Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 484: Chapter 334: Friends, this isn’t funny

Lin Kaiwen quickly put together a detailed profile of Clay Bennett for Yu Fei.

Based on this information, Yu Fei learned some additional details.

Bennett was not a newcomer to the NBA. Back in the 90s, he had been one of the owners of the Spurs. Last year, when the Hornets lost their home court due to Hurricane Katrina, he briefly made Oklahoma the temporary home court. This plan was conceived and carried out by Bennett himself.

Moreover, Bennett and Stern had been old friends for many years.

Then there was information about Bennett himself.

Bennett was basically Mr. Oklahoma. He was born in Oklahoma City. He met his wife in high school there. He went to college at the University of Oklahoma. Both his family and his wife’s family lived in Oklahoma City. His business was there. His father-in-law’s business was there too. He managed the state fair of Oklahoma, organized Olympic festival activities, and operated a AAA level baseball team. All the businessmen in the investment group he led to buy the SuperSonics were from Oklahoma City.

And then Howard Schultz said a new owner rooted in Oklahoma City would keep the SuperSonics in Seattle?

Yu Fei set down the information he was going through. No matter how concerned he was about the future of the SuperSonics, he was now a member of the Bucks.

Still, the commotion in Seattle clearly disturbed Milwaukee.

For Bucks fans, they supported the SuperSonics in various demonstrations to preserve their team, but to bring Big Fei to Seattle for this?

Buddy, that wasn’t funny.

Although nothing had happened yet, Bucks fans and SuperSonics fans began to attack each other on emerging social networking sites like Reddit over Yu Fei.

SuperSonics fans believed they were just praying that Big Fei could do something.

The Bucks fans didn’t see it that way. Next summer, Big Fei could opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent; no one knew what would happen then.

The influence of public opinion was never limited to the fans.

Soon, professionals also began to probe Yu Fei’s thoughts.

The first to call Yu Fei about this matter was George Karl.

Karl had one year left on his contract with the Bucks, and the only reason he had not extended it was that Yu Fei had not yet committed to staying in Milwaukee.

So when Yu Fei heard Karl say, “Big Fei, what do you think about the situation in Seattle?” Yu Fei was taken aback for a moment before replying, “I’m still trying to understand what’s going on.”

“So you haven’t made a decision?”

“Of course, what decision can I make right now?”

Karl breathed a sigh of relief; he had been genuinely worried that Big Fei would directly request a trade.

That might be the worst approach.

He didn’t know why he felt this way, perhaps because these past few years, Big Fei had given people the impression of being capricious.

Shortly after, the folks from Reebok approached him.

They liked the ideas of returning to Seattle and “saving the SuperSonics.”

Yu Fei asked, “Why do you like this idea?”

The person from Reebok counter-questioned, “Frye, in what way do you think modern sports differ from those a century ago?”

Yu Fei didn’t know what this had to do with anything, but he thought that a hundred years was enough for sports to evolve through generations, so he said, “The level would be much different.”

“That’s only one aspect,” the person from Reebok said. “Babe Ruth was the pioneer of creating modern sports narratives. He was traded by the Red Sox, and then cursed them to never win a championship again. This dreadful curse, after being embellished and promoted by sports writers, made people believe for a long time that the Red Sox were truly cursed by Ruth.”@@novelbin@@

Yu Fei was aware of the “Baby Curse,” because the Red Sox had won the World Series a few years back, and the news was everywhere; it would have been hard not to know about it.

But he still didn’t see the connection between the situation in Seattle and all this.

The person from Reebok continued, “Sponsors like stories, fans can accept stories, and sports heroes give those stories soul.”

Yu Fei nodded; he agreed.

“So far, your biggest narratives have been about competition, about revenge, but these words seem too intense for some people. What if one day, you become the savior of Seattle? Even if you couldn’t save the SuperSonics, but you still tried, from then on, the narrative surrounding you would enter a whole new chapter.”

Yu Fei didn’t take the other party’s words seriously, “Ultimately, you just want me to leave Milwaukee.”

“We’ve evaluated the Bucks,” the Reebok person said, “This summer, the changes in the League’s teams are minimal, yet you’ve acquired a highly talented second draft pick, a significant boost for your team, so we surmise the Bucks will be strong contenders for the championship in the coming years.”

Yu Fei nodded; that much was true.

“If you leave such a competitive team for personal advancement, I think many people would be disappointed in you and it might even affect fans’ confidence in small-market teams,” the Reebok person changed tack. “But what if you left to save a hometown team that’s in turmoil? You could have stayed in Milwaukee, won more championships, but you chose to return home for an uncertain future, standing with those hysterical fans, all just to increase the chances of the SuperSonics staying in Seattle.”

“`

Reebok’s people were like pyramid scheme recruiters, enticing with lines like, “This will be the greatest thing you’ve ever done.”

Why did Yu Fei feel as though he was covered in the stink of copper coins whenever these folks spun their tales?

What, Big Fei can’t be a man of noble character? All this talk of narratives and great deeds, I have no interest in that. You know, even though I’m just a kid from Kent, Seattle has always been my home…

“Alright, it’s not time to decide yet, so let it be for now.”

No matter how fantastical Reebok’s pitch was, to Yu Fei, it was just another blatant sign that they wanted him to leave Milwaukee.

Because that’s what they’d been implying for years.

A few days later, Yu Fei joined the Bucks’ preseason training camp.

Yu Fei met LaMarcus Aldridge and P.J. Tucker, the two rookies, as well as the ambitious second-year guard Louis Williams, who had high hopes for the new season.

The Bucks’ lineup was reassuring.

Yu Fei couldn’t help but think that even if he did leave one day, the Bucks would remain a competitive team.

He hadn’t stripped the team of its future, nor would he leave a mess in his wake.

Compared to the management, the players weren’t as concerned about the news that Yu Fei might leave.

Because the Bucks were full of young players.

They were on the rise in their careers, so they cared little for the additional responsibilities and expectations.

Only those close to Yu Fei contemplated the matter.

Like Kwame Brown. He wanted to know what Yu Fei was thinking.

Last year when he joined the Bucks, he’d signed a 2+1 three-year contract, so theoretically, he could leave with Yu Fei.

But unless Yu Fei spoke up, he wouldn’t ask.

Unlike the preoccupied Yu Fei, the other young players on the Bucks had made various degrees of progress during the offseason.

Kevin Martin had put on some weight, and although still on the slim side, the trend of gaining weight was much better than resting on the laurels of his sophomore success.

Another player who had undergone a noticeable change was Danny Granger.

Last season, although Granger was a starter at the power forward position, he was actually playing only 23 minutes per game, making him a pseudo-starter.

Granger had lost weight during the offseason and had taken specialized training to refine his skills, fully transitioning to the small forward position. This led to a problem.

Since the Bucks usually had Yu Fei acting as a point guard under the guise of a swingman, Yu Fei was essentially the starting point guard.

Martin, having honed his skills over two seasons, had become the team’s second-in-command.

Bell had made the first-team defense the previous season and his three-point shooting percentage had consistently stayed above 40%, making him arguably the league’s best 3-and-D player.

If Granger wanted to transition to small forward, he would have to wrest the starting spot from one of these three players.

Yu Fei’s spot was out of the question, so setting that aside, as the team’s secondary scorer, Martin could provide a 40% three-point shooting percentage. Bell could deliver the league’s strongest perimeter defense and a 40% three-point shooting rate. For Granger to grab a starting role, he would have to ensure some of his attributes were stronger than theirs.

Indeed, Granger had improved, but it wasn’t enough.

He fell behind Bell and Martin in the team’s internal competition, and there was no way he could surpass Aldridge at power forward.

After all the twists and turns, Granger ended up losing his starting spot.

“Don’t worry, you may just be benched for one year,” Yu Fei knew how to console others, “Maybe next year I won’t be here, and by then, you can take my place.”

Granger took what Yu Fei said as a joke: “Big Fei, what if you’re still here then?”

“Danny, by that time you’ll be in your third year, and if you haven’t become one of the team’s top five players, isn’t it natural to continue as a substitute?” Yu Fei said, “A starting spot isn’t something that’s just handed to you.”

Granger took Yu Fei’s words to heart.

But what many others were more concerned about was that line, “Maybe next year I won’t be here.”

That line seemed like a joke, but many truths are spoken in jest.

Is Big Fei really going to leave?

“`

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