Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

But tonight was special because Shaquille O'Neal was making his comeback, his first game of the 2002-03 season.

It was a reason for the champions' fans to get excited.

They had to believe, as long as Shaquille O'Neal returned to the lineup, everything would get better for the Lakers.

After more than half a year, returning to the Staples Center, the atmosphere was still the same as it used to be, although missing the fiery Little Chili and Fei's beloved Big Fatty, but any time, Jack Nicholson would always stand in the most prominent position.

Tonight, as Yu Fei warmed up on the court side, Nicholson shouted, "Yu, damn it, you're back!"

Yu Fei retorted, "Miss me?"

"Every person here hates you!" Nicholson stated confidently, "And you're out of luck tonight, Shaq's making his comeback!"

It's no wonder then that Fei brought up old scores, "Wasn't he there when I made The Shot last season to defeat the Lakers?"

Only the truth hurts the most.

Nicholson could only go on and on about "That was just your good luck," "We Lakers still won the championship," "Three-peat! Three-peat!" The Bucks' side of the court was filled with a jovial atmosphere due to the Oscar-winning Actor's stubbornness.

Twenty minutes before the game started, the Bucks returned to the locker room.

George Karl had his assistant close the door tightly, then said to everyone, "I don't care who's making a comeback, we must win tonight's game!"

Was there ever a game that we "didn't have to" win?

On behalf of the newcomers to the team this year, Yu Fei asked, "Is there any special reason?"

"Of course, if you need to know the reason to win this game, I will tell you." Karl looked at Yu Fei and astonishingly said, "Phil Jackson is my archrival. That's the reason."

"Arch-rival...?"

Yu Fei barely held back a laugh.

"Yes, Phil and I are archrivals." George Karl truly believed what he was saying, and he had plenty of reasons, "Phil lights incense and smokes herb in the locker room, while I ignite the players' passion; Phil's Triangle Offense emphasizes smooth game rhythm, while I focus on making players disrupt it; Phil's ideal game is fast and agile, while my ideal game is brute force; Phil asks for rationality and composure from his players, while I need your passion, mad passion!"

"On the court, we are two incompatible styles, and as archrivals, I must win this game!"

Before his brain could crash from Karl's shocking speech, Fei had to sort out a few things.

It was known that Phil Jackson, as a coach, was a nine-time champion, while George Karl's highest honor was runner-up, and that only once. Even though that time it was Jackson who defeated him, did that make them archrivals? Indeed, if this was what defined an archrival, then the Zen Master would have an astonishing number of them.

Even though Karl's self-proclaimed status as the Zen Master's archrival was somewhat absurd, it wasn't entirely unacceptable.

Fei would never ridicule Karl.

Everyone should have dreams.

If Karl's dream was to become Jackson's archrival, why should Fei tell him the truth?

Five minutes later, the Bucks returned to the court.

Both teams had a few more minutes of shooting practice, then, as the lights in the arena dimmed, the DJ began announcing the starting lineups, with a noticeable change for the Bucks — Christian Laettner would start as the power forward.

Given Karl's emphasis on defense, starting Laettner seemed highly unusual.

The Lakers had no changes — at least not for Fei — but for Lakers fans, Shaquille O'Neal's return meant escaping from the nightmare of Samaki Walker. During O'Neal's absence, Walker had been hurriedly signed by the Lakers as an inside supplement. As a result, the Lakers lost one game after another, and although Walker played less than 10 minutes per game, the fans still blamed him.

Looking closely at Shaquille O'Neal, Fei could tell he had put on a considerable amount of weight and his face was much rounder than last season.

These were signs of a lack of training.

Returning to the court before his physique had fully recovered, how much of his strength could he regain?

Then, due to his slow reaction, Shaquille O'Neal lost the tip-off to Dan Gadzuric.

Fei caught the ball and pushed forward quickly, leaving Rick Fox to guard him.

Fox adopted rough pressuring defense and, in the NBA where you are not allowed to put hands on someone outside the three-point line (inside it's still permissible), this was clearly a foul.

But this was the Lakers' home court, where they had the privilege of putting hands on players outside the three-point line.

Fei had no fear of Fox's harassment, backing into his body and then suddenly spinning to fling the ball towards Ray Allen beyond the right three-point line.

Ray Allen took the ball and made a three-pointer.

0 to 3

"Hey," Yu Fei "kindly" asked Fox, "Did this defensive habit start with that series against the King?"

Fox simply responded to Yu Fei with a cold face.

Then, like all teams with dominant interior play, the Lakers always started by going to the post for the first play.

Compared to Shaquille O'Neal, Bucks' starting center Dan Gadzuric was simply not heavy enough.

Once Shaquille O'Neal received the ball, a single pushback got him deep in the post, and then he didn't need to get any closer, simply turning around for a hook shot.

2 to 3

This was a player who had just recovered from toe surgery, but his low-post threat was still infinite.

Yu Fei understood why teams were crazy about beefing up their interior against Shaquille O'Neal; for them, it was the only way.

The Bucks' interior might be the weakest among all playoff contenders.

But at the same time, they were also the team that made the Lakers feel most helpless.

Because when Yu Fei called for Laettner to set up a pick-and-roll on the perimeter, they would remember that game against the Wizards last year.

At that time, the Wizards didn't have many three-point threats, but Laettner's range was enough to free up space for Yu Fei.

With the Bucks, Yu Fei could count on more shooters than just Laettner.

And he still needed to use Laettner's spacing ability. Would Shaquille O'Neal come out? The answer was no, because the man matched up with Laettner was Samaki Walker, a power forward who served as a pseudo-starter for the Lakers.

Yu Fei immediately accelerated past Walker's defense, catching and shooting just outside the paint.

Shaquille O'Neal's help defense was ineffective.

"Bang!"

2 to 5

"Big Fatty, you call that help defense?" Yu Fei mocked. "Or is it that you couldn't come out because of a 'family emergency'?"

Ashamed and enraged by Yu Fei's remark, Shaquille O'Neal could only vent his anger on his teammate: "Samaki, don't fucking let him break through so easily!"

Poor Samaki Walker, you should return those words to him: Big Fat Pig, don't let The Chosen One score so easily!

Seeing Shaquille O'Neal's furious face, Dan Gadzuric sensed big trouble coming and helplessly said to Laettner during the transition, "Frye really loves to make the opponents uncomfortable."

If it weren't in the middle of the game, Laettner would have let Gadzuric know that no other NBA player understood Yu Fei better than he did.

Shaquille O'Neal ran to the front court with a murderous look, came down to the post furiously, forming a triangle with Fisher and Kobe.

He backed Gadzuric down and roared, "Give me the damn ball!"

Fisher passed the ball to Kobe, signaling him to feed it to Shaquille O'Neal.

However, Kobe, despite Shaquille O'Neal being in position, showcased a picturesque fadeaway that missed.

"!￥#!@￥"

Shaquille O'Neal cursed Kobe loudly, "You damn selfish bastard!"

"Shut up!" Kobe shot back, "You're the last one who should be saying that to me!"

Kobe's bricked fadeaway went out of bounds, allowing Yu Fei to closely appreciate the "team culture" of the OK Lakers.

How should I put it? It was reminiscent of the "harmonious cooperation" he had with Jordan last season.

Is this what it looked like when others watched Jordan and him argue?

Is there anything in the world more interesting than this?

Watching Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal trading barbs all the way from the front court to the back court, Yu Fei silently supported Kobe in his heart.

That's right, knock him dead! I, a Kobe fan for two whole days, will always stand by your side!

Meanwhile, on the Lakers bench, Phil Jackson's face flickered with an unreadable darkness.

(1) Some might ask, "Is it really a coincidence that Shaquille O'Neal is making a comeback against the Bucks?" It really is a coincidence. Shaquille O'Neal's return match happened to be against the Bucks... and it wasn't even a plot point I deliberately set up... it just happened to match up like this.