Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The night before Jordan's surgery, the last thing Yu Fei said to Jordan shattered all of Hamilton's illusions.

That meant even if Jordan retired, the Wizards were still not his team.

"Impossible!" Hamilton couldn't face his own heart and wasn't honest with Yu Fei, "I've been supportive of you, Frye."

The next day, Yu Fei arrived at the Verizon Center early as usual.

"Yo, Tim, you're here too?" Anthony Lawson spotted Tim Grover.

This was the white guy that Yu Fei had always asked him to ingratiate himself with; each time Lawson saw Grover, he greeted him like an affectionate nephew.

Grover saw Yu Fei, who was already prepared to start training.

He had heard about Yu Fei's dedication to training but never confirmed it for himself until today, when Jordan planned to return to the Verizon Center to assert his presence and boost the team's morale with the news, "If you make it into the playoffs, I might come back." This chance encounter allowed Grover to see that Yu Fei was such a diligent player.

He remembered how Lawson tried to curry favor with him and the constant mentions of "Frye always looking for the best trainer."

"If you're here, I guess, the boss is too?" Yu Fei asked with a smile.

"Of course," Grover said, "Michael would never abandon his team."

Oh really? What about the Bulls in 1993? What about the Bulls in 1998?

Okay, a dead dad and a disbanded team, those are valid reasons.

But the name 'Jordan' always aroused a rebellious streak in Yu Fei.

Then, Yu Fei saw Jordan at the court side, walking with crutches.

"I watched last night's game," Jordan initiated the conversation with Yu Fei, "If it was my pass, do you think Rip would've missed those open shot opportunities?"

"I don't think so," Yu Fei said sarcastically, "because he wouldn't want to be asked why he didn't do something to help his teammates after the game was over."

Jordan smugly retorted, "You want to replace me, you want to lead them to the playoffs, that's what you said, right? If you can't make Rip cooperate with you, what makes you think you can do what you said you would?"

"That's none of your concern now, is it? Moreover, the reason we're now reduced to struggling for a playoff spot, who is to blame? Who preferred to play injured only to shoot more than 25 balls with less than 30% shooting accuracy? Who has lost the ability to maintain high-quality offense and defense for extended periods yet still insists on playing more than 38 minutes each game? Who paraded out like a hero while leading the team to a 2-11 record, casting a shadow on our playoff prospects?" Yu Fei looked at Jordan like one would look at an uncleaned pile of dog shit, "You should be grateful that I don't tell the media all this. This year, you've only proven that without Scottie Pippen, you are destined to achieve nothing. As for whether I can lead them to the playoffs, clean up your shit, it's my concern, not of a useless old cripple like you."

!#￥!@￥!@#

Jordan, enraged, swung his crutch, wanting to have a royal PK with Yu Fei, but the staff swarmed to prevent it. They weren't afraid of the two fighting, but rather afraid that Yu Fei might really strike Jordan.

Whether it was Jordan battering Yu Fei in a fit of rage with his crutch, or Yu Fei laying hands on the handicapped Jordan, either event would propel the Wizards to media infamy along with an endless stream of negative repercussions.

Although the staff prevented a conflict between Yu Fei and Jordan, the incident indirectly resulted in a rough day for Richard Hamilton.

During that day's training session, Yu Fei chose the substitute team to confront Hamilton's starting team in the intra-squad scrimmage.

From the moment Yu Fei blocked Hamilton's shot, the smell of gunpowder was in the air.

"Rip, you're going for a break-through again? Where's your shooting? Does your groin injury still affect your shot?"

The next round, as Hamilton took a shot, Yu Fei mocked, "So you can shoot after all?"

If he scored.

"Why didn't you shoot last night?"

If he missed.

Yu Fei would point to Jordan watching from the sidelines and say, "Even that cripple wouldn't miss that shot."

Finally, Hamilton couldn't stand it any longer and angrily responded, "Why don't you shoot? If you can make the shot, what's the use of pinning your hopes on me?"

Hamilton really left Yu Fei with no choice.

If there was no one reliable around, then he could only trust himself.

His shooting was just unstable, not incapable.

Especially now when he was angry, he was incredibly focused, and at such times, his touch was always exceptional.

That was the difference between Yu Fei and Hamilton.

It was also the greatest chasm between ordinary star players and those extraordinary geniuses with great potential.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball, calling for a pick-and-roll from the shooting guard position to force Hamilton to switch on defense, then he pulled up and shot right in his face.

"Swish!"

"Is that defense, Rip? You see that cripple on the sidelines? Even he can guard better than you!"

Jordan roared, "You'd better watch your mouth!"

So Mr. Jordan knew that attacking the opponent's weakness was an act of "filthy mouth," huh?

Krause would cry himself to death, Bogues would cry himself to death.

"Please respect my freedom of speech," Yu Fei mocked.

Jordan left with a face as dark as iron.

Staying any longer would only mean continuous humiliation at the hands of Yu Fei.

For Hamilton, today was going to be long.

The other starters saw that Yu Fei intended to make an example out of Hamilton (to vent his anger) that day, so they also didn't put in much effort, just going through the motions.

The reserves, however, dared not slack off because the main reason Yu Fei treated Hamilton this way today was because Hamilton hadn't played well in the previous night's game.

As a result, the reserve team overwhelmingly defeated the starting team.

After the game, Yu Fei didn't speak to Hamilton again.

Only Kwame Brown felt that something about Yu Fei seemed different: "Fulai, do you have a problem with Rip?"

"He's got a problem if he doesn't shoot," he replied.

"What if he does shoot?"

"Then I'll see if there's any other problem."

A day later, the Wizards headed to Seattle to challenge the Supersonics.

This was Yu Fei's first time back to the State of Washington as an NBA player.

Even though he was very clear he was a Kentite, when the people from Seattle welcomed him home as their "own kid," he indeed felt something different.

Then Gary Payton's words fired him up even more: "Are you the kid from the regional invitational?"

"You remember me?"

"Of course, I remember, just checking. Uncle Gary here hates high school punks who skip college, and I'm going to put you in your place tonight!"

Payton delivered on his promise with 29 points and 7 assists, but Yu Fei, seemingly with some home-court "BUFF" boost, bravely scored 35 points with 11 rebounds and 8 assists, leading his team to a victory over the Supersonics.

When the game was over, even though it was their home loss, the Seattle crowd wasn't the least bit sad.

The cheers at the scene made Yu Fei feel as if he were playing at the MCI.

Richard Hamilton scored 21 points; he finally started to shoot.

Because Yu Fei changed his approach toward him.

If Hamilton didn't take the open shots, Yu Fei would scold him just as fiercely as Jordan did.

Pressuring others isn't nice, but if pressure was the only way to get Hamilton to play well, then Yu Fei would not hesitate to do so.

He didn't care what Hamilton thought; he just wanted to lead the Wizards out of the mire.

Then, Hamilton refused to attend the post-game press conference.

The reason?

A groin injury; he was now off to the hospital for a checkup.

When Yu Fei heard about this, he had a premonition—could BYD really be "smart groin, activate!"?

The next day, the Wizards team officially announced: Richard Hamilton was out indefinitely due to recurring groin injuries.