Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In the second game of the first round, the Rockets were still defeated by the Supersonics.

The Supersonics took a big lead with a 2-0 score, then moved the battle to Houston.

On the day of the third game, Yu Fei went to visit Yao Ming, who was recovering from an injury.

Yao Ming had been injured during the Rockets’ magnificent 22-game winning streak, but before entering the operating room, his concerns weren’t about the future of the Rockets but whether he could make it to the Beijing Olympics.

"What’s wrong, feeling down?" Yu Fei joked upon seeing Yao Ming, "You look like you’ve lost weight."

Yao Ming was surprised: "Even you noticed? I’ve been saying that I lost weight."

In reality, this was just Yu Fei trying to make conversation, and seeing Yao Ming’s reaction showed how sensitive he was about his physical condition at the moment.

"Do you really want to make a comeback at the Olympics?" Yu Fei had heard that according to current plans, Yao might have to return to the game several months early in order to catch the last few warm-up matches with the Chinese team.

But Yao Ming isn’t just an individual.

Competing in the Olympics isn’t just a matter of his own will.

On a smaller scale, it was his sole opportunity in this lifetime to compete in the Olympics on his home soil. On a larger scale, the brands he represented and his sponsors needed him to perform at the Beijing Olympics, and the expectations of countless citizens were a heavy burden. Most importantly, he had to be present. Therefore, as long as there was the slightest chance, he wouldn’t give up.

"Do you have any idea how tiring it is to carry the expectations of 1.3 billion people?" Yao Ming said with a smile, "If I don’t play, guess how the fans would curse me?"

Actually, whether he played or not, there was always a group of people cursing him.

Who doesn’t know the ’Big Dummy Yao’?

Since entering the league, Yu Fei and Yao Ming had been in different circles, and although they were in contact, Yu Fei had very limited real influence on the other.

Therefore, watching Yao Ming take the same path, Yu Fei felt powerless.

That night, the Supersonics played the Rockets away.

In the home game, McGrady had his best performance since the beginning of the games, scoring 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, but he shot too many three-pointers.

Shooting three-pointers isn’t wrong, but if one insists on shooting when the hit rate is only just over 20%, that’s problematic.

McGrady’s performance was key in dragging the game to the very end, but his obsession with and low hit rate of three-pointers were also key reasons for the Rockets’ loss.

With 30 seconds left in the game, McGrady tried a pull-up three-pointer over Yu Fei and missed.

The Supersonics scored on the counterattack.

Afterward, McGrady missed another three-pointer, and Yu Fei grabbed the long rebound and drove to the front court to sink a chase-down three-pointer.

The point difference suddenly grew to 4. The Rockets attempted another three-pointer and missed as time ran out.

After the game, McGrady received a lot of criticism, primarily for not being aggressive enough, relying on shooting, and not liking to drive to the basket.

In response to these accusations, McGrady chose to ignore them, and before the fourth game, the Rockets announced McGrady would be absent due to injury.

With the Rockets down 0-3, the situation was dire, and the story of McGrady choosing to play through an injection blockade did not happen.

In the fourth game, the team at its core, the blue-collar Rockets, were easily defeated by the Supersonics.

With a 4-0 score, the Supersonics advanced to the second round.

Just like the Supersonics, the other top teams in their respective brackets all avoided upset in the first round.

In the West, the Spurs, Lakers, and Hornets all advanced to the second round.

The same was true in the East, with the Celtics, Bucks, Magic, and Knight all moving on to the next round.

The Supersonics still got the ideal matchup in the semifinals.

The Hornets were another new Western power that rose this season. If it weren’t for Yu Fei’s dazzling Supersonics and Competing with Kobe for MVP, it would have been Chris Paul.

Paul, young in age, was dubbed the "God of Point Guards" by ESPN experts due to his unparalleled leadership.

Despite their courage, the Hornets were still the best opponent the Supersonics could face in the semifinals.

Because the Spurs, second in the West, and the third-placed Lakers both had an advantage in the paint over the Supersonics, while the Hornets heavily relied on Chris Paul.

Their frontcourt had capable players like David West and Tyson Chandler, but they still didn’t compare to the Spurs, who had strengths in all positions except point guard, and the Lakers, strong both inside and outside.

Compared to the Supersonics, the Lakers and Spurs were bound for a fierce battle in the semifinals.

In the Eastern Conference, the matchup between the Bucks and the Knight also garnered attention.

Before the first game of the semifinals began, the league announced the results of the MVP voting for the regular season. As predicted before the game, Yu Fei won this season’s MVP by a significant margin, while Kobe and Paul were second and third in the MVP voting, respectively.

"Why can’t I be the MVP?" Paul said after learning the results, "This is a form of identity discrimination. Because I’m a rookie and have many opportunities in the future, they prefer to consider the veterans first. Dude, how can they use such illogical reasons to deprive me of my chance?"

At the end of April, the Hornets arrived in Seattle.

It was also on this day that Clay Bennett, the owner of the Supersonics, formally proposed a three-year plan at the league meeting.

The Supersonics would spend a year improving their business operations to turn a profit—what Bennett didn’t mention was that they were already profitable—thus making the team eligible for Seattle’s government-funded legislation to build a new arena.

Then, in 2009, the Supersonics would seek community financing through continuous fundraising efforts, preparing for the construction of a new arena.

By 2010, if the Supersonics had raised all the funds and achieved profitability for three consecutive years, they would formally propose a financing plan to the city government.

The summer of 2010 just happened to be the last year of the Supersonics’ contract with Key Arena. If the Supersonics did everything they could but still couldn’t get a new arena, then they would relocate the team.

After the meeting, Bennett had an exclusive interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, answering many insider questions.

"Frye and I share the same goal," Bennett said, "As I’ve said, if we’ve done everything and still don’t get the team’s support, then we can accept that, but we will also make our own choice."

Stein asked, "Will Frye support this choice?"

"He will be my number one supporter," Stein replied.

This segment of the interview was playing on the streets and alleys of Seattle.

Many Supersonics fans were cheering.

Since last year, rumors of the Supersonics’ impending relocation hovered over the Emerald City.

The fans were anxious and uneasy.

Even with Fei’s return, as long as Bennett hadn’t confirmed it, fans would worry about the relocation happening.

Now, Bennett personally confirmed that the team would stay in Seattle until the summer of 2010. Though not a final result, the Supersonics were staying.

The situation was unbelievable; one person’s power changed a seemingly inevitable course of events.

The basketball atmosphere in the Emerald City was unprecedentedly high, and even the visiting guests could feel the fans’ excitement.

"The Supersonics may move away in 2010, I don’t know what they’re excited about!" the Hornets’ starting center, Tyson Chandler, felt indignant for Paul, "Why do they act as if Frye has already saved the team? It was Chris who did it first!"

Bonzi Wells, a reserve forward, said, "You’re right, but that’s the Frye effect. Anything he does gets magnified tenfold, or even a hundredfold!"

Teammates were discussing Fei back and forth, seemingly quite dissatisfied with the attention and praise he was receiving.

To be honest, Paul didn’t understand it either.

When Fei returned to Seattle in the name of salvation, it was an act that realistically abandoned Milwaukee.

But no one cared about the feelings of the people in Milwaukee, everyone was shouting "Great Frye, no need for words," but the real issue was, he, Chris Paul, had saved the basketball of a region earlier than Fei did, but during the MVP selection, the judges thought he was too young and not as appealing as Fei and Kobe.

What kind of double standard was this?

Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Hornets had no fixed home court for more than a year and a half, and the owner wanted to move the team. Who changed all that? Continue your journey on NovelBin.Côm

It was Paul.

He alone pulled the Hornets out of the quagmire they had been in since the internal conflict between Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, making them contenders again and winning the love of their fans, so the team stayed.

But sorry, no one cared.

The same action completed by different people has different meanings; the world is just so unfair.

Looking at these excited fans, witnessig their celebration as if they had achieved a major victory, and watching their reverence and worship of the posters of Fei like a deity, Paul felt nauseated.

Paul’s brother CJ said, "I wish the Supersonics would move, then we could see this bunch of bastards cry!"

Paul didn’t share this sentiment, but his aversion to Seattle, the Supersonics, and everything related to Fei was indeed real.

Strangely, last year in Las Vegas, he hadn’t felt such animosity towards Fei.

It wasn’t until Fei truly started taking away reputation, honor, and prestige that he realized what he had lost.

"We can make them cry tonight."

Paul said to everyone.