When pride still matters

Chapter 434 Hello, BJ
The last warm-up match of the Dream Team was held in Paris, but the opponent was not France, but Australia.

Although the strength of the Australian team is far lower than that of the American team, they relied on their rough playing style to turn the game into a jungle melee, making the star-studded Dream Team feel like they were playing in the finals tiebreaker.

In the end, they only won by 11 points.

ESPN reporter Chris Sheridan, who has been covering the US team for a long time, wrote after the game: "If you thought that the US team led by Frye Yu had already booked BJ's gold medal, then this game will wake you up from your dream. "

The Australians proved that FIBA ​​is another dimension of basketball, which may not be stronger than the NBA, but is equally challenging.

On August 8, the US team officially set off for China.

Three days later, the U.S. team's first game in the Olympic group stage was against the host nation, China.

There were countless fans outside the airport who had been waiting for hours. Yu Fei and his teammates showed enthusiastic emotions the moment they appeared.

This leaves some American players who have never been to China at a loss.

Yu Fei's popularity in China is surprising.

When he arrived outside the airport, dozens of media outlets from all over China shoved microphones in his face.

Yu Fei said to a person who climbed to the highest point from a distance.

A fact that is beyond common sense among Americans is that in China, Yu Fei is the most popular among all sports stars. The second ranked player is not Yao Huang and Liu Xiang, but Kobe Bryant. Of course, this ranking mainly comes from young fans who are active on the Internet and in reality.

Wherever Yu Fei appears, there will be crowds of people.

"Kobe, you're such a good guy, I didn't sign anyone's autograph today because I didn't know any of them climbed the fence pole to see me."

There were too many people at the scene with mobile phones and digital cameras, and some took the risk of climbing up sharp fence poles in order to see Yu Fei up close.

Kobe asked back: "Didn't you say you remembered everyone's faces?"

"You believe it?"

In addition to Yu Fei, Kobe also received a warm welcome.

Kwame Brown proudly said on the bus that he saw 13 fans wearing Wizards No. 5 and SuperSonics No. 45.

"I can really understand the fans' love, but I don't want them to risk injury." Yu Fei said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "I remember the appearance of each of them, and in order to 'punish' them, I won't Sign them during the Olympics.”

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Su Wei, a well-known Chinese basketball media person, explained this phenomenon: "Frye's significance to the yellow race in the basketball world is like Liu Xiang's significance to the track and field world. They both surpassed people's perception of the yellow race with their outstanding strength. In this regard, At the same time, Fry respects overseas fans very much, especially Asian fans who are mainly Chinese fans. Every year he comes back here to stay with the fans for half a month. Every fan who has come into contact with him is full of praise for him. . However, this year, this popularity has grown sharply. The National Games held by Frye in his own name (sponsored by Reebok) saved many people on the day of the 512 earthquake. Since then, he has not been in China. Just an athlete. He’s the savior of Seattle and Team USA, but he’s also the savior in a way here.”

"Dude, be careful."

Jerry Colangelo, the director of the American Basketball Association and the leader of the US team, led the team to China a few years ago. He is very aware that Yu Fei's local influence exceeds that of ordinary NBA stars.

But the heat they felt at BJ today completely exceeded their previous perceptions.

The other party yelled, but the kind-hearted Yu Fei did not expect that his proactive response would lead to more people taking risks.

Yu Fei teased Kobe on the bus to the Olympic Village.

More than half of the thousands of fans outside the airport were wearing No. 44 jerseys of the Bucks or SuperSonics. They shouted "Frye" loudly, hoping to attract attention.

The former is his jersey number with the Wizards, and the latter is his jersey number with the SuperSonics.

They support Yao Huang but don't appreciate him. The main reason is that Yao Huang's incredible height makes it difficult for fans to "replace" him, and the second reason is that Yao Huang lacks the personality of a so-called foreign star. Yao Huang's "humor" that is praised in the United States is considered too "elegant and easy-going" by domestic fans. Why can't he criticize his opponents in front of the media like Da Fei did? Why not do an impromptu "Kobe kiss my ass" like O'Neal did during the event?
A female fan broke down and cried on the spot after receiving an autograph from Kobe Bryant, making Kobe think she had done something wrong.

"Mello, my popularity in China seems to be higher than yours." Brown laughed.

Anthony rolled his eyes at him, "Is it possible that they can't afford Da Fei's jersey, so they just buy your jersey?"

"Bullshit!" Brown said confidently, "My jersey is more expensive than Big Fly's!"

Lin Kaiwen, Yu Fei's assistant, joked: "That's because they don't sell your jerseys here at all. They have to buy them from abroad."

"What wonderful fans." Brown said movedly, "They can even ignore the exchange rate of 1-7 for me. For this reason, I will also dunk on Yao Huang in the game against the Chinese team on Sunday!"

Kwame Brown is like Eddie Curry, basically Yao Shuan's star wrath in the NBA. Brown, in particular, is not good at attacking like him. He has some basic skills in single defense on the defensive end, but his main function is to help defend the inside line. He is often beaten ugly when encountering an indiscriminate low-post killer like Yao Wei.

Every time he met Yao Huang in the NBA, Brown would be beaten to a pulp. He said he would teach Yao Huang a lesson on Sunday, and Yu Fei could already foresee the scene of him being beaten.

In FIBA ​​competitions, Yao Huang will be even more unsolvable.

Later, George Carl lamented the changes in China.

Karl has led the team to China for several preseason games in the past, but that was not his first time in China.

On the bus, Karl talked about his first experience in China, which was in 1973, the first year after Nixon visited China.

"Everything looked very primitive back then, but today, things have changed a lot." Karl lamented the progress of China's urbanization.

Team leader Colangelo, like other foreigners who came to China, complained about the smog. "It would be nice if the sky were a little brighter."

Afterwards, the US team visited the Olympic Village.

Yu Fei walked around and went to find Yao Huang.

At this moment, Yao Huang, as the flag-bearer of China, is preparing nervously.

Yu Fei's arrival gave him some free time to clear his mind.

"How is your recovery going?" Yu Fei asked.

"Six successes," Yao Huang said provocatively, "enough to defeat you on Sunday."

"Only six successful points?" Yu Fei sold Brown while talking and laughing, "It seems that Kwame may really be able to ride on your head."

"You mean Kwame Brown?"

Yu Fei joked: "Don't call the league's number one center by his full name."

There is a saying that Yao Quan doesn't know whether he should say: Is American basketball really on its last legs? When he was watching the Olympics as a child, what kind of centers were there in the United States? Ewing, Robinson, Olajuwon, O'Neal, all of them are ruthless people. What is it now? Howard, who started, was passable, but Kwame Brown was the substitute? Can’t the United States find another center who is tall enough, can defend and eat cake, and has small hands?

Half an hour later, Yu Fei said goodbye.

Because Yao Huang is really busy now.

Before the opening of the Olympic Games, Yu Fei was not idle, and the sponsors behind him would not let him be idle either.

In order to amplify Yu Fei's people-friendly image, Reebok arranged an event at Beijing University of Physical Education, allowing workers involved in the construction of the Bird's Nest to come and watch Yu Fei play a short exhibition match.

Among them, a construction worker named Tang Yonggang became a lucky spectator. He will be able to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games live tomorrow.

But in the end, Tang Yonggang hoped to exchange the tickets for the opening ceremony for cash. He wanted to go home and watch the opening ceremony on TV with his family.

This made Yu Fei sit down and chat with him for a while. Tang Yonggang left his hometown a decade ago and became part of one of the greatest migrations in history, China's ongoing movement from rural areas to urban areas - to this day, there are 1.2 million people and counting. Since he started coming to BJ to participate in the construction of the stadium, he has only gone home to see his wife and children twice, but he thinks it is worth it because he can send 7000 yuan to his family every year.

"It doesn't matter that big stars like you are very prosperous playing on the court, but without workers like me, you wouldn't be able to use such a good arena." Yu Fei is a cultural symbol-like superstar in China, but Tang Yonggang treated him badly. Without knowing anything, he said proudly, "So, I am also a part of the Olympics. Watching it at home is not much different from watching it live. Come on, I will cheer you on in front of the TV."

That night, Yu Fei returned to the hotel in a daze. The shopping mall opposite mistakenly translated "One World, One Dream" into "One World, One Shopping Paradise" in English.

When Kwame Brown and the others came back from shopping and went into the shopping mall to spend money, the boss spoke broken English.

However, it can be seen that he is very confident and proud.

"Da Fei, what does 'jah yoh' mean? A lot of Chinese people say this to me." Brown asked.

Yu Fei smiled and said, "I want you to perform well on Sunday."

8 April

After Yu Fei woke up and opened the window, the sky in BJ was exceptionally clear today. Then, he found someone on the opposite side shouting loudly: "Come on, Fry!"

"Come on, too!" Yu Fei responded.

He squinted his eyes and knew from the bottom of his heart that from today until many years later, BJ and China will be as bright as today.

(End of this chapter)