When pride still matters

Chapter 451 A troubled world

After the All-Star break, trades became the main theme of the league.

The most heated issue was the Rockets' trade for Tracy McGrady.

The Lakers were the first to get involved.

They tried to trade Kidd for Tracy McGrady. What benefit does this have to the Rockets? Yao Huang will get the best point guard to feed him the ball, but the opponent is already 36 years old and has only half a season left on his contract. He will almost certainly not renew his contract with the Rockets.

Compared with McGrady, an All-Star wing who still has a year and a half on his contract and can average 21+5+5 per game, Kidd's greatest value is that he has an expiring contract and can create salary space for the Rockets in the summer of 2009. But the Rockets are not an attractive team, and the salary space is of little use to them.

Therefore, the Rockets requested that Andrew Bynum be included in the trade.

So the Lakers asked to add Yao Huang to the deal. If the Rockets agree, the Lakers can also send their other Jermaine O'Neal, who will become a free agent this summer.

In other words, the Lakers, who consider themselves the center of the universe, believe that the Rockets will tear down their home for Bynum, send Yao Mai, and get the half-season rights to Kidd and O'Neill.

But in the end, McGrady's trade happened.

After the transaction, Wade almost immediately reached a four-year, $4 million contract extension with the Heat. It can be seen from the numbers that Wade also chose to cut his salary when renewing his contract. By the end of the season, a batch of Heat contracts will expire, and they will have room to sign a third star in the free market.

Considering that the summer of 2009 will be the hottest free market year in the new century, it is definitely worth a try for the Lakers.

The Lakers will have the cap space to sign two or three stars.

At this time, the Knicks announced the buyout of Stephon Marbury.

"That's a beautiful thought. Why would you, old Bideon, trade for my little fresh meat?"

The Rockets signed Marbury quickly.

Then, some media questioned the rocket's operation.

Riley's magic ball plan is being implemented in a big way.

Wade's contract extension removes a big fish from this year's free market.

The Lakers originally wanted to make a fuss about Ou's expiring contract, but in the end, they felt that instead of trading Ou to get another star, they might as well bet on this summer.

But there are still many superstars on the market, but because no one can get a satisfactory offer, except for Tracy McGrady, the second big deal has never appeared.

But to complete the plan, he had to stabilize Wade.

"Understood, but we really can't afford you." Yu Fei said jokingly in the text message, "Your family's gift money is too high."

McGrady is the only ball-handler in the Rockets who can be a big core. If he is traded away, who will provide Yao Huang with the ball?

"I kind of want to be traded."

This is the first buzz before the trade deadline.

Yao Huang replied: "If you send Kevin Durant, I will wear a SuperSonics jersey tomorrow."

By then, Kobe, O'Brien and Kidd will expire at the same time.

Yao Huang said to Fei in the text message.

Wade didn't want to wait for Kevin Love to grow, so in order to speed up Love's evolution and the need to get a second star, Riley put Rashard Lewis into the deal, plus the first players in 2009 and 2011. The first-round draft pick was acquired from the Rockets in exchange for Tracy McGrady.

"Cena!"

However, the premise of making this decision is to let Kobe believe that they have a lot to do this summer.

No one knows what happened. The Lakers, who should have made a big move before the trade deadline, did nothing.

Kidd will finish this contract with the Lakers.

The Little Olympics will enter the playoffs lying down.

Kobe's team is ranked second in the Western Conference, but there is an insurmountable mountain above them.

Not making a deal would be raising a white flag for the Sonics.

One day later, the trade deadline ended.

Observers in the professional basketball world were disappointed.

Draft expert Chad Ford said angrily: "Many stars are about to enter the free market in the summer. According to convention, they should have been traded before the trade deadline. This will completely change the landscape of the league. However, what we have seen It's just that the Rockets sent T-MAC away, this choice will only make them mediocre. What a bunch of timid losers! Obviously, the entire league hopes that Frye can win his sixth championship this year."

When the guys from the TNT team talked about what would happen if Yu Fei won the sixth championship this year, Barkley patted the table: "Man, there will definitely be a war! I have no doubt about the fanatical fans of No. 44. There will be bloodshed with the fanatical fans of No. 23.”

"So, how do we define Frye's four years? I mean, is this a dynasty?" asked host Ernie Johnson.

Brent Barry, a die-hard supporter of Yu Fei, asked: "Really four championships in four years, why is it not a dynasty?"

"Man, do you think we should call this the Bucks dynasty or the Sonics dynasty?"

Barkley raised a controversial issue in basketball.

The definition of a sports dynasty has always been about the team, not the individual. As the founder of two dynasties, Phil Jackson defined an NBA dynasty: a team must win three consecutive championships to become a dynasty.

The most influential contemporary sports writer Bill Simmons' dynasty standard is: a dynasty must win at least five championships in a decade.

The NBA's own definition of a dynasty is: a dynasty can only be defined as winning three championships over a period of more than three years and maintaining long-term competitiveness.

These standards all point to the team and are the highest praise for a long-term successful and extremely great team.

By the definition of the NBA, the Bucks who won four championships in five years already belong to a dynasty.

According to Bill Simmons' theory, Yu Fei's five championships in six years are also a dynasty.

According to the Zen Master's request, three crowns in three years, isn't it a dynasty?
The problem is, Yu Fei changed teams.

This makes every theory buggy.

People who are keen on dynasty narratives and like to deconstruct dynasties basically agree with the essence of basketball as a team sport. Dynasty is not a tribute to a specific person.

But Yu Fei's existence challenges this concept that has been established since the days of Bill Russell.

"There is no Bucks dynasty, and there is no Sonics dynasty." Barry controversially said on TNT. "The past six years have been a dynasty belonging to Frye alone."

After hearing this, Buckley stood up from his chair for the sake of the show, kept loosening his tie, and then looked around with an expression on his face like "Where is my baseball bat? I'm going to beat this shameless bastard to death."

As a North Carolina alumnus, Kenny Smith of the TNT team is a potential Jordan supporter. As a fan on the show, his main job is to amplify the effect of the show (Barkley). But after hearing Barry's words, he I couldn't help but say: "I hope Ray Allen, Michael Reed, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, and Shawn Marion don't watch this show."

This is how politically incorrect the conclusion of a one-man dynasty is in the sports world.

Especially people like Kenny Smith who have won championships. They all believe that their role in the championship team is unique, and they will definitely not be able to play without him.

When a brainless braggart like Barry throws out the argument of a one-man dynasty, the first thing to deny it is Yu Fei's other teammates.

This is why this matter is so controversial.

Yu Fei's opponents will magnify Yu Fei's teammates, and Yu Fei's supporters also have different opinions on the conclusion of the one-man dynasty. People like Barry who follow Yu Fei to win the championship and think that they are useless and rely on Da Fei to dominate are in the minority. .

Controversies and problems are amplifying as Yu Fei approaches the throne.

The All-Star Weekend is over, the NBA is about to turn to its final season, and the basketball world is quarreling over Yu Fei's right to define the dynasty after the GOAT controversy.

The alliance is the biggest winner.

Since the Donaghy incident, it has been a while since the NBA has experienced such a hot topic without damaging the image of the league.

Yu Fei's topic overwhelmed everything else, making the layup controversy at the beginning of the season a mere gossip.

There are still people talking about this matter, and the forces behind Yu Fei don't want to let James go.

But Nike behind James will not stand still and take a beating.

Nike chose to use an expanded approach to involve every star.

Things showed signs of calming down until the Rockets suffered a defeat in Cleveland. James used a crab step to complete a quasi-win and showed a one-sided state in terms of free throws.

Yao Huang left the famous "See you in Houston".

Things started to ferment again.

At this time, when the media was competing for the right to define Yu Fei's dynasty, the league held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue of layup steps.

A league referee who did not want to be named said that there have been two opinions in the referee circle for a long time. Some people advocate strict implementation of the definition of a step stipulated in the rules, that is, you can only take one more step after catching the ball. Others Players are allowed to take two steps after catching the ball.

Stern wants to end that divide and is currently drafting new rules aimed at legalizing two-step layups.

June 2009, 3

The 012 layup rule change plan that has a profound impact on the game has been officially launched.

Stern was intended to quell outside discussion about walking, but the new rule led to the emergence of various future layups.

This is something that decision-makers cannot see when they are making the rules.

But they are happy with the status quo.

Although they changed the layup rules that have remained unchanged since the birth of basketball, not many media are concerned about the rule changes, and even fewer are aware of the impact of the rules. In their opinion, this is a good thing.

From now on, everyone no longer has to stare at James' feet.

As a result, more people joined the battle for the right to define the Yu Fei Dynasty.

Under the scrutiny of the outside world, Yu Fei and his Supersonics are racing towards the Bulls' record of 96.

PS: I need to take time off tomorrow to attend the wedding of my college roommate. After tomorrow, I will be the last single person in my college dormitory. This may be the reason why I have written about marriage and gifts many times in the past two days. Confused, I said yes.

(End of this chapter)