Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Wizards needed to keep moving forward.

Their next away game was in Portland.

Previously, the Wizards had already played a game against the Trail Blazers.

In that game, a few matchups between Jordan and Pippen were captured, and someone called a still photo of Jordan and Pippen as opponents "the most heartbreaking moment in NBA history," as if it were two brothers forced to become enemies.

In that game, the Wizards lost.

And tonight, the Wizards lost again.

Although the Trail Blazers were ranked fifth in the Western Conference, their roster depth was undoubtedly number one in the Western.

This was a team with a total salary of 80 million US dollars.

And now was an era with a salary cap of 40 million US dollars.

If you had a roster that was twice the salary cap without the breathtaking depth it implied, the team's general manager must be cast into the professional basketball abyss, never to rise again.

Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, Damon Stoudamire, Scottie Pippen, Shawn Kemp, Derek Anderson, Steve Kerr, Zach Randolph... the Trail Blazers' roster was rich enough to take on any opponent, but the problem was, with so many talents, how to make everyone satisfied with their playing time, tactical position, ball rights, and statistics?

Impossible.

It just couldn't be done.

Even if you had a coaching staff composed of Red Auerbach, Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson, and Pat Riley, it couldn't be done.

Of course, if they suddenly awakened some transmigration system, or inexplicably had the influence to make players selfless, understanding, and caring about nothing but winning, which very few people have, then maybe there'd be a 1% chance to achieve it.

But the Trail Blazers had no such person, and the entire NBA didn't have such a person.

Trail Blazers head coach Maurice Cheeks was hired by the decision-makers of the Trail Blazers because of the lubricating effect he had in Philadelphia as a mediator between Larry Brown and Allen Iverson.

They forgot one thing: as a mediator, you can say something to ease the atmosphere, but as the head coach who directly decides the power hierarchy of the team?

That's a different matter altogether.

Although the Trail Blazers' success and failure were both closely related to their luxurious roster, their talent was clearly not something the Wizards could contend with.

Yu Fei met with the full defense of old Pippen, and although he couldn't find his shooting touch, he relied on pick-and-roll offense to score 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

The number of his assists was the reason the Wizards lost.

While his personal offense opened up, the Trail Blazers' defensive system successfully forced Yu Fei into a one-man struggle.

105 to 88

The Wizards lost a game that was considered little chance of winning before the match.

Scottie Pippen glanced at the distant Yu Fei, who was being interviewed.

Despite losing the game, he was bathed in the spotlight as if he were the big winner.

Is this the person who dares to compete with Jordan?

But Pippen didn't think there was anything remarkable about it because the Jordan that Yu Fei was competing with was almost 40 years old, completely different from the Jordan he faced when he was young.

Pippen decided to leave; he no longer cared about the spotlight. As a veteran near retirement, all he wanted was peace and quiet.

Until Yu Fei brushed past him in the player's tunnel.

"Scottie, why are you always able to guess my breakthrough route?" asked Yu Fei.

Pippen's expression changed. This kid scored 25 points tonight, and he's complimenting my defense? Is he mocking me?

"What's the difference? You still scored what you were supposed to," said Pippen.

Yu Fei shook his head, "No, if you were a few years younger, I might have had a hard time tonight."

Listening to this, Pippen, who had been as serious and rigid as a robot from start to finish, laughed, his voice full of metallic pleasure, "Don't you know? Every time before you break through, your body swings to the side you're going to break towards. Any experienced defender can predict your route, but the problem is, you're too tall, and it's hard to stop you even if they guess right."

Yu Fei never knew he had such a habit.

If Pippen could find a clue from his habits, then some teams that specialize in defense will certainly discover it as well.

Perhaps they might have difficulty finding the right person to match up against him, but they could design traps based on his breakthrough route.

"Worthy of being the greatest NO. 2 in history!" Yu Fei seemed oblivious to the fact that's the last thing Pippen wanted to hear and struck right at the heart, "Playing against you is very beneficial for me."

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Fei's "greatest NO. 2 in history" came out, Pippen's face lost its good look.

Pippen never, ever, ever thought of himself as the second choice under Jordan while with the Bulls.

In his view, he was equal to Jordan.

But why was Jordan the king of the world while he had to perform like a star under a kid's contract?

Both on and off the court, Pippen was committed to keeping in step with Jordan, not because he felt he was "under Jordan's wing" but because he thought he was equal to Jordan. If Jordan didn't practice, he didn't either. If Jordan had privileges, so did he, at least within the Bulls, he had to have everything Jordan had.

He wasn't any NO. 2; he and Jordan were both NO. 1.

"I should leave," said Pippen coldly.

"Alright, alright, go ahead. Michael even asked me to pass on a message to you, but it seems you don't want to hear it," said Yu Fei.