Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 503: Chapter 346 Debt is Paid Off

On the night the Bucks won the championship, “Sports Illustrated” sent a tidy team that earned the right to enter the locker room, snapping a photo of the Bucks’ starting lineup.

Yu Fei, Martin, Bell (Granger), Aldridge, and Kwame Brown sat in a neat row, wearing champions T-shirts emblazoned with the Bucks logo.

“I can’t believe it,” said Rick Riley, one of the columnists for the magazine, “you’ve won four championships in five years, but the lineups for the first two and the last two are entirely different.”

Yu Fei said, “I’ve always been here.”

Riley jokingly asked, “Will you still be here in the future?”

“Don’t know,” laughed Yu Fei, “but our spirit will live on.”

This photo was featured on the cover of “Sports Illustrated’s” last issue in June, with the caption: The Bucks are undoubtedly a dynasty team, but the question is, will the master of the dynasty leave his throne?

The 2006-07 season had ended.

But before the intense excitement of the free agency began, NBA teams had to put in 100% effort for the much-anticipated 2007 NBA Draft.

The day after the finals, Kwame Brown visited Yu Fei’s home with just one thing on his mind.

“Really going back to Seattle?”

“To be honest, it’s not certain yet,” Yu Fei said, “the season just ended, and we haven’t started talking. We’ll know after we finish negotiating.”

Big changes were destined for the Bucks this summer.

Not only might Yu Fei leave the team, key players like Kwame Brown and Raja Bell, who had helped win two consecutive championships, were at the end of their contracts. At the same time, in the rotation, like Sprewell who signed an overpriced max contract a few years ago, faced a team option this summer, which the Bucks were unlikely to exercise, and another important rotation player Brent Barry’s contract had also expired. They could lose half of their starting lineup and rotation players.

“Big Fei, if it hadn’t been for you, I would never have come to Milwaukee, you know that, right?”

Yu Fei nodded.

“So wherever you go, I’ll go, got any problem with that?”

Yu Fei joked, “I think no matter where I go, they won’t refuse the addition of the Eastern Conference’s number one center.”

“NONONO`~~” Brown said confidently, shaking his finger, “In the finals, Tim Duncan had nothing on me, so my status has risen, now I’m the league’s number one center.”

Jermaine O’Neal had his reasons for not being able to stand him.

Yu Fei believed that Brown would boast everywhere that he exploded on Duncan in the finals.

And given Duncan’s low-key nature, he was unlikely to respond directly, so it was quite possible that Brown could settle the matter with his side of the story.

Poor Duncan, could the rumors of being blown up by Kwame become an argument used by haters to claim he doesn’t deserve to be the greatest power forward in history?@@novelbin@@

Yu Fei didn’t mind bringing Brown along because they had great rapport and, moreover, Brown excelled both as a capper and a feeder, a good assistant for rebounds and assists.

What Yu Fei didn’t expect was that Raja Bell would come over that afternoon, too.

“Frye, I believe I can still do great things with you,” Bell said, “whether it’s in Milwaukee or Seattle, I can help.”

If bringing Brown was purely out of loyalty, then Bell was a different matter.

For two consecutive years, Bell had earned an All-Defensive selection and shot over 40% from three-point range, making him arguably the league’s number one 3-D player.

His leaving would have a significant impact on the Bucks.

“Raja, I hope you think more for yourself,” Yu Fei said earnestly, “now is a good time to sign a big contract.”

With Bell’s performance over the past two seasons, if the Bucks didn’t offer a big contract, other teams would.

If he followed Yu Fei, he might only get a mid-level contract. Even for top role players, they remain role players after all. The glory of a championship is valuable indeed, but ultimately, isn’t the ultimate goal of proving oneself on a championship team to get a raise?

“All you have to do is tell me where you’ll be at that time, and my agent will naturally fight for my contract,” Bell said, “I don’t care about that.”

Yu Fei had become like James when he left Miami in 2014.

Back then, people didn’t know how James would lead a team that had just received the number one pick to success, but the Cavaliers quickly gave the answer. They would trade away the incapable pick and clear cap space for James’ people to move in.

That evening, Sprewell also came over.

Sprewell was already 37 years old, an old veteran from any angle.

Moreover, because the Bucks had young players rising in recent years and had supplemented the market with ready-to-play players like Barry and Bell, Sprewell naturally lost his starting position.

This season, Sprewell averaged 14 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist per game, but he still had some skill on defense, and the role change prompted him to increase his three-point training, so his three-point shooting percentage also reached career highs in these years.

In that sense, ignoring his excessively overpriced contract, Sprewell was still a useful veteran.

Sprewell didn’t say he would follow Yu Fei like Bell and Brown did.

He came to reminisce.

Yu Fei invited him to have dinner at his home. Upon leaving, Sprewell said, “I’m probably going to retire.”

“You have one year left on your contract,” Yu Fei reminded him.

Sprewell said, “They won’t pick up the third-year option.”

The Madman didn’t clarify what he meant, but Yu Fei understood well what that implied.

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