When pride still matters

Chapter 573 We are great because of others

The Clippers will set the location of the new season's pre-season training camp in Los Angeles, so that the players will no longer have to live in the training camp or nearby hotels and can return to their respective homes.

This is undoubtedly good news for players who have already signed guaranteed contracts.

This was Yu Fei’s suggestion.

He hopes to spend more time with his family before the new season officially begins. After all, since his son was born, the first word he learned was "Dadi", which sounds like the cute "daddy".

With her grandson, Yu Fei's mother Yu Fenglin also opened the "Yu's Restaurant Chain" in California. She even moved away from Washington, where she had lived for decades, just to be with Xiao Bufan and enjoy the joy of family life.

Yu Fei discovered that the ties of family had never affected him so profoundly.

He has now become a person who often talks about "family" and cherishes every moment with his family more and more.

Sometimes, he even fantasizes that Vin Diesel should invite him to play a villain in the "Fast and Furious" series of movies, and then whitewash in the subsequent movies. After all, the theme of "family" in that movie coincides with his current state of mind.

However, Yu Fei also knew that Vin Diesel, a guy with a high self-esteem, had a strong ego like Jordan, and would never allow someone with more influence than him to appear in the crew. Therefore, even if Yu Fei wanted to make a cameo appearance, at most he could only show up in an insignificant scene, and it was almost impossible for him to become the leading actor.

Of course, Yu Fei was just joking. He was not interested in the Fast and the Furious series, whose cultural influence was not even comparable to that of Marvel.

In late September, the NBA's preseason training camp opened.

This is a sign of the new season to come.

Before reporting to the training camp, Elizabeth jokingly said: "By the time your training camp is over, your baby may not be able to say 'dadi' anymore."

Yu Fei knew that Elizabeth had always been "bitter" about this. After all, she had been pregnant for ten months, had given birth to the baby with great difficulty, and had taken good care of the baby. It could be said that she had given all her love to the child, but the first word the little one learned was "Daddy"?
Yu Fei gently held Elizabeth's hand and said softly, "I'll be back in the evening." After that, he lowered his head and kissed his fiancée's soft forehead, then went out.

The bodyguard waited downstairs for a long time. Yu Fei handed the things to him, then got in the car and sat in the back seat.

Along the way, Yu Fei saw a lot of Griffin posters.

For this city, this is nothing out of the ordinary. After all, Griffin once raised the Clippers' market to a level that could almost compete with the Lakers with his personal ability. He is a phenomenal new star.

However, Los Angeles fans are realistic.

Although players who can dunk are rare in the NBA, they are not rare either. Although Griffin is a very entertaining player, the most urgent need for the Clippers is to improve their record - something Griffin has not been able to achieve.

After Griffin's amazing rookie season, the outside world's enthusiasm for his dunk performances began to wane.

People found that despite Griffin's remarkable performance, the Clippers did not quickly get rid of the status of a bad team because of his arrival. They are still the same as before: the winning rate cannot exceed 50%, they cannot enter the playoffs, and they always lose the hope of the playoffs in the middle of the season, and then hope for the lottery draw.

This is the most embarrassing thing about Griffin. He was unable to lead the team into the playoffs, but he won several games that were meaningless to the record with his personal ability.

As a result, the Clippers' record was neither bad enough to get the ideal high draft pick, nor good enough to make the playoffs, falling into a vicious cycle.

Except for Griffin's rookie season, which he missed due to injury, and the season he lost due to the lockout, the Clippers fell into the lottery in the two seasons that Griffin played, but the draft position was not good. In the 2012 draft, which was known as the most talented and deep draft in history, the Clippers only got the tenth pick due to Griffin's performance. The team management used this precious lottery pick to select Meyers Leonard, who averaged only 2 points and 2 rebounds per game in his rookie season.

Although it is often said that it takes three years for a rookie to show his quality, the potential of some rookies can be seen in one year. In the season that just ended, the Clippers' lottery pick was still late, but under the influence of Yu Fei, they chose Giannis Antetokounmpo. Although no one knows the potential of the "Greek Freak" yet, this is a choice with an eye to the future.

Griffin's team performance was ultimately disappointing.

He was amazing in the first year, but failed to lead the team into the playoffs in the second year as expected by the outside world.

Now, he has no chance for a third year.

Because of Yu Fei's joining, Griffin's situation became as embarrassing as John Wall's back then - a star at the team's historical level, who no longer had the opportunity to exert more influence on the team.

However, Griffin is luckier than Wall after all.

After all, he and Yu Fei do not have direct conflicts in playing style. On the contrary, if they cooperate properly, he and this parachuted boss may have a good chemical reaction. You know, before Yu Fei became the GOAT, the first person he surpassed was "Magic" Johnson.

In the basketball world, many people regard Yu Fei as a point guard during his time with the Bucks, and his achievement of four championships in five years as a point guard is enough to keep pace with Magic Johnson, even if he cannot surpass him. When he won his fifth championship in Seattle, Magic Johnson was left behind, and the discussion about GOAT followed.

Before becoming the GOAT, Yu Fei was first the GOAT at the point guard position.

Any athletic power forward will fully unleash his potential if he can partner with a top point guard, let alone working with the GOAT of point guards?

Clippers fans have exactly this fantasy, and even though their number in Los Angeles is less than 10%, it is still a bold imagination.

These fans imagined Griffin as a selfless person without vanity, ego, or any star self-esteem. Only such a person would cooperate with him without regrets after being replaced by an airborne superstar.

However, Yu Fei is very clear that even if there is such a saint in the world, it is impossible for him to appear in the NBA. The foundation of competitive sports is competition. A person without a competitive spirit cannot go far in his career.

He didn't believe Griffin would willingly give up the status he had enjoyed for so many years.

When Yu Fei's car drove into the Clippers' training hall, he casually asked, "Do you think the Clippers are bad?"

The bodyguard driving the car asked back, “Do you think President Obama’s health care policy is bad?”

“It’s not that it’s bad,” Yu Fei replied, “but it’s unrealistic. He lives his campaign slogan.”

The bodyguard smiled: "The Clippers are much worse than that."

For a team with a history of more than 33 years, but has never played in the conference finals, and even the record of the conference semifinals is only twice, this evaluation is not an exaggeration. From San Diego to Los Angeles, after a generation and a half, two bosses, and for years, they have only entered the playoffs four times.

This is the extent of the Clippers' failure. They can almost be called the most failed club in sports history. It is precisely because the Clippers failed so badly that Yu Fei's joining caused so much discussion, and even made Bill Simmons think that his godhood would be shattered in the Clippers.

From a historical perspective, this makes sense.

But when Yu Fei got off the special car, he saw a young man with long limbs and a thin body, walking cautiously with a backpack bought from a second-hand market on his back.

He vaguely recognized the other person: "Giannis?"

The man turned around suddenly. No matter how immature that face was, Yu Fei would never forget it.

This is the monster who can take two steps from the three-point line and dunk in the small-ball era of modern basketball. He is the player who accidentally lifted his leg in the 2022 playoffs to destroy Irving's most promising year since 2016.

The impact of that kick was comparable to Pachulia's "clumsy kick" against Leonard. One buried the most talented offensive trio in modern basketball, and the other ended the Spurs' brief and regrettable Kawhi Leonard era.

Antetokounmpo obviously recognized Yu Fei and immediately ran up to him, trying to organize his words in poor English: "You...you are the GOAT...I am honored..."

"You can't speak English?" Yu Fei asked with some surprise.

Antetokounmpo nodded and admitted: "My English is not good enough."

"It doesn't matter." Yu Fei smiled, "Basketball is a universal language."

Then, Yu Fei asked again: "Do you know the way?"

Antetokounmpo nodded. He had played in the summer league for the Clippers and certainly knew the way.

"Lead the way." Yu Fei said, "I'm not familiar with this place."

Antetokounmpo then walked in front, feeling a little nervous. Although he didn't know much about basketball, he at least knew that the man behind him was the greatest basketball player in the world today.

No…his brother Thanasis once said to him: “Not the greatest in the world, but the greatest of all time!”

Does it make any difference?

Antetokounmpo doesn't understand. He is not a person who is well versed in basketball history. In his opinion, the title of the greatest today is enough to prove his status. As for the "greatest of all time", he doesn't understand the meaning of this title.

If given the chance, he might ask the GOAT: "Why are you the greatest of all time?" and "What does GOAT mean?"

However, his brother Thanasis also said another thing to him: "He is the tallest tower, but even the tallest tower in the world will be knocked down one day." Antetokounmpo, who was only 13 years old at the time, did not understand what his brother meant, but he kept this sentence in his heart.

When they entered the gym, Yu Fei asked, "I heard you didn't start playing basketball until you were 13?"

Antetokounmpo nodded and said, "That's right."

"What a pity." Yu Fei said something that puzzled the Greeks.

Pity?
The Greek didn't know what was so regretful about it. Even though he only started playing basketball at the age of 3, he has already made it to the NBA.

He doesn't know much about basketball, but he knows that the NBA is the top basketball league in the world. There are many people who will never touch the NBA floor in their lifetime.

Why is it such a pity?
Antetokounmpo didn't understand, but didn't dare to ask more questions.

Yu Fei entered the locker room and naturally occupied the locker with the largest space.

Sophomore Meyers Leonard reminded: "Frye, this is Blake's locker last season..."

"How did you perform last season?" Yu Fei asked.

Leonard looked as if he couldn't bear to look back: "It's terrible."

“Are you going to stay in the last season forever?”

"Do not…"

"Then stop talking nonsense." Yu Fei closed the cabinet domineeringly, "From today on, this cabinet belongs to No. 44!"

Yu Fei has his own style of doing things. Now his status and power in the Clippers are higher than those of Dan in the Wizards back then. He doesn't need to go around in circles with Griffin at all.

To use the words of an American politician who uses PUA against other countries: he is legitimately occupying the wardrobe, which symbolizes the boss in the locker room, based on his position of strength.

He didn't like beating around the bush, and the sooner Griffin faced reality, the better for him.

Afterwards, Yu Fei came to the court to warm up.

Soon, the big shots arrived one after another. The first one was Griffin, who was wearing sunglasses and trendy clothes, as if he had just walked off the catwalk. He glanced at Yu Fei from a distance, and without saying hello, he quickly walked into the dressing room. However, after entering, he found that his wardrobe had changed hands.

"What's going on?!" Griffin exclaimed.

Veteran Chauncey Billups laughed and said, "Frye said that this closet belongs to No. 44 from now on."

Griffin angrily asked, "Didn't anyone tell him this was my closet?"

"Meyers told him," Billups continued with a laugh, "but Frye didn't care."

Griffin was extremely dissatisfied with the changes that had happened to him. Everything about the Clippers had gone wrong since the end of last season. The damn Donald Sterling suddenly collapsed, and then someone told him that the GOAT was going to join the Clippers - the worst team in NBA history was lucky enough to get the favor of the best player in history? Griffin was only excited for a while, and soon calmed down.

He knew that the arrival of the GOAT would take away his status and ball rights. He could accept that, after all, he was the GOAT. But what he couldn't accept was that the GOAT never said hello to him from beginning to end - no text messages, no phone calls, and even no one sent him a message: "Blake, let's join forces to do big things!"

Why? Was he not qualified, or did GOAT not consider his feelings at all? The situation in the locker room made Griffin realize that there were many important things this summer, but none of them had anything to do with him. GOAT established his own rules within the team, which did not require him to know or cooperate, but only required him to accept it after it happened.

Griffin, who had never been disobeyed by the Clippers, felt unprecedented humiliation. He wanted to resist, but the power of reality forced him to hold back his anger. After all, his power was not at the same level as the GOAT.

A few minutes later, Griffin walked onto the training ground, but he still did not take the initiative to greet Yu Fei. Although he did not make any statement about the wardrobe being occupied, his confrontational attitude was already evident.

"Da Fei, that kid is very disrespectful to you." Kwame Brown said dissatisfiedly, "He didn't even say hello. Are young people nowadays so rude?"

"It doesn't matter." Yu Fei said lightly, "I already disrespected him before he disrespected me."

Then, Zaza Pachulia walked up to Yu Fei and said hello.

"Fry, how's it going?"

"Not bad, how about you?" Yu Fei teased, "I think you seem to have gained a little weight..."

Pachulia smiled and said, "Yes, I will lose weight during training camp just like before."

"Try harder, Zaza." Yu Fei said, "We don't have a center, and the team will rely heavily on your performance in the interior."

Pachulia had been protecting LaMarcus Aldridge in the Bucks before, so he had a lot of experience in this regard. Hearing Yu Fei say this, he knew that he would have a lot of playing time in the new season, and he was full of expectations.

Another new player of the Clippers, Paul Pierce, was watching everything around him cautiously. When he heard that he was traded to the Clippers, he was not so happy because Yu Fei was on the team. In this era, as long as the team is competitive, it is inevitable to compete with Yu Fei. Pierce played as Yu Fei's opponent in 2008, but ultimately failed to win.

Fortunately, Doc Rivers was traded with him. Rivers is a coach he trusts, although his chicken soup has made Pierce a little tired.

As a newcomer, Pierce must first ensure his position. So, who can guarantee his position?

Pierce walked up to Yu Fei.

"How does it feel to be back home?" Yu Fei asked.

Pierce said self-deprecatingly: "It's not worth mentioning. Look at the team I'm on. To be honest, I would rather play for the Lakers."

Yu Fei laughed and said, "I can't imagine Larry Bird playing for the Lakers."

Pierce was surprised that Yu Fei compared himself to the great Bird. If he was really Bird, Danny Ainge, who tried to trade him, would have been fired by the boss long ago.

"You're right." Pierce nodded slowly, "I can't play for the Lakers."

Because now, with Pierce's career resume so tied to the Celtics, playing for the Lakers was the worst thing he could imagine.

"But there is one last thing you can do for the Celtics."

Pierce looked at Yu Fei speechlessly.

"Let this shameful Clippers team be as great as the Lakers in Los Angeles."

Yu Fei said.

This path has never been imagined. As a native of Los Angeles, how could Pierce not know how unpopular the Clippers are locally? It is impossible for him to make this team as popular as the Lakers.

But what if Yu Fei is there?

Pierce still felt that there was little hope, but it was no longer impossible.

"If that's what you want to do," Pierce said firmly, "I'd be happy to help you."

The pressure of being in a superior position that GOAT brought to Pierce disappeared, and what followed was a casual smile: "That's what I want you to say."

The grudge between the two on the field seemed to have dissipated after this promise.

In less than ten minutes, the players had assembled on the court, including head coach Doc Rivers, head coach Alvin Gentry, and Chad Forcier, the highly paid skills development coach hired from the Spurs, and a group of coaching staff members who followed Rivers from Boston to Los Angeles.

Rivers, wearing a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, came in front of the crowd and loudly spoke out his pre-season mobilization speech he had prepared long ago: "I know some of you have doubts about our new season. You may think that the Clippers are bad and this team is cursed. You come here to play just because you think this is your only chance to stay in the NBA. If you still have this idea now, I hope you leave immediately, because from today on, the history of the Clippers will be turned over!"

"If you have any doubts, just look at this guy!" Rivers pointed to Yu Fei. "No matter how much you failed in the past, no matter how dark the history of the Clippers is, starting today, we will usher in a bright future under the leadership of Frye. This is what I have always said about the meaning of 'Ubuntu'-we are great because of others!"

"Shit," Pierce whispered. "When did 'Ubuntu' mean this?"

(End of this chapter)