The NBA's top five plays of the day on December 6 got most fans' blood pumping, as usual.
But what surprised most people was that today's top five featured someone many fans had never heard of. And he showed up twice.
First, in fifth place, the obscure yellow-skinned player shook off McGrady, cut perfectly to the basket, then finished with a sideways dunk over Monroe's contest.
From breaking free to cutting in and throwing down the dunk, the whole move flowed seamlessly. If you didn't know better, you might have thought Yao Ming had shrunk. After all, it had been a long time since a yellow-skinned player had made a highlight like that in the NBA.
Then the Chinese American showed up again, this time in second place.
He didn't even dribble the ball or take a single step. He simply caught a blocked shot on the perimeter and casually tossed it up, completing an alley-oop with Jordan Hill.
The beauty of the play lay precisely in that unhurried ease. You couldn't fake that kind of effortlessness without an exceptional ability to read the game.
It was no easy feat for a star to claim two spots in the daily top five. With so many NBA games every day, there were countless great plays. The odds of five being selected from the same player were extremely low.
But today, Link had done it. Oh, right. Many of the fans watching the top five still didn't know the name of the Chinese American who'd suddenly appeared: Link.
When most fans looked him up online, they discovered he was an undrafted rookie! He was currently on a 10-day contract with the Rockets, and the previous game had been his first appearance for an NBA team!
In an instant, fans went wild. Without anyone realizing it, Link's profile had begun to soar...
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Five points, two rebounds, and one assist. The moment Link opened his eyes in bed, those were the first numbers that came to mind.
They were the stats he'd put up in his first NBA game.
The day before, Josh Smith had scored 34 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out three assists. Carlos Boozer had put up 29 points and 12 rebounds, while the Pacers had seven players score in double figures.
Compared with those stats, Link's five points, two rebounds, and one assist were hardly worth mentioning.
Even so, the Chinese American had become a hot commodity.
For one thing, Link had played for less than two minutes, and only in garbage time. On top of that, as an undrafted rookie playing in his first official game, he'd claimed two spots in the day's top five. That was no small accomplishment.
His stats weren't flashy, but Link was still quite happy. At least he'd gotten off to a good start.
After getting up, he picked up his phone and found several unread messages. They were from Upshaw, George, and some college classmates.
Link paid special attention to the messages from Upshaw and George. Both were sincerely happy for him.
Link smiled. So many people had stayed up watching television last night just to see him take the floor.
He didn't know why Adelman had suddenly decided to put him in, but he knew he hadn't let Adelman down.
Link still had two more games to play. After those, Adelman's assessment would determine whether he stayed or went.
Thinking of that, Link sprang out of bed, fired up as if he'd been given a shot of adrenaline. He only felt secure when he was sweating it out in the practice gym.
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Link's place was close to Toyota Center, arranged for him by the Rockets. The team was covering the entire cost of his rent for those ten days, too.
Since it was nearby, Link only had to walk about twenty minutes to reach the arena each day. At first, he'd found it strange not to hear Upshaw's horn in the mornings. But now, after playing a game, he was gradually getting used to life in Houston.
As a fringe player, Link was only somewhat well-known among Chinese fans. What did it mean to be a fringe player? It meant being able to walk down a street a hundred meters from the arena without sunglasses and never worrying about being recognized.
Only die-hard fans with season tickets—the ones who knew who'd sneezed on the bench, stolen a few sips of Gatorade, or waved a towel—had even the faintest idea who those players were.
That was the life of a fringe NBA player, and Link was one of them.
So, over the past couple of days, no one had bothered Link on his walk to work. The one exception had been yesterday, before the game, when an old lady said he looked familiar and asked whether he played football or boxed...
But today, as he walked down the street, something felt off. People seemed to be watching him, and they kept whispering to one another.
Being talked about on the street didn't feel very comfortable. For a while, Link even wondered if he'd put his clothes on backward.
It wasn't until a little boy on his way to school chased after him for an autograph near Toyota Center that Link realized—he hadn't put his clothes on backward. He'd actually become famous!
The boy asking Link for an autograph was a typical American kid, with blond hair and blue eyes. Before this, only Chinese people had ever asked Link for his autograph.
After he signed, the boy's father warmly shook Link's hand and said politely, "Keep it up, Link!"
Link was surprised again. An American fan knew his nickname? He hadn't even played for long yesterday. How had he become so famous overnight?
He had no idea that most of them had learned who he was from the top-five plays.
Once the boy had gotten his autograph, a crowd of fans swarmed over in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Link was surrounded on all sides. Amid the crush, he suddenly felt at a loss.
He'd put up triple-doubles and double-doubles in the G League without ever becoming this famous. But after playing less than two minutes in the NBA, his name recognition was on a completely different level.
A day ago, Houston fans wouldn't have given him a second glance as he walked down the street. But today, all eyes were on him.
There was nothing for it. Link had to grant the fans' requests for autographs and photos one by one. Thankfully, the crowds on American mornings weren't as dense as in China. Otherwise, Link would never have escaped.
After dashing into Toyota Center's underground parking garage, Link ran right into Jordan Hill.
Link had only joined the team a few days ago, so he wasn't very familiar with his Rockets teammates yet. If he had to say who he got along with best, it was Jordan Hill. After all, Link had helped Hill make the top five yesterday, and during the game, Hill had also helped him up after he fell.
They weren't exactly friends yet, but they liked each other.
"Mobbed by fans? You're the first NBA player I've ever seen walk into the arena without sunglasses or a car, just strutting right in. Hahahaha."
Seeing Link looking disheveled, Hill laughed without the slightest sympathy.
"I thought nobody knew me." Link spread his hands. He never would've believed that one day he'd become a star in the spotlight.
Well, a "star" who'd scored five points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out one assist.
"Because of Yao's influence, Chinese players are always popular in Houston. And you played great yesterday, too. So you're definitely famous now, Link. By the way, thanks for that pass yesterday. We can try that alley-oop a few more times at practice today."
As Jordan Hill spoke, he patted Link on the back. Link immediately felt that the atmosphere on an NBA team was leagues better than in the NBDL.
Of course, it depended on the team. This Houston Rockets team was still pretty united, with veterans like Scola and Battier around. A few years later, when Howard arrived, things wouldn't be the same.
Following Jordan Hill, Link turned a few corners and walked into the practice gym. The sight of the gleaming hardwood and the NBA-grade hoops made him itch to play.
The fans' enthusiasm, his teammates' affection, and his decent performance on the court... Link suddenly felt that his Rockets career might finally be taking off.
Of course, he still had to figure out how to avoid the overenthusiastic fans tomorrow morning.
It was the kind of happy trouble he'd never dared to imagine before.
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