Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Although Yu Fei wanted a one-on-one with Paul, the Hornets were not going to let that happen easily.

Because physically, letting Paul and Yu Fei match up on both ends of the court was simply unequal.

Therefore, the Hornets would let others wear Yu Fei down before letting Paul take bigger hits on the offensive end.

But not all wear-down tactics are effective.

Peja could match Yu Fei in size, but he was far behind in speed and athletic talent.

Yu Fei broke through his defense with ease, and conversely, after Peja took on the defensive duty against Yu Fei, he couldn't guarantee that his silky smooth shooting would still be effective on the offensive end.

Once he could not score, Peja's value as a shooter in terms of spacing was lost.

On the defensive end, he couldn't effectively restrict Yu Fei.

Five minutes into the first quarter, Yu Fei drew Peja's second foul, forcing the Hornets to make a tactical substitution.

Byron Scott subbed out Peja for the heavier forward Bonzi Wells.

All hefty forwards are compared to Barkley when they first enter the league.

Wells earned a reputation as a 'little Barkley' early on, but such expectations were quickly shattered in the NBA, proving just how special Barkley was.

"No matter how great you are, this season you're just a thief!" Wells was a staunch Paul backer, "Chris is the real MVP!"

That's why Yu Fei hated matching up against these guys on the offensive end.

He was at a loss for words? No, he just couldn't be bothered to argue.

Talking to these guys was beneath him.

Yu Fei posted up low, pinned Wells, and upon receiving the pass, immediately sensed that his opponent's defensive center of gravity was on his weak side. So he feinted a shoulder shimmy to the weak side and as Wells fumbled, he suddenly accelerated, spinning towards the strong side for a forceful drive.

The weight advantage of a hefty forward manifested in low-post defense, but once Yu Fei faced the basket and drove, their poor lateral movement was exposed.

Wells was not much better than Peja in this aspect.

Yu Fei shook Wells off his back, drove to the basket and scored a layup.

17 to 11

Yu Fei had racked up his 10th point.

The first quarter wasn't even halfway over, but the Supersonics already held a lead thanks to Yu Fei's individual skill.
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Paul glanced at Yu Fei and said to Wells, "Bonz, I won't leave you to face him alone."

"Tough to handle," Wells admitted, still shaken, "He's fast."

"I know."

Paul couldn't come up with an effective way to limit Yu Fei's offensive game for Wells.

What he could do was to try and make a comeback with his own offense.

But that was easier said than done.

As Paul dribbled to the frontcourt, Roy was not the one to meet him, but Yu Fei instead.

From the logic of match-up basketball, actively giving Paul a mismatch against the master of mismatches was unreasonable.

But to Yu Fei, he didn't mind being mismatched against Paul.

He wasn't like during his Bucks days, saddled with the responsibility of the offensive system, so he had enough energy to splurge on defense—and he wanted to gain some experience in defending smaller players against Paul.

If he could also annoy Paul in the process, all the better.

Paul's steady ball-handling was seemingly unaffected by Yu Fei's interference.

He moved to the basket at a measured pace, and with Brown's help defense, he was forced to circle beneath the basket, then passed the ball to Morris Peterson at the baseline on the other side.

Being steady was his forte. Paul played with clarity, knowing what to do and how to avoid mistakes, but it was precisely because he lacked exceptional speed and explosiveness that he didn't have a frightening offensive thrust.

As soon as Paul stopped handling the ball, the Hornets' offense became mediocre.

He made a full circle, which seemed to disrupt the Supersonics' defense, but the way he passed the ball posed no threat.

Peterson faked Durant, entered the basket only to be forced into an error by Marion's defensive cover.

And Paul quickly retreated on defense the moment the mistake occurred.

He truly only made the right decisions.

That was the talent he was born with.

On the basis of being only 183 centimeters tall, he had to think carefully about whatever he did.

Only the right actions could make him a godly point guard.

But for those over 20 centimeters taller than him, the right action was just one of the options, what mattered most was the payoff.

Yu Fei had dominated Peja, now he aimed to crush Wells.

He intended to shred the Hornets' wings to pieces and fundamentally disrupt their lineup balance.

Roy was more than willing to step back and hand the ball to Yu Fei, letting him deal with the aftermath—the most relaxing thing in the world.

Yu Fei got the ball at the left high post, and Wells' lumbering body couldn't possibly block his drive.

The moment Yu Fei made a move, Paul broke away from defending Roy. The shortest player on the court quickly realized he couldn't stop his opponent by any fair means.

He knew to do the right thing, but he also knew to play dirty.

A consensus in professional basketball was that being a small guard equated to poor defense, but Paul's presence challenged that stereotype. At only 183 centimeters, his defense was excellent. Not because he had a talent to overturn physical shortcomings, but because he dared to use every dirty trick on defense.

In a moment, Wells was no longer Yu Fei's problem, and Paul's intervention was no surprise.

But how could a 183-centimeter-tall guard stop him?

Paul extended his hand as if to intercept the ball, but his finger was aimed straight for Fei's abdomen.

Fei reacted instinctively in an instant, violently swinging his left hand toward Paul's body.

"Whistle!!!!!"

Unless it was Kobe playing at the Staples Center, even the League's number one player couldn't publicly elbow an opponent.

Fei raised his hand, accepting the offensive foul. His elbow strike on Paul would inevitably spark discussion after the game, and what about Paul's move just then? No one knew what would have happened if he hadn't dodged or hadn't responded reflexively.

Fei said sarcastically, "You see, this is why you can't even beat Kobe in the MVP votes."

Paul remained silent. Though he said nothing, his posture indicated that Fei's elbow wasn't light, and the stricken area was still in pain.

Seeing this scene on the court, Karl realized what the Supersonics were currently lacking the most.

They didn't have someone to do the dirty work for Fei.

In Milwaukee, there were many such people.

But in Seattle, Big Fei needed to "fend for himself."

After all, how could these rookies, still within their first contract period, understand the ruthlessness of the League?

This made Karl think of something even worse. If they encountered the Celtics in the finals, would that team filled with veteran miscreants take advantage of this aspect?

However, Karl couldn't afford to ponder at the moment.

Because Fei once again came before Paul, but his defense was even more aggressive than before.

Aggressive defense can bring pressure, but it can also leave vulnerabilities.

Paul quickly broke through Fei's defenses but didn't expect Marion to be waiting in his path.

As Paul was about to pass, Fei came over from behind, and Roy purposefully blocked the sideline referee's view.

In less than a second, Paul lost control of the ball.

"They fouled!" Paul yelled.

Fouled? Perhaps, but who cares?

Fei stole the ball, Wells tried to stop him but got faked out by a behind-the-back move that left him half a step behind, losing track of Fei.

Fei dribbled across the midcourt, slowed down, and delivered a long-distance alley-oop to Marion.

Marion caught the ball and dunked it, completing the play perfectly.

"He fouled!" Paul shouted at the head referee, "That bastard, he...!"

Head referee Mike Callahan stated solemnly, "I didn't see it."

"How could you not?!!!!!"

If not for David West pulling Paul away, the Hornets would have been hit with a technical foul right then.

Fei returned, looking at the flushed Paul and taunted, "Did I complain about your little tricks when I was called for the offensive foul? Chris, you can't be too LeBron about this. Do you think the referee is your grandfather, only allowing you advantages but not accepting losses?"

In that moment, Paul's temper flared, and the trash talk Fei casually threw out had struck his raw nerve.

"Don't bring up my grandfather!"

Fei said with a sneer, "I'll say whatever I want. You'd better respect my freedom of speech!"

When a steady person loses all sense of reason, their actions are not to be predicted by common logic.

Paul had all the qualities expected of a core point guard. If he had an offensive core like Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant, he might become the greatest point guard of the new century, but not everyone is that lucky, unless you are willing to make a controversial decision at the right time.

Paul had only himself. Although his teammates were not bad, how could he depend on others in such a situation?

The enraged Paul forgot his strengths. He wasn't Iverson, nor was he any other explosively athletic small guard. His forceful drive was met with Fei's close defense.

Until the end, when he tried to use that move of a pick-up basket against the defender, he completely forgot that he hadn't managed to overpower Fei's body.

What followed was Fei's fierce, jumping block.

"Slap!!!!!"

Paul's layup was swatted out of bounds, and he himself crashed to the ground under the impact.

Fei didn't even look at him, turning to the camera and spreading his hands.

What made him think he could just layup in front of me?

That was the message he was sending.

The fans at Key Arena went wild.

"MVP!"

"MVP!!"

"MVP!!!"

Such fervent emotions transformed the place into a personal temple, with Frye's will dominating every soul inside the arena.

They roared for him, they went crazy for him.

Because they truly believed this man was Seattle's basketball savior.

For such a person, the MVP was just an accessory to all the other honors he had.

Unfortunately, it was what many players spent their lives striving for.

Paul got up, eyes red, ready to continue playing, but the Hornets called for a timeout.

Byron Scott saw such a Paul for the first time. He couldn't let him be, otherwise, Fei would completely destroy him.