Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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The Bucks' second battle with the Lakers ended with another victory for the Bucks, but the smoke of battle did not disperse along with the game.

After the press conference, Yu Fei brought up old issues again, accusing Shaquille O'Neal of being a racist, which led some media to start questioning this beloved big man.

Just as the controversy was about to escalate, the Lakers cited O'Neal's grade two ankle sprain as a reason to put him on the bench.

Although some civil rights activists were eager to prove whether O'Neal was indeed discriminating against Asians, with him injured, the issue had to be put on hold for now.

Yu Fei was not in a hurry about this.

Or rather, he never expected external forces to punish O'Neal.

If the external forces had wanted to punish O'Neal, they would have done so when the incident first happened, without needing Yu Fei to take action.

The grudge between Yu Fei and O'Neal was complicated, and two days later, another incident in a different game made the Bucks the center of attention once again.

That was during an away game in Cleveland.

The Cavaliers were undoubtedly one of the first teams to prepare for the 2003 draft, with their sights set on one goal: to try their luck and bring the explosively popular superstar LeBron James into their fold.

However, this did not mean there were no talents within the Cavs.

The Cavaliers did have talent, such as the KG-clone Darius Miles, who was notorious for squandering his gifts, but tonight's protagonist was another talent—Ricky Davis.

The game was primarily dominated by the Bucks as they overwhelmed the Cavaliers, but Davis had a very comprehensive performance. When the outcome was clear, he realized he was one rebound short of a triple-double.

So, nonchalantly, he shot at his own basket, of course missing, then grabbed the rebound.

He achieved his triple-double.

Yu Fei was stunned; he had thought that Giannis was the originator of manufacturing triple-doubles on purpose, but it turns out that this was just a proof that in the NBA, there are talented new stars emerging in every era.

After the game, Davis's behavior received widespread criticism.

And Davis's response?

"That was a mistake."

Davis defended himself weakly.

Yu Fei sarcastically commented, "If this triple-double is legitimate, then this will be a proud day for the NBA."

Ray Allen was more direct than Yu Fei, "This is the NBA, you have to be professional, that was unprofessional. Yes, I think it's disrespectful to the game and to me. There are groups of kids watching him; do you think this behavior has any positive influence on them?"

The next day, the League announced that Ricky Davis's tenth rebound was invalid.

Great, this was the most righteous episode Yu Fei had seen in his two years in the NBA.

With the Bucks becoming the first team in the League to reach 50 wins, they once again overtook the Western team, the Mavericks, for the top spot in the League's standings.

As March neared its end, the regular season schedule had less than 1/4 remaining.

Looking ahead, among the opponents left in March, one required special attention.

That was the Western Conference's second-ranked San Antonio Spurs.

In Yu Fei's recollection, the Spurs were the champions of this season.

But based on actual encounters, Yu Fei felt the Mavericks were the strongest team in the West.

The Mavericks were the only Western team to sweep the Bucks this season.

The Spurs had won their first encounter with the Bucks before, so George Karl attached great importance to their second encounter at the end of March.

Before that, the Bucks had a few more games to play.

Two of them were Western away games.

The Bucks were to first challenge the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis, then go to Utah to play the Jazz.

With Jerry West joining, the Grizzlies were one of the more noticeable teams at the start of the season.

One of the most surprising moves made by West after taking charge of the Grizzlies was coaxing Hubie Brown out of many years being active in the commentary field.

West hoped that Brown's experience would help the young players on the Grizzlies grow.

But to the viewers, this was quite baffling.

Since the 1980s, Hubie Brown had been one of the famous commentators in professional basketball.

No matter which cable company the NBA signed with, Brown would appear and provide his insights, during games and at the draft.

The hilarity of this event could basically equate to the CBA Ningbo Team suddenly appointing Zhang Weiping as their head coach in the 2020s.

But as funny as it was, it was effective.

Hubie Brown's comeback at least changed the career of White Chocolate. Before this, White Chocolate was a showman who only knew how to please the audience, but Brown taught him how to be a real point guard.

This season, White Chocolate's assist-to-turnover ratio ranked fourth in the League.

So what? Yu Fei had no respect for White Chocolate.

Long before Yu Fei entered the NBA, White Chocolate was embroiled in controversy for making derogatory remarks about Asians and sexual minorities.

In this game, Yu Fei targeted White Chocolate specifically, seizing every opportunity to exploit the mismatch and play him one-on-one.

Due to White Chocolate's physical limitations, he couldn't stop Yu Fei, which led to him fouling multiple times and ultimately having a terrible game.

The Bucks left Memphis with a victory.

Hubie Brown said, "I think the Bucks have a problem with the way they use Frye, they should make him a player without the ball as much as possible."

Brown's subtext was that going without the ball would maximize Yu Fei's strengths.

For such views, George Karl rebutted with, "antiquated stubbornness."

To the person being criticized, the feeling could be quite different.

Yu Fei filed Brown's suggestion under "explorable but not necessary."

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The regular season was nearing its conclusion, and aside from the game against the Spurs at the end of March, the only other thing Yu Fei cared about was whether the Wizards would make the playoffs.

Looking at the rankings, the Wizards were still ninth in the Eastern Conference; they were engaged in a tense battle for position.

At the start of April, the Bucks had one more battle against them.

Yu Fei asked his assistant to pay special attention to that day.

If by that day, the Wizards had already confirmed their advancement to the playoffs—if they did advance, they would likely be the eighth seed—then Yu Fei would be very happy to face his old team in the first round.

If by then, the game against the Bucks was a crucial match for the Wizards' playoff positioning, that would be even better.

Last year, he alone had carried the team into the playoffs in the last 1/4 of the season. This year, if Jordan, with two All-Stars, didn't make the playoffs, no matter how you looked at it, it would be a stain on his professional career.

Utah

Noisy away games, irritable Mormons, and the ever-present Stockton and Karl Malone—these were everyone's impressions of the Jazz.

One hour before the game started, Yu Fei arrived at the Delta Center to warm-up and happened to meet the Jazz's head coach, Jerry Sloan.

The famed coach, with his lion-like eyes, exuded an aura of silent authority.

Not knowing how to greet him, Yu Fei pretended not to see him and continued shooting baskets.

However, Sloan approached Yu Fei alone, and said, "Frye, I hope you will apologize to Karl."

Yu Fei asked, "For what?"

"You once publicly said he didn't deserve the 1999 MVP," Sloan stated, "That's something he cherishes."

That matter... Karl Malone had inadvertently been caught in the crossfire when he was courtside, exchanging barbs with Pat, meant as a taunt about the prestige of the other's Oscar trophy—Malone was just brought into it.

Nevertheless, although Malone was an accidental target, that did not mean Yu Fei thought his conclusion was wrong.

"That's my opinion, and I won't change it."

Sloan's expression did not change, "Do you know Karl likes to swing his elbows on the court?"

A threat?

Yu Fei said, "I know."

"If you're ready to take that risk..."

"Let him come," Yu Fei said indifferently, "That way I don't have to specially say that he deserved the MVP more than MJ in 1998 just to make him happy."

Upon hearing this, Sloan left with a "See you later."

He seemed to have gotten the answer he was looking for.

"What gives that old man the right to represent Karl anyway?" Lawson performed what could be described as not recognizing Taishan right there.
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"Tony, no more talk, pass me the ball."

The game that night proved to be quite a challenge for the Bucks, thanks to the Jazz.

The main reasons were three people: Karl Malone, Andrei Kirilenko, and Matt Harpring. Malone's defense did not at all resemble that of a nearly-40-year-old veteran; Kirilenko's defensive reach caused trouble for the Bucks' shooting woes.

Harpring contributed the much-needed outside shooting for the Jazz.

Also, throughout the game, the Jazz were demonstrating a textbook example of pick and rolls.

Absolutely tough, absolutely standard, absolutely reasonable pick and rolls, split and roll.

This was entirely different from the Bucks' "unorthodox pick and rolls" under the X-Offense System.

This difference was evident in the ABC halftime coach interview when Sloan discussed his views on both teams' pick and rolls.

The ABC courtside reporter asked Sloan, "The Jazz and the Bucks are the NBA teams best at using pick and rolls to initiate offense. What do you think are the differences between your pick and rolls?"

In Sloan's mind emerged the image of the Bucks' frivolous pick and cuts, akin to a stripper dancing on one's leg. "That's a pick and roll?"

"I don't think so," Sloan shook his head.

Ironically, it was that very pick and roll, disdained by Sloan, that allowed the Bucks to crack the defensive system built by Malone and Kirilenko in the second half through their X-Offense.

Yu Fei's unstoppable drives, unguardable hooks, and the return of his shooting touch in the second half made him seem like a top-five superstar in the league.

After a poor first half, Yu Fei exploded for 25 points in the second, finishing with 38 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists for the game, leading his team to a comeback victory over the Jazz.

On March 30th, the Bucks would face the Spurs at home in their last regular-season clash.

The night before the game, Sprewell invited Yu Fei to a barbecue party.

Yu Fei went, only to find out that the party was not so serious, and most importantly, Rachel, with whom he had a brief fling last year in Los Angeles, had somehow made it to the party.

Yu Fei mingled with his teammates eating, drinking, and playing, but he was not in high spirits.

Even at the end of the party, Rachel was hinting that Yu Fei could go to a quiet place with her.

But Yu Fei said, "Sorry, Rachel, I've got something else. The team needs me to record a radio show..."

And then he left, like a robot devoid of desire.

"Didn't you know her?" Sprewell was surprised at Yu Fei's self-control.

Rachel said in disappointment, "I don't know what I did wrong."

In truth, she hadn't done anything wrong; Yu Fei was simply too lucid. Since his relationship with her was only for one night, it should forever only be one night. He would not allow flesh and skin to entangle him twice.

Besides, he was about to battle Duncan for three hundred rounds the next day; he could not be distracted by anything before that.

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"The Wizards Team did not significantly improve with Jordan on the floor, and some might argue that the development of the young players has been hindered by MJ. However, over the past two years, it was only when Jordan was on the court that the Wizards had a chance to win." — The Washington Post

"As the Bucks became the number one team in the league under the leadership of Frye, people in Wisconsin have started to pay more attention to the Bucks." — Milwaukee Sentinel

"Supersonics management should be held responsible for this failed season. If they had been willing to trade Gary Payton and Rashard Lewis last year, then this evolved version of Frye would have led the team to a revival. Now, everything has to be rebuilt from scratch!" — The Seattle Times