Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In early April, Yu Fei and Quentin DiMio returned to Kent City together.

Yu Fei's life briefly returned to tranquility, consisting of nothing but classes and training every day.

The day after arriving home, Yu Fei shared his plans with his mother before going to school, "Mom, I plan to enter this year's NBA Draft."

For some time now, Yu Fenglin had heard a lot about this matter.

Yu Fei was a top high school player in the nation,

and had the potential to make it to the NBA;

Yu Fenglin had a clear understanding of both facts, but skipping college to enter the NBA Draft meant giving up any pursuit of academia.

Even if Yu Fenglin didn't think Yu Fei could excel in his studies, she still felt an indescribable unease.

"What if things don't go well in the NBA?" Yu Fenglin asked.

Yu Fei laughed and replied, "I think I should be picked within the top fifteen, and if I am the fifteenth pick this year, I can sign a contract worth 4 million US dollars over four years. Mom, four years, 4 million US dollars."

Indeed, this figure caused a major shock to Yu Fenglin's pupils.

Even if Yu Fei didn't make a fortune, their family's life would still be decent, but 4 million US dollars could afford them an entirely different lifestyle.

"If you're ready," Yu Fenglin said, "then go ahead and do it."

Yu Fei knew that his mother would not be his issue.

In fact, if Yu Fei came from a black family, the hesitation shown by Yu Fenglin that lasted less than a minute would not have occurred. For most black people, it seems that the only way to leapfrog social classes is through making it big in professional sports.

Yu Fei went to school.

It had been nearly two weeks since his last class.

Upon entering the campus, Yu Fei was greeted wherever he went. Not wanting to linger outside, he walked briskly into the classroom and gently tapped Lin Kaiwen's shoulder, "Morning!"

"Don't bother me!" Lin Kaiwen snapped with a scowl, "I'm in a bad mood!"

When your friends, regardless of their gender, say something like that to you, you definitely shouldn't let them be. Instead, you should keep annoying them until they find someone to talk to.

"Tell me what's bothering you, cheer me up," Yu Fei said with a smile.

Lin Kaiwen didn't respond and just glared fiercely at a short-haired girl in the front row.

That girl was Elizabeth, a Chinese-American mix. Yu Fei also knew that Lin Kaiwen had recently been trying to court her, and judging by his demeanor, it seemed things were not going well.

"Did Elizabeth reject your advances?" Yu Fei asked.

Finally losing his composure, Lin Kaiwen admitted, "She doesn't like me because I'm not Leo (Leonardo DiCaprio)."

It seems that countless women born between 1975 and 1985 fell in love with Leonardo DiCaprio; in the years following the release of Titanic, he might have been a serious contender for heartthrob status, not just for Elizabeth. Most of the girls Yu Fei saw at K-M would gladly sell their souls to share a milkshake with the guy, embodying the image of Leonardo DiCaprio. For women of this age group, Leo was the new Elvis; they were not actually in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, but rather with the Romeo and Jack he portrayed, allowing them to generate tons of fantasies in their skulls and delude themselves into believing these storylines could happen to them.

Just like countless women today who obsess over F4 after watching Meteor Garden, if you want to pursue a passionate F4 girl, you'll have to outdo the image of Zhou Yumin/Yan Chengxu in their minds and have the ability to create scenarios even more romantic than "accompanying you to watch meteor showers fall upon this Earth."

How is an ordinary man supposed to compete against such crap?

So Lin Kaiwen was thoroughly defeated.

In the days that followed, Yu Fei focused on catching up with his deferred academics and began a new phase of his training.

Based on his performance at ABCD Camp, Yu Fei believed his future position in the NBA would be as a swingman forward, hence he started to practice mid- and long-range shooting in large quantities and reinforced his inside-game fundamentals as per the training plan originally devised by Selvan.

By this time, the school team was on break, and with Selvan's departure, the school promised to hire a more qualified coach by summer, but the Royal Team was already in a state of de facto suspension.

It's hard to imagine this is a team that just won the state championship.

If Yu Fei wanted to maintain the quality of his training, he needed someone to practice with.

But of the players in his grade, some had already secured First Division League scholarships and were fully focused on their studies, fearing they might end up like Brandon Roy, a failure in every subject, unable to enter college due to poor academic performance. Others realized they had no future in basketball and completely gave up the sport, aiming to dedicate themselves to their studies in hopes of being admitted into a good university.

Only Anthony Lawson was there to help Yu Fei train.

But Yu Fei knew that if Lawson's academic performance were at Garfield High School basketball team, he would be considered a prodigy on par with Roy, a talent once in a generation.

He had finally received a college offer, and he should have been focusing on his studies; instead, he was spending his days practicing with Yu Fei?

Yu Fei was moved but also perplexed.

After a week like this, Yu Fei couldn't help asking, "Tony, the semester is almost over. Why do you keep coming to the court every day?"

Lawson looked up slightly, his large nostrils almost aligning with Yu Fei's eyes, "That's what I want to ask you."

"Me?" Yu Fei didn't hide the truth, "I've decided to enter this year's NBA Draft, so I must maintain my training. I don't want to embarrass myself during the tryouts."

Yu Fei's answer confirmed Lawson's guess.

From this year onwards, Yu Fei's reputation soared. After attending the ABCD Camp, he became unstoppable, with broadcasts and newspapers in Kent City featuring him almost daily.

Lawson witnessed how the broadcasts and newspapers described Yu Fei evolved from "the top high school student in Kent City" to "the top high school student in the State of Washington" to "the top high school student in the country" to "one of the top five high school students in the country" to "a potential NBA player."

It wasn't strange that Yu Fei wanted to go directly into the NBA Draft. If it were Lawson, he would do the same.

Compared to the African American basketball players that were commonly seen around the courts with Yu Fei, Lawson's family was well off. He had both parents, and his siblings showed him respect. Now that he had received a college offer, his life could be considered perfect. But Lawson knew that with his talent, even if he played in the NCAA First Division League, he wouldn't have a professional future.

Then, he saw Quentin DiMio busying around Yu Fei every day. Officially, DiMio was an assistant coach to the Royal Team, but in reality, he seemed more like Yu Fei's personal assistant. Lawson remembered complaining to Selvan during the season that DiMio didn't like helping other players on the team. Selvan had laughed and said, "Don't mind it; he's a man of Frye."

At the same time, the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Dikembe Mutombo by the trade deadline, officially making them one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference. Allen Iverson's rise was as fast as a rocket's. His crude hip-hop music, rumors of falling out with Larry Brown, and gossips about the 76ers planning to trade him all vanished. Suddenly, he became the year's most recognizable pop culture icon. His tattoos, cornrows, indomitable spirit, and Sisyphean resolve became the qualities people eagerly admired.

Of course, there was also his generosity and warmth towards his friends.

Those protected under Iverson's wing were known as "Iverson's people."

Lawson didn't want to be a vampire clinging to Yu Fei like those who clung to Iverson; he was well aware that Yu Fei might be the most promising person he had ever seen. Yu Fei's future was bright, and if he could keep pace with him, his future would change.

That day, Yu Fei didn't figure out Lawson's thoughts, but a few days later, he did.

Lawson wanted to work for him, just like DiMio.

Yu Fei didn't reject Lawson. Having known each other for over a year, he felt that Lawson was straightforward, responsible, and trustworthy.

Therefore, Yu Fei began letting Lawson be his training partner without any qualms and started to boss him around just as he did with DiMio.

Lawson had no objections; in fact, he was excited because it proved he had successfully joined this nascent team.

And they had another important matter to attend to.

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"If Michael decides to come back, I will follow suit. Who wouldn't want to see me and Michael play on the same team?" Charles Barkley said on TNT: Inside the NBA.

"Chinese player Wang Zhizhi scored 6 points and 3 rebounds in his historic debut." — Dallas Morning News

"If the 7-foot-6 Chinese center Yao Ming enters the draft this year, he would be the undisputed number one overall pick." — Sports Illustrated

"Frye Yu, a senior at Kent Meridian High School, is publicly recruiting an agent." — The Seattle Times