What kind of effect would Li Fei plus Jordan produce? With a dominant superstar like Li Fei on the team, the distribution of ball possession had become the biggest problem.
Jordan needed to voluntarily give up part of the ball-handling duties and relinquish his former absolute control.
He had to play more off the ball, run the sets, link the offense and defense, and adapt to Li Fei's interior rhythm.
For Jordan, who was used to controlling games, this represented an enormous challenge in transforming his style of play.
For Li Fei, this was also an entirely new on-court experience.
Ever since entering the league, he had always been his team's sole unquestioned core.
Whether with the Phoenix Suns or during his early Knicks years, every tactic had revolved around him.
This was the first time in his career that he had teamed up with a historic perimeter superstar like Jordan.
He needed to adapt to the pace of a ball-dominant perimeter player and adjust his offensive and defensive positioning.
He had to retain his dominance inside while also creating room for Jordan to attack.
Making the two superstars compatible had become the Knicks' foremost problem for the new season.
"Stop! Everyone, halt practice!"
Van Gundy raised a hand to stop the scrimmage, clear exhaustion in his voice.
The players on the court stopped one after another, breathing heavily as they looked toward the head coach on the sideline.
Allan Houston lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, his expression carrying a hint of helplessness.
Sprewell shook out his arms, clearly still unaccustomed to the new tactical rhythm.
Every recent team practice had exposed one coordination issue after another.
Either the ball-handling duties overlapped, throwing the offensive and defensive tempo into chaos.
Or their positioning clashed, preventing