The Best Point Guard

When Su Xi saw Eddie Curry at training camp, he was dumbfounded. He felt like the guy was here to be a bodyguard... usually, only bodyguards had that kind of massive build... convenient for blocking bullets.

"Eddie! Are you sure you can fit into a jersey?"

Su Xi asked him.

Eddie Curry said, "Of course, no problem."

Then, he struggled with all his might to pull on the jersey, which ended up looking like a compression shirt.

It was painful for Su Xi just to watch.

Then, they took their new season’s media day photos.

A wave of reporters swarmed in for interviews.

The New York reporters asked Su Xi many questions. For example, where he went during the offseason, and how it felt to defeat the Dream Team and win the gold medal at the World Championship...

When Su Xi answered the second question, he looked a little puzzled. He said, "We won the gold medal by defeating Germany."

This made the reporters on the scene a bit awkward.

After all, the World Championship had become a source of shame for American basketball, and they did their best to avoid the topic.

Bringing it up now served no purpose other than making everyone uncomfortable.

What the New York reporters were really most concerned about was Su Xi’s five championships.

Su Xi said, "The promise remains the same, and so does the pursuit."

"Can we successfully defend our title this season?"

"Of course."

"But all sorts of negative news about the team are circulating, for example... Eddie Curry..."

"I think he’ll get back to a healthy weight..."

Su Xi hadn’t even finished his sentence when Eddie Curry, who had just been warming up on the side, suddenly collapsed to the floor.

The team doctor quickly rushed over to give him first aid and immediately sent him to the hospital.

That afternoon, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with a heart condition, a congenital one at that.

He was out for the season.

Whether he could ever return to the court would depend on his recovery.

This cast a huge shadow over the Knicks’ new season. For something like this to happen on the very first day of training camp, who the hell could accept that?

Isaiah Thomas was silent for a long time in front of the reporters before finally answering, "I wish him good health."

What else could be said? You couldn’t blame anyone.

All they could do was accept it.

Fortunately, the Knicks’ current roster was still relatively complete.

Gary Payton, Kyle Lowry, Su Xi, Crawford, Novak, Ariza, Stephen Jackson, David Lee, Channing Frye, Millsap, and Zach Randolph were the players on the Knicks’ current roster with guaranteed contracts for the season.

With Eddie Curry out for the season, the Knicks had to sign a new player.

Su Xi’s suggestion was to sign a big center.

Last season, the Knicks were spread thin at the guard position; this season, they were short on big centers.

Across the entire league, this roster wasn’t great.

But it wasn’t terrible, either.

Besides, you couldn’t define the Knicks by their roster alone. With Su Xi on the team, conventional basketball logic often didn’t apply.

Due to Eddie Curry being out for the season, many media reports began to show "concern" for the Knicks. They started to worry about whether the Knicks could defend their title, and whether Little Sheep Su Xi’s bold declaration of a five-peat would fall flat in just the second year.

This "concern" was, in fact, another form of pessimism. They no longer dared to openly despise or mock the Knicks.

So, this kind of "concern" became the new trend.

Su Xi paid no mind to this fake concern. For him, it didn’t affect his mood in the slightest.

If anything, the Knicks’ training became even faster-paced with Eddie Curry’s departure.

Although Zach Randolph had spent the entire offseason pursuing art and philosophy, he had kept himself in great shape, working out daily to maintain his physique.

Crawford, on the other hand, was in worse shape. His decline was quite serious.

So, he was moved to the bench, and he had no objections. He was more than willing to follow any of Su Xi’s arrangements; his only hope was that he’d be allowed to play his music in the locker room.

By the fourth practice session, the Knicks announced that Kyle Lowry would be the new season’s starting Point Guard.

This was because Su Xi had moved to the shooting guard position.

In reality, however, Su Xi was the team’s commander on the floor. He valued Kyle Lowry’s explosiveness; Lowry was a true "Little Steel Cannon."

Also promoted to the starting lineup were David Lee and Ariza, who had trained hard during the offseason. Their improvement was immense. David Lee, in particular, had bulked up, looking a full size bigger than last season.

Ariza, meanwhile, had improved his shooting. Although he said his attempt to learn the three-pointer from Reggie Miller had failed, he had figured out his own shooting style, which looked a bit like a crooked catapult.

The Knicks’ other starter was Zach Randolph.

In training camp, the Knicks adopted a fast-paced, run-and-gun style. They took to it like fish to water, their offensive waves crashing one after another.

It was fierce.

It was fluid.

Su Xi was very pleased.

He even felt that if they could improve their defense, this season’s regular season record would be even better than last season’s.

They practiced for two weeks at training camp.

The "concern" from the outside world grew stronger. Crawford had an accident during the first weekend of training camp; he injured his ankle. There was a ligament tear, but not a complete rupture. Still, he would miss time—most likely a month.

Crawford was the Knicks’ second-leading perimeter scorer last season, and he had played brilliantly in many crucial games.

But now, he was injured.

Eddie Curry, an important member of last season’s championship team, was out for the season.

Furthermore, Jerome James had retired, Hardaway had returned to Orlando, Jalen Rose had retired, and Tony Battie had gone to China... Could the Knicks possibly repeat last season’s miracle?