Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Lenny Cook kept facing setbacks, making it difficult for the Ace Team to secure a second stable point of offense.

Fortunately, Carmelo Anthony was always Anthony, his defensive game might not be impressive, but on offense, he was nothing short of dazzling.

Compared with Anthony, Iguodala, another player from the class of 2002 with a similar build, seemed to fall far behind.

Iguodala lacked the versatile offensive skills of Anthony and also didn't have reliable scoring methods; he seemed capable of everything, but against slightly stronger opponents, he would falter as if he could do nothing at all.

What people praised most about Anthony was his physical talent.

His body allowed one to glimpse the future.

Then, Brandon Roy made his move.

One could see how much difference a year made looking at Roy.

At this time, Roy was not yet the future NBA player who would score 30,000 points, just as the current Anthony was not yet the kaleidoscope of offense he would become.

In terms of rankings, Roy wouldn't have made it into the top 100 nationwide for the class of 2001, whereas Anthony would certainly land in the top five for the class of 2002 after the camp, but Roy still managed to score continuously with his mature playing style and helped the Jade Team withstand the pressure during Anthony's fiercest attacks.

Roy's breakout was also closely linked to Yu Fei.

Every drive and shot by Roy came from a pass by Yu Fei.

This was another technical characteristic from Yu Fei's previous life. Since he was not tall enough back then, he often fed the ball to the talented players and shooters on his team, and over time, he naturally learned how to deliver comfortable passes to his teammates.

After playing as a center at K-M for a year, Yu Fei mostly converted his physical talent into performances in front of the scouts, and it was at the ABCD Camp that he really began to play with more freedom.

Today, he first allowed the experts to see his defense, then his leadership, followed by his organization and passing.

These displays of skill were different from Anthony's pure offensive talent.

Talented and versatile youngsters often have more possibilities.

As for Anthony, people could easily find a template for him—Pierce or Mashburn.

What about Yu Fei? Before joining the camp, everyone thought he resembled Lamar Odom, but now he seemed more like a taller Scottie Pippen.

Could he still surprise everyone?

Anthony's step-back jumper was still smooth but missed the mark.

Yu Fei sensed the rebound's landing spot, positioned himself in advance, leaped to catch the ball, and the moment he landed, he bellowed "Fast break," prompting three players from the Jade Team to rapidly descend the court.

On the move, Yu Fei looked left and right, eventually assisting Iguodala in a fast break slam dunk.

"AI!" Yu Fei shouted to Iguodala, "I won't watch the dunk contest the day after tomorrow if you're not in it!"

Excited, Iguodala responded, "I'll definitely take part!"

This scene was observed by the 63-year-old Jerry West, who normally didn't like watching young people play basketball because he appreciated perfection.

If you expect to see perfection in a high school game, you must be crazy.

He wouldn't be here if he hadn't been idling at home, and he certainly wouldn't have attended if Sonny hadn't invited him while he was idling. But since he was there, out of professional habit, he seriously observed the young players' performances.

LeBron James had great potential, DeAngelo Collins was all hype with no substance, a 6'9" Shaquille O'Neal? Humph, Shaq was called the "seven-foot Barkley" when he debuted, so any pint-sized Shaq should have Barkley as his game template. But does Collins have anything on him that resembles Barkley?

A physically mature high school center often meant losing oneself in higher levels of play. West sincerely hoped that Collins wasn't the next case, but he was 99% sure he was.

And what about Carmelo Anthony? Scouts said he possessed techniques many NBA players never acquire in their careers, but isn't that another form of precocity? Having been in contact with basketball for nearly 50 years, West had seen many such cases. Anthony's performance wasn't any different from the offensive forwards who abhorred defense emerging in the early '80s. Considering his attitude towards defense, West could even make a bold prediction—Anthony's future wouldn't be much different from those players.

A couple of All-NBA selections and a decade as an All-Star regular—that's quite something, right? Indeed, it is something, but West wasn't excited about a youth emerging from the ABCD Camp with such prospects.

One could say there was no one in the camp that moved West's heart like Kobe did back in the day. LeBron might warrant another look, but the others... none, not a single one.

There was, however, one person who gave West just as many questions as Kobe did back then.

West watched the young man named Frye Yu attentively.

His face was a rarity in American basketball circles; who was the last Asian to make a name for himself in high school basketball? West didn't know, maybe there never was such a person. Moreover, he never liked Asians, not because of racism, but because of a scar left in his heart by war⑴, but this didn't affect his opinion of Fei's on-court performance, just as he didn't like Chamberlain, but they still won the championship together.

By a perfectionist's standards, Fei was a mess.

Terrible offensive skillset, uncoordinated jump shot, lack of detail in his fakes, and aggressive defensive style.

Fei didn't seem to understand Russell's philosophy of the game; like other high schoolers addicted to shot blocking, he wanted to block every opponent's shot instead of instilling fear in the opponent that "any of my shots could be blocked."

But then again, he had many highlights.

His height and wingspan fully met the modern forward's requirements, and he possessed extremely refined ball-handling skills for his height, fully comparable to Lamar Odom. His shooting mechanics needed improvement, but his shot stability near the free-throw line was very good, and every shot selection was rational, creating a striking contrast with his defensive style.

Leadership on the team, control during set plays, and savvy organizing—these were his highlights.

If Fei had only these qualities, West would quickly classify him as an Odom-style tall ball handler and then ignore him.

The problem was, Fei had more than these.

His basketball language was worth savoring.

Fei possessed a vengeful attitude; if Anthony scored on him, he would make sure to return the favor next round.

He put pressure on his teammates and even, if a teammate's finishing wasn't good enough, he would show his dissatisfaction.

When the arrogant Lenny Cook provoked him, he used brutal matchups and trash talk to make him crumble.

When he was satisfied with a teammate's finishing, he could generously give praise.

Some of these behaviors were related to his temperament in the game, some to leadership, some to personality.

And to a great extent, where a talented player ultimately ends up depends on these factors.

Given Fei's talent and game temperament, how far could he go?

West couldn't have an answer, but if he had this year's lottery pick (assuming Fei entered this year's draft), he might take a gamble on Fei.

Yet, he wasn't sure it was a solid choice, unless Fei showed more reliable performance.

By the end of the first half, the Jade Team and the Ace Team were tied, and Wakaro came over to probe West's interest; "What do you think, Jerry, any players catching your eye?"

"Cameron is not bad," West gave Wakaro an answer that couldn't possibly be wrong.

"I'm also quite optimistic about that kid," Wakaro nodded in agreement, then asked, "What do you think of Frye?"

West didn't want to show his fondness for Fei, because Wakaro was with Adidas, and once he showed he appreciated Fei more, it could bring a lot of unexpected implications.

Plus, he genuinely didn't want to openly show favor to Fei, and again, he never liked Asians.

"His talent is not bad..." West said cautiously, "But everything is quite rough. Of course, his ball-handling is impressive."

Wakaro seemed to know West would say this.

Everyone who didn't know Fei would have such an assessment, a very rational one.

There's nothing wrong with being rational, but if it's rationality without understanding the details, then it is another form of bias.

"What if I told you that he was still playing volleyball at the beginning of last year and, if you calculate carefully, he's had only one year of systematic basketball training? Would you still hold the same view?"

Wakaro looked at 'LOGO man' with a smile, eagerly awaiting his response.

West's cheeks twitched, "F***, are you f***ing kidding me?"

Wakaro's smile confirmed the truth of his statement.

When West looked at Fei again, his perception was completely different.