Champion, please stay!

Chapter 161, page 159: The Black Mamba Strikes!
At the party, everyone only had a few drinks. There was a competition tomorrow, so the main thing was to get together and chat.

At this point in time, the conversation naturally turned to contract renewal.

Yi Shui, Curry, and Chalmers are all rookies. Chalmers, whose contract has the shortest term, is 3 years for $291 million, and it won't expire for another 11 years. They hadn't even thought about this issue.

David Lee wants a long-term contract to stay in New York. His family owns more than 20 supermarkets in the greater New York area, most of which opened after the start of this season. On his days off, he spends most of his time cutting ribbons under the guise of being "Emperor's teammate"...

Walsh only offered a short-term contract with a 1+1 team option.

Two years for 20 million, the salary is higher than the market expected.

Although he was selected as an All-Star reserve this season, some media outlets have reported that David Lee did not receive a single vote from any of the other teams' coaches, and is not the kind of All-Star recognized by the head coaches of each team.

As a player in the final year of his contract, many media outlets have predicted his contract extension price, with most believing that his new contract will start at around 700 million.

Yi Shui sensed David Lee's dissatisfaction with Walsh, suggesting that contract renewal negotiations might have been underway for some time.

The other person's complaint at this moment seemed to have ulterior motives, but he pretended not to understand and responded with two words of agreement.

Walsh's sights were clearly set on the big free agent year of 2010, and he had been trying to clear out contracts for over a year since taking office.

Currently, their only remaining bad contracts are Eddie Curry's 11-year contract, Jerome James' 10-year contract, and Jared Jeffries' 12-year contract. The only overpaid contract is Swift's expiring this year. The only buyouts left are Cattino Mobley's 10-year contract and Chris Wilcox's expiring this year... There are quite a few. In short, Walsh finally had the opportunity to free up 1-2 max contract slots in the summer of 10, so it's impossible for him to offer long-term contracts now.

Big Q's contract expired in 2010, with a player option for the following season. To avoid a repeat of the 'Bill Duffy incident,' the management was notified early on to exercise the contract.

After all, with an annual salary of over 900 million, it's hard to say whether the total amount of the next contract will be that high.

Birdman has received a contract extension commitment. There are two possibilities for the new contract: one is that Walsh couldn't find anyone during the offseason by offering a 1+1 mid-level exception short-term contract, so he ended up giving him the mid-level exception; the other is that he found someone and extended the contract using the 1+1 bi-year exception, with a salary increase after 10 years when there is room for salary increases.

He agreed without hesitation, and with his visually striking playing style, he secured an endorsement contract with China Danzi shortly after the start of the season, becoming one of the two star endorsers of China Danzi, along with Yao Ming's teammate Hayes.

Switching teams means losing endorsement fees.

Moreover, with Yi Shui, Curry, Duhon, Chalmers, Harrington... feeding him the ball, and reporters interviewing him every now and then, he didn't want to leave.

Swift has not yet received a formal contract extension offer... The second overall pick, who just turned 27, is quite regrettable. He can't say anything about the big contract, as the team's long-term plan is more important. But as a blue-collar center, he can still hold his own. Of course, he can't agree to anything right now.

...

That evening, Yi Shui sat in front of the TV to watch the live broadcast of the first round match between the Crazy Three Huskies and the Chattanooga Quartz Sands.

The Quartz Sands are a Southern Conference team. After Curry left college early, the Davidson Wildcats, who won the Southern Conference championship for two consecutive years, only managed an 11-7 record in the conference stage, and their top spot in the league was taken over by the Quartz Sands.

This team is no match for Curry's Wildcats. They were crushed 62-29 by the five-man group of Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker, Robinson, Yad, and Thabeet in the first half. Yi Shui watched half the game and then went to the arcade to play video games. There's no need to worry about his old teammates being upset in the first round.

After a day of rest, the Knicks continue their regular season campaign.

With only 17 games left in the regular season, their competition with the Magic and Hawks has become extremely fierce.

On the 18th, the Knicks will host the Nets.

Yi Jianlian performed very well in this game. Taking advantage of Brook Lopez's threat, he made consecutive cuts to the basket or drew fouls, and made two three-pointers. He made 7 of 12 shots, including 2 of 3 three-pointers, plus 6 of 7 free throws, scoring 22 points and 7 rebounds. He scored 5 points more than Yi Shui. Together with Carter, who scored 29 points, and Harris, who scored 21 points and 10 assists, he led the team to a total of 115 points.

但打了40分钟的易水除了17分，还有8板8助攻1抢断3盖帽！

The Knicks had seven players score in double figures, narrowly defeating the Nets 121-115.

On the 20th, the Knicks will host the Kings.

Yi Shui and Kevin Martin engaged in a 'free throw battle'.

The two players got their free throws in completely opposite ways.

Yi Shui launched a fierce attack on the paint, guarded by Francisco Garcia, Jason Thompson, and Spencer Hawes, relentlessly attacking and drawing fouls despite the defense.

Kevin Martin, on the other hand, took the art of flopping to the extreme when facing players with shaky defenses like Big Q, Wilson Chandler, and Bill Walker. Curry and Duhon tried to defend him, but were flopped several times...

Yi Shui scored 30 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-2 from three-point range, plus 13-of-14 from the free-throw line. However, he lost the free-throw battle, as Kevin Martin had 27 points on 6-of-13 of 16 free throw attempts.

But Yi Shui won the game, easily defeating the Kings 113-99.

Against a different opponent, given Kevin Martin's efficiency in drawing fouls tonight, their wing players would probably have collapsed. But the Knicks are different; their shooting guards get dominated every day, so they're used to it. As long as they score more points than their opponents, that's enough.

On the 22nd, the Knicks traveled to Minneapolis to challenge the Timberwolves. Yi Shui made 8 of 16 field goals, including 2 of 5 three-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws, scoring 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, leading his team to a 102-94 victory over their opponents.

Mayo played quite well tonight, dominating the elementary school students, Chalmers, and Duhon.

He made 9 of 20 shots, including two three-pointers, for 22 points, but exposed a major problem – a lack of offensive firepower. He only made 2 of 2 free throws. While he had a high-level performance of 7 of 15 shots from mid-range and long-range, he only made 2 of 5 shots from close range. As a result, after he drove past the defense, he was unable to attract double teams and was unable to deliver assists. He only had two assists in 35 minutes of play, and his offense was like an 'island'.

On the 23rd, the Knicks faced the Bulls in a back-to-back away game and lost 103-110. The game was intense and exciting, but the Knicks made too many mistakes and missed too many long-range shots, especially during the four minutes of rest in the first half of the third quarter when they missed all their long-range shots and then took a bunch of long-range shots, widening the gap.

易水23投13中，其中三分球7中3，加上6中5的罚球，高效拿到34分8板3助攻，未能敌得过对方五人得分上双。

Post-game news from New York media: The Knicks have squandered their chance to win 60 games.

On the 25th, the Knicks returned to their home court to face the Clippers.

With Love and Camby's two big men compressing the defense, the Clippers' long-range shooting took off, and the game went head-to-head with the Knicks in regulation time, resulting in a score of 123-123. Baron Davis's buzzer-beating three-pointer forced the game into overtime!
However, in overtime, the Clippers couldn't keep up their shooting, making only 3 of 11 shots, including 3 three-point attempts. Coupled with Love's 2-for-2 free throws, they only managed 8 points.

For the Knicks, Curry went 4-for-4 in overtime, scoring 8 points on his own!
易水加时赛中2投1中拿到2分，但还有1个进攻篮板球、4个防守篮板球、4个助攻！
Curry was left wide open in mid-range, and Yi Shui made a pass that resulted in an assist. With his 8 assists in regulation time, his total assists in the game increased to 12. His 6 rebounds in the regular season also surged to 11 in overtime!
In addition, Curry passed the ball to Duhon, who then hit a three-pointer...

加时赛比分13比8！    库里22投13中，其中三分球5中2，加上4中4的罚球，拿下全场最高的32分，生涯首次单场30+！

易水18投10中，其中三分球2中1，加上5中4的罚球，拿到25分11板12助攻，冷不丁又三双了！

Led by Yi Jianlian and Kuznets, the Knicks narrowly defeated the Clippers 136-131 in overtime!
...

Yi Shui's seventh triple-double came very suddenly.

After recording his sixth triple-double against the Cavaliers, fans were eagerly anticipating when he would achieve his next one.

In the previous game against the Pistons, he had 9 rebounds and 7 assists, but didn't make any extra passes, thus missing out on a back-to-back triple-double.

Against the Nets, he had 8 rebounds and 8 assists, but he just didn't hold onto the ball. Harrington and Curry did a good job of passing the ball when they needed to.

The same thing happened against the Timberwolves. He had the opportunity to drive and dish, but instead he went to play a supporting role and only got a mere 5 assists.

Tonight against the Clippers, he only had 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the first 46 minutes. Fans watching the American cable broadcast didn't even think about the possibility of a triple-double. But he got two assists in the last two minutes and 4 assists and 5 rebounds in overtime, suddenly achieving a triple-double!
He tied Magic Johnson's record for most triple-doubles by a rookie since 1976!

At the post-game press conference, Dolan took his seat with great fanfare and shouted into the camera: "Our best rookie is even better than the Lakers' best rookie!"

The next morning, Magic Johnson gave an interview to Time Warner, wearing the Knicks' number 13 jersey, and said, "I'm happy to see someone catch up with me. I hope Embiid can surpass my record. Basketball should continue to improve, and I hope that we ancient fossils will no longer occupy those lists."

In the afternoon, when the team arrived at Yishui in Salt Lake City, he said in an interview: "Magic is the Lakers' greatest player and the undisputed greatest point guard of all time."

That night, an unnamed player wearing number 24, who was playing away against the Mavericks, shot 35 times, making 19 of them, including 7 of 12 three-pointers, plus 8 of 10 free throws, scoring a whopping 53 points and leading his team to a 122-98 victory over the Mavericks.

Silver Horn King: What did I ever do to you? You dare to do this again! I'll let you off this time, but next time I'll beat you to a pulp!

到了27号和28号，尼克斯队客场背靠背挑战爵士队和掘金队，分别以94比101、90比109告负，遭遇两连败。

They played reasonably well against the Jazz. Yi Shui scored 24 points, David Lee 21 points, and Curry 17 points. They had a chance to turn the game around in the final moments, but the Jazz held on. Deron Williams dominated Curry in the crucial moments and withstood the strong comeback attempts from Yi Shui and David Lee.

Playing against the Nuggets was a disaster. Playing back-to-back at high altitude, and having practiced all night for what felt like "day 7," Yi Shui found himself blocked in front and with no one following behind during fast breaks. When he passed back, his teammates were lobbed far away, and there were opposing players blocking him in the middle, leaving him with no choice but to force a shot. He went 7-for-20 from the field, plus 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, for a total of 23 points…

For the first time this season, the Knicks couldn't keep up with the opponent's fast-paced offense and were overwhelmed by their running game.

After a series of away games, they lost every single one. This was the first time in Yi Shui's rookie season that this had happened, even though it was only two games... But two new decorations appeared on the wall of his study.

Every time Yi Shui entered the study and saw this wall, he felt an urge to immediately go to the training ground and train hard.

This back-to-back game had a huge impact!

The Magic, after a two-week adjustment period with a 4-4 record, have taken off!
The Magic played as many as 9 games in the first half of the month, but in the last ten days or so, they played only 5 games. Starting with the game against the Knicks on the 16th, the Magic won all 5 games, bringing their record to 50 wins and 21 losses, becoming the fourth team in the league to achieve 50 wins!

老鹰队那边，前13天8场比赛3胜5负后，后面6场比赛取得5胜1负的战绩，又冲上来了，全明星周末后20场比赛13胜7负，加上全明星周末前的33胜19负，战绩来到46胜26负了！

而单月9胜7负的尼克斯队，战绩下滑到了47胜25负，落后魔术队3.5个胜场了，对老鹰队的胜场优势也只剩下1个。

In March, when the strong teams in the West were still fighting for playoff spots and the strong teams in the East were starting to compete for rankings, a period known as the sprint phase, Yi Shui deeply felt the gap in strength between his team and those truly top teams, especially the few teams in the Western Conference playoffs, which were simply monstrous. Picking any one of them felt like being on par with the Orlando Magic.

However, as for whether there's any good news after this back-to-back series... there is.

Their schedule as a bottom-feeder team includes a damn 17 back-to-back games, the most in the league, tied with the Clippers, especially the insane 5 back-to-back games in March alone, all of which they've played!

...

After returning from the high-altitude back-to-back games, the Knicks got two days of rest and all players were given a day off.

Yi Shui took a full day off on her first day off, bought the indoor fishing kit for her neighbor's little daughter, and fished to soothe the psychological trauma caused by this back-to-back trip.

On the morning of the second day, Curry and Chalmers brought their girlfriends to Yi Shui's house for a meal. Both families had bought dishes, seasonings and other things.

Both of his teammates from the same year have also moved into new homes. Curry's large house outside the island has been renovated and is now ready for occupancy. Chalmers did not buy a detached house, but instead bought a decent apartment on the island as a semi-investment. This will make it easier to sell if he unfortunately has to change playing locations in the future. The main reason is that the price is cheap at the moment, and he moved in after simple maintenance.

Yi Shui currently has three investment directions: one is to buy hardware technology stocks for long-term holding, another is to invest some money in virtual currency, and the third is to invest in real estate.

He vaguely remembered that housing prices in major American cities would gradually decline until 11 or 12, while China would enter a phase of using real estate to drive the economy and enter a period of housing market boom a few years later. Now was the perfect time to buy. His parents could use their money however they wanted. He had found a real estate agent to collect information so he could go on a buying spree when he returned to China during the offseason.

The three of them made a pact when they bought the house that after they all moved into their new homes, they would visit each other's homes to cook together, which would help them communicate and get to know each other better.

Seeing the fishing toy, Curry asked curiously, "Big, are you... learning to fish?"

Yi Shui replied, "Yes, I'll learn it. I'll need it someday."

Curry: "Then why not buy real fishing gear? I remember you have a fishing ground around here, right?"

Yi Shui: "Because I don't want to actually fish."

Curry: "..."

Elementary school student: No wonder he's a master's student!

The group cooked lunch together. The taste was... well, it was cooked through and not poisonous, but they still enjoyed the meal. Everyone had a house now and had settled down.

In the afternoon, while scrolling through his phone, Yi Shui saw a photo of the Lakers' private jet landing... The Black Mamba has arrived!

(End of this chapter)