Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In the Bucks' locker room, Yu Fei accused Ray Allen like a ferocious wolf, "When I'm off the court, you're the team's backbone. Why were you so passive in the second half?"

"Look at Kobe, then look at yourself!" Yu Fei seemed to regard Kobe and Ray as players of the same caliber, "Why can he take over the game when the team's star player is absent? If it had just been your offense that was poor, that would have been one thing, but your defense was terrible as well. We lost the game entirely because of you, damn it!"

Ray Allen was at a loss for words, as he wasn't the only Bucks player who performed poorly in the second half.

The others weren't much better.

Mainly, everyone was used to revolving around Yu Fei as the supporting cast.

Suddenly, with Yu Fei gone, they played the same strategy like headless flies, only to find the ball handler at the top of the arc was no longer the powerful man who could drop 30+8+8 on average.

Since Yu Fei was the only one on the Bucks who could draw a double team, the shooters who benefited from pick-and-rolls to shoot a high percentage also couldn't find their places on the court.

The only one who performed normally was Sprewell.

He had both offense and defense, and even if his shooting was off, he still excelled at driving.

Although it wasn't fair for Yu Fei to pin the loss solely on Ray Allen's shoulders, as the second-in-command, he had to accept it.

However, Ray Allen inevitably talked tough, "I'm not the only one who didn't play well in the second half."

"You still have the nerve to say that? As our core player, you didn't play well yourself, how can you expect others to perform? How much money do you make and how much do the others make? As a max salary player, you should contribute like one!"

Ray Allen was so embarrassed that he blushed and couldn't refute.

George Karl realized that Yu Fei was increasingly acting like the team leader. If they had lost a game last season, Yu Fei wouldn't have criticized his teammates like he did now.

The loss also indirectly proved something else: the Bucks' dependency on Yu Fei was far greater than the Lakers' on Shaquille O'Neal.

Looking around the league, only Duncan of the Spurs might have a slightly stronger overall impact on his team than Yu Fei.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

Karl couldn't help but ponder this question.

With Yu Fei's league-leading usage rate, players like Ray Allen, a star in his own right, gradually became accustomed to the "second fiddle" role and lost the ability to dominate a game solo.

Although Karl didn't think highly of Ray Allen, during the "Three Musketeers" era, there was no doubt that Allen was the Bucks' most frequently clutch player.

His clutch performance determined at least 20% of the Bucks' game outcomes.

Now, after meshing with Yu Fei for a season, he had lost that ability.

The Ray Allen who averaged 27 points in the Eastern Conference finals and rivaled peak Iverson had been sealed away.

The current Ray Allen was a top-tier secondary attacker who could reliably contribute 20 points a game, but couldn't be expected to carry the entire team.

But then again, the Bucks had won the championship last season, so Karl couldn't say that Allen's reduced role was harmful to the team.

It was just a pity for Ray Allen himself.

Praise belonged to Big Fei, honor belonged to Big Fei. Now, even when Big Fei got into a fight and was ejected early, leading the team to a loss, he still had to shoulder all the blame.

Was this the life a person should live? Karl's heart softened as he saw Yu Fei scolding Ray Allen relentlessly, "Enough, Frye. I believe Ray did his best tonight. We will make up for it next time."

Yu Fei snorted coldly and finally stopped talking.

Ratner asked with interest, "I wonder how many games you'll be suspended for this time."

Mason, who had experience in this area, said, "Although those punches were hard, Frye was the one retaliating. I don't think it will be more than three games."

"Fine," Yu Fei said, "if it is more than three games I'll get Larry to ship you off to the Clippers."

"Damn it! Don't always threaten to send someone to the Clippers! What's so bad about the Clippers? Even Kobe wants to go but can't!"

Mason's mention of Kobe lightened the mood in the locker room considerably.

While Yu Fei and Shaquille O'Neal's fight was quite a spectacle, Kobe has been the season's king of showmanship, similar to Kyrie Irving during his time with the Brooklyn Nets.

First, there was no need to mention Kobe's issues with Shaquille O'Neal; as someone undergoing legal proceedings as an accused "sex offender," if the court found him guilty during the season, his career would be over.

To avoid media harassment of Kobe, the Lakers protected him heavily every time they entered or exited an airport, yet he still had no trust in the team and hired an entire team of bodyguards, who not only followed him into the training ground but also on the team plane to away games. Against the backdrop of Kobe possibly being convicted, Old Buss offered Kobe a 4-year, 74 million US dollar contract to appease him, but Kobe still refused it.

The reason?

"I don't believe I definitely have to retire in the Lakers," said Kobe. "In the sports world, stories of 'everlasting loyalty' are just fairy tales."

Then there was the incident Mason mentioned during the game against the Clippers, where Kobe, having disrupted the opponents' ball, yelled at the Clippers' coach, "Trade me over there!"

Such astonishing remarks naturally took the national headlines and delighted the Clippers' owner, who instructed the team to prepare enough salary cap space for Kobe's potential addition next season.

While the Bucks were finding amusement in Kobe's situation, the Lakers were not enjoying their away game victories all that much.

As Al Aranda, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times wrote, "For the Lakers Team, the joy of a victory doesn't last more than an hour."

And on the night they defeated the Bucks, the joy of conquering a rival probably didn't even last for half an hour.

Shaquille O'Neal became extremely angry when he heard what Kobe had said about his fight with Yu Fei.

(Kobe said: Maybe Shaq should lose some weight, fighting is different from playing ball, he's too clumsy and couldn't touch a hair on Frye.)

In fact, that last sentence was the malicious interpretation of a reporter.

Shaquille O'Neal stormed into the locker room in a rage, only to find that Kobe and his bodyguards had already left, "That damn cur is spouting bullshit again!"

Rick Fox asked in surprise, "What did he say?"

"You can watch the TV yourself," Shaquille O'Neal said coldly.

Fox didn't understand; he knew exactly what Kobe had said since he was there at the scene.

"Shaq, he's not wrong. You're truly not back in top shape..." Fox cautiously said, "Don't tell me you feel offended, that makes no sense."

"Yes, I do feel offended," Shaquille O'Neal, his face swollen on one side, expressed the hardly intimidating words, "If he keeps up that nonsense, I will butcher him!"

The next day, the League announced the results of the fight between Yu Fei and Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaquille O'Neal was suspended for four games and fined 20,000 US dollars.

Yu Fei was suspended for two games and fined 10,000 US dollars.

Yu Fei was furious with the decision, believing he had acted in self-defense and deserved neither the suspension nor the fine.

But the League considered that they weren't judges, they didn't question who was right or wrong, apart from severely punishing the main culprit, those involved also had to be penalized.

Though Yu Fei appealed with justifiable reasons, it was impossible to get a satisfactory response because the NBA is its own independent microcosm with its own set of rules.

After losing to the Lakers, Yu Fei got three days off.

In those three days, there were two games to play, and since they were away games, Yu Fei, who was suspended, didn't need to travel with the team.

Thereby, Yu Fei was ostensibly staying in Milwaukee, but in reality, he went to Los Angeles with Christina Hendricks for leisure.

The Bucks, meanwhile, headed to their away games.

The first away game was in New York.

Ever since James Dolan started overseeing the Knicks, this once-rejuvenated powerhouse of the early '90s in the Eastern Conference has been in decline.

Especially after James Dolan appointed Scott Layden as general manager, the team's missteps had become more frequent.

For the Bucks, even without Yu Fei, beating them posed no difficulty.

Ray Allen, feeling the sting of shame, finally stood up like a true centerpiece, scoring 35 points and 6 rebounds, leading the team to a victory on the road.

On the bench, Michael Redd also played impressively, with his inside penetration and outside shooting contributing 25 points, his three-pointers were spot on.
Your adventure continues at empire

"I miss Frye. If Frye were here, I could have scored 40 points."

Don't mind it, this was the Nth time this season that Redd tried to ingratiate himself with Fei.

This was something that Ray Allen would never learn; this victory seemed to prove that the Bucks were not solely Fei's team.

He told reporters, "No matter who can't play, we all have to try hard to win the games, it's a team effort, and you can see our team spirit shining through in our matches."

However, this good time did not last long.

The next opponent for the Bucks was the Detroit Pistons.

That evening, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pistons' defense suffocated the Bucks.

The Bucks, who had not scored less than 100 points in a game this season, were limited to 82 points, while the Pistons took the victory with 94 points.

"The days without Frye are tough to get through, thanks be to God, he's coming back in the next game."

George Karl faced the defeat with a relaxed attitude.

"Is it true, Frye's on vacation in Los Angeles, have you guys been in touch these past few days?"

"We've had a phone call; Frye cares a lot about the team..."

Actually, Yu Fei wasn't that concerned with the team; he treated these three days as a brief vacation. In Los Angeles, he spent three days with Christina, during which he could say he was oblivious of the outside world.

The only insider who kept in constant touch with him was LeBron James from the Cavaliers.

LeBron had been troubled lately, feeling that he couldn't work with Ricky Davis.

"That guy... he's so selfish, I think he's only playing for the stats, the kind of person who gets angry when his shot attempts go down."

"Frye, are you listening?"

"Uh... Yeah... I'm listening."

"Have you ever encountered someone like that?"

Yu Fei couldn't take James's question seriously, he replied casually, "I've encountered someone even worse."

"MJ?"

"You really are smart, LeBron."

LeBron couldn't help but laugh and cry; is there anyone on this planet who cares about basketball yet doesn't know about the enmity between Yu Fei and Jordan?

"In a few days, you guys are coming to Cleveland," LeBron said with anticipation, "You'll be able to play, right?"

"Of course, I'm definitely playing. After all, it's the first time you and I, as brothers, will play against each other in a match, I will definitely... I will be there."

At that moment, LeBron realized that Brother Yu was somewhat indisposed.

"So, see you in Cleveland."

"Uh-huh..."

(Writing this chapter, I had absolutely no ideas, so I wrote some weird stuff. The complete version can be seen in the group file.)