Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 570: Chapter 408 Jackson’s Choice

Kobe’s situation was now like Jordan’s before his success.

He had distinct personal traits: obsessive, competitive, with a strong desire to attack. However, compared with Yu Fei, he lacked the ability to motivate his teammates.

His inability to make his teammates better became the primary method of criticism against him.

Moreover, Yu Fei was now leading a group of young players at the Supersonics, and it was no longer convincing to say that the Bucks players were better, like in the past.

Jackson was unwilling to discuss this matter with Kobe.

Because he had tried before, and it led to a terrible consequence.

Watching the spirited Kobe, full of desire to respond, Jackson’s mind flashed back to an incident from a few years earlier.

It was the playoffs in 2006.

The first year when the hand-checking restrictions were fully implemented, and also the year when Kobe exploded offensively.

He became the scoring champion after Yu Fei, averaging over 35 points a game.

That was the peak of Kobe’s career. Unfortunately, it coincided with Yu Fei starting his second back-to-back championships with the Bucks. No matter how heroic he was in the regular season, playoffs were the real test of mettle.

While Yu Fei led a rejuvenated Bucks team, sweeping through the Eastern Conference, Kobe was struggling in the first round of the Western playoffs.

Facing Nash’s Suns, Kobe delivered a memorable game with two game-winners, but there were more struggles and helplessness. The Lakers had the chance to eliminate the Suns in Game 6, but a Shot changed the fate and led to Game 7, where the doubts about Kobe grew even louder, making Jackson himself believe that the Lakers needed to adjust their playing style.

Against the Suns in the first half of Game 7, Kobe still gave it his all, but the Lakers fell far behind.

Then, Jackson thought the time had come. He had a long talk with Kobe during halftime, primarily about increasing his passes.

Kobe was not a typical African American; he was particularly sensitive on the inside.

Sports writers always used Kobe’s childhood in Italy to shape him as a black man with European flair in their narratives, but to Jackson, Kobe’s temperament carried a strong Russian flavor. He was stubborn, reckless, and firm; when faced with setbacks in his perspective, he would take advice, but not in an “OK, I’ll do as you say” manner, but more like “Let me fucking see if this works.”

Once he took advice, he would swing from one extreme to the other, like a Russian.

In that game, Kobe scored 23 points in the first half, but only 1 point in the second half.

Of course, the Lakers had no chance of winning when Kobe scored only 1 point in the second half.

This was not the change Jackson wanted to see in Kobe, but that was Kobe’s way of understanding suggestions.

From that point on, Jackson understood that he had to let Kobe be himself.

Even if there were issues, Kobe himself needed to realize them, instead of Jackson pointing them out.

At this moment, Yu Fei looked like the perfect embodiment of a basketball player.

Magic Johnson’s organization and passing, Larry Bird’s offense and versatility, Scottie Pippen’s athletic gifts and defense.

He made Kobe, a one-dimensional offensive weapon, seem like an antique from a bygone era.

Having known Kobe for many years, Jackson understood this man well enough. He wouldn’t back down; he would continue to fight in his own way, and if he was healthy, the Lakers were not without chances.

“Kobe,” Jackson said, “you can’t take on two alone.”

Kobe agreed with Jackson’s opinion and nodded, “I’ll take out Brandon Roy first.”

What about Frye? Who would deal with Frye?

Before Jackson could make arrangements, Kidd stepped up proactively, saying responsibly, “Before that, I’ll defend Frye.”

The Lakers’ small forward was too weak; it could only be arranged this way.

Jackson agreed.

Back in the game, Kobe, with the Zen Master’s offensive clearance, was evidently more proactive than before.

The Triangle Offense suddenly turned into a one-corner offense, with Kobe’s offense taking priority over everything.

However, Roy regained his composure.

Especially when Karl educated Roy with the line “you can’t play ball like Kobe” during a timeout, the effect was clear.

To Roy, you could criticize him in any way, but just don’t say he’s like Kobe.

What did that mean? Was it implying he would have internal conflicts with Big Fei, leading to the breakup, and only one person could stay? Was he that kind of person?

Not to mention his relationship with Big Fei; considering Big Fei’s status as the league’s top cornerstone, how crazy would he have to be to fall out with him?

In the NBA, only Kobe ever did such a thing—overthrowing a big leg—(and he succeeded).

A steady Roy, faced with an all-out Kobe, would be even more composed.

In terms of strength, Roy was not on the same level as Kobe.

If it really came down to one-on-one, he would be quickly overwhelmed.

But once Roy had his epiphany, drawing on the strength of his teammates, even Kobe could not easily overwhelm him.

Kobe scored over Roy’s head, and Roy then fed the ball to Brown in the frontcourt.

Brown, getting into it, then trash-talked Little O.

Little O was eager to strike back, but embarrassingly, the Lakers’ main offensive focus was now on the perimeter.

Was there something wrong with that? With the Lakers’ obvious advantage in the interior, why insist on playing the perimeter?

That’s what happens when a star hijacks a team’s style of play.

But it’s one thing for a star to hijack his teammates, and quite another for the coach to support it.

Jackson had completely given up on pursuing the “Rational Kobe,” a mythical beast. Since it was a mythical beast, then it might as well be an auspicious presence, what is auspiciousness? It’s something that exists only in imagination. A fantasy world where everything is possible; the real-world equivalent of the “Rational Kobe” is “Insane Kobe + Sensible Kidd.” Together, they make up the Rational Kobe.

Kidd was there for that very purpose, to let Kobe be himself, while he had to make the passes clear.

But right now, he also needed to keep an eye on Yu Fei.

And that was essentially an impossible task.

Even Kidd from the Brooklyn Nets days couldn’t handle Young Fei, let alone now when Peak Fei challenged him, it smacked of bullying the elderly.

Roy, seeing this matchup, decisively passed the ball.

Yu Fei backed Kidd down hard, got to the paint, and suddenly pulled up for a hook shot off the glass, scoring with ease.

It was too simple, and it hardly looked like he was putting in any effort.

Jackson shook his head, thinking about how Kidd had managed to contain the Spurs’ backcourt during the semifinals, only to seem powerless against Yu Fei now, like a gaping hole in the defense line.

Such an outcome was foreseeable, and Jackson could only hope that Kidd would withstand the pressure.

Over the next few minutes, Kobe proved he was trustworthy.

He had gotten out of the initial overzealous trouble and grasped a systematic approach to attacking Roy.

Posting up, catching and shooting, breaking through—all had a high success rate.

The more Kobe played, the more he validated the Lakers’ decision to focus on the perimeter.

Because Roy wasn’t an outstanding defender; he lacked experience and skill, relying mainly on instinct, but his instinct couldn’t compare to Kobe’s.

As Kobe exploded against Roy on one end, Yu Fei was playing as he wished under Kidd’s defense on the other.

What he sought was not only to crush Kidd, but to extend his personal influence to actively impact his teammates within the whole positional battle, by crushing Kidd.

In those few minutes, Kobe scored 11 points on Roy, while Yu Fei scored only 6 points on Kidd, but also dished out 4 assists.

Even Kobe, guarding Roy, got caught off guard by Yu Fei due to helping Kidd on defense, allowing Roy to sink a three-pointer.

The first quarter ended with the Supersonics’ offense still suppressing the Lakers, scoring 29 points amidst high defensive intensity, while the Lakers only put up 22 points.

A 7-point lead wasn’t much, but the content of the game was intriguing.

Kobe single-handedly notched 15 points, accounting for most of the Lakers’ offense; he was fully fired up.

“George, let me continue to play,” Yu Fei said, having played the entire first quarter and now requesting to keep going.

Karl, seeing Yu Fei’s breathing steady, casually asked, “You sure you don’t want to take a break?”

Different from Kobe, who had visibly spent a lot of energy, Yu Fei, although sweaty, looked as if he had just finished warming up.

“Another five minutes will be no problem,” Yu Fei said.

“Alright,” Karl said, “you lead KD.”

Durant, who had been sitting on the bench for a long time, finally heard the call and jumped up eagerly.

He certainly wanted to prove his worth in the Western finals.

But so far, he could only add gloss to the performance and had never been a game saver.

He approached Yu Fei, wanting to say something to show his determination.

Yu Fei glanced at him, not holding much expectation, and said, “Use your body more on defense, and try to stay in your sweet spots on offense, understand?”

Durant nodded in affirmation.

The result of Yu Fei continuing to play into the second quarter was that the Lakers also didn’t dare to let their core players rest all at once.

Jackson substituted Kobe, who had wished to continue fighting, and asked Kidd, who had proved definitively that he couldn’t guard Yu Fei, to hang in there.

“We need to buy a few minutes for Kobe,” Jackson stressed, “He needs to rest.”

Kidd knew his task wasn’t to chase points, but to control the game and try not to let Yu Fei widen the score gap while Kobe was out.

“Doesn’t the Lakers team show any consideration for you? You are already well along in years, yet they don’t even let you rest a bit.”

Yu Fei dribbled past the half-court and said this upon seeing Kidd.

“You know how it is, Frye,” Kidd began putting pressure, his words seeming to force their way through his clenched teeth, “The greater the power, the greater the responsibility.”

Well said, that’s why everyone was standing here on the court.

Yu Fei spread out the offense, signaling clearly to his teammates to stay put, meaning he wasn’t going to pass the ball.

As careful as Kidd tried to be, the likelihood of being faked out increased with every move of Yu Fei being a potential feint.

When Yu Fei’s shooting fake got Kidd off balance, the collapse of the defense was inevitable.

Yu Fei picked up the ball and jumped, perfectly colliding with Kidd’s chest. The sideline referee blew the whistle, clearly indicating it was a three-point foul. Then Yu Fei’s body rose steadily into the air, and with a gentle touch, he released a three-pointer that made the opponent despair before the ball even reached its destination.

It was going in.

That was the feeling Yu Fei’s shot gave off, silky smooth.

Watching Yu Fei’s release up close, Kidd felt a tingling sensation in his scalp; he turned his head just in time to see the ball arc perfectly through the net. How perfect was that arc? The ball barely touched the net, sinking through with a clean swish!

“AND ONE!!!”

“Frye with a four-point play!!!!!”

“@!#￥!#@￥”

Key Arena was so noisy, yet Yu Fei turned towards the Lakers’ bench and yelled loudly at number 24, “Kobe, if you don’t get in now, you won’t have a second half!”

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