Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

``` "Unless the league agrees this is the last time I'm receiving the MVP trophy in front of the runner-up in the MVP vote," Yu Fei took the MVP trophy from David Stern before the first game of the Western finals on game night, but his acceptance speech sounded incredibly harsh to the ears of the second-place finisher in the MVP voting. "Otherwise, I might not chase a sixth MVP trophy." The fans in Key Arena began to jeer. This is Seattle's basketball season. It has been going on for two years now. Every summer is the high season for basketball in Seattle. Yu Fei's joke lightened the atmosphere, and Stern's expression was quite subtle. He still remembered the draft eight years ago when he saw Yu Fei's name in the Cavaliers' envelope; he only considered the kid a high-risk youngster eager for quick success to meet the trend of the times. Who would have thought that in just eight years, he would shake the foundation that Jordan took twenty years to build? The award ceremony ended, and Stern retreated to the stands, sitting next to SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett. "David, I hope you have a pleasant evening." Whether Stern was enjoying himself or not, Bennett was destined to be happy. But Stern would be pleased as well. All signs were indicating that Yu Fei would lead the League out of the troubles and scandals of the early 2000s. If the Donaghy scandal put the League at rock bottom, then with The Chosen One saving the SuperSonics, the League was back on track. This would be a brand-new era. The League needed to shake off the narrative of the "post-Jordan era." Now, they were living in the era of Frye Yu. Stern looked around; the size of Key Arena was far from enough to meet the commercial value of the SuperSonics. Even so, synchronized financial reports with the League showed that their revenue this season was 230 million US Dollars, second only to the Lakers and Knicks. That wasn't all; as the Finals approached, should the SuperSonics enter the Finals and complete their defense, then come July and August, after the season's end, that would be the time to reap the championship dividends. Stern understood Bennett. This seemingly honest brute from Oklahoma City would suck the fans' money like a vampire. "I'll say it again, you need the best arena in the entire League," Stern's appetite and ambition were much greater than Bennett's. "I want to know if Seattle can meet this condition." "Basically, we can rely on societal financing to raise the money needed to build a new arena, but I know, the League needs the support of the municipal government," Bennett said. "Our financing is in place, and by then, the city would only need to contribute two-fifths of the funds. As far as I know, public opinion within the city is already on our side, and the municipal government is loosening up. Of course, there are some damned activist groups causing trouble, but I don't think that will be a problem." Just as Bennett finished speaking, Yu Fei on the court stole a pass from Kidd and after driving fast to the frontcourt, he suddenly tossed the ball backward, posed with hands spread as if saying "I don't know what's going to happen," and Durant followed up with a leap, catching the ball for a dunk. "Beautiful, KD, play just like that!" "You need to play like that every possession!" "Young man, nobody can stop you!" The noise in Key Arena engulfed the entire place. Stern understood that basketball had been revived in Seattle. Now, even if they wanted the SuperSonics to leave, it would be unfeasible. In this regard, Yu Fei had fulfilled the promise he made in the summer of 2007. But Stern still didn't know what the Yu Fei era meant. Compared to the Jordan era, how different was this era? The frenzied arena was filled with Yu Fei's disciples, those guys dressed in No. 44 jerseys, decked out in merchandise related to Yu Fei, were the most annoying "Yusexuals" on the internet. They belong to the internet generation but are just like Stern and the old folks. To them, the Jordan era might have ended eleven years ago, but it feels like it happened yesterday. Yu Fei's rise was too rapid, reaching such heights in just eight years. Stern did not know where the Yu Fei era would take the League, nor if the Yu Fei era would be greater than the Jordan era, but it was their only choice. Yu Fei was the only superstar they could find who was disciplined, handsome, cool, had breath-taking charisma, and incomparable commercial value, and would not beat his wife, rape a hotel maid, or throw a game in a moment of crisis because of rumors about a teammate hooking up with his mother. Don't think this is a low bar; it's actually very important. Just like Jordan didn't need to prove he was the Greatest of All Time, he only had to prove he was better than everyone else in his era. The premise is not to be promiscuous like Magic Johnson, not to go to jail like Tyson, not to allow one's personal assistant to get too cozy with their own entourage like a certain infamous case. That's the secret to success, not just to succeed in one's career, but to make oneself appear more correct than others while doing so. Yu Fei's award night, the start of the Western Conference Finals, was also a night of misery for the Lakers. Yu Fei notched a triple-double, and Durant scored 30 points under Fei's gravity, while Pau Gasol and Bynum's inability to defend the perimeter became their Achilles' heel, getting crushed by the SuperSonics in one game. 122 to 99 The Lakers lost the first game, but due to Little O's absence, they had nobody to stand out in the Power Forward position. ``` Continuing to play with two centers would make them a target for the SuperSonics' outside shooters. But without twin towers, relying solely on Pau Gasol or Bynum in the paint, they simply couldn't handle Brown and Marion. This is what made things difficult and unpalatable. Ever since the Lakers gave up making any moves at the trade deadline, Kobe had known what was coming. The Lakers' front office exhausted all means to paint him this picture for the summer: "We will use cap space to fight for two All-Star teammates for you." It sounded beautiful, but what about this season? Kupchak said, "I believe in you, Kobe." The trust from the management loaded Kobe with a feeling of overwhelming pressure. Actually, part of him liked this era. People no longer talked about the crap between him and Shaquille O'Neal from back in the day, and few cared about his dark history in Eagle County. In the NBA, the debate over Yu Fei and Jordan's historical status occupied the lion's share of attention, leaving only scraps for the others. In this season where the SuperSonics seemed unbeatable, everyone else seemed to live in a vacuum. Apart from local media, there was little discussion about them. The only way they melded into public discourse was by sharing their opinions on the GOAT debate. But this was something Kobe didn't want to discuss; he wanted to be the main character of the GOAT conversation. Yet now, if he publicly claimed he should be part of that conversation, he would be met with endless ridicule. Because just like O'Neal, he hadn't proven himself after the breakup. Kobe grew more and more unwilling to accept this, hence he scored a game-high 38 points and 42 points in the subsequent third and fourth games, respectively. But the Lakers still lost by double-digits. By this stage, the superiority of the SuperSonics' carnival basketball when compared to other teams' became even more apparent. Teams like the Lakers, who relied on traditional centers, were powerless to stop the SuperSonics' exterior shooting. Artest, considered the Lakers' trump card to limit Yu Fei, couldn't cope defensively and could only pick on younger players like Durant. But with Durant benefiting from the defensive focus on Yu Fei and Roy, and not being the main scoring option, he proved hard to shut down. Unable to defend the three-pointer, failing to contain key players, and with their own low three-point shooting percentage, the Lakers faced a three-game losing streak in the Western Conference Finals, on the verge of becoming the last corpse the SuperSonics left in their division. May 17 This would be the Lakers' last game of the season. Although insiders at the Lakers claimed they would fight to win, no one believed them anymore. The SuperSonics were on the brink of entering the Finals. Internal team dynamics were gradually changing, though. Yu Fei remained detached, inaccessible to most media, but others on the team were not. They became to the sports world what the Beatles were to the music world back in '96, with Durant spending ten minutes before every game being interviewed by major TV stations, discussing his perspective on "victory." Marion suddenly felt that a max contract might not be that important, but it was already too late to go back. ESPN reporter Jim Green asked veteran Tyronn Lue, "Does this SuperSonics team remind you of the 2001 Lakers?" "It's completely different," Coach Lu expounded, "The 2001 Lakers were more like a short-term abnormal outburst. If you only looked at that year's regular season, you couldn't imagine their dominance in the playoffs. But the SuperSonics are different; we showed dominance during the regular season, and our performance has only improved in the playoffs. We could say this team is still evolving, and this is not the best version of us." That night, the SuperSonics did not give the Lakers a chance. They led from the first second of the game to the last. Yu Fei had the only 40-point performance of the series. The SuperSonics lifted the Western Conference championship trophy once again. Looking over to the Eastern Conference, the Magic and the Bucks were vying for the remaining Finals ticket. But the world had already handed the championship to the SuperSonics. An ABC reporter asked Yu Fei, "Some say your two years since transferring from Milwaukee to Seattle have been like a fairy tale because you've achieved all your goals. Frye, what does it feel like to live in a fairy tale?" "Not all," Yu Fei replied, a gleam in his eye, "I still have one goal, or rather, a wish." "Oh, what is that?" "Leaving Milwaukee was a very difficult decision for me," Yu Fei's eyes sparkled, "When I decided to leave, I said to the people there—'The best thing I can think of is that we meet at the peak.'" With that, Yu Fei shouted into the microphone, "Come on MIL (Bucks abbreviation)!!!" ⑴ Yusexual. I don't know how to translate this word. This is a play on words derived from the pejorative term "bronsexual" used online for LeBron fans, implying an exaggerated, almost perverse obsession, as though LeBron's appeal to his fans surpasses even sexual attraction between genders.