Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 557: Chapter 395 Something Kobe Could Never Do

Offense aimed in only one direction means that, no matter how you confuse your opponent, they can still defend correctly on the right path.

Generally speaking, it’s only those with a talent that crushes the opposition who would do this.

Like those ruthless players who have a starting speed that leaves others unable to react or, like James, this type of one-on-one human tank that’s unstoppable once he gets going.

Yu Fei wasn’t quite at the tank level, and his starting speed for his height was first-rate, but not enough to catch Kobe off guard.

His unsolvable feature was his height combined with precise shooting skills; once in form, he could indeed ignore any defense his opponent put up.

Kobe narrowed the score to single digits again with a cut-out catch-and-shoot basket.

Then, after crossing half-court, Yu Fei received the ball, aggressively attacking Kobe’s right side, relying on a physical advantage to occupy a better position, then suddenly stopping to offload his power, shaking Kobe off half a step, and jumping directly into a shot after receiving the ball.

“Swish!”

Yu Fei scored over Kobe’s head again and again without any tactic’s help, all with brutal one-on-one plays.

Kobe’s competitive desire was provoked; it was the beast within him that, once awakened, would be caught in complete madness.

Every Kobe hater could list the instances where Kobe disregarded his teammates and took on five players during a game, a sign of Kobe’s eroding rationality.

Now, the stimulus from Yu Fei had triggered a massive change in Kobe.

Before the Triangle Offense could even begin, Kobe took control of the ball.

This was not a rational offense like the catch-and-shoot moments earlier that took advantage of tactics, but a powerful drive with the ball against Yu Fei’s all-out defense.

Approaching 30, Kobe was theoretically in the prime of his career, with his skills, body, mentality, and experience all at their peak.

However, his condition was noticeably affected by injuries.

The issue with his fingers was not something he could just overcome.

Kobe’s consecutive dribbles followed by a strong shot were perfectly read by Yu Fei.

Yu Fei’s long arm swung, touching the ball with his fingertips in the end.

“Bang,” the rebound was grabbed by Roy.

Roy turned around, his gaze locked on the quickly descending Yu Fei, and he flung the ball forward with force.

Yu Fei caught the ball, took a step, and then from beyond the three-point line took a long stride inside the free-throw line and finished with a long-distance gliding dunk.

13 points

Yu Fei pointed at the scoreboard, reminding Kobe that things were looking grim.

“I’ll come back!” Kobe said fiercely.

“Bring it on!” said the sixteen-day-old Kobe fan, not the least bit worried about Kobe’s rampage, “I’m waiting!”

The only one who could stop Kobe from completely disrupting the Lakers’ tactics was Kidd, who had a level of experience and authority others lacked.

When Kobe came to that familiar spot to call for the ball again, Kidd refused him, “Kobe, you must move without the ball!”

Next, Roy decided to take a step back on defense, giving Kidd space to shoot. He wanted to see if Kidd would rather take the shot himself or help Kobe vie for the MVP.

For Kidd, this wasn’t a question that required much thought. Kobe had plenty of chances to attack, but how often do you get an open shot when the other team deliberately gives you space?

Kidd took another three-pointer, and with a clean swish, the ball went straight through the net, ensuring Roy wouldn’t dare give him another shot for the rest of the night.

“Is this your ‘comeback’?” Yu Fei asked mockingly, “Does this mean I can ask my teammates to help ‘come back’ as well?”

Contrary to intuition, Kobe, unlike Jordan who he emulated night and day, didn’t enjoy trash-talking.

Yu Fei’s playful jokes weren’t met with any response from him.

But on defense, Kobe didn’t lessen the force he applied against Yu Fei at all.

Playing at home, Kobe was undoubtedly the finest perimeter defender in the world; he had the skills and experience, plus a certain leeway in his scale of operations, where he could do what he liked against the offense.

Yu Fei settled into the low post and suddenly used his back to pin his defender.

Once again, the Supersonics’ offense started and resolved through Yu Fei.

How many times now? Nobody remembered clearly, but it wasn’t surprising either.

Yu Fei had always left the impression of being both selfish and team-oriented in the basketball world.

When he wanted to go one-on-one, his teammates might not touch the ball for several minutes. Yet, once he had his fill, he could let his teammates fire away for an entire quarter.

He only liked to play one type of game, which was dominated by his will.

Yu Fei brutally barged into Kobe, using his weight advantage to muscle past him and then turned for a bank shot that hit the mark.

As the game progressed, someone finally noticed that Yu Fei was deliberately attacking Kobe’s right side.

“It might be a coincidence, or it might not,” said ESPN’s Mark Jackson, “Frye has attacked Kobe’s strong side in the past three possessions. Is it a coincidence?”

Jeff Van Gundy interrupted, “If Frye were to say to Kobe, ‘I’m going to finish every ball on your right hand.’ I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Larry Bird?” ESPN commentator Mike Breen exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t this just a classic Larry Bird move?”

The commentator’s words successfully drew the audience’s attention to Yu Fei’s offensive style.

But it wasn’t until two minutes later that Yu Fei’s next offensive move came.

Yu Fei and Kobe’s teammates attacked each other, supporting their own MVPs in their ways.

After several minutes of silence, Kobe finally found an opportunity in the low post to respond to Yu Fei; a feint, a dummy shot, a step-through—this standard guard’s low post footwork combination allowed him to score under the basket.

“Nice move, but next I’m going to break through directly from your right hand, and then dunk over Jermaine’s head!”

“I won’t let you succeed!”

Durant thought about coming over for a pick-and-roll, but Yu Fei shouted him down, “KD, don’t get in the way!”

For the first time, Durant realized that setting a pick for a teammate was “getting in the way.” He stepped aside willingly and then witnessed a move from Yu Fei that he had never seen before.

Yu Fei burst forth aggressively in one step, his left hand swiftly changing direction with the ball to the right; Kobe could react, but he wasn’t sure if his body could stop Yu Fei’s full-speed breakthrough.

Maybe a flop would be better? The thought lasted only an instant.

In half a second, as Yu Fei invaded Kobe’s defensive position, he dribbled the ball through his legs, caught it with his left hand from behind, and then with a behind-the-back crossover, he accelerated once more.

Yu Fei, like a ravenous beast, forcefully tore through Kobe’s defense, flinging it behind and rushing into the paint with full force to leap. Little O, unwilling to be posterized and too late to defend, actively dodged; in this brilliant moment that would later be selected as one of the season’s best plays, he became the embodiment of cowardice. It was a disgrace for the Los Angeles Lakers team, but who cared?

A year later, five years later, ten years later, people would look back on this moment: This was when Frye knocked out Kobe in the MVP battle, seizing his fourth MVP trophy.

With a loud boom, Yu Fei’s dunk fell like a meteor onto the Staples Center.

“!#￥#!”

“What a magnificent strike! Frye has defeated Kobe, and the Supersonics lead by 15 points!”

“The Lakers Team request a timeout!”

Completely unaware of how disgraceful his dodging looked, Little O proudly said, “Big Fei, you thought to dunk over me? No way!”

“You indeed outclass me,” Yu Fei said “sincerely.”

When had Big Fei ever been so humble?

Wondering, Little O raised his head to look at the big screen overhead and saw firsthand how, in front of everyone, he looked like a soft egg showing fear, coyly avoiding the fate of being dunked on.

This… would have been better than being dunked to the ground!

Panic started to set in for Little O; he had thought that joining the Lakers would bring him a championship, but now it seemed difficult if they had to play the Supersonics in the playoffs. Kobe was injured, Kidd was getting old, and at best, he could only exceed Kwame Brown, who depended on others’ power; who could withstand such a Big Fei?

Lost in his thoughts, Little O walked off the court and saw Kobe looking at him with displeasure.

Clearly, Kobe was not satisfied with his act of cowardice.

“Kobe, listen to my explanation…”

With a lead of 15 points before halftime, George Karl decided not to play it safe; he fielded a 5 OUT lineup to expand the lead even further.

Karl felt that the Lakers hadn’t played at their full strength tonight, the stunt of the MVP battle had made them overly focused on Kobe.

But Kobe’s threat was two-way, on both offense and defense, whereas Yu Fei’s impact was global.

The definition of both as cores was different, as was the impact on the game.

As the absolute core, Yu Fei’s leadership was clearly stronger than Kobe’s, not to mention that Kobe was injured and could not benefit from head-on confrontations.

Karl didn’t know what Jackson was thinking, but he was happy that he was about to add another victory to his record against Jackson.

The Supersonics’ 5 OUT lineup included Smush Parker.

Roy played the shooting guard, Durant the small forward, Yu Fei the power forward, and Channing Frye the center.

Moreover, Yu Fei and Roy had a clear division of labor in the system.

Roy was responsible for activating others, while Yu Fei focused on pick-and-rolls with Parker.

Having already won the direct conversation with Kobe, now Yu Fei aimed to enlarge the victory on Parker.

From the Lakers’ side, although Jackson rearranged the disorder by letting Kidd lead the tactics and reducing Kobe’s solo plays, the difference between big ball and small ball, between conservatives and radicals, was also manifest here.

A 5 OUT lineup that swings open and closed, as long as it performs normally, has an offensive firepower that traditional big ball zone play cannot compare with.

Even if Little O had an advantage over Yu Fei at the power forward position, and Foster could dominate Frye effortlessly, the Supersonics’ perimeter offense was too fierce.

Parker hit two three-pointers, Durant hit one, Yu Fei and Roy each made one as well.

In the final minutes of the first half, the Supersonics scored five three-pointers, while the Lakers, relying on their advantage in the paint, only scored 11 points and ended up losing 4 points. By halftime, they were behind the Supersonics by 19 points.

“Frye contributes more to the team than Kobe, Frye’s influence on the game is more comprehensive than Kobe’s, Frye has beaten Kobe one-on-one. No matter what metrics, what methods you use to compare these two, Frye is the one with the advantage,” George Karl declared a final tone for the MVP battle in a halftime interview. “Now, I can confidently say that Frye is this year’s MVP. Because he has made Smush Parker a better player, and that’s something Kobe can never, never, never, never ever achieve.”

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