When pride still matters

Chapter 534 Yu Fei's Team
With Yu Fei's connections, it is very easy to organize a team to play a few warm-up matches abroad.

Yu Fei first contacted Stephen Curry and Brandon Roy. If the trip goes through, it will be the Reebok team.

But Curry is recovering from an injury he suffered during the playoffs, and he would rather train with a training team called "Acceleration" than join Yu Fei's tour group to China.

Yu Fei didn't force it.

Since Curry is not coming, call Roy.

The lockout is a disaster for most players, but it is definitely a good thing for Roy.

It's like the 2020 NBA suspension due to the pandemic was a good thing for the Lakers.

Although the league can only choose to play in the park after the resumption of the game, which also makes the team with better records lose the home advantage, the several months of offseason allowed Anthony Davis to get enough rest, giving him enough energy to break out in the park.

The same is true for supersonic speeds.

Fortunately, Roy did not suffer a greater injury when he took the risk of returning early in the Western Conference Finals. Now, it is almost certain that this suspension will affect the new season.

Players will get a far longer offseason than in the past.

This gave Roy enough time to rest.

Yu Fei called Roy up this time with the intention of keeping him away from the vortex of labor-management negotiations. As for whether he will appear in the warm-up match with the Chinese team, it depends on his own thoughts.

In addition to Roy, joining Yu Fei's team also include Paul George, who was just signed by Reebok, and Kwame Brown, who was signed by Reebok because of Yu Fei's support.

Yu Fei also called up Alonzo Gee, Danny Green and Lazar Hayward SF, who was selected by the team in the draft.

In addition to Key, Green and Hayward are not in a good situation.

Green signed a partially guaranteed contract with his former team, the Cavaliers, but Hayward was even worse off. After the draft, the team stopped contacting him.

The whole family was waiting for him to make money, but now he has closed his business.

Green and Hayward's predicament is the reality for most bottom-tier players.

They need the income from playing.

The longer the shutdown lasts, the more damage it will do to them.

But Green and Hayward are also lucky. In addition to playing two warm-up games with the Chinese men's basketball team, Yu Fei's team will also have some commercial exhibition games, which will earn millions of dollars.

Yu Fei will not take a penny of this money, he will distribute it to other people.

As soon as the news came out, many grassroots players volunteered to join.

Three players from the class of 2009 were included in Yu Fei's team.

They are Sam Young, Wayne Ellington and Patrick Beverley.

Beverley is the only player on this team who is an NBA player in name but not in reality.

He was drafted by the Lakers last year but didn't get any chances on that star-studded team.

The Lakers chose to send him overseas.

Beverley went to Europe to play for a year and was about to come back to represent the Lakers in the summer league to try his luck in the NBA, but the league was shut down.

This confused Beverley. He knew that if a second-round pick like him who was ignored by everyone stayed overseas for too long, he would most likely "integrate" into the local level and never have another chance in the NBA.

He was unwilling to give up, so he joined Yu Fei's team.

He wanted to show his ability in front of the GOAT, because it was well known that the Supersonics needed a backup point guard.

Yu Fei's team will conduct two days of joint training in Los Angeles.

This is mainly to restore their form. They have no coach, do not need to practice tactics, and do not need tactics at all. After all, this is just a team composed of NBA players. Even without tactics and tacit understanding, they can crush most national teams with talent alone.

On this day, Yu Fei received an invitation from the players' union.

They hope Yu Fei will attend the labor-management agreement negotiations to be held in Las Vegas.

Yu Fei declined the invitation and expressed his feelings in a not-so-brief sentence: "My position is always consistent with the union. I am not against the unfair CBA agreement, and I refuse to use our own money to compensate those bad bosses. If you are determined to do this, I can understand, but I will not participate in it."

"Are you really not going?" Roy heard about this and tried to persuade Yu Fei. "Your presence or absence makes a big difference to those bosses."

Yu Fei joked, "What can I do there? Argue with No. 23? I've seen enough of that guy's face."

"I just think that the union would be stronger if you were here." Roy was still too naive.

Yu Fei sneered, "Their strategy is to surrender to the bosses in order to get things back on track. What can I do there? Since we decided to give in, the bosses have already won."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's like playing ball." Yu Fei looked towards the court.

Although Beverley is not a formal NBA player, he has honed a wildness that is rare among today's NBA players in the rough playing environment of Europe.

Sam Young, a 198-centimeter forward, averaged 7 points and 3 rebounds per game for the Grizzlies last season, but he seemed very weak in front of Beverley.

When he was about to grab the loose ball from Beverly, Beverly held the ball in his arms and yelled at Yang: "Ni ge, don't fucking try to grab my ball!"

Yang backed off, it was just a ball, there was no need.

Not only did he not compete with Beverley, he also wanted to calm him down.

"Sam is like us during negotiations," Yu Fei said. "We just want to maintain the status quo, but the owners would rather give up a season to achieve their goals."

Yu Fei asked: "How many people are willing to give up a season like the bosses?"

"You," Roy said, "wouldn't you like to?"

"I can't make decisions for 325 people by myself," Yu Fei said. "Also, I don't want to put all my energy into this matter and get a bad result. Then everyone will be happy, but before long, these people will find that they have really lost a lot of money, and then they will question whether we, the decision makers, are colluding with the boss to harm them."

This was something Roy had never thought about.

He participated in many labor-management negotiations and he knew that Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter were very popular.

Because every decision Fisher makes is based on the overall situation. He not only serves the stars, but also serves the grassroots players.

This is why everyone supports him.

Not to mention Hunter, he is an old member of the players' union. He witnessed the birth of the salary cap system since the Bob Lanier era. He also assisted Ewing in a big fight with the management in 1998. Now, twelve years have passed, and the person he assists has become Fisher.

No matter how the times change, Hunter will be there. He is the most senior member of the Players' Union.

"How is this possible?" Roy didn't believe this would happen. "We have to make an internal announcement before making a decision. It's not their decision alone, but the decision of the players' camp. If there is a problem with this decision, it means everyone made a mistake together. How can we blame them?"

This reminded Yu Fei of the plot in Green Book, when the male protagonist was furious because the black pianist didn't listen to him and ran around everywhere, and thought that if he did that again, it might affect his future. The black pianist thought that he was just worried that he would get into trouble and not get paid.

Sometimes it's like this, even if you think about the other person wholeheartedly, you will still be blamed for it afterwards.

Yu Fei responded to Roy with a line from the movie: "Brandon, you have to know that this is a complicated world."

Roy certainly doesn't believe that the world is a blank slate.

But he also doesn't think things will take such an extreme turn.

However, he did not express his thoughts.

He could see for himself what would happen.

Afterwards, Yu Fei assembled the team and talked about some things that they should pay attention to in China.

"If people there like you, maybe you'll get something unexpected in China. The most important thing is to look like a good person, whether you're a jerk or not, just behave properly and don't do stupid things."

Beverley stated on the spot: "Frye, you can ask my agent, I didn't have any bad record in Europe last year."

"I know." Yu Fei said, "This is why I invited you to join the team."

Yu Fei has investigated not only Beverly, but others as well. Since he is organizing a team to go gold-digging, at least the composition of the team members must be ensured to be pure, and there must be no record of illegal or irregular activities within at least one year.

Afterwards, everyone went to have a barbecue together. While everyone was chatting, everyone received a text message from the players' union.

The content of the text message is basically about popping champagne.

The writer was Fisher.

He introduced the situation at today's meeting.

The union proposed reducing the players' share of the profits from 54.5% to 53%, a concession that was approved by the league.

However, Suns owners Robert Sarver and Dan Gilbert strongly opposed it.

Fisher said this showed them that there was no unity among the bosses.

However, these hours of negotiations were beneficial and positive, and were the key to breaking the ice. Fisher believes that the prospect of the new season starting as scheduled is not pessimistic.

The news of what Fisher called "disagreements between the bosses" in the text message quickly spread to the outside world.

Sources confirmed to ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that there is a disagreement among the owners.

However, David Stern firmly denied the authenticity of this matter: "I don't know what basis Derek's idea has. But I can tell you that at the meeting that just ended, the vast majority of owners did agree with the concessions made by the players' union. Despite this, they still authorized the committee to be ready to negotiate on all issues, and the committee is indeed ready."

Although the bosses praised the union's concessions, they still demanded the introduction of a "hard salary cap", which was a major sticking point in the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

This is actually a very bad signal.

The players' union has backed down, but things haven't gotten better.

However, Fisher and Billy Hunter returned to New York a day later and convened the players who were there to give an update on the collective bargaining situation. Fisher called it a "productive and fascinating meeting" held at a hotel.

Yu Fei thought to himself at the time, if I were the boss, when I heard that the union was going to give up so much dividends, I would also make the meeting interesting.

But what was the result? Was there any consensus reached?
Fisher then told the media: "Our team is not divided and separated as some reports have suggested. We continue to reiterate that."

Chris Paul, a favorite to be the next union president, said: "I have never seen this union as united and strong as we are now."

Afterwards, Fisher invited Yu Fei to participate in the next negotiation.

But Yu Fei refused again.

And he had a valid reason.

"I have accepted the invitation from the Chinese Basketball Association and will go to China to play games. I may not be able to help you in the near future." Yu Fei smiled, "However, you have done such a good job. I have nothing to worry about. Don't worry, I stand with you. Even if I am not here, my heart is with you."

Fisher was deeply moved.

"Thank you, Fry, your support means a lot to us."

Then, another thing happened that indicated that things were not going anywhere.

League vice president Adam Silver came out to refute rumors of discord among owners.

"From the beginning, we were not fooled by the label of a hard salary cap," Silver said. "We have said from day one that we need a system where all 30 teams can compete for championships and be profitable, and on this principle, our owners are absolutely unanimous. So even though we have discussed different concepts over the past few hours and even over the past few weeks to achieve this result, everyone's opinion is absolutely unanimous, and those rumors of discord among the owners are completely false!"

8 April

At 43 o'clock in the morning on the day when the Yufei team boarded the plane to China, the NBA officially announced the indefinite postponement of preseason training camp and the cancellation of preseason games.

Stern said: "If a new labor agreement cannot be reached as soon as possible, the regular season will also be affected."

The players' union declined to comment.

According to reports, Fisher was furious. He believed that the players had sacrificed a lot for the overall situation, but the greed of the investors was beyond imagination.

Yu Fei received the news when he got off the plane.

All he could say was that he was glad he got out of it before it got to this point.

Countless historical lessons have proved that you cannot defeat your opponent by just giving in. Your compromise and concession will be seen by the other side as a basis for them to make further demands.

What is the correct attitude towards such disputes?
If the other party is determined to cut losses from you even if it means canceling the next season, you should be determined to protect your own interests even if the NBA cannot continue.

All the situations were as expected, and Yu Fei decided not to ask any more questions.

If you want support, he can support it verbally, but if you want him to lead the charge, forget it.

Most NBA players know that Yu Fei is very popular in China, but if they don’t experience it personally, they don’t know how popular he is.

Yu Fei's team was surrounded by a huge crowd of people outside the airport.

They wore Yu Fei's jerseys, held Yu Fei's posters, shouted Yu Fei's name, and used an unimaginable enthusiasm to make the players of Yu Fei's team understand the matter.

"Is it because of the skin color?" Roy asked curiously.

Yu Fei laughed and said, "Is it possible that I really did a lot of things to please Chinese fans?"

The security guards were busy maintaining order at the scene.

Yu Fei signed his name with every step he took, and the smile on his face gave people a friendly feeling, just like his trademark.

Roy discovered that he had quite a few fans.

However, these people are not only his fans, but also Yu Fei's fans. So it can be basically determined that they are just a group of Yu Fei fans who love him and his family.

Due to signing and interviews, Yu Fei and his team were delayed at the scene for more than half an hour.

They were then taken to the hotel arranged for them by the Basketball Association in a special car.

In the evening, Yu Fei and Yao Ming had dinner together.

Yao Ming is in good shape now.

Not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.

This year is his first time to represent the national team since the 2008 Olympics. The two-year window period has given him the opportunity to transform. He has enough time to lose weight and hone his outside shooting. Today, Yao Ming looks like a rich version of Brook Lopez, with a sharpshooter's outside shooting percentage, shooter-level production, the league's No. 22 rim protection efficiency and positioning efficiency. He averages 8 points, 2 rebounds and blocks per game this season.

His current weight is only 5KG heavier than when he was a rookie, and he looks a lot thinner, but he is still a giant on the court.

Yu Fei can fully imagine what a terrifying offensive weapon Yao Ming would be when he plays in FIBA ​​games in this state.

The mental and spiritual health came from his settlement with those who had made things difficult for him on his way to the NBA.

Yao Ming now has another identity, that is, the owner of Shanghai Sharks Club.

The ownership of the club was changed a few months ago. The first thing Yao Ming did after taking over was to clean up all the old staff, including his mentor Li Qiuping.

This is the saying that revenge is never too late. Yao Ming has no regrets now. One benefit of the NBA shutdown is that it allows him to prepare for the World Championships without distraction.

"You brought a bunch of noobs to play a warm-up match. Do you look down on us?" Yao Ming said with a smug look on his face. "You'd better play seriously when the time comes."

Yu Fei smiled and said, "Is it necessary? We have a bunch of NBA players, so we can beat you without any problems."

"An NBA team that has not been integrated is just a ragtag group of soldiers. Don't you know that?"

"The guerrillas?" Yu Fei teased, "The group currently presiding over the labor-management negotiations are them."

International players generally don't care much about labor-capital disputes, unless they are star players like Yao Ming who can get top salaries.

If the league had not been shut down, Yao Ming would have been the protagonist of the free market.

His contract with the Rockets expires this summer. As a super inside player with rim protection, low-post shooting ability, and three-point shooting, he should have been recruited by various teams.

"Do you have any news?" Yao Ming asked, "How long will this matter last?"

Although Yu Fei knew that the players' camp would compromise in the end, the management was currently too arrogant, and the labor side would definitely be stubborn and hold out for a while.

"I guess it will take until next year," said Yu Fei.

"So long?" Yao Ming asked in surprise, "Doesn't that mean the next season will be cancelled?"

"Not really." Yu Fei said, "But dozens of regular season games will definitely be cancelled."

After listening to Yu Fei's words, Yao Ming had an idea in his mind.

His square face suddenly revealed an extremely obscene smile, just like his smiling face that has become a violent cartoon emoticon on the Internet.

"What's your expression?"

"I suddenly realized that I had nothing to worry about. If things don't work out, I can go back to play in the CBA." Yao Ming imagined the scene, "The boss himself plays on the court. Just think about it. How wonderful is that?"

Indeed, what is even more explosive than “the head coach is warming up” is “the boss is warming up”.

Yu Fei could imagine how funny that scene was.

Moreover, if Yao Ming, who has evolved into a perfect form in the NBA, were to land in the CBA, it would undoubtedly be cruel to other teams in the league.

Then, Yao Ming actually set his sights on Yu Fei: "If you have too much free time, you can also come to the CBA to play. The Shanghai Sharks welcome you."

If Yu Fei was at the beginning of his career, he would consider playing in the CBA. After all, the NBA is suspended, so playing anywhere is fine. But now he can't.

His status in the industry is there. Putting aside the filter of nationality, CBA is just a third-rate basketball league in the world. Apart from the salary, which can be compared with the mainstream European leagues, its competitiveness is really much worse.

Even if Yu Fei doesn't play basketball for a year, he cannot lower his status to play in the CBA.

So, he rejected Yao Ming in a way that made Yao Ming spit in anger: "Forget it, you can't afford to sign me even if you sell the team."

"Ce Na,!￥#!￥"

(End of this chapter)