When pride still matters

Chapter 249 The chain reaction caused by a criminal

No one doubted Ray Allen's loyalty to Milwaukee, so the Bucks gave him a max salary straight away.

In mid-November, the Bucks offered Ray Allen a five-year, $5 million max-salary contract extension.

Larry Harris thinks like the outside world, he thinks Ray Allen will happily sign a contract extension.

The result was surprising. Not only did Ray Allen not sign the contract, he also shelved contract renewal negotiations on the grounds that "I need more time to consider my future."

This is easily reminiscent of the way Yu Fei put negotiations on hold.

Yu Fei's request is that if Sprewell renews his contract, he will renew his contract.

But is anyone really worried about Yu Fei not renewing his contract with the Bucks?

In fact, Yu Fei has no initiative in the matter of contract renewal. Because even if he does not complete the contract extension during the season, he will be a restricted free agent when he tests the free market in the summer. Even if other teams offer him a contract, the Bucks can still match it unconditionally.

Yu Fei's approach can be seen as a young leader testing his voice within the team.

The Bucks management did what Yu Fei wanted. They first negotiated a contract extension with Sprewell. They also took this aspect into consideration. They did not want to be at odds with Yu Fei because of this matter.

But Ray Allen's sudden move was unexpected.

"Need more time to think about the future"? Doesn't his future lie in Milwaukee?

Before outside public opinion arose, the local media in Milwaukee couldn't sit still.

The media, mainly the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, began to make unfriendly comments about Ray Allen, and they speculated on the latter's intentions.

Finally, they came to a conclusion.

Ray Allen is trying to compete for leadership. He wants to repeat the farce of OK in Milwaukee.

This is intolerable to them.

The development of the situation shocked the Bucks internally. They had never thought that Ray Allen had this meaning. Why did the media think of it?

"This is what they give me in return!" When the Sentinel's headline article questioned Allen's loyalty to Milwaukee, Ray Allen said coldly in the locker room, holding the day's newspaper.

"I've been here for eight years! That's how they see me!" Ray Allen said emotionally, "Why? Why do they think I can't think about myself? Why does everyone see me that way?"

Yu Fei asked jokingly: "What do you think of you, do you look like me?"

Ray Allen saw nothing on Yu Fei's face.

This is their third season of cooperation, but Ray Allen believes that he and Yu Fei have no personal relationship.

They don’t call each other to greet each other, and they don’t give each other gifts on holidays.

Their relationship is as pure as colleagues. Yu Fei is like the leader of their group. He is very dignified, but he is always very indifferent to himself. Even if he is in such an unbearable negative public opinion situation, he I didn't see a trace of concern on the other person's face.

Does the media see me the way he does?

Ray Allen sneered in his heart, it would be better if they were really like Yu Fei.

As long as he doesn't talk nonsense, Yu Fei won't care about him, but the media will question his intentions because of his temporary decision.

"It would be a good thing for me if they were really like you," Ray Allen said bitterly, "but that's not the case!"

Yu Fei doesn't know what he looks like in the eyes of Ray Allen, but if Ray Allen's affairs affect the team, then he needs to be concerned.

"As long as you sign the contract, they'll shut up."

Ray Allen said arrogantly: "I haven't decided yet."

"Hey, do you want a change of environment?"

Yu Fei's rhetorical question caused the atmosphere in the locker room to plummet.

Is this really the right time to ask such a sensitive question?

Ray Allen has never considered leaving. The reason why he is not signing a contract extension now is because he wants to see how the management will deal with Sprewell's contract extension.

But he didn't want the management to think that he wanted to expand his influence to the extent of influencing the team's signings like Yu Fei did.

So he said he hadn't decided yet.

In fact, he always had only one choice.

"Negotiations for your extension haven't even started yet, Spree hasn't renewed his contract, Dikembe hasn't renewed his contract yet, and Chriss hasn't renewed his contract either." Ray Allen said, "Then you want me to now Just renew the contract? Don’t even think about it!”

Yu Fei smiled: "So this is what you care about? Okay, I know what you think. Look, why don't you speak more clearly?"

Then, Sprewell suddenly interjected: "What if they don't renew my contract?"

There's nothing I can do about it, I believe you have a bright future, but I'm going to spend my entire career in Milwaukee.

This is what Ray Allen thinks.

When Ray Allen realized that such thoughts were a bit unfair to Spreeway, he seemed a little guilty.

Sometimes it is just a difference of thought that determines the position of a person.

A second ago, Yu Fei was talking and laughing with Ray Allen. When he heard Sprewell's words, the smile quickly disappeared from his face.

What replaced the smile was unquestionable seriousness. He looked at Sprewell and said clearly: "Sprewell, they will renew your contract."

The Bucks' top brass seems determined not to give Sprewell a big contract to provide for his retirement. Even with Yu Fei's platform, there are still many variables in renewing the contract.

For the front office, signing a contract that is predictably garbage at a premium would be a career-stain.

They would rather create internal conflicts and drive Sprewell out than give in.

They will do whatever it takes to do this.

How can Yu Fei ensure that Sprewell gets a satisfactory contract extension?

Teammates looked at Yu Fei. This young superstar has brought great changes to Milwaukee. Whether it’s the attention from the outside world, the market value of the team, or the attraction of sponsors, with Frye, everything is possible.

Once a player's influence reaches this level, the changes he can make are no longer limited to the team level.

This is how people looked up to Michael Jordan in the '90s.

Moreover, such a thing can only happen when a small team like the Bucks is lucky enough to have such a Uranus who does not seem to belong to them.

If Yu Fei wants it, he will get it.

This made Sprewell extremely excited. He never thought that he would be convinced by a young man under the age of 22, but in Milwaukee, this happened.

And he has no shame at all.

If Yu Fei really signed a big pension contract for himself, Sprewell thought, maybe he would devote his soul to defending the other party's glory in the last few years of his career.

Ray Allen didn't know how much energy Yu Fei's statement contained just now.

He didn't take it seriously because he knew the team's owner, Senator Cole, would not allow the team to spend tens of millions a year on a declining old man.

Later, Yu Fei turned to Ray Allen and said, "We are fine here, but with the media, you still need to do some work."

Ray Allen reacted: "You want me to hold a press conference?"

"That's right." Yu Fei said, "Tell them your thoughts, or make up a reason. In short, you must have a clear attitude."

A day later, Ray Allen did just that.

But Yu Fei didn't expect that there would be a boomerang.

Yu Fei said he would renew Sprewell's contract.

This inspired Ray Allen.

Ray Allen said at a press conference: "If Frye re-signs, I will re-sign. That's what I've been thinking about."

However, this did not bother me about how long the flight took.

Because he has already expressed his attitude, everyone will pay more attention to Sprewell's contract renewal.

After all, the pressure is back on the Bucks management.

A day later, the Bucks traveled to Indiana.

The Pacers are the most underrated team in the East and the only team in the East that has won more than they lost against the Bucks.

This is because the Pacers' staffing inhibits the Bucks to a certain extent.

With O'Neal Jr. on the inside and Artest on the outside, he destroyed the Bucks' inside line while using Artest to harass Yu Fei on the outside.

However, this year Yu Fei has evolved in his offensive skills. Artest's attempt to harass him with the crazy physical confrontation in the past failed.

That night, Yu Fei played tricks on Artest many times, which eventually made the opponent angry and gave Ray Allen a flagrant foul.

Artest received a secondary flagrant foul and was ejected on the spot.

Ray Allen was lying on the ground innocently. He was just helping Yu Fei set up a screen. Who was he provoking?

Artest was beaten by Yu Fei and his mentality exploded, and the Pacers' balanced offensive and defensive posture was broken.

The Bucks rained three-pointers from the outside and successfully closed the game.

Since Artest was assessed a second-level flagrant foul, he will be automatically suspended for the next game.

Yu Fei inadvertently brought an amazing butterfly effect to the Pacers.

According to normal development, two days later, Artest will follow the Pacers to Detroit to play an away game, and then participate in the famous Auburn Hills Palace Brawl.

But now, Artest is suspended.

In the next game, the Pacers will not have Artest, so there may not be a fight, and there will be no one lying next to the technical stage after the fight and being thrown coke by a cheap fan, and there will be no Pacers losing their minds. The players stormed into the stands to fight one against ten.

Two days later, nothing happened.

The Pacers relied on their good form since the start of the season and narrowly defeated the Pistons in the away game without Artest.

But just because a chaos is quelled before it happens doesn't mean the Palace of Auburn Hills will actually be in peace with its guests.

The security at the Palace is still terrible, and fans who offend will still offend, and the team bearing the ill will is no longer the Pacers, but the Bucks who stifled the Detroiters' dream of regaining the championship in the Eastern Conference Finals.

On November 11, the Milwaukee Bucks, ranked first in the Eastern Conference, visited Detroit.

They don't feel special about the Pistons because they've shattered the dreams of countless teams over the past two years.

The Pistons are just one of them.

But Detroiters always remember how Yu Fei humiliated them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Not just Detroiters, the Wallace brothers also remember, Hamilton also remembers, Billups also remembers, they all feel that they need to seek revenge from the Bucks.

Now, here comes the buck.

Although one regular season game doesn't mean much, they can charge some interest first.

(End of this chapter)