When pride still matters

Chapter 155 The Fall of the Gods

The start of 2003 was definitely not a good one for NBA teams.

Grant Hill was injured again and was still suffering from unexplained pain in his foot. The Magic could not find the cause of his illness.

The Kings, who were only one step away from dismantling the dominance of the OK Lakers last season, performed surprisingly well after Webber missed the early part of the season due to injury.

When Weber comes back, the Kings will have to get back together again. This will be the time to test them the most.

The Trail Blazers are changing from having the league's first salary to "although they have the league's first salary, they are signing a group of criminals."

What is the most optimistic thing about them?Rasheed Wallace has gone from scoring 41 T's in a single season to less than half now. You have to admit that this is an improvement.

Compared with the cases of Rashid's teammates carrying unique items and beating up nannies, these Ts who were exchanged for real money and silver seemed so fresh and refined.

At least it was a pitch error and not a legal issue.

Then, for the Lakers, even if O'Neal returns, Kobe's dark soul has awakened. So far this season, he still averages 25 shots per game.O'Neal watched Kobe go crazy but could do nothing. Then, as the All-Star voting closed, he was angry to find that his starting position was actually occupied by a rookie center from across the ocean.

When people are extremely angry, they can not only stimulate their potential, but also show their worst side.

1 April

O'Neal couldn't bear Yao Huang taking away his All-Star starting spot, and told the media: "Tell Yao Huang, ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh."

The following four unclear phrases can be ignored. "ching-chong" is enough to indicate O'Neal's meaning.

The first person to criticize O'Neal was ESPN columnist Bill Walton: "I am so disappointed in Shaquille, and he should know. He is the leader of the NBA, and his words and deeds symbolize the image of the league. You can imagine Would Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic, Hakeem or Tim Duncan say something like this?”

"We often hear people like Shaquille say they want to be respected. Well, to get respect, you have to give respect to others. We live in a world and society where diversity needs to be encouraged, not discouraged. If Shaquille is your 10-year-old kid, and when he says something like this, what would you do to him?"

It has to be said that the good impression Yao Huang has left on people since entering the NBA has made many asshole sports reporters who look like arrogant Yankees speak for him.

However, the energy of reporters alone cannot make things big.

When Yu Fei heard this, some of his bad memories were brought back.

He remembered that JJ Redick couldn't control himself and used racial slurs in the video to wish Chinese fans a Happy New Year.

Redick's explanation?He was tongue-tied.

"If that's not racist, I don't know what is! Why did you allow this to be published in the newspaper? Why didn't anyone tell him it was degrading after he said it? Why in this case? In fact, human rights experts disappeared? Where the hell were Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Johnnie Cochran?" Yu Fei said directly through the media Firing O'Neal, "I don't want to hear any excuses, I don't want to hear it, O'Neal must apologize to Yao Huang and all Chinese Americans, including me!"

⑴The three people mentioned by Yu Fei are all well-known human rights activists at the moment.

Yu Fei is a hot new star and an important figure in the eyes of Asian Americans. When he attacked O'Neal, it couldn't be excused by saying "I'm sorry."

Things got bigger.

O'Neal felt the outrage and had to step in to clean up the situation before the league could react further.

1 April

Only one day later, O'Neal asked his media friends to hold a press conference.

At the press conference, O'Neal said with a trademark smirk: "I said it in a joking way, but your media just wanted to stir up trouble. In fact, I didn't mean that at all. He (unclear) is a person without a sense of humor." I don’t want to say more about the accusation of racial discrimination. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not that kind of person."

The reporter said: "But you should know that someone did get hurt because of your joke."

O'Neal said smoothly: "If anyone was hurt by this, I apologize."

He then went on to defend himself.

"I just told a joke that I thought was funny, and it was a 70-30 joke. 70 percent of people found it funny, and then 30 percent found it offensive."

"Sometimes I just try to come up with some comedy and tell some funny jokes, and sometimes my jokes are terrible, but you know, even Eddie Murphy has terrible comedy movies. If my jokes offend anyone, Man, I apologize.”

This is a typical whitewash performance.

After Yu Fei watched the press conference, his anger did not diminish at all.

On January 1, Yu Fei went to home with anger, where they will face the Clippers.

Before the game started, a reporter told Yu Fei about O'Neal's apology.

He wanted to know what Yu Fei thought.

"Let us be clear, if a white politician publicly makes racist remarks, his political career is over." Yu Fei asked, "Now I want to know why a globally famous black man is using a notoriously racist After insulting a foreigner with words, all it takes is an apology to settle the matter?"

"He said this was a joke? I CTMD! This is definitely not a joke! 70% of people don't think this is a joke. Not only does that bastard have a problem with his character, but he is also a mess in mathematics!"

"If a white man pretended to be O'Neal, made monkey noises, and then ate watermelon and fried chicken, would you think it was a joke?"

"What would happen if Yao responded to him with the N-word?"

"QTMD! When will this double standard end?!"

It is a pity that Yu Fei's scolding and refutation of O'Neal cannot have a decisive effect, because the person involved, Yao Huang, is a typical Chinese who does not want to make the matter a big deal.

He finally got rid of the shackles of the CBA and came to the United States. He didn't want to fall out with the NBA, so reconciliation was the only option.

Later, O'Neal reiterated before a game: "We live in a world full of trials and tribulations. I will never be the person you say you are. Let's move on."

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak also came out to excuse O'Neal: "I know Shaq, and I am sure this was just a misunderstood attempt at humor. He did not want to insult or criticize Yao Huang or other Chinese Americans."

The great benevolent Yao Huang came forward to end the storm: "There are many incomprehensible difficulties between two different cultures, especially two very large countries. The world is becoming smaller and smaller, and I think it is very important to understand other cultures. I believe Shaquille O'Neal was just joking, but I don't think a lot of Asians understand the joke."

It was over, and the parties involved who wanted to settle the matter selectively ignored Yu Fei's words.This allowed the chosen son from 2023 to see clearly the fact that it was 2003, an era when the United States was invincible. Yao Shuan, a rootless tree who had traveled across the ocean, was not qualified to embarrass O'Neal on this matter.As for the Chinese Americans represented by Yu Fei, they were a group of people that could not be described in words. He remembered that in his previous life, he had seen on the Internet that Chinese Americans who became governors were ashamed of their blood and skin color.How much respect can a person like this get?
He can't change this reality. In the final analysis, he is just a bad player, and problems can only be solved on the court.

O'Neal is also a golfer, and the two sides already had conflicts. This incident only made Yu Fei's hatred for the former even more intense.

Yu Fei went back and looked at the schedule. The next game against the Lakers won't be until early March, so it's still early.

There is an opponent who is suitable for venting anger on.

At the end of January, the Bucks were waiting for the Washington Wizards at home.

Currently, the Bucks are ranked first in the Eastern Conference with 34 wins and 10 losses, and second in the league (second only to the Mavericks), while the Wizards are 21 wins and 26 losses, ranking ninth in the Eastern Conference.

Although it is too early to start the battle for the spot, the Wizards are already 3 games behind the Hornets, who are eighth in the Eastern Conference.

If the gap widens further, it will be difficult to catch up.

Everyone knows that the Bucks will not let go of the Wizards because Yu Fei is extremely hostile to them.

Not to mention that O'Neal's incident has made Yu Fei feel depressed recently, and he needs to find a punching bag to vent his anger.

You don’t know if you don’t fight, but once you fight, Yu Fei is really shocked by the prodigy.It's not that I was shocked by the Wizards' strength, but I was shocked by the Wizards' style of play.

At the beginning of the season, although the Wizards were not playing fast, driven by All-Star players like Cassel and Stackhouse, the pace was not slow.

However, in the second match, Yu Fei obviously felt that the Wizards' rhythm was much slower.

Didn't the lessons of last season make Jordan realize that playing slow-paced games at his age is a dead end?

The thing is like this, when the original style fails, Jordan will go "big" and let the boss Jordan give orders to Collins: Doug, let's try to play slow.

As a result, Jordan scored 30 points and led the team to win. Collins felt that this was useful, so the Wizards began to change their style of play and once again returned to Jordan's favorite slow-paced grinding position.

If Jordan's shooting touch is good, the Wizards will play smoothly, otherwise, the Wizards will struggle.Moreover, Yu Fei knows very well that when the team is used to a slow-paced game, it is difficult to change gears because they do not have someone like Yu who often speeds up regardless of Jordan's life or death.

Neither Cassell nor Stackhouse dared to confront Jordan.

Moreover, they are not averse to slow tempo, and they can adapt to any tempo of the game.

As Jordan exerted more control over the team's style of play, internal strife arose.Cassel complained, and Stackhouse also felt the pain of Yu Fei and Hamilton.When they win, Jordan is God; when they lose, others other than Jordan become waste who cannot help God share the pressure.

Once, when the team's fast break left Jordan behind, Collins stopped the game and then got angry at Cassell.

From then on, no one dared to ignore Jordan's position during fast breaks.

The Wizards have become a team without fast breaks. It must be said that the slow-playing Jordan can often surprise the team, but the price is the sacrifice of the team's style and the young players all become as fearful as Kwame Brown. Cringe.

Such a talent is not enough to compete with the Bucks.

Yu Fei, who wanted to find someone to vent to, named Jordan by name all night long.

As long as he gets the ball, he will call a pick-and-roll to confront Jordan.

Moreover, he is not pursuing the use of speed to break through Jordan. He wants to confront Jordan. He wants to cause Jordan to foul. He wants to knock Jordan away and score under his nose.

The consequence of this is that Jordan can only use fouls to stop Yu Fei most of the time.

Tonight, Yu Fei caused 5 fouls on Jordan and scored 40 points and 7 rebounds.

Most of the fourth quarter was garbage time.

When Yu Fei was replaced, he glanced at Collins, nodded slightly and said "Thank you for your hard work", then looked back at Jordan, shrugged and said: "No one can't make it to the season after adding two All-Stars." After the game?"

Jordan looked at Yu Fei indifferently, but could not refute.

After that, there was no suspense in the game.

The Bucks won easily.

"When I was leading the team alone in DC, I didn't have All-Star helpers like Sam Cassel and Jerry Stackhouse around me. If they don't make the playoffs this season, there's only one reason. "Yu Fei said lightly, "Someone is so bad!"

Yu Fei's naked satire and attack on Jordan made the Wizards' post-game press conference particularly embarrassing.

Collins was forced to endure a barrage of machine-gun questions from outsiders.

Most of them are related to Jordan, a small part is related to Yu Fei, and some are tirelessly asking what the Wizards got from Yu Fei's transaction.

These questions finally brought out the most controversial side of Collins: "You damn bastards, do you have any other questions? Michael is a human being. He is 40 years old and of course he will be tired! Stop asking these boring questions!"

No matter how Collins defends Jordan, one thing is unquestionable: Jordan's divinity has disappeared.

His ability as a player, his appeal to fans, and his value to the market are all disappearing bit by bit.

Once the fall of the gods begins, it will not end until the end - this is not only Jordan's career, but also the rest of his life. This powerless mediocrity will accompany him to the end.

If you want to ask, what is the iconic event of the fall of the gods, it is this year's All-Star Weekend voting.

The vote leader in the Eastern Conference is Tracy McGrady, followed by Vince Carter, whose attendance rate is worrying due to injuries this season, then Allen Iverson, who still has his power, and then Yu Fei. Jordan couldn't even be ranked fifth - Ben Wallace was higher than Jordan and ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference All-Star vote list.

"Heroes" that will be played at the All-Star Weekend is just a modified version of "Funeral March." No matter how Jordan's supporters try to whitewash this, no matter how grand the league makes the farewell ceremony for Jordan, this cannot be changed. .

This was an era when Michael Jordan couldn't match even Ben Wallace in All-Star voting.

The wheel of the times has come, and it will only go further and further away. No one will look back, no matter what is behind.

(End of this chapter)