When pride still matters

Chapter 56 Jordan’s people
"Fry Yu. He's surprisingly popular in DC."

"Oh?"

That's something Susan O'Mary didn't expect.

She knew that as an Asian basketball player, Yu Fei's entry into the NBA naturally brought the support of many Asian Americans, but Asians in DC accounted for less than 5% of the total population, so even Yu Fei should not have much influence.

The assistant explained: "For the past two months, Frye has been training at Keller Stadium in the Arlington community. Since this place is very close to his home, he usually does not use transportation. He jogs back and forth every day, always There are fans who can meet him, some who will talk to him, and some who will give him a ride. One by one, the media knows about it. Michael Wyche, a reporter for the Washington Post, wrote many times in his column Mentioning this is why Fry's popularity in DC has increased."

"In terms of popularity alone, Frye is probably second only to MJ and Rip (Richard Hamilton's nickname) on our team."

O'Malley watched Too Fei's workout and was impressed by his performance on the court that day when he tore down Brandon Haywood.

Omari thought that Jordan would be very angry. After all, his trusted junior was beaten up by a high school student who was still young, but she found that the junior was nothing but the high school student who was the one he loved.

Whatever Jordan liked, Omari didn't like.

For this high school student who was selected by Jordan, there is nothing wrong with labeling him a "Jordan guy."

But today's event cannot be canceled, so Omari continued: "Then change MJ's media reception to Frye's rookie meeting and inform him."

After a while, the assistant came back with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Omari knew there was no good news as soon as she saw her like this.

The assistant hesitated and said: "Fry said he is still on vacation. Theoretically, he is not under the jurisdiction of the team, so he will not attend the meeting at this time. He needs special training. This is for the new season. Preparation is good for the team, please... please let us understand."

The assistant no longer dared to look at Omari's face.

She was right, Omari's expression was as scary as that 180-degree face in The Exorcist.

Ignoring regulations, not paying attention to the team's interests, and being arbitrary. Yu Fei already has a strong Jordan flavor in Omari's opinion.

Thinking of this, Omari became even more angry.

Before Jordan airborne, few Wizards players dared to disobey her will, because everyone knew that this was a person who dared to denounce Magic to her face.

Even magicians are afraid of him, and so are everyone else.

However, when she met what the magician said was "one of only two players in the world", her prestige disappeared.

Even Yu Fei, who was selected, could ignore her.

Prestige is a magical thing. Once it's gone, it's hard to get it back.

"So...today's activities."

Omari thought for a while, "Let Rip come, he is a person who takes the overall situation into consideration."

Rip?The assistant is not sure that the team's second-in-command will give up his last vacation to help the team with activities.

As if he saw the assistant's concerns, O'Mary explained the reason for choosing Hamilton, "Rip is a real wizard player, he is very responsible and enterprising, he will agree, you just need to let him know that MJ refused the event At the same time, don’t let him know that the high school student also declined the event.”

"understood."

※※※

As a weak team, the Wizards don't know the reason why the stupid bird flies first. They postponed the start of the preseason training camp to October 10.

During the same period, other NBA teams opened camps for as few as five days and as many as one week.Starting camp late is good for Yu Fei, who is immersed in special training.

From mid-July to now, in two and a half months, Yu Fei has practiced three times a day, and has improved his basic skills, techniques, and strength. The most obvious increase is his weight.

Yu Fei not only completed the goal of gaining 10 pounds set at the time, but even exceeded the task, eventually gaining 12 pounds (10 kilograms).

Currently, he weighs 229 pounds (104KG). In this era of muscle sticks, he is still not qualified to play inside. However, if we regard him as a tall wing, although his weight is not enough, he is still not qualified to play inside. It's not the kind of skinny guy that falls over when touched.

More importantly, Yu Fei proved that he can gain weight and is willing to work hard to gain weight.

From the perspective of fitness science, aside from those who are born with malabsorption, there is no one who cannot gain weight.

However, scientific weight gain is hard and boring, so on the last day of September, Yu Fei rewarded himself with an indulgent meal after finishing his special training.

On this day, Quint DiMeo came back from the Reebok U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles to meet with Yu Fei, along with Anthony Lawson and newly recruited assistant Alex Clark. It was a rare gathering of Yu Fei's team.

Dimeo talked about his working experience at Reebok and brought some inside information to Yu Fei.

There are still many executives within Reebok who express dissatisfaction and concern about the company spending such a huge sum of money to sign a high school student with the eighth overall pick.

Yu Fei understands their feelings very well. After all, he was not able to get such a big contract solely based on his strength. What Reebok valued was the Asian market behind him.

For Reebok, as long as Yu Fei can establish himself in the NBA and play for ten or eight years, he can make many Asians proud and buy the company's products, which is not a loss.

Yu Fei, who was well versed in these matters, did not take the matter seriously.

So everyone started talking about the Wizards again.

Lawson talked about Omari's request for Yu Fei to end special training early to participate in team activities but was rejected, "I have heard the story about that woman. She has always been at odds with MJ. Anyway, the Wizards are MJ's team, and we There is no need to please her."

DeMeo asked: "How's MJ doing? I heard he's in a little trouble."

Yu Fei shrugged and said nonchalantly: "Who knows."

This is the last night Yu Fei spends with his team members. Tomorrow, he and his assistant will fly to Wilmington, North Carolina, to attend the Wizards' preseason training camp.

The first day of training camp is also the day media day is held.

Michael Jordan, wearing a black and red tracksuit with the word "JORDAN" boldly embroidered on it, appeared in front of a group of reporters who swarmed around him.His image gives people the impression of a wise man, sometimes showing a thoughtful look, sometimes defending himself, sometimes showing a firm posture, sometimes showing humor, sometimes showing competitive spirit.In the end, he even talked about the possibility of failure, showing his honesty and uncertainty.

"I know how old I am, so I also know that I may fail completely." Jordan habitually pouted to the left, and it was just a moment. "I accept failure, but I don't accept giving up."

For two rookies, Fei and Kwame Brown, having Jordan at media day was a blessing.

Even if Brown is the No. [-] pick and Yu Fei is the No. [-] pick, the media will not waste time on them.

Seeing Jordan surrounded by a large group of reporters and being interviewed wherever he went, Yu Fei felt that this was not a human life.

The most important thing is that Yu Fei noticed that the knee of the sweatpants Jordan was wearing had a bulge. It was obvious that an ice pack was being applied there.

It seems that the rumors that the Wizards are postponing training camp because of Jordan's tenosynovitis are not groundless.

"Fry, don't you say hello to MJ?" Brown asked.

Yu Fei smiled and turned around, "No, I'm not familiar with him."

⑴Magic: There are only two kinds of players in the world, one is Jordan and the other is others. (It’s an old joke, let’s review it)
(End of this chapter)