Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Although Yu Fei's words were aimed at Mason alone, the listeners were intentional.

George Karl remembered the similar things Yu Fei had said to him before.

Yu Fei didn't like Karl criticizing players in front of the media, but if that was Karl's habit, he would show respect. However, if Karl insisted on extending this habit to him, he would strive to have the Bucks coached by someone entirely new.

At the time, Yu Fei had just played three games for the Bucks and, although he had shown promise, he did not yet give Karl cause for concern.

Afterward, he indeed never publicly criticized Yu Fei, but that was also because Yu Fei never played poorly enough to warrant such criticism.

However, during this period, Yu Fei's enthusiasm for participating in team activities shot up, and coupled with his performances, he gradually became a marquee figure who could attract fans to the cold Bradley Center.

Could Yu Fei, who took over Glenn Robinson's locker, gain the same allure in a short period?

Karl didn't believe Yu Fei had such charm, but in the NBA, if you want a direct measure of a player's popularity, the simplest method is to listen to the crowd's reaction to the player announcements made by the DJ before the game starts.

Yu Fei received loud cheers from the start, but the noise level was not more intense than that for Ray Allen.

Yet, this situation began to change in the recent games.

The cheers for Yu Fei at home clearly surpassed those for Ray Allen.

Next, merchandise related to Yu Fei also became hot sellers.

Many players can play well, but those who truly connect with their city are rare, and players who can turn a profit for the team are one in a hundred.

Once a player has both qualities, they are no longer just players.

They are granted privileges.

Such privileges vary greatly from one team to another.

For a team like the Bucks, the greatest privilege they can offer a star is to make him feel like one of the team's owners—they would have a say in trades, decisions during the offseason.

Once Yu Fei received such privileges, then, "We'll have a new starting power forward" and "We'll have a new coach" would mean no different in the literal sense.

As long as Yu Fei wanted it, it would happen.

For George Karl, this was the most terrifying thing.

At this moment, Yu Fei on the court was unaware of the internal turmoil his coach was going through.

25-28

Thanks to Mason's "blessing," the great situation Yu Fei had created before stepping off the court was squandered.

Yu Fei looked at his teammates on the court; Karl let Ray Allen and Sprewell rest, but Yu Fei still liked the lineup because the other four were Michael Redd, Devean George, Jason Caffey, and Christian Laettner.

Aside from Caffey being a blue-collar power forward without range, the other three were above-average shooters.

In contrast, Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers, who had just returned, wouldn't have the stamina for long minutes and thus wouldn't start the second quarter.

The Lakers were now led by Kobe.

After he was subbed out in the first quarter, the Lakers started catching up, which allowed the Zen Master to preach the "proper basketball" philosophy in front of him, but the more he talked, the more Kobe detested it.

In his view, it was still a double standard.

He wasn't the reason for the Lakers' big deficit at the start; it was Shaquille O'Neal, so why did Jackson deliberately avoid this?

This meant Kobe wouldn't repent voluntarily for what happened in the first quarter.

He would just do as all the fans who knew him expected; the more you think I can't, the more I'll prove I can.

Although the fans usually remembered when he succeeded, he failed more often. After all, basketball is a team sport; a superstar might decide one or two games, but they can't always do so. Kobe's innate extreme paranoia meant he couldn't make the right decisions when his emotions were highly volatile.

At the start of the next quarter, it was the Lakers' ball.

The Bucks had their former player Devean George guarding Kobe.

George had spent three seasons with the Lakers, practicing with Kobe every day; he knew Kobe. That was Karl's intention for this matchup.

However, understanding did not equate to effective defense. George's timid nature meant he endured many abuses at the Lakers. Kobe might not have been the one pranking him off the court, but the pressure he applied on it was no less intense than the other veterans.

Against this pushover, whom he had ruthlessly dominated for three years, Kobe felt no fear. He backed him down, made a shoulder shimmy, spun around, faced the basket, and took a fadeaway jumper.

It was a shoulder shimmy, spin, and fadeaway jumper one step inside the free-throw line.

A ludicrous shot choice, executed in a very hard way.

"Swish!"

27-28

Who on earth keeps saying Kobe is the most Jordan-like player? How is this similar?

Yu Fei showed a strange expression.

The old man did have many unreasonable shots, but Kobe's unreasonableness had a precondition—that he would continue to shoot even when his hands felt awful. Jordan also had a habit of taking shots against defense, but it was always near or inside the paint.

For a distance like a step inside the three-point line, you're facing up, and then you add a back shoulder shimmy, spin, and increase the difficulty?

"DG," Yu Fei said to George, "put more pressure on him; I'll come over for a double team if needed!"