klay Thompson showed up this year, too. A couple of days later, Cousins, Favors, and Chris Paul joined in, making the camp feel more like an All-Star weekend than a summer workout.
As usual, Klay and Curry started bickering the moment they saw each other, like two brothers who never grew out of it.
Paul, on the other hand, had clearly enjoyed his vacation—maybe a bit too much. Cousins had put on weight, too; Lin Yi joked that he was starting to look more like a round, oversized balloon than a center.
"Chris," Lin Yi said, looking him up and down, "no more boxes of fried chicken, I'm not running pick-and-rolls with you looking like this."
Paul just sighed. "Man, it's not the chicken. The off-season's been too long. I've been to five countries with my family already."
This summer felt endless. The league was still in limbo, and even the veterans were getting restless.
When Lin Yi and Griffin went one-on-one again this year, it was the same story, and with Lin Yi's confidence after the championship being sky-high, poor Blake spent most of the scrimmage chasing shadows.
Still, Griffin didn't think Lin Yi was unstoppable. He just couldn't shake the mental block. Watching Lin Yi torch defenses in the Asian Championship made him start believing they weren't even in the same league.
In reality, Griffin was selling himself short. He was still one of the best bigs in the NBA—Lin Yi just had a wider skill set and knew how to use it.
Plus, the Asian Championship was way lower in terms of competitiveness.
Creating mismatches was Lin Yi's real weapon. He knew that if he went one-on-one with LeBron right now, it would be a toss-up. But if his shooting caught fire, even the King would have trouble stopping him.
That was his main focus this offseason—sharpening his scoring tools and making his shot more reliable.
During one of the three-on-three games, Lin Yi pulled off a Harden-style step-back jumper. Everyone froze. Curry called him out for traveling, Paul said it looked risky, and only Harden's eyes lit up.
"Lin, man, I gotta learn that move!" Harden said.
"No problem!" Lin Yi grinned, silently thinking, Sure, it's your move—but I'm claiming the patent first.
He had a strange feeling this season was going to be different. Watching the others train, it was obvious that this 2009 class was maturing fast—Curry's release was nearly as quick as his future self's, DeRozan was finally hitting threes, and Harden was already talking about foul-drawing and step-backs.
Looking up at the roof, Lin Yi chuckled to himself.
I'm making life harder for myself again, but why am I smiling?
While Lin Yi was pushing his limits in L.A., across the country in Miami, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were running brutal one-on-one drills every day.
LeBron wasn't just stronger—he'd started working seriously on his three-pointer.
By early October, the labor talks broke down again.
The Players' Union, led by Derek Fisher, had already conceded a major point, agreeing to drop its revenue share to 53%. Just when it seemed like a deal was close, chaos erupted again.
Garnett accused Fisher of selling out the players.
"He's a traitor," Garnett raged. "He sold us out to the owners for scraps! That's not leadership—that's betrayal!"
And just like that, the cracks within the union widened.
The lockout dragged on.
...
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