When pride still matters

Chapter 555: The King's Mandate is Granted by Heaven, The King's Mandate is Taken by Heaven

It’s mid-April and the regular season is almost over.

This season's SuperSonics, like the Lakers in 2004, give people a strong sign of the end of their dynasty.

The sense of collapse reached a climax after Fei was injured, and after the Durant trumpet incident broke out, they seemed to be on the verge of disintegration, but for some reason, the downward trend stopped after Fei returned.

With one game left in the regular season, the SuperSonics currently have 60 wins and 21 losses, ranking third in the league.

The teams ahead of them are the Heat with 66 wins, the Spurs with 64 wins and the Nets with 61 wins.

Moreover, the Nets' regular season has already ended.

If the SuperSonics win the last game of the regular season, they can move up to third place in the league based on the win-loss record.

This is their goal.

As the regular season is coming to an end and the playoffs are about to begin, Sports Illustrated is preparing to stimulate sales with an attractive issue of the magazine.

The so-called media is a tool for obtaining the latest news.

Before the advent of television media, newspapers were the only means of obtaining news from the outside world. The development of television media meant the decline of paper media, but magazines like Sports Illustrated that focused on traditional long-form sports reporting still had a place.

However, the advent of social media has made people receive news faster and more fragmented, and long reports are no longer popular. For example, the traffic of the previous trumpet incident with the largest traffic was all consumed by TV programs and self-media on social media, and the latest issue of Pictorial was late, talking about things that others had already talked about.

Today, the sales of this world's most famous sports magazine are declining year by year. If this continues, its demise is foreseeable.

This result cannot be changed, but it does not affect them from doing everything they can to save sales before then.

So they found the traffic password.

Sports Illustrated hopes to have Yu Fei appear on the cover of the next issue under the name of "The 10th Anniversary of The Chosen One" and to conduct a long interview with Yu Fei.

Yu Fei no longer needs the Times’ traffic; it is the other party that needs his traffic.

But he did not refuse, because it was the Times that made him a nationally renowned high school player with an article titled "The Chosen One".

Although that was Gary Smith's personal wish, without the Times platform, nothing that happened would have happened.

So, Yu Fei gave the Times writer two hours for an exclusive interview before the end of the regular season.

In this interview, Yu Fei talked about a lot.

About his fiancée, about Durant, about the trumpet, and about the ups and downs of the Supersonics this season.

"Some people say this year is like 1998 to Michael Jordan," the reporter asked. "What do you think of this comparison?"

Yu Fei has never liked others comparing him with Jordan, just as Jordan doesn't like being compared with Yu Fei.

But in this matter, Yu Fei did make a comparison.

His answer was that Jordan's troubles were clearly bigger than his own.

To put it bluntly, the problems encountered by the Supersonics are the problems that a dynasty team will inevitably face under the anti-monopoly momentum of the league.

They have trouble renewing contracts because the owners are unwilling to shell out the money to stay competitive.

Durant's self-exposure was an outburst that had been pent up for a long time.

What about the 98 Bulls? The head coach and general manager had a public falling out. The general manager set the tone for the "last dance" before the season started. The second-in-command was angry that he could not get a high-paying contract extension, so he had back surgery before the season started and requested a trade, threatening that he would never play for the Bulls again. There were also internal traitor incidents during the season, and there were even cases of rookies being traded in order to renew their contracts at a premium.

No matter how you look at it, the Bulls are the team with more acute conflicts.

And in Seattle, Yu Fei still holds the initiative.

Especially after his comeback, the isolation between the team and Durant was broken, and the team was back on track.

Yu Fei wasn't sure if he could do better if he returned to the 98 Bulls, but in Seattle, he had done everything he could.

"To be fair, No. 23 had a harder time than me that year," Yu Fei joked. "If I had received times the salary of KD, I can't imagine what KD would say with his anonymous account."

The interview is over.

This interview will be published in half a month. By then, Yu Fei will wear a suit and show off his seven championship rings in a striking way. The title of the interview is: "Ten Years Later, Still the Chosen One." But that is something that Pictorial and Yu Fei's team need to worry about.

As the season draws to a close, Yu Fei only needs to focus on one thing: the last game of the regular season, the SuperSonics at home against the Cavaliers.

Three years later, Cleveland has not recovered from the blow of "The Decision". John Wall looks like a very good point guard, he has absolute speed and overall vision, but the advent of the era of space basketball makes his shortcomings particularly fatal. Wall, who lacks long-range shooting ability, continues to lead the Cavaliers to the lottery in his junior season.

The Sonics, who wanted to win 61 games to secure their third place in the league, could not give the Cavaliers a chance. After three quarters, the Sonics had already taken a 24-point lead, and the fourth quarter became garbage time. In the end, the Sonics beat the Cavaliers 115-88, ranking third in the league and second in the Western Conference with a record of 61 wins and 21 losses.

If they aim to win the championship, they will face the toughest playoffs. They will first face the Timberwolves in the first round, the Lakers in the second round, and the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

The Sonics can relax in the first round against the Timberwolves. Compared with the Lakers and Spurs, the Timberwolves are a relatively easy opponent. What makes Sonics fans happy is that Chris Bosh, who has been absent for many days due to facial fractures, will return in the first round of the playoffs. Although his injury has not fully recovered, he needs to wear a mask to play.

Bosh could have taken a longer break, but the playoffs were about to begin and he wanted to play alongside his teammates, which increased his popularity locally and brought more hatred to the Sonics' owner.

"Chris, are you sure you want to wear such an ugly mask?" Bosh's mask was black, and its appearance completely changed his temperament.

"Isn't this cool?" Bosh suddenly felt that it would be a good idea to use momentum to make up for the lack of personal aura.

Then came the first round of the playoffs. The Timberwolves are an awkward team. In 2008, they were lucky to draw Westbrook, and with the help of veterans like McGrady, the team's record has always been good. But no matter how you look at it, this is just a team that can only go beyond the semifinals.

But the reality facing playoff teams is that they work hard to get a playoff spot in the long 82-game regular season in order to compete for the championship.

If the goal is just to reach the semi-finals, there is no need to work so hard.

Westbrook's rookie contract will end this season, and he has deeply understood Garnett's feelings back then.

He has unlimited energy and desires unlimited outburst.

But in Minnesota, his boss is satisfied as long as the team makes the playoffs and stabilizes the market.

Look at their opponents.
Every goal Yu Fei scores can arouse the passion of the fans.

The playoffs are basketball season in Seattle.

In the past three years, they have returned with full loads.

This time, the fans also expect victory.

Yu Fei ignited the scene with a dunk and killed the game with an ultra-long three-pointer. The Timberwolves struggled a little, and then were swept away by a wave.

The scripts for the two games in Seattle were pretty much the same.

“We have the same chance to win coming back home.”

Westbrook said this as if to give confidence to himself and his teammates.

But McGrady knew very well that their only chance was internal strife among the Supersonics, but GOAT suppressed the team's evil thoughts with his outstanding leadership and personal charm.

It's as if those things never happened.

During the trip to Minnesota, Yu Fei asked Roy a question: "Did KD apologize to you?"

"No," Roy said, "but he gave the ball away."

During the playoffs, Roy averaged 18 shots per game and Durant averaged 16 shots per game.

In the regular season, Durant averaged nearly 19 shots per game, while Roy averaged only 15 shots per game.

Choosing to give up one's tactical position and be the third in command, is this considered an apology?
Yu Fei thinks it doesn’t count. Although it doesn’t matter whether to apologize or not now, choosing to apologize or not will determine how his teammates will view Durant in the future.

Is Nike still playing a disruptive role behind the scenes?
This was Yu Fei's initial judgment. Nike wanted Durant to leave Seattle. If this continued, even if they won four consecutive championships, Durant might apply for a trade after the season ended.

He has lost the market in Seattle. No fans like him, and his teammates don't support him. It can be said that he has no foothold at all.

This is just a guess, we can only wait and see what the outcome will be.

However, the Timberwolves' outcome in the first round is certain.

Westbrook worked hard and McGrady did his best, but his first-round curse was too magical.

Whether in the Magic, Rockets or Timberwolves, McGrady can provide stable combat power and then lead the team to the first round.

Essentially, he played for three teams that were not competitive enough, but this was like the Dean-type players in LOL, who could rely on their strong personal strength to guarantee the lower limit of their teammates, but McGrady's strength was only enough to guarantee the first round, which was not a great lower limit.

In the fourth game of the first round, the Timberwolves tried their best to make the game suspenseful, but the opponent's overall talent was far stronger than theirs, and no matter how hard they tried, they could only end up in a narrow defeat.

4 is better than 0
The Supersonics defeated the Timberwolves easily and advanced to the semifinals to meet the Los Angeles Lakers.

Westbrook, who averaged 28 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in the first round, renewed his contract with the Timberwolves immediately after the lockout ended last year.

Moreover, in order to show his loyalty, Westbrook did not tend to sign a short-term second contract like the star players after Yu Fei.

He rejected the short-term contract, and like Durant, extended his ties with Minnesota until the summer of 2016 with a four-year maximum salary without options.

This is undoubtedly an exciting and good thing.

In this day and age when teams are becoming more passive, star players are becoming more proactive, and the formation of championship teams no longer depends on the management's strategizing, but on the star's popularity and recruitment and planning ability, how can we not be excited by such a person who has maintained a pure heart? After Westbrook's contract extension, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor excitedly said on social media: "Russ is the greatest Timberwolves player ever!"

Kevin Garnett, who still holds most of the technical statistics of the Timberwolves, took this opportunity to curse Taylor for his betrayal and breaking his heart as he had already decided to spend the rest of his life in Minnesota. Otherwise, would he have given up the precious One Man One City Award?

However, today's defeat allowed Westbrook to see his future.

In the next four seasons, they will probably make the playoffs, and then their opponents will send them home in a similar way.

He had no chance of winning the championship, but the team sold high-priced tickets for the playoffs, the owner used his image to actively market in Minnesota, and everyone had their own things to do.

"Fry, what would you do if it were me?"

Apart from his love of verbal battles with Westbrook, Yu Fei also has a decent personal relationship with him.

Because Westbrook is also one of Reebok's stars.

Yu Fei knew why Westbrook was in pain, but to be honest, with his style, it was very difficult to compete for the championship with him as the core.

For a ball-handling core who needs a lot of ball possession but is terrible at mid-range and long-range shooting, what kind of luxurious lineup does it take to win the championship?

Yu Fei couldn't imagine it.

Some stars are not destined to be winners in their prime, but may transform into bench players when they get older.

But Westbrook's trouble is that even when he is old, he cannot provide stable help as a substitute.

Yu Fei had no answer, and could only say, “I will go home, get some sleep, and then pray that things will work out for the best.”

Westbrook just felt that Yu Fei was just saying some trash talk as a winner.

He didn't dwell on it.

Because he is still young, not knowing the time is not a universal excuse.

In less than a week, the first round of the series was over.

There was no case of the inferior overthrowing the superior.

The team in the front position easily beat the team in the back position.

In the West, the Spurs and Mavericks will meet in the semifinals.

The Empire War 2.0 between the Supersonics and the Lakers arrived as scheduled.

But this time, the outside world's expectations and attention can no longer be compared with that in 2010.

Only a shell of the evil empire remains, especially after James rejected an early contract extension from the Lakers, and everyone knew that "The Decision 2" was coming.

The failure of "Decision 1" made James the object of ridicule by the whole world, a living clown. Any talk show or comedy show could see them using James as a burden to please the audience.

This also makes James' behavior predictable.

In short, James must succeed. Only success can shut up the world. As for how to succeed, he has no control over it.

The Lakers overdrew their future in the 2009-2010 season and are now a broken ship that could sink at any time.

Kobe may still be the league's top shooting guard, but other than that, the Lakers don't have much left.

Marc Gasol is good, but this good young man is the breakthrough point for the SuperSonics.

Looking around, all that is left for the Lakers is despair.

In the first game of the semifinals against the Lakers, the two sides fought until overtime.

In the first four minutes of overtime, the situation was still unclear and both sides were chasing each other.

Durant couldn't find his touch during overtime. After losing two goals in a row, he suddenly gave up shooting and turned his energy to the defensive end.

At the critical moment, Yu Fei made a turnaround jump shot with his back to James, and an assist to Bosh immediately after grabbing the offensive rebound, helping the Supersonics win the game.

They celebrated to their heart's content, and the chaos of the entire season no longer mattered at this moment.

Looking at Yu Fei who was the center of attention, James and Durant felt a little moved.

Those are things they can't get at the moment.

In the second game, James couldn't find his touch from the outside and was restricted by the Sonics' rim protection when he broke into the basket. Kobe turned on the blacksmith mode, and the Lakers, whose lineup lacked depth, had no chance with their two stars restricted.

The Supersonics won a big victory.

Although they were away games, these two losses have already revealed the gap between the Lakers and the Supersonics.

The Supersonics have a clear lineup advantage, but the Lakers need Kobe and James to perform above their level to have any hope of winning. Once someone's performance is below average, failure is inevitable.

Such a gap makes the game seem like a waste of time for those who have already focused on the offseason.

Surpass yourself? Challenge your limits?
People who are too calculating will not have this idea. If you see him exceeding his limits on the scene, then beyond the limits, he must have more important plans than this.

The semifinals return to the Lakers' home court, and Kobe vows to win tonight's game.

Before the game, he told the coaching staff that he wanted to play the full 48 minutes.

So James made the same statement.

The Lakers team had highly consistent goals, and the game became intense from the start.

Richard Hamilton committed a flagrant foul on Roy, and Yu Fei immediately knocked Kobe away with a foul block in the air.

The hatred between the two teams that had faded due to the lockout began to be awakened. Kobe was the first to attack, firing one shot after another from the outside, but this could not scare his opponent.

Roy and Durant each responded with a three-pointer.

The matchup between Yu Fei and James is also the focus of attention.

But James obviously did not regard this game as the key to the survival of the season like Kobe did. He had only one goal, which was to perform well. Even if the Lakers lost, no one could blame him.

With this idea in mind, the confrontation between him and Yu Fei in the third quarter heightened the tension in the game.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kobe opened fire again, trying to continue James' offensive.

As for the SuperSonics, Durant gave a powerful response to Kobe. Facing the harsh "trumpet man" taunts from the Staples Center audience, he repeatedly suppressed the momentum that Kobe intended to bring.

It was James who disrupted Durant's rhythm.

With the game entering the last five minutes, Durant shook off the defense and prepared to break into the basket, but James, who ranked third in the DPOY voting this season, came running over and gave him a shocking block.

James roared, trying to prove that he was Nike's top star.

Durant turned around and saw that the ball had fallen into Yu Fei's hands. He jumped high and sat on James' head appropriately. The king can defend his kingdom, but he cannot violate the will of heaven.

"BOOMMMMM!!!!!"

This would be a great shame for James, as two seconds after he delivered the best block of the season, Yu Fei completed the best dunk of the season over his head.

“!#￥#@!￥”

It was a flawless moment that embodied everything that is best about the NBA.

The majesty of the king, the power of rebellion, the vitality of the new, everyone's self-esteem and pride all converge at this moment.

From 2007 to now, for five years, Durant has complained too much, been wronged for too long, and waited too long. He knows that he is wasting time, and he clearly understands that Seattle will never treat him like Yu Fei, and he will never be a person like Yu Fei. This fact has long been clear.

It took him five years to confirm this. His desires and ambitions grew day by day, but the gap between him and Yu Fei never narrowed.

Five years on, it's time to make a decision.

But before that, he has to win four consecutive championships for Yu Fei.

During these five years, Yu Fei, as a guide, pointed out the direction for him and he is worthy of the title of leader.

Therefore, he will not hold back the opponent's pursuit of a modern record of four consecutive championships. This is the only thing he can do in return.

Durant rushed to him after Yu Fei landed, pushed him hard, and celebrated like a child.

Teammates also came over.

The referee duly called a defensive foul on James, giving the Supersonics enough time to celebrate.

After his emotions calmed down, Yu Fei only had Durant in his sight.

Durant said, "Frye, I'm not jealous of you anymore."

"Idiot!" Yu Fei cursed with a smile, "Do you know how jealous LeBron is of you? He will never get three championships in his lifetime!"

(End of this chapter)