NBA Lockout Storm! Trust the Process!

Everything had unfolded just as he expected.

The real test had only just begun.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The heavy thuds of an iron ball striking the floor echoed repeatedly through the spacious private training facility, carrying a sense of stifled release.

This top-tier training facility in Manhattan's Upper East Side, privately rented by Li Fei, had now become the Knicks players' only refuge.

The league's lockout had shut down every team's official facilities, but it could not stop players from gathering on their own in private.

"Fuck! Those damn owners! They're trying to destroy everything!"

A furious roar shattered the rhythm of training.

Latrell Sprewell, the "Madman" who had just been traded to New York and was eager to prove himself in the new season, viciously slammed the fifteen-pound medicine ball in his hands onto the floor.

The ball bounced up and brushed past his dreadlocks, revealing a face filled with irritation and unease. His eyes were like those of a beast trapped in a cage, brimming with aggression.

"Calm down, Spre."

Beside him, another new addition, Donyell Marshall, stopped skipping rope and said between heavy breaths. His face was likewise clouded with worry, though there was even more uncertainty about the future in his expression.

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? Donyell, what did we come to New York for? A championship! I gave up everything in Golden State and came here, not to sit at home watching those suit-wearing assholes argue on TV!" Sprewell's chest heaved violently.

He and Marshall were the two most important pieces the Knicks had added in their bid to defend the title.

One could provide explosive perimeter scoring, while the other could boost the athleticism and rebounding of the frontcourt.

They had come filled with boundless dreams of championship rings,