Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 556: Chapter 394: I Am Honored to Be The First in History

Chapter 394: I’m Honored to Become The First in History

Smush Parker was like a thorn in Kobe’s side, symbolizing the Lakers’ incompetence and decay from 2004 to 2007,

and no matter how much time passed, he could not let it go.

Even Kobe firmly believed that if he had better teammates, success would have been his. It was because he had teamed up with people like Smush Parker that he held this belief.

But now, Parker was doing well under Yu Fei’s guidance.

This was a depressing thought.

Furthermore, if someone analyzed the differences in Parker’s performances as a teammate to Yu Fei and Kobe using the controlled variable method, they would reach a conclusion unfavorable to Kobe in the MVP debate: Yu Fei could make his teammates better, but Kobe could not.

Isn’t that the most important criterion for measuring an MVP?

The best player on the best team. This phrase truly depicted the image of an MVP during Stern’s era. The reason they were MVPs wasn’t that they had the best teams, but because they turned their teams into the best ones.

If Yu Fei could make Smush Parker better, then he could make anyone better.

Yu Fei clearly understood this, so he played even more selflessly, going all out to create scoring opportunities for Parker and the others.

In the first quarter, Kobe’s offensive performance was dazzling, scoring 12 points by himself, while Yu Fei toned down his aggression, taking only 3 shots and making 2 for 5 points, but he also grabbed 6 rebounds and handed out 7 assists.

He made Kwame Brown and Jermaine O’Neal run neck and neck and even made Smush Parker seem like an All-Star guard.

In the seven minutes Parker came off the bench in the first quarter, he shot 4 of 6, racking up 9 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. All his points came from Yu Fei’s assists.

Even though he didn’t do much, Yu Fei’s passes made him feel respected and the thrill of revenge.

What was his most vivid memory from his time with the Lakers? Of course, Kobe’s scorn.

Kobe despised everything about him.

Kobe thought that with him around, the Lakers could never succeed.

So now that he was gone, Kobe could finally lead the Lakers to success.

During the past half of the season, Parker had a tough time with the Miami Heat, unaccustomed to Miami’s grueling training and Riley’s strict management, leading to less and less playing time and the looming threat of being shown the door by the NBA.

Before being traded to Seattle, Parker’s agent even received a job offer from a team in China.

Then the trade happened, and he was sent to the SuperSonics, Yu Fei’s team.

Yu Fei, also a highly self-regarding star, was different from Kobe in that a ball-handling core has an innate ability to modify his role based on the functionality of his teammates.

Although Parker had his share of unpleasant incidents in Seattle, they were primarily on-court issues. Off the court, Yu Fei managed to joke and laugh with him.

And tonight, in the battle against the Lakers, Yu Fei, for some reason, kept passing the ball to him, giving him opportunities for easy scores.

By the end of the first quarter, the visiting SuperSonics had silenced the Staples Center.

The score was 24 to 29, the SuperSonics ahead by 5 points.

The MVP race, hyped by the outside world, did not see a fiery collision of stars – at least not in the first quarter. The main players for the SuperSonics were Kwame Brown and Smush Parker.

It’s one thing for Brown to have a burst of good play, but Parker?

Why did it have to be Parker?

Lakers fans had heard Kobe criticize Parker several times over the past few years.

Judging from Parker’s two seasons with the Lakers, he really was a double-edged sword that tended to cause more harm to his own team.

But how did this guy turn into a quality point guard with decent defense, quick speed, strong counterattacks, and the ability to hit corner three-pointers after joining the SuperSonics?

Not just the Lakers fans, but even the SuperSonics coaching team didn’t expect Parker to have so many strengths.

George Karl was surprised at Parker’s performance.

But he quickly let it go; after all, this was the guy who had been the main point guard for the Lakers for two years. To say he was utterly useless would definitely be wrong; he had some advantages, but for a Lakers team aiming for the championship, having such an inconsistent point guard was not conducive to winning the title.

Halfway through the quarter, Karl had an idea of what Yu Fei intended to do with Parker.

It was very clever.

Instead of having a showdown with star Kobe, it was better to highlight the biggest difference between them.

Parker didn’t need to play this well every game. He just needed to have such a performance against the Lakers, and Yu Fei’s media influence would be sufficient to make a big deal out of it.

In this competition, what mattered wasn’t so much the strengths, but if Yu Fei turned Kobe’s former weakness into a strength, the disparity would become apparent.

Because at this level of play, you can’t afford to have issues with key figures.

It’s like Niko’s three missed Desert Eagle shots against S1mple, the best rifler in the eyes of players, missing three shots on the biggest stage, against the last person you should miss against, and then getting taken down. After that, those two could never be discussed together again.

Karl thought a lot, but Yu Fei’s goal was not that complicated.

He just wanted to lead Parker to a championship, and any harm Parker caused to Kobe during the match was an unintended bonus.

But when he couldn’t help but give it more force, it resulted in the current situation.

However, this was still just a first quarter occurrence.

For Parker to perform well was a secondary objective, Yu Fei still needed to deliver an even better performance to conclusively seal the deal on the MVP race.

The second quarter began, and both teams battled over bench depth.

Because the SuperSonics had Parker sub out for Roy during the first quarter, and the latter took a significant rest, now being back on the court felt like the beginning of the match again, with boundless energy, able to do anything with ease.

Roy’s presence upset the balance of the linking segment. The Lakers’ second unit was led by Kidd, but Kidd was older now, with his personal offense entirely up to chance, and his ability to lead the team depended much on his teammates.

If his teammates were strong, he was strong; if not, he could only throw some open shots or occasionally break through to scrounge for points.

This was different from Roy’s type of takeover, which depended solely on individual ability.

Next to Roy were Childress and Channing Frye, potential players who were part of the SuperSonics’ rewards for tanking in recent years.

Even though only Roy was a star, the other two were not weak, serving as highly functional main rotation players.

With Roy leading, the momentum of the SuperSonics’ second unit was strong, and in less than three minutes, they had extended the lead to 10 points.

27 to 37.

The Lakers called for a timeout.

Jackson switched Kobe back in, and Karl also subbed Yu Fei back into the game.

After the time-out, the Lakers executed a standard Triangle Offense.

They spread out on both sides of court, playing a strong side triangle with three players, with Walton cutting out to receive a screen and hitting a jump shot.

“That’s Kobe for you, as long as he’s on the court, the Triangle Offense ‘opens up,’ every system needs the star’s innate ability to draw the defense!”

“So far, Kobe has shown his scoring abilities, Frye has demonstrated how he can make his teammates better, but who is the real MVP?” ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy said, “They haven’t given us an answer yet!”

As Van Gundy’s comment ended, Yu Fei crossed the mid-court with the ball.

Kobe thought he was going to continue passing, and his defensive focus was entirely on Yu Fei’s teammates.

Then, Yu Fei called for a 1-4 pick and roll, and Channing Frye stepped up.

Kobe’s body was lightly screened by Frye, what seemed like an ordinary pick and roll, but it was this screen that let Yu Fei dribble past Kobe by a body length, and using Frye’s barrier he opened up the defense, launching a three-pointer from beyond the arc.

“Swish!”

Yu Fei had sparked the three-pointer frenzy during his time with the Bucks.

Now, many teams are pursuing more three-point attempts, yet many of them end up with a hodgepodge approach.

On the contrary, teams like the Spurs, Lakers, and Celtics that revolve around their stars while maintaining traditional play styles occupy the upper echelons of the league.

But even these guardians of traditional play are willing to attempt more three-pointers.

Now, with a three-pointer by Yu Fei, the gap widened to 11 points, and Kobe, eager to respond, didn’t care for anything else and immediately opted for a pull-up three-pointer from the perimeter as soon as he got the ball.

Kobe’s offensive surge was extremely fierce, and his shot release was quick; although Yu Fei knew what he was about to do, he just couldn’t block the shot.

And Kobe’s high volume of shots in the first quarter had given him a good feel for the game.

“Swish!”

Kobe clenched his fist and snarled.

Once the stars’ one-on-one battle began, it couldn’t stop, whoever backed down first would fall behind.

Within 15 seconds, Yu Fei received a pass from Roy and, facing Kobe’s defense, dribbled back and forth between his legs four times, exploding on his first step to the right, already gaining the upper hand.

Kobe hesitated slightly, and Yu Fei already caught the ball and jumped.

“Swish!”

“Considering you only have seven fingers to use, I don’t want to take advantage of that,” Yu Fei said, stepping back, “How about this, from now on, I’ll attack your right hand every time I make an offensive move, how’s that?”

Kobe retorted angrily, “No one can beat me without changing pace!”

“Is that so?” Yu Fei confidently replied, “Then I’m honored to be the first in history!”

The second quarter wasn’t even halfway through, and the confrontation between the two MVP contenders had reached a fever pitch.

The entire basketball world was watching this showdown.

Who was better, who was stronger, tonight would yield an answer.

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