I fell in love with Toutiao and became the GOAT.

On one side of the stadium, Lin Bei met the reporter who wanted to interview him—a female reporter with an Asian face.

Chinese?

Lin Bei wasn't quite sure, but in his memory, most of the female NBA reporters stationed in the US from China had a very Western appearance and style.

Zhou Ling'an, Zhang Manyuan, Lu Yinqing... are all like this.

But the person in front of me was wearing a plain striped shirt and jeans, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead.

She has fair skin and a fresh, clean look, completely free of any air of vulgarity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lin Bei!"

Upon seeing Lin Bei arrive, the unfamiliar female reporter's eyes lit up, and she greeted him excitedly.

Chinese?

Lin Bei raised an eyebrow and nodded in response. He then noticed that the microphone the unfamiliar female reporter was holding and the camera behind her both bore the ESPN logo.

"Is this an interview with ESPN?"

Sideline interviews and post-match locker room interviews are not the same type of interview; the latter is for post-match reporting, while the former is for live television broadcast.

In other words, the moment Lin Bei stood in front of the camera, he was already on the live television broadcast.

ESPN and TNT are the main broadcasters of the NBA, and in their post-game sideline interviews, they always select the best player of the game.

Last game it was Chris Paul. Looking at the stats for this game, it's either Curry with 21 points, 10 assists and 4 steals, or Monta with 28 points and 5 assists. It's not Lin Bei's turn at all, with only 6 points and 16 rebounds.

"First, let me introduce myself. I am Zhang Zijiao from CCTV..."

It was only after Zhang's self-introduction that Lin Bei realized what was going on.

This makes sense given that it was a sideline interview by CCTV.

"Your performance in these two games with the Warriors was outstanding. I heard that domestic fans were quite surprised because your position on the court and your playing style completely changed. Can you tell us what happened in between?"

Reporter Zhang didn't actually know Lin Bei that well. She was holding a small notebook with many questions written and drawn on it, all of which came from remote guidance from Coach Zhang of Jiahe.

With so many questions, reporter Zhang could only ask the key ones.

This first question is of utmost importance.

Lin Bei had no intention of lying, so he answered directly, "To be honest, I don't know what happened either. I think I might have suddenly had an epiphany, haha. It's like a plot in a novel. I suddenly discovered my talent for rebounding and shooting three-pointers..."

Reporter Zhang didn't know how to evaluate Lin Bei's answer, so she mechanically asked the next question: "How would you evaluate your performance in these two matches?"

Lin Bei: "It's alright, neither good nor bad. I can only say that I've temporarily established myself in the NBA."

"Tell us about your relationship with your teammates? We've noticed that you've had quite a few interactions with Curry and Nate Robinson on the court."

Lin Bei: "Haha, actually we talk quite a bit off the court. Curry and Nate are good friends."

"..."

"We noticed that before your Warriors debut, the opinions of domestic fans were mostly not positive. How do you view these negative comments?"

Reporter Zhang asked another question, and the Hupu hotline instantly responded—

"I admit my mistake, I admit my mistake."

"To be honest, I've always supported Dalin..."

"There were too many people trying to stir up trouble, and we were blinded by their rhetoric at the time."

On the sidelines of the Oracle Center, Lin Bei waved his hand and said, "Hey, there's nothing to see. All I can say is that as long as you can consistently believe in yourself, you won't be affected by those opinions."

As for the fans in China, I believe their intentions were good.

Hupu Hotline —

"You're too generous, Emperor Lin."

"Holy crap, buddy, I peed in my eyes..."

"I will always support Dalin; he's so forgiving!"

At the Oracle Center, Lin Bei glanced at the time and reminded him, "Hey Reporter Zhang, let's have one last question. I'm all sweaty, I need to go back and take a shower..."

Zhang Zijiao blushed slightly: "Well, then, one last question: what are your future plans..."

Lin Bei thought for a moment: "The future? Let's take it one step at a time. First, I need to solidify my current position, and then strive to become a benchmark for Chinese players in the NBA..."

The broadcast camera switched back to CCTV's studio, where Coach Zhang chuckled and casually commented, "You can tell that our Da Lin is a very optimistic young man, which is why he was able to succeed in the NBA."

Yu Jia added, "Moreover, he has very clear, yet not overly ambitious, goals. Judging from his remarks, his level of thinking is very high."

Coach Zhang concluded, "Yes, he's very good at talking and has a great relationship with his teammates. I think he can go on to have a long career in the NBA."

……

On the other side, Lin Bei finished answering the last question and saw the foreigner carrying the camera turn off the lens and turn to leave.

The reporter, Zhang, stopped him: "Could we talk privately for a bit more? I have some other questions."

Lin Bei was somewhat surprised; private contact offstage seemed to have crossed a line.

Considering the reputation of female NBA reporters in China, Zhang's statement is not actually out of place.

However, it seemed a bit out of place when paired with Reporter Zhang's elegant demeanor.

Even so, Lin Bei agreed.

"Okay, but not now. I really need to go back and take a shower. Here's what we'll do: give me a number and I'll call you later. We'll meet at the back door of the stadium."

Lin Bei returned to the locker room, took a shower, changed into clean sportswear, and then gave interviews to three or five reporters from the United States.

To be honest, Lin Bei isn't exactly a popular figure in the American media.

Although after the last game against the Clippers, he criticized Paul and attacked James, which made headlines on Bleacher Report.

But in 2011, Bleacher Report was just a three-year-old online media outlet with a small following in North America.

They mostly report similar gossip.

Lin Bei's double-double performance in the last game did not attract the attention of mainstream American media.

This is actually normal. The Warriors aren't popular enough, and Lin Bei is still a nobody in North America. He only gets attention by associating with LeBron James.

"The season has just begun. After playing for a while longer, the viewership will pick up."

In this Warriors' first win of the season, Lin Bei also set a new rebounding record, but the reporters kept asking very formulaic questions, which didn't generate much buzz.

Lin Bei understood, and he didn't intend to set the pace himself.

The main question is, whose rhythm are we setting?

Trying to stir up trouble for Noah? Noah himself doesn't have much of a following.

The only player on the Bulls with real star power is Rose, but he has no grudge against Rose and is trying to influence the narrative...

All things considered, the only person Lin Bei currently has who can generate buzz and traffic is LeBong.

These past two days, Lin Bei has been touching Le Bang's porcelain quite a bit. He feels he doesn't need to be so persistent, so he should stop for now and hold back for something bigger.

After a rather unexciting post-match interview, Lin Bei pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and dialed reporter Zhang's number.