When pride still matters

Chapter 331 The Chosen Son and the Prophet

Free agency in 2006 was very uneventful, as top prospect Ben Wallace had already decided on his next destination before entering July.

In addition to Ben, another popular player in the free market, Al Harrington, also made a quick decision to transfer from Atlanta to the Golden State Warriors.

Then, with Nene and Jason Terry staying on the team and Peja leaving the Pacers for the Hornets, the free market was effectively devoid of big-name players.

Aside from the normal signings in free agency, exciting trades have been few and far between.

The only shocking trade since the end of the season was the Bucks acquiring three players and the Knicks' first-round pick for LaMarcus Aldridge's signing rights.

For a team that had just climbed from the bottom to the top, they didn't have to take risks, but they did it anyway.

This move was interpreted as: Milwaukee didn't know how to keep Frye, so much so that they would rather break up a lineup that had proven to be successful in order to acquire higher talent to satisfy Frye.

Sports writers always have the most inner drama.

Just when big-name players were choosing their next home, Yu Fei, who was suffering from a groin injury, announced: "Due to a groin injury, I will miss the U.S. team this summer. In any case, Coach K and I and the U.S. All team members stand together.”

For some Americans, they've come to terms with the fact that the best basketball player in the world may never play for their country.

At that time, Coach K was an assistant coach of the Dream Team, and he was deeply impressed by the sense of responsibility of these three young people.

This is natural material for Americans who like conspiracy theories.

Immediately afterwards, Dream Team leader Kobe Bryant will withdraw from the Dream Team due to knee surgery.

Yu Fei allowed the outside world to make a big noise, but no longer bothered to talk about this matter.

In late July, Yu Fei joined forces with Reebok and the Bucks to hold a charity match to raise funds for places like western China where people were eating vegetables and the war-affected Middle East and Africa.

At that time, Reebok President Paul Ayers was working here. When he talked about Yu Fei at a party, Buffett took the initiative to express his desire to meet him.

Later, Yu Fei became famous on Wall Street for his over-the-counter investments. Even Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha" by Wall Street investors, became interested in him.

For example, the fact that Kobe is not the captain of the Dream Team is very controversial in itself.

However, not long after this decision was made, Kobe withdrew from the Dream Team due to knee surgery.

Els was happy to make it happen.

Kobe Bryant's exit quickly aroused all kinds of speculation.

Reebok needs to maximize his legendary season to generate revenue, and Yu Fei also needs to expand the influence of his personal brand.

A big Cammy like Bill Simmons who is afraid of chaos in the world likes to set the pace. He wrote in the article: "Listen, I absolutely believe that Kobe's knee is injured, but does he have to have surgery? Just right? After Frye missed out on the Dream Team again? Right after the National Team settled on three captaincy choices? If you were Kobe, after you had such a great season, the man most qualified to lead you refused to play on the Dream Team , but the dream team is captained by three young boys. You are called the leader, but you have no real personal status. In this case, do you still want to stay in this team? "

During this time, Yu Fei has been busy with business matters.

For others, like Yu Fei, the embodiment of the American dream, what reason is there not to fight for the Stars and Stripes?

So his groin injury must be real.

A large part of Simmons' article is malicious speculation, but his speculations are all based on existing information.

As the older generation of stars refused to be called up by the Dream Team, and Yu Fei missed due to injury, Coach K decided to make the three of Zhanwei Gua the captains of the new Dream Team.

Yu Fei was traveling around New York while undergoing special training.

When the Dream Team defeated Athens two years ago, although James, Anthony and Wade had disagreements with the veterans, they publicly stated that they wanted to wash away their shame in the next few years.

However, Yu Fei's announcement that he would miss the Dream Team due to injury was not the biggest news for this team that month.

Although the Dream Team and Kobe Bryant publicly stated that the rumors were false, various news caused the Dream Team to receive a lot of attention before the roster was determined.

Before the charity match, Yu Fei met Buffett under the introduction of Els.

Buffett greeted him with a pleasant smile and basketball-related jokes. His words seemed casual, but Yu Fei knew that they were definitely prepared in advance.

Because Buffett's joke is this: "You remind me of my young self. I also played basketball at that time. I played as a guard on the court, but as a guard, my free throw shooting rate was not even as good as O'Neal, so I was very early." I just knew I couldn’t make it in this business.”

Yu Fei was amused and laughed. He then presented Buffett with one of his jerseys and lifetime season tickets in the Bucks' name.

Buffett accepted the gift.

The two began chatting so freely that Els, the person who introduced the meeting, couldn't even get a word in. He was a little surprised, because Da Fei and Buffett seemed like an unlikely pair.

Da Fei is 24 years old and Buffett is 75 years old. Da Fei is a basketball player from the small town of Kent, Washington, and Buffett is a stockbroker in Omaha who later became an investor. Da Fei is a controversial figure, domineering and decisive on the court, and bohemian off the court. He is rumored to have an affair with Sharapova and has a close personal relationship with Paris Hilton. Buffett is the recognized god of investment. The only sport he insists on is golf, and there are not many people in the world who are qualified to play golf with him. His golfing friends are basically celebrities like Gates and Bezos.

The biggest difference between the two of them is that although Yu Fei has reached the peak, from a career perspective, he has just started, while Buffett has already reached the peak of his career.

However, looking at this pair of young and old, half a century apart in age, but there is no generation gap, Els feels the strong connection between them - the prophet and the chosen one - there is a lot of logic in their godheads Similar internal connections.

By the end of the meeting, Buffett's sense of flying was getting better and better. This young man did not seem to be as difficult to communicate with as widely rumored.

To this end, Buffett gave Yu Fei some sincere advice.

He feels that Yu Fei can invest in more low-cost index funds in the future to maintain cash flow. The most important thing is that instead of becoming a part of popular culture, it is better to own a part of the United States, such as Pepsi, Gatorade, etc. that Yu Fei currently endorses. Brands should consider acquiring some of their shares. In Buffett's view, the stocks of these long-standing companies will only become more valuable in the future.

Before leaving, Yu Fei said: "Can I invite you to come to Milwaukee to watch a game next summer?"

"Why summer?" Buffett asked with a smile.

Yu Fei said: "The heating system of our home court is not good, so it is not suitable for watching games on site in winter."

"No problem." Buffett said, "I will wear the jersey you gave me when the time comes."

Then, Buffett also made his own little request. At the shareholder meeting held in Omaha every spring, Buffett likes to open with an interesting video to entertain thousands of attendees. He thought it would be fun to compete one-on-one with Yu Fei in a basketball game.

Yu Fei said, what is this? arrange!

"But there is one condition."

Buffett looks extremely serious.

Yu Fei asked: "What is it?"

Suddenly, Buffett smiled: "You have to let me win."

As long as Buffy dies suddenly while filming the video due to some physical illness, let alone let him win, even if he is beaten to death by Buffett like the masters of all walks of life were beaten by Mr. Ma in "The Way", he will have no problem.

"You know, although I grew up in the United States, I am still Chinese at heart." Yu Fei may have suffered from intermittent Alzheimer's disease, otherwise he would not have been able to say this sentence, "Respect the elderly and love the young." It is China’s traditional virtue.”

In late July, Yu Fei started this year's trip to Asia.

Since Yu Fei "deeply regrets" missing out on the Dream Team due to injury, he made Japan the last stop of this year's Asia tour.

At that time, he will cheer for the dream team as a spectator.

Meanwhile, Team USA is making final preparations for the World Championships.

What is worrying is that their warm-up match performance was not as devastating as fans expected.

FIBA has many rules that are different from the NBA.

Bosh couldn't understand FIBA's strange ball interference strategy, while James habitually called a timeout in an accident and was whistled for a technical foul - in FIBA ​​games, players cannot call timeouts.

The Americans looked talented, but their chemistry was poor and their lax free-throw accuracy didn't suggest they were a skilled team.

Many observers have questioned them.

As the co-captain of the Dream Team, the last thing James wants to hear is "Will Frye's absence have a significant impact?"

"I don't know what this has to do with Frye?" James said. "Frye and Kobe are not going to be here because of groin injuries. But even without them, Team USA is still the best team in the world. I Promise we will get better, all we need is patience.”

“Don’t judge us until this is over!”

(End of this chapter)