When pride still matters

Chapter 567 The End
In April, Brandon Roy passed the inspection and was officially cleared to participate in training.

This is a big deal for the Sonics.

Under Yu Fei's leadership, although the team still has hopes of competing for the top three in the league, if Roy cannot return, then the five consecutive championships will just be a nice slogan.

No matter how amazing Irving is, he is just a rookie, and the intensity of the playoffs is completely different from that of the regular season.

Once they enter the playoffs, how much strength can Irving show? Therefore, the Supersonics need a second star.

Therefore, Roy carries great expectations from the outside world.

However, the gap in reality soon woke up the people of Seattle.

"The scene where the savior descends from the sky will only happen once!"

Roy's first game after his return was against the Golden State Warriors.

Roy played for 29 minutes in the game and made 15 of 6 shots, which can be said to be a low state.

It can be clearly seen that Roy is not very brave to move and has little strength in his feet, which is far from what it was before he was injured.

This is a crucial battle for the third place, but for the Supersonics, what is more important than taking the third place is to get Roy back to form.

Therefore, they spared no effort and gave Roy a lot of ball rights after his return. However, this aggressive choice also cost them a difficult loss.

Warriors' rising star Kawhi Leonard shined tonight. He is widely regarded as the next Metta World Peace, but Warriors head coach Mark Jackson believes that Leonard's defensive ceiling exceeds Metta World Peace, and his offensive plasticity is far greater.

The reason? Leonard successfully improved his shooting posture under the guidance of the coaching team, and reviewed Michael Jordan's game videos every day according to Jackson's requirements. For a genius who trains hard and has a high level of understanding, as long as someone points him in the right direction, he can make rapid progress.

Tonight, Leonard scored 28 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Such a performance against the GOAT is a masterpiece of his career.

After the game, when asked about his feelings about his outstanding performance, Leonard simply said: "This is just one game. We have bigger goals."

Leonard's performance made Yu Fei think.

How many star players are cultivated, and how many are "born"? In other words, are there any star players who cannot perform well in other places after leaving the same training environment? Is there such an example?
Before tonight, Yu Fei racked his brains and felt that the players who might perform poorly in a new environment were Leonard and Antetokounmpo.

But now it seems that this idea seems to put too much trust in the Spurs' training team and Jason Kidd.

The reason why stars become stars is not only because most of them have outstanding talents, but also because of a very important factor: their ability to learn and utilize their own advantages is far better than that of role players.

The most notable thing about the rise of Leonard and Antetokounmpo in their development process is that they have strong learning ability.

If this view is correct, then in theory, these two people can succeed wherever they go.

Because every NBA team has a theorist who can design a rigorous future blueprint for each young player. However, most players can only complete a small part of the blueprint.

Only a player like Leonard, who can make significant progress every year, can turn the blueprint into reality.

At the post-game press conference, a Golden State reporter asked Yu Fei about his evaluation of Leonard.

Yu Fei said briefly: "He will definitely become a superstar."

This is an amazing prophecy.

It wouldn't be surprising if Leonard became an All-Star, as he is already close to that level.

But superstardom is a whole different level.

Yu Fei's optimism about Leonard excited the Golden State media.

However, if they count on Leonard to lead the Cornfield back to the top, that is impossible.

Once Leonard becomes a superstar, he no longer represents only himself, but the interests of the entire team. Every decision he makes must be based on the perspective of the team, which is naturally opposed to the team itself.

Yu Fei knew this very well.

He returned to the locker room and saw a frustrated Roy.

"Are you sure you have recovered?" Yu Fei asked, "If not, continue to rest."

Roy naturally made sure he was completely healthy before returning, but the decline in form caused by several months of absence cannot be compensated by a short period of recovery training.

"I'm afraid I'll have to rely on you." Roy said playfully, "I'm just like Amare now."

Well, a star player who doesn't deserve the reputation.

Yu Fei completely understood what Roy meant, but he couldn't help but tease, "Don't talk nonsense, Amare can't possibly make 15 of 6 shots."

Roy couldn't refute it because he was in such a bad state.

His reaction made Yu Fei feel bored. Talking dirty was like some erotic shows that required a safe word to go on smoothly. The more intense the passive party's reaction, the more fun the active party would find.

Roy now looked like he had accepted his fate. Yu Fei felt bored, so he stopped thinking about mocking him and said seriously, "Okay, from today on, you will be a transparent person on the court."

"Invisible man? Doing nothing?"

"Not really." Yu Fei said narcissistically, "You can cheer me on hysterically, which may be the only thing you won't mess up now."

Roy is the only person in the Supersonics team that Yu Fei can tease without restraint.

Looking across the entire league, there are only one or two players who can enjoy this special treatment.

The reason is simple: their relationship is close enough that teasing will not destroy the friendship.

As for the others, they were either enemies or friends, but they were not as strong as Roy and could not reach such a tacit understanding. Yu Fei always kept a distance from these people, seeming a little alienated.

Kwame Brown and Yu Fei have a very close relationship, but the direct consequence of always clinging to a friend is that the so-called self-esteem and personality are no longer independent in front of the other party.

No matter what Yu Fei wants him to do, Brown will not mock Yu Fei like Roy did. At most, he will make a joke about Yu Fei.

Roy was glad that there was someone to support him when he was overwhelmed.

However, his current situation also means that the possibility of the Supersonics defending the title has dropped to the lowest.

In mid-April, the regular season ended.

The Supersonics ranked second in the Western Conference with a record of 58 wins and 24 losses and successfully advanced to the playoffs.

In this season full of twists and turns, Yu Fei played in all games again, averaging 36 points, 33 rebounds, 10 assists, 8 steal and 1 block in 1 minutes per game, winning the scoring title this season and almost securing a spot in the first team. However, apart from being selected for the first team, he probably won't have any other honors. Wade is expected to win the MVP for the second time in a row. Apart from the MVP, the only thing left is the championship, but with the current situation of the SuperSonics, no one except themselves believes that they can defend the title.

The only team ahead of them is the Spurs.

东部方面，热火以70胜12负的战绩领跑全联盟，紧随其后的是62胜20负的篮网，55胜27负的雄鹿排名第三，之后是52胜的骑士和50胜的尼克斯。

Since the beginning of the new century, the league has been showing a "strong West and weak East" pattern. Usually only a few teams in the East can compete for the finals, but now there are four or five top teams in the East, which is a rare situation. On the contrary, the situation in the West is volatile.

After the SuperSonics, only the Mavericks and Warriors won more than 50 games, and other teams failed to reach 50 wins.

The second-ranked SuperSonics will face the seventh-ranked Lakers in the first round.

This is really a narrow road for enemies.

The Lakers relied on Kobe and Gasol to support the inside and outside lines after the breakup, and barely managed a record of 45 wins and 37 losses. This result was enough to keep the playoffs, but when it came to competing for the championship, the Lakers could only talk about it.

However, what gives Lakers fans some comfort is that the Sonics dynasty that once stopped them seems to be coming to an end this year.

With Durant being traded, Bosh and Jordan leaving the team, and Roy just recovering from a serious injury, the Supersonics have already lost their competitiveness in competing for the championship.

Just the prospect of seeing the SuperSonics fail in the final moments was enough to make the people of Los Angeles happy.

As for whether it was the Lakers who defeated the Supersonics, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the era of the Supersonics seems to be coming to an end.

Yu Fei was very happy to meet the Lakers in the first round. Four years ago, when he played in the playoffs for the SuperSonics for the first time, he eliminated the Lakers. After that, they always met for several consecutive seasons, and he was the winner every time.

If this is truly his final season in Seattle, opening the playoffs against the Lakers would be a fitting end.

In the first game of the first round, Kobe came to KeyArena again.

He hates it here.

Perhaps, what he really hated was the owner of this stadium.

The GOAT is here.

"How many seasons do you need to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record?" Yu Fei asked with a smile.

As of this season, Kobe's total score is 29 points. Because the butterfly named "Traveler" flapped its wings, Kobe did not break his Achilles tendon in order to lead the Lakers into the playoffs as in the original timeline. Although the Lakers are no longer in the championship race, he does not have to over-consume, so he remains healthy. This season, he averaged 484 points, 27 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Judging from the data, there is no obvious sign of decline. Based on an average of 4 points per game, Kobe only needs to play another four and a half seasons to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record.

Since the Lakers no longer have any big goals, perhaps their theme for the next few years will be to let Kobe score points without any restraint, and just make it to the playoffs every year.

But neither Kobe nor the Lakers will admit it.

So Kobe didn't respond to Yu Fei's words, "I heard that your new arena is almost completed, but it looks like you may not have the opportunity to play there as a member of the SuperSonics."

The new arena in downtown Seattle is expected to be operational as early as the 2014-15 season.

Kobe really hit Yu Fei's soft spot, and this may indeed become his biggest regret.

What else could Yu Fei say? He could only send Kobe home as soon as possible. The old man's words were too hurtful.

When the Lakers' inside and outside cores faced the Supersonics, only Kobe could still maintain some advantages. However, Kobe is old after all, and even if he can still fight to the end physically, his personal advantage will hardly affect the overall situation, because Yu Fei's suppression on the wing is better.

In the four games against the Lakers, the process was almost the same: the Lakers started with all their strength, barely maintained a stalemate in the second quarter, but were swept away by a wave of the Supersonics in the second half.

The Lakers' fighting spirit could not last until the end of the game, which was due to the gap in hard power between the two sides.

In the end, Kobe and the Lakers were swept out by the Supersonics 0-4 in the first round.

Inadvertently, Kobe created an embarrassing record: in the past few years, he was eliminated by Yu Fei's team in the first round, semifinals, divisional finals and finals.

Just before the semifinals began, the league announced the winners of major regular season awards.

Yu Fei, Wade, Durant, James and Yao Ming were selected to the All-NBA First Team.

At this time, Yao Ming has completely transformed from a traditional center to a space-type five position. Although this may not be Yao Ming's peak state, it is definitely the most abstract. The "abstract" of Yao Ming is that if the young Yao Ming saw himself now, he would probably complain: "Hey, what else can you do besides shooting three-pointers? You have made me lose face!"

However, it was this Yao Ming who, in a 70-win team, averaged 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.4 blocks per game with terrifying efficiency, surpassing the 37-year-old veteran Duncan and becoming a center.

At this moment, Yao Ming finally understood the profound meaning of what Yu Fei said to him that year: "As long as you play long enough, anything can happen."

In the next semifinal, the SuperSonics faced the Dallas Mavericks.

Today's Mavericks are somewhat like the Lakers back then. With the league's restrictions on wealthy teams and the pressure of super luxury taxes, Cuban no longer has the heart to spend lavishly. They try to form a team without exceeding the tax. A few years ago, they were lucky enough to get Tony Parker, which continued the Mavericks' competitiveness.

This season, Parker's personal form reached its peak. The Mavericks led by him competed with the Supersonics for the second place in the Western Conference for a season and finally met in the semifinals.

On one side are the defending champions who are eager to win their fifth consecutive championship, and on the other side are the Mavericks who want to face the Spurs again. The two teams fought fiercely in the semifinals.

In the first four games, both teams defended their home courts and the game ended in a tie. In the decisive battle, the two teams really got into it and turned the game into a crazy street-style confrontation, as if there was no referee on the field.

In such a high-intensity game, Nowitzki was injured, Stoudemire's back injury recurred, and Roy also sprained his ankle. Although it seems that the Sonics suffered a greater loss, Stoudemire and Roy are no longer as strong as before. On the contrary, Nowitzki, as the core of the Mavericks' inside line, his fall caused Dallas' inside firepower to collapse instantly.

Yu Fei played the full 48 minutes in this game, scoring 46 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the team to the match point.

In the sixth game, Nowitzki forced a comeback, but the Dallas team was powerless to recover.

Yu Fei once again scored a 40+ triple-double, leading the team to defeat the Mavericks and advance to the divisional finals with a 4-2 score.

"This is why you are the GOAT!" Irving celebrated his victory by bumping shoulders with Yu Fei. "With you here, we will definitely win!"

"What GOAT?" Yu Fei asked with a smile, "Kaili, what are you talking about?"

Irving yelled: "GOAT! You are my GOAT! You are the GOAT of all of us!"

Everyone longs to be freed from the shackles in their hearts. Yu Fei does not regard Seattle as a shackle, but he does want to know what will happen this summer.

In fact, he already knew it.

"Don't call me that, Kaili," Yu Fei said. "I'm not the GOAT, no one is."

Irving couldn't understand it, because in his eyes, Yu Fei was the GOAT, the GOAT recognized by everyone.

Yu Fei walked to the sidelines and countless people shouted "GOAT".

He has to fight until the last game for these cheers, even if he doesn't think he is the GOAT in their eyes.

Wade successfully won the MVP again.

The four teams in the Eastern and Western Conference finals are exactly the same as last year, but the outcome this year is destined to be different.

The Spurs took the lead at home, winning two games in a row. Back on the road, the desperate Supersonics began to go all out and turned on the GOAT mode.

Yu Fei started to play the whole game.

In the third game, they narrowly defeated the Spurs and kept their hopes of defending the title alive.

However, in the crucial fourth game, the one that determined the continuation of the season, the Sonics were missing Roy, Stoudemire, and the stars who had made great contributions to the dynasty. They only had Yu Fei left, and the young players retreated in this oppressive atmosphere. Irving had no touch at all, and the result was not only a defeat, but a crushing defeat - a 24-point defeat that pushed the dynasty to the brink.

The media began to build momentum.

The fall of a dynasty?
No, it's more like the end of an era.

It looks like Fry Yu's reign since 2006 will come to an end this year.

Will that moment come in Game 5?

The fifth game was extremely intense. The Spurs led by 7 points with two minutes left in the game, and victory seemed to be just around the corner.

However, Yu Fei's presence in front of the San Antonians reminded them of 2003, 2007 and every moment since then.

Yu Fei reversed the game with three three-pointers, and the Supersonics continued to survive with a score of 2 to 3.

For Game 6, they returned to KeyArena.

This was the third time in the last four games that Yu Fei played the entire game. In the first half, he was like a flying dragon, running around the court, shooting from the outside, breaking through from the inside, and doing almost everything. The Spurs were suppressed for a while, and the game seemed to be dragged into a tiebreaker. However, the pressure of playing the entire game in a row showed up in the second half, and his right calf began to cramp. Although he only rested for five minutes before returning to the court, the situation had reversed.

The Spurs saw the dawn of victory.

They seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At the Sonics' weakest moment, the Spurs delivered a fatal blow.

In the fourth quarter, the Spurs' three-pointers from outside rained down, scoring 37 points in a single quarter, sounding the death knell of the dynasty in an irreversible way.

"Beep——!"

The final whistle blows.

119:106.

4:2.

The Spurs eliminated the Supersonics.

At that moment, Popovich waved his fist in the air and shouted excitedly.

Duncan and Ginobili hugged each other and cried, and all the Spurs players were moved.

Exhausted, Yu Fei patted Irving on the head and said, "You played well, Kyrie."

After saying that, Yu Fei walked towards the other teammates.

This was his last duty, and he still maintained his leadership, encouraging his teammates one by one, and then walked towards the opponent who defeated him.

Duncan shook hands with him with a red nose: "See you next season."

"Is this worth crying about, Tim?"

Yu Fei thought to himself, shouldn't I be the one crying the most? Five consecutive championships, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, was lost just like that.

"You wouldn't understand."

Duncan was excited again when he saw Yu Fei. This man was like a nightmare that enveloped the entire league. How could he know the significance of defeating him in the playoffs?

For him, this was only the third defeat in his career.

But what about others?
They beat the greatest player of all time, an all-time superstar who had to admit tonight that he lost - to them!

Yu Fei may never understand, so he uttered the last trash talk of the season: "Okay, I don't understand, but if you shed all your tears over my dead body, how many tears will be left for the O'Brien Cup?"

(End of this chapter)