When pride still matters

Chapter 548 I will never understand
Before the Christmas game, the most watched game in the NBA is undoubtedly the first matchup between the Supersonics and the Lakers in the new season.

After more than a year of suspension, the Empire Battle seems to be a memory from long ago in the hearts of fans, but if you think about it carefully, it was only last year.

A lot can happen in a year's time.

Bryant was a year older and James looked more mature, but the Lakers never seemed to recover from their loss in the 2010 Western Conference Finals.

A lot will be decided this season.

Kobe Bryant, James and Richard Hamilton are all entering the final year of their contracts.

If they fail again, the collapse of the evil empire will be foreseeable.

The problem is that there is no hope within the Lakers.

Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson tried to fight for power before the start of the season. His contract is up and the Lakers want him to coach until at least the end of this season.

But Jackson's idea is that he is old, and as a coach, he has nine rings, tied with Red Auerbach. With George Karl retiring, it can be said that no coach in the league can get close to his number of championships in the foreseeable future.

His coaching career has come to an end and now he wants to try to follow in the footsteps of the Godfather.

Because this was the point that Auerbach liked to mock him the most during his lifetime.

Auerbach believed that his championship teams were all formed by himself as general manager, while Jackson just picked up ready-made ones. The two were not on the same track or at the same level.

If Jackson wanted to prove himself, he had to become the Godfather.

But Buss had his own ideas about the future of the team, and Jackson was not indispensable.

Therefore, Jackson struggled for a while, and finally the Lakers decisively kicked him out and hired Mike Brown, who had just been laid off from the Cavaliers, as the team's new coach.

The decision is symbolic.

Jackson was Kobe's preferred coach. Over the years, the two had been fighting, but this unhealthy relationship disappeared after Jackson returned to the team for the second time.

They got each other's recognition, so as long as Jackson was there, the Lakers would be Kobe's team. If Jackson was to leave, Jackson's people should be replaced, but the Lakers chose Coach Bread.

You can choose anyone, why Coach Bread?
He coached James in Cleveland and is a coach recognized by the Emperor. Does choosing him mean that the Lakers management has begun to prepare to retain the Emperor?

No one knows what the Lakers' top management is thinking.

But age doesn't lie.

Kobe will be 33 and a half after the Chinese New Year, while James will not turn 28 until the end of next year.

There is no need to say more about who has a longer peak and more lasting influence.

Where the Lakers' future is heading, whether the team's top player will be Kobe or James, and whether James will choose to renew his contract in the middle of the season to show his determination to bring a championship to the City of Angels, these are all more eye-catching things than the Lakers' championship prospects.

That night, Yu Fei saw Kobe at halftime and joked, "It's great that you haven't retired yet."

Kobe Bryant's vow last year that he would not let Yu Fei score 50 points in three consecutive games, otherwise he would retire, is still ringing in our ears.

Kobe just smiled.

"I'm going to retire sooner or later," Kobe said. "You'll see that day."

"I've seen it." Yu Fei taunted, "And I also saw that you still only had three rings when you retired."

Kobe didn't respond.

O'Neal has retired, and the grievances between the OK combination have become history. But until now, neither of them has been able to prove that they can win a championship without each other.

It is undeniable that they have all had opportunities to prove themselves in the past seven years, but they were all ruined by the same person.

Soon after, the game begins.

The Lakers are no longer as competitive as they were before. The KJ combination can guarantee the lower limit, but they don't have enough upper limit in front of the Supersonics.

Moreover, KJ seems to be respectful to each other, Kobe has unlimited firing rights, and James has unlimited ball rights.

Therefore, James gets comprehensive data, while Kobe has the power to take 23 shots per game.

"LeBron, long time no see." Yu Fei said sarcastically, "Have you been living the same life for the past year?"

James calmly said: "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. You will never understand."

There have been some changes in James' technique.

He has participated in Olajuwon's Dream Workshop for two consecutive years, which has enhanced his back-to-the-basket ability to a certain extent, and at the same time, his jump shot stability has also improved. Coupled with the millions of dollars spent on his body every year, he is now truly in his prime.

However, he used his power carefully.

He didn't seem to want to overshadow Kobe, nor did he have the will to compete for the top spot. Mike Brown's arrival didn't seem to have any positive meaning for him.

His true thoughts are hidden deep inside.

This is a person who has endured the ridicule and cyber-bullying of the whole nation, and he can take everything in stride.

When Yu Fei scored on James continuously and provoked his nerves with trash talk but got no response, when James just did what the team asked him to do without changing his expression and never put extra energy into things beyond his duties, Yu Fei knew that this person had changed.

He has made a decision, and this decision is definitely not what the Lakers top management wants to see.

This could be a good thing for Bryant. If James decides the Lakers are not his future, then Bryant has hope of fulfilling his lifelong Laker dream.

On the contrary, if James decides to ascend the throne in Los Angeles, Kobe, who has not proved himself after leaving O'Neal, will not have the extraordinary privileges he had in the Lakers in his previous life. Given his temperament, he is destined to not be willing to bow down to others.

In the end, James scored a triple-double of 30 points, Kobe was slightly inefficient, scoring 25 points on 11 of 28 shots, Hamilton was silent, and although the role players played well, they could not be compared with the Supersonics.

Yu Fei led the team to an easy win over the Lakers with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

After the game, the reporter asked him: "The Lakers didn't seem to bring any pressure to you, why did this happen?"

Yu Fei said directly: "Go ask the guy who made 25 of 11 shots."

If the loss to the Mavericks kicked off a difficult December schedule, then the subsequent victories over strong opponents such as the Spurs and Lakers proved the strength of the Supersonics.

They are not the arrogant and proud kings that the outside world thinks they are.

The outside world is increasingly looking forward to their Christmas battle with the New Jersey Big Three.

Just before that day arrived, an organization that had faded from the media and fans' sight for a long time made the news again.

Players Union. People who follow the NBA don't want to see them, because once this organization becomes active, it means the league is at risk of shutting down.

But this time, the union was in the news because of internal struggles.

During the lockout, Billy Hunter, executive vice president of the team's union, accused then-union president Derek Fisher of colluding with management to sell out the collective interests of the player camp and the team.

Although Fisher argued his case, Hunter, relying on his connections and reputation rooted in the union for many years, quickly confirmed Fisher's betrayal without any evidence, and then forced Chairman Fisher to step down through an internal democratic vote.

Afterwards, Chris Paul, a young superstar who was extremely enthusiastic about union affairs, became acting chairman and was elected as an official attendee after the lockout ended, officially ushering in the era of the Cannon Chairman.

Hunter thought that a young player like Chairman Pao would be easy to control and would never bite him back like veterans like Fisher who had been fighting in the league for many years and had a complex network of relationships.

Unexpectedly, Chairman Pao started to carry out "self-purification" within the union as soon as he took office.

Through a series of investigations, backtracking, and account inquiries, Chairman Pao discovered that not only did Hunter arrange many of his relatives to work in the union, but he also embezzled public funds on many occasions to do unclear things. So, Chairman Pao made a surprise attack at the latest internal meeting where Billy Hunter did not attend, presented his investigation results, and then announced the suspension of a series of Billy Hunter's work.

Fisher immediately praised Paul's move on Twitter: "Chris did the absolutely right thing. From today on, the players' union will belong to the players, and it will never be a tool for people outside the system to seek benefits for themselves."

Hunter said he had “not received any termination notice yet.”

"If true, this suggests an extremely troubling process followed by the NBPA over the past several weeks," he said in the statement. "In the days and weeks ahead, my legal team and I will begin to carefully review the actions taken and comments made about me in the conference room in my absence. I will also be gathering evidence of how certain individuals ensured that the outcome was predetermined."

Paul then drew up a list of current superstars and sent it to them via text message.

Paul wants these people to become vice presidents of the union to help him manage the union.

Yu Fei is one of the invited superstars. Chairman Pao believes that Yu has an unparalleled influence on both the players and the management. He showed a strong enough attitude in the early stage of the labor dispute, proving that his loyalty to the players is reliable. If people like him can join the players' union, they will surely become the backbone of the union.

Yu Fei said: "Thanks for the invitation, but no."

Paul then made a second invitation, and he was even willing to give the position of chairman to Yu Fei.

Paul believes that if someone like Yu Fei, whose every word and action has a huge influence, becomes the chairman of the union, it will be beneficial to the entire player camp.

“I’ll stand with you guys.” At least for now, “but I don’t want an extra job.”

This was Yu Fei’s response.

Finally, Paul said that Yu Fei could not participate in daily affairs and only be present at major decision-making events.

“You want me to be an irresponsible decision maker like Michael Jordan?”

Both Paul and the union were sincere enough, but Yu Fei firmly refused.

This made the union leaders very sorry, but they could only respect Yu Fei's wishes.

Yu Fei did not want to wade into the union's muddy waters for three main reasons: he was not good at palace fighting, the union's waters were too deep and muddy, and he had to retain the possibility that he might change his position in the future.

It is understandable that he is not good at palace fighting. He has always used his honest strength to get what he wants. However, do you think that things like Fisher being removed from office by referendum, or Billy Hunter being attacked by Chairman Pao in a meeting he did not attend, are honest?

He did not believe that Fisher was innocent, and as the union chairman, he voluntarily gave up 7% of the profit dividends, which was equivalent to saving the owners of each team $1000 million every year in the next five years. How could such a position not be suspected?
He also did not believe that Hunter was innocent. He said that he had placed relatives in the union and embezzled public funds.

At the same time, Yu Fei also did not believe that Chris Paul, who was promoted to chairman by Billy Hunter himself, was asking him to be the chairman of the union out of public interest.

Paul's action reminded Yu Fei of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones, who invited Eddard Stark to be his prime minister. Yu Fei believed that he would not lose his head like Eddard, but who knew what would happen?
Finally, it’s his identity.

His position is already quite delicate.

Clay Bennett became the most envied, despised and hated boss in the league because of him. When players can bring hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to the boss every year, he naturally has a status beyond the players and management.

Yu Fei cannot guarantee that he will not become the owner of a team like Jordan in the future.

He cannot be the union chairman and sneer at the management, and then one day become the representative of the management and yell at the players, "I'll give you 47% at most!"

So he had to refuse this invitation that seemed to make him more special.

Fry Yu who plays basketball can become a leader of the player camp, but Fry Yu who does not play basketball may not be the case.

Just as the internal storm of the players' union was happening, something also happened within the management.

After solving the problem of players receiving too much dividends, the investors' own problems also need to be solved.

Although unfair competition caused by the income imbalance between big-market teams and small-market teams will be limited by the super luxury tax, is this enough for small markets?
After months of discussions, David Stern completed the final milestone of his career.

A new income distribution system within the capital side.

In addition to the known revenue from cable TV broadcasting contracts, the rest, such as tickets and local TV station contracts, are not included in the total revenue. Starting from this season, each team will take out 40% of the money to share, so that each team can make a profit.

The big-market teams that had long profited under the old system strenuously opposed it, but the vote was overwhelming.

Since this matter only concerns the management themselves, there is no need for the players' union to get involved, it just happened.

Clay Bennett walked out of the meeting room with red eyes, because he knew how much money he would lose.

This is a small matter that no one pays attention to.

It just happened.

No one cares, but this little thing directly leads to things like a certain team having to trade or let a certain player go because they are unwilling to pay him much money, which seriously damages their own competitiveness.

The fans called it stupid, they couldn't understand it.

And the bosses know they are only defending their wallets.

Winning a championship is good, but if the revenue from the championship is not enough to cover the luxury tax paid and the money distributed during the championship season, then it would not be good.

The seeds were planted, but the only person who knew the significance of this was the boss himself.

Christmas
This is the most important day of the year in many Western countries.

For Fei, he has become accustomed to celebrating Christmas as New Year's Eve.

Today is a good day. What’s good about it is that besides being a good day, good things also happen.

Elizabeth Olsen decided to give birth to the baby.

Before the game started, she said to Fei, "We have taken safety measures. I heard that the probability of such an accident happening is less than 5%. Frye, will you try the last shot with a 5% chance of success?"

Yu Fei smiled and said, "I don't know, maybe, but at least it's not 0."

"So, this may be God's choice." Elizabeth gently stroked her belly, "This child is chosen."

It's time to contact Gary Smith and ask him to write an article about "The Chosen One 3.0" for his own child.

According to Elizabeth's description, this child may be more like the "chosen one" than both him and Tiger Woods.

This made Yu Fei excited for the whole day.

He first brought good news to his mother who was determined to open chain stores all over the country: "Are you ready to be a grandmother?"

Yu Fei was embarrassed by his mother's response: "Is it Scarlett or Christina?"

Then, Yu Fei asked Lin Kevin to choose a good day to pick a ring, and he was going to propose to Elizabeth. This decision was sudden, but he had to make it clear.

Given Elizabeth's age and future, she decided to keep the child rather than make the choice that Yu Fei least wanted to see. He had to act like a responsible and mature man and it would not work as he did in the past.

After arranging these things, Yu Fei got on the team bus and headed to KeyArena.

They will face the Nets at home.

The opponent is the currently popular New Jersey Nets.

They have the league's best center, the league's best point guard (Yu Fei is now playing the power forward position) and the league's top three small forwards.

When the names of Paul, Anthony and Howard appear together, it is enough to make people imagine the blueprint of a 60-win team.

So far, the Nets have lost four games, while the SuperSonics have lost three games.

The outcome tonight will determine who will rank first in the league before the new year arrives.

"Fry, are you sure you won't give that another thought?"

Chairman Pao still did not give up and wanted to make a final effort.

Yu Fei smiled and answered the question irrelevantly: "Chris, how many children do you have?"

“One,” Paul smiled, “but my second child is due next fall.”

Yu Fei asked, "How does it feel to be a father?"

"I can't tell you this. You'll never understand."

There is a group of people in the NBA who believe that Yu Fei will never get married and that he will always be obsessed with the arms of women like the founder of Playboy.

Yu Fei smiled and nodded: "Yes, you are right."

However, "forever" in Chairman Pao's dictionary may be a time unit of 30 years, which is longer than a generation.

Yu Fei understood that his "forever" was another measure. But even such a long "forever" would eventually be broken by the tide of change. That period was about to end, soon.

(End of this chapter)