Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This remark truly hit James right in the heart.

Not as good as Yu Fei at this stage? That's not shameful.

But not as good as Yu Fei in the same period? That would leave no excuses.

Facing the same defense, James no longer waited passively, but actively attacked, dribbling the ball forward against Sprewell's pressure.

The advantage of doing this was that he wouldn't get locked down in his own half like the last round, but the disadvantage was that it was hard to stop and more likely to draw an offensive foul.

With nothing on his mind but proving himself, James forcefully drove to the paint, tossing the ball towards the hoop under Sprewell's intense interference.

This scene undoubtedly bore the shadow of Dr. J, except, his control over the ball was far too lacking at the moment.

The basketball slid off the rim.

Yu Fei grabbed the rebound and launched a fast break.

The Cavaliers had multiple players hustling back, but none stood in Yu Fei's driving lane.

Darius Miles had no choice but to try to block with his body in the paint, but how could he stop him?

Yu Fei simply couldn't imagine how a three-year NBA player could be so lacking in defensive details and technique.

Yu Fei moved like the wind, taking off and dunking over Miles' body for the score.

As he landed, the referee's whistle was still distinctly audible.

Miles' attempt to defend not only failed but also gave away a foul.

Yu Fei's dominance was deeply moving; for Clevelanders, this was the image they imagined of a fully-realized LeBron James.

"It has to be said that Frye was originally picked by the Cavaliers," Doc Rivers said from the commentary desk, as if worrying that Clevelanders were not hurt enough, and suddenly added, "If they hadn't traded Frye, maybe the Bucks wouldn't have won last season, but we might have had the chance to see him team up with LeBron."

ABC's commentator Brad Nessler said, "WOW... This is definitely the biggest 'what if' in Cavaliers history."

It was good that Yu Fei was far away and couldn't hear what they were saying, otherwise he would have had to argue.

Wasn't this saying that he would bring the Cavaliers the number one draft pick?

How could that be possible? He wasn't sure he could lead the Cavaliers to the championship, but he could at least get them into the playoffs, so getting the number one pick was out of the question.

"You can choose not to defend to avoid getting fouls,"
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Yu Fei taunted Miles sarcastically after making the free throw.

Miles was a proud man who had been told since high school that he would become a superstar. When he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside Garnett as the second coming of Garnett in 2000, that belief solidified.

But circumstances overpower people, the Clippers trading Miles meant a draft bust. Miles knew he might not become a superstar after all, but still believed he was a top player.

The result was that the earth-shattering hype around James made him feel the gap; he too had once been the darling of high hopes.

Now, a high school player who had entered the NBA later than him was on the road to stardom yet showed disdain for him.

This was something Miles couldn't tolerate.

"I'm going all out with you today, damn it!"

James hadn't expected Miles to pick a fight with his big brother.

Strangely enough, even though Miles was being utterly outclassed, how dared he?

Miles still had talent; even though he'd wasted three years, he was only 22 years old. But due to a long-term lack of polishing on technical details, he still relied on raw talent to play the game up to today.

Under Yu Fei's defense, he thought of using his first step to power through.

Yu Fei easily stopped him, and then it was his time to show his natural talent.

Miles, attempting to turn around and shoot, was quick as lightning, causing even Yu Fei to hesitate for half a second. Unfortunately, Miles had explosive power but lacked the body fluidity and skill to use it effectively. Even though he created an open space for himself, the subsequent shot was as disjointed from the movement as constipation.

"That was a terrible shot," Yu Fei mocked as he grabbed the rebound, "My little brother would have made that."

Hearing that, Miles became furious with embarrassment, while James was caught between a rock and a hard place, agreeing or disagreeing, he could only pretend not to hear.

James gradually realized there was a reason why his Brother Yu had a bad reputation.

Yu Fei intended to launch a fast break; James took the initiative to block his path, and Miles chased relentlessly. For a moment, the frontcourt actually formed a one-on-two situation.

James wanted to help Miles save some face, but then he heard Yu Fei say, "Too green."

Before the words were fully out, Yu Fei, like an arrow, took the right lane and broke through his defense, making Miles's defense behind him seem like a joke, which from beginning to end, hadn't imposed any impact on Yu Fei.

James struggled to catch up; as Yu Fei carried the ball close to the paint, he gathered the ball, jumped in, and James and Miles both leapt, completely covering his shooting space.

If it were last season's Yu Fei, facing such defense, he would have passed the ball.

But now, he was like a lion, charging at the weak points of Miles's and James's defense, and incredibly, he found a gap between the double team, protecting the ball with his right hand as he scooped it upward.

The basketball soared from behind Miles and James, faintly accompanied by the referee's whistle—someone had fouled again, but that wasn't the main point—the main point was the ball, which gently flew and like it had a mind of its own, found its way into the basket.

Yu Fei landed gracefully, saying to a surprised James, "Surely your defense isn't learned from that guy (Miles), right?"

"Learned it from you, big brother," James replied.

"You didn't even get the basics," Yu Fei retorted.

"Um..." James humbly said, "I still need to practice."

"You're still redeemable," Yu Fei glanced at Miles, "This guy is beyond hope though, trade him."

Trade...?

James doubted he heard it right.

He wasn't the general manager, what was he supposed to trade?

It has to be said, Young LeBron was quite amusing. A few teasing remarks from Yu Fei had him flustered like a student who botched an exam.

As a superstar rookie who had brought a considerable amount of benefit to the team, James's status was different from the others; he seemed yet to realize his own influence.

As an elder brother, it was Yu Fei's duty to educate Young LeBron, especially on such puzzling issues. He offered his advice: "Tell your general manager you don't like Darius, trade him while the stupid dog is still of some use..."

James wished he could go deaf; Brother Yu was too blunt. Couldn't he have said that in private? There were a lot of people around, weren't there?

Yu Fei taught Young LeBron a lesson and scored at the free-throw line.

By then, he had already racked up 15 points in the first quarter.

As the first quarter was well underway, with the Bucks leading the Cavaliers by over 11 points, Karl felt it was time to substitute. At the next dead ball, he brought in Red and Horry to replace Yu Fei and Mason.

As Yu Fei was subbed out, ABC displayed his stats: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

"Have to say, Frye taught LeBron a lesson. As an elder brother, his performance was outstanding!"

Looking at Yu Fei's stats flashing on the big screen at the venue, James reflected on his own stats, which if he remembered correctly, should be 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists. How could that be enough?

No matter what, he needed to score more. Now with Frye off the court, the Bucks might not be that strong...

Taking advantage of the opponent's star sitting out to go on a scoring spree was always a good tactical choice, although some with less healthy mindsets liked to refer to it as beat the rush.

Yu Fei watched with amusement; seeing James score on Red twice in succession, he couldn't help but smile joyously.

"See that? That's my little brother; he can still play when he wants to. You wouldn't have guessed, LeBron knows strategy." Yu Fei would have liked to share the story of Tian Ji's horse racing with his teammates, but he figured the rough guys probably wouldn't be interested.

So, leaving it at that, Yu Fei crossed his legs while Tim Grover immediately gave him a massage.

Yu Fei sat enjoyably on the sidelines, and the first quarter quickly came to a close.

19 to 27

The visiting Bucks entered the second quarter with an 8-point lead.