When pride still matters

Chapter 445 The Battle for GOAT
The Sonics were on a roll and were defeated by the Hornets. They won eight games in a row into December. It wasn't until they went to Orlando to challenge the Magic that they suffered their second defeat of the season.

This night, Howard taught Kwame Brown hard in the paint, scoring 25 points and 22 rebounds. Carter was supported by 34 points on the outside. The Magic defeated the Sonics with a star-studded small ball game.

But this defeat is nothing worth thinking about for the Sonics.

The opponent is in hot form at home.

This is a game that deserves to be lost.

However, their next opponent will suffer disaster.

The Sonics, who had suffered another defeat, came to their second away game of the Eastern Conference, and their opponent was the Charlotte Bobcats.

On the night of the game, Michael Jordan, the team's small owner and the actual controller of the management, appeared at home wearing a beige suit.

"Don't Michael know that his presence will make things worse?"

ESPN experts deliberately directed the question to Jordan.

Because of Jordan's relationship, Yu Fei is likely to be cruel to the Bobcats.

As it turns out, the experts' guess was justified.

If Yu Fei previously scored 95 points with a 55% shooting rate as a response to the Hornets breaking the SuperSonics season gold medal, then at the Bobcats' home court, when Jordan sat on the sidelines, he felt that he had an urge to kill.

That night, Yu Fei shot 29 goals, including 15 of 12 from the outside, tying the number of three-pointers made by an individual in the NBA in a single game, and scored 60 points and 12 rebounds with astonishing efficiency.

The victory certainly belongs to the SuperSonics, but what matters is the way Yu Fei achieved the victory.

"Is it more impressive to score 95 points on 55 percent shooting or 80 points on 60 percent shooting?" TNT's Ernie Johnson asked Barkley. "Chuck, what do you think?"

As Jordan's best friend, Barkley certainly has to give his good brother a little love.

"They are all impressive, but I think Frye took the game against the Bobcats as a personal grudge. Half of his points were scored when the game was no longer in suspense." Barkley said rationally, "I I think there are a few guys in the league who can do that. I liked that 55-point game against the Hornets better than tonight."

"GOAT?" Kenny Smith discovered the blind spot, "AYO! Chuck, do you think Frye is the GOAT?"

Barkley rolled his eyes: "I didn't say that, I meant, he can play like a GOAT."

"OK, now that we're on the subject, we should probably have a serious discussion about who is the real GOAT, Frye or Michael."

Then Barkley began: "The answer to that question is always Michael, and I'm telling you, Michael was an alien, in his prime."

Yu Fei's fifth championship pushed the GOAT controversy to its climax after Jordan retired for the first time.

Now, Yu Fei is in the situation of Jordan in 1993.

When Jordan completed three consecutive championships that neither black or white team had ever achieved, the topic of GOAT was linked to him for the first time. As an unprecedented superstar, "Jordan = GOAT" was the mainstream opinion at the time, but it was highly controversial. Because his championship numbers are not dominant.

However, as Jordan's second three consecutive championships began, and after the league, media and sponsors used the "merger era" as a narrative to devalue all history before 1977, the GOAT was already within reach for Jordan.

When he completed his second consecutive championship, there was no one around him who could be considered an equal. When he finished his career in 1998, he was recognized as the best in history.

Now, Yu Fei is in the position of Jordan in 1997.

He was close, but not yet caught up.

However, some topics can already be discussed.

Because Jordan's honor has been finalized, and Yu Fei still has plenty of time.

As the Sonics showed their championship appearance at the beginning of the season, the sixth championship seemed to be waving to Yu Fei.

It is foreseeable that once Yu Fei defends the championship, his GOAT battle with Jordan will become the biggest topic in basketball history.

Because this is 2008.

Only ten years have passed since Jordan last played like the GOAT. His fans are still in their prime, and the power to support him is still huge.

If time passes another ten years, maybe Yu Fei won't need to win six championships to keep pace with Jordan. Because time makes people grow old, those who are willing to defend Jordan will lose their energy sooner or later. For the new generation, the theory of evolution of left-handed players and the theory of evolution of right-handed games can reduce the game of twenty years ago to nothing.

This is just like Jordan's team launching the theory of a merged era in order for Jordan to legally ascend the throne. The small ball era and the big ball era will also become the dividing line between modern basketball and ancient basketball in the near future.

Being too close to Jordan's era is where Yu Fei suffers. Adjacent years mean that the resistance to reaching the top will be infinitely magnified.

Dang Yufei came to the media interview room.

The media from New York asked: "What do you think of the intensifying GOAT controversy?"

"I don't care," Yu Fei said, "because what is happening now has happened in the past, and we are all living in the prophecies of history."

The media was surprised because Yu Fei's words were difficult to understand.

"Before 1980, Bill Russell might have been the recognized GOAT, and before the new century, No. 23 was the recognized GOAT. I think, since every 20 years there will be fierce GOAT controversy, why are we still obsessed with it? Yu Fei smiled and said, "You know, I don't know if I am the best in history, but I will definitely be the most attractive in history. Decades from now, if people look back at this period of history, they will find that there is no one else except me." Except, the others are not worth mentioning.”

Anyone who tries to be the best they can be is an arrogant fool.

They are confident that they can beat time.

But as long as humans do not master the technology of immortality, time will be invincible.

Jordan understood this in 1996, and Yu Fei also understood it in 2008.

So Jordan told the media that he would feel embarrassed when others said he was the GOAT because he had never played against pioneers like Jerry West.

Yu Fei's understanding improved to a higher level.

From his perspective, if the expiration time limit of every ultimate winner is 20 years - almost a generation - then the best beyond this period is just a self-righteous fantasy. The most important thing is not the greatness that transcends a generation, but the record that dominates a generation.

12 April

The Sonics visit San Antonio.

The Spurs are still a 50-win team, but they are no longer the top team that was aiming for the championship at the beginning of the century.

While the SuperSonics are innovating the position, the Spurs seem to have benefited greatly.

They have two top wings: Luol Deng and Caron Butler.

Popovich tried to let Deng play the fourth position and Butler play the three position, but the effect was not good. Butler is incompatible with the Spurs on the court, and off the court he is the opposite of the Spurs' series of off-court requirements for players.

You can't blame Butler for this. It's difficult for you to expect a person who would be a drug dealer if he doesn't play to be a good boy here.

However, the Spurs did a good job defending Fei.

Maybe it was because it was too good, but it gave Durant an opportunity.

When Yu Fei was targeted, Durant attacked the Spurs from the outside, mid-range and even at the basket.

Seeing Durant, Popovich seemed to see Yu Fei in 2003.

Maybe it's been too long, and Popovich has some filters for painful memories. He feels that Durant is stronger now.

He has forgotten how Yu Fei defeated Duncan in 2003.

"Is Michael Jordan the greatest? I don't know. But if Michael is the greatest, having Scottie Pippen thrive next to him is a solid argument for that." Popovich said The reporter said, "If you want to know whether Frye has surpassed Michael, just pay attention to Kevin Durant. The greatest can always make those around him greater. If KD surpasses Durant ten years later, Coty, that's Fry over Michael."

At the end of 2008, there was a sense of change in the league.

The GOAT controversy is becoming more and more intense. Not only the media and fans, but now even those in the league who have played against Jordan are beginning to express their opinions.

Yu Fei's view of GOAT was not supported, because every generation is like this, they all believe that what they witness is the best.

Therefore, every time Yu Fei went to an away game, fans of unknown origin would use Jordan's GOAT posters to stimulate him.

Their opponents then weigh in on the GOAT after the game.

At the same time, Kobe Bryant is recovering from finger surgery, the review of layup steps led by James is becoming intense and rigorous, Howard's Magic quietly become the best team in the East, and the Bucks are suffering from Kevin Martin's injury. And depressed. At the same time, Wade and Anthony were full of resentment. They both felt that they deserved a better team. Iverson was traded, he was unhappy in Denver, and McGrady was criticized because he didn't work hard in practice. No one cares about Duncan and Nowitzki because they have fallen out of the first-line competition.

A golden age of the past is coming to an end.

But at least 1/3 of this golden era is filled with Yu Fei's name, and in the eyes of many people, he should have belonged to the next era.

(End of this chapter)