When pride still matters

Chapter 357 God said there must be light

Clay Bennett believes he is a lifelong Oklahoman.

As strange as this statement may sound, isn’t every Oklahoman an Oklahoman for life?

But this is different. As a top 40 market in the country, Oklahomans are not exactly rural, but they certainly cannot compare with world-famous cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Washington. Those who want better development will always go outside.

Then they'll come back once a year and eventually die outside, but their epitaph won't necessarily say "From Oklahoma."

Bennett was sure he would die here, just like his family.

Before this summer, the relocation of the Sonics seemed to be a doomed thing in the industry. However, Yu Fei's transfer has brought huge suspense. People are eager to know whether the influence of the number one active player can change his destiny.

Questions like this often rankled Bennett.

This is his team.

He was the one who held the keys to the car, and the Sonics' fate was decided long before he owned them.

Yu Fei wanted to believe that Bennett made this decision out of the idea of ​​saving money, but now he couldn't help but think elsewhere.

Suddenly, the assistant said: "Frye called."

But leaving a spot for a respected old man like Wilkens can keep fans optimistic about the Sonics' future in Seattle.

When Bennett bought the team from Schultz Howard, Schultz Howard joked, "I'm jealous you don't have to deal with people like Gary Payton."

"If I'm going to be the face of Seattle basketball, I hope I can carry the torch from a guy like Lanny."

Yu Fei retorted: "Reed Auerbach was the chairman of the Boston Celtics until his death. To fans, it doesn't matter whether their professional abilities are outdated. What's important is that they are still part of the team." player. Lanny is a character who can connect the team and the fans."

The former is an excellent inside coach and a rare professional for the team. Although the latter is old, he has always been an iconic figure in Seattle basketball.

Yu Fei insisted on this matter: "The important thing is not where Lanny sits, the important thing is that he can still represent the Sonics."

"Fry, we've reorganized the front office," Bennett insisted. "We don't have a position for Lanny."

But he couldn't refuse Yu Fei because he was the first person in active service. The SuperSonics' market value increased by 30% after Yu Fei joined. Once he starts winning, the commercial value he can bring is countless.

For Bennett, maintaining contact with fans is already an unnecessary thing, and paying a high price to support an old antique for this matter is even more unnecessary.

Yu Fei has long been desensitized to this kind of rhetoric and has become the representative of Seattle basketball? It's a matter of time.

"Sikma could come back," Bennett said, "but Lanny is older, I mean, he's a little bit dated."

"What happened?" Bennett asked.

"As far as I know, everything is normal." The assistant said, "Fry has just returned from China and our training camp has not started yet."

Bennett immediately waved and answered Yu Fei's call.

To Bennett's surprise, Yu Fei's call actually wanted the team to recall Jack Sikma and Lenny Wilkens.

Today was a normal day, and Bennett was attending to his other business.

This made Bennett willing to convince himself, pretending that he didn't want to take SuperSonics away, pretending that he was willing to work with Yu Fei to find a solution for SuperSonics to stay, but when they failed, the tears he shed for this were by no means fake. . He cried that Oklahoma City would finally have a major league sports team.

"I really don't care if this old man can still represent the Sonics in the future." Bennett said, "For me, the most important thing is the future, Frye, I hope you replace Lanny as the representative of Seattle basketball."

Only when the Sonics are determined to leave will they cut off all ties with the past.

However, the deterioration of the relationship with Payton is just a microcosm of everything Schultz messed up in Sonics.

Bennett believes that Payton is definitely easier to handle than Yu Fei.

Because Yu Fei didn't treat him with the same humility as he treated his boss. On the contrary, he faced himself as a collaborator.

Bennett understood the highest law of professional basketball in a short period of time: God said there must be light, and the world must have light.

They want what they want, they don't want to hear your reasons and excuses, they just want you to cooperate.

Since the NBA All-Star Uprising in 1964 created the basic prototype of the modern NBA, generations of owners have not been able to get used to this. Until Jordan made them a lot of money, they decided, "Okay, as long as it makes me money, even if it's If you want to ride on my head, I will accept it with a smile."

Whether this kind of coexistence is healthy remains to be tested, because Jordan was very successful in Chicago, and Yu Fei also established a dynasty in Milwaukee. He came to Seattle with the majesty of the founder of the dynasty, threatening to keep the SuperSonics here. Before this incident, he had to dominate everything.

Bennett is willing to comply with this law because Yu Fei can bring him substantial benefits. They still have time and he can show complete compliance before then.

Jack Sikma? Lanny Wilkens? They can all stay, as long as Yu Fei is happy. "Well, I'm going to bring Lanny back," Bennett said, "I'm going to put him back in the front office, I'm going to put him on the team's president, and I'm going to put him on the coaching staff, if you will. "

Is God satisfied?
Yu Fei looked relieved and said in a friendly tone: "Great, I thought you really didn't want the favor of Sonics fans at all. It seems that I misunderstood you, Clay."

"The fans are the foundation for the team to be based in the city. How could I not consider their feelings?" Bennett responded.

"Yes, we not only want to win but also build team culture, and the most important thing is to strengthen the connection between the team and the community."

This may be one of the most ridiculous things that has ever happened in the NBA.

One player gushed about bringing the team closer to local fans.

Community activities are often the most annoying thing for players because they spend a lot of time performing various charitable activities on behalf of the team.

For themselves, this can certainly increase their fans, but apart from star players, what difference does it make to have one more fan and one less fan?
Bennett listened absently and finally said, "Okay, I'll let someone else arrange it."

In a few days, the Sonics' preseason training camp begins.

This is destined to be a special season.

In addition to Lawson, Kevin Lin and Tim Grover, Yu Fei was accompanied by several accompanying writers and filming crews.

During Jordan's final season with the Bulls, the NBA Entertainment Department sent a filming team to follow the team throughout the season and capture tens of thousands of hours of game footage to prepare for future documentaries.

This year, Yu Fei returned to Seattle in the name of salvation. Although the decision-makers of NBA Entertainment did not know what would happen in the future, the stunt was big enough, so they sent a camera crew again.

In addition to the league's camera crew, Yu Fei is also accompanied by Jack McCallum, a writer from Sports Illustrated. He has obtained Yu Fei's authorization and will publish an autobiography about Yu Fei within the next two years.

In order to facilitate the interview with Yu Fei and the people around him, McCallum applied to join the team, and the SuperSonics simply agreed.

These changes made Yu Fei feel like he was living in a drama.

Because there are people filming around you, everyone will unconsciously "get into the drama". Everyone knows that someone is filming and their words and deeds may appear in the documentary, so some people started to recite quotes from famous people, and some people deliberately did stupid things to attract attention.

The most typical one is fourth-year forward Josh Childress on the Sonics.

Childress was a lottery pick in 2004 and has performed tepidly in the past three seasons. Unlike other NBA players, he comes from Stanford University, a school that does not look like it can produce NBA players.

Childress, who came from one of the world's top universities, has always regarded himself as a thinker, and he is also one of the rare young people who dares to challenge others.

On the first day of camp, Childress noticed that the camera crew's camera was always focused on Yu Fei, so he proposed bullfighting to Yu Fei.

"Da Fei, I trained on ball-handling offense this past summer. Can you please give me some advice?"

Childress has a retro afro and looks like someone who traveled through time in the 70s.

"What advice do you want me to give?" Yu Fei asked.

Childress said confidently: "1 on 1."

Durant, who was originally absent-minded, suddenly looked over seriously.

Roy, who was lying on the side receiving a massage from the trainer, smiled and said, "JC, Da Fei won't let go."

"No need to give up," Childress said surprisingly, "I may not lose."

Yu Fei had no reason to refuse.

The two decided the opening ball by shooting, and Yu Fei won without any suspense. Childress's shot looked like a crude version of Shawn Marion. The difference is that Marion can score despite his ugly posture, but Childress doesn't look like he can score.

Childress clapped his hands and said, "Come on, Da Fei, you may not be able to score on my head!"

But Childress' defense fell apart faster than he made a fool of himself shooting the ball.

Yu Fei took a feint and took a step back to tear open his defense. He collected the ball with just one dribble, strode into the basket and scored a dunk.

"I don't think it's better than this." Yu Fei turned around and just aimed at the camera, "As long as you can prevent one ball, I will lose."

In any case, Yu Fei is happy that there are still young players who dare to challenge himself, which shows that he has initially shed his bad guy image.

But this did not prevent him from punishing Childress severely. After all, there was a camera crew on site. If he made a fool of himself in public, would he have to confiscate the camera crew's machine?
Well, it doesn't seem impossible.

(End of this chapter)