When pride still matters

Chapter 598 Trip to New York
Before the All-Star Weekend, the Clippers' last game was against the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls may have exhausted their luck when they selected Rose in 2008, or even earlier, in the Jordan era. Although Rose is a well-deserved native son of Chicago, he suffered a devastating injury after a brief peak, causing the Bulls to repeatedly waver between "tanking and waiting for Rose to recover" and "attack the playoffs again after his comeback."

This erratic state has finally worn out the team's patience in the past few years.

Last season, the Bulls chose to completely give up and eventually used the second pick to select another hometown son - Jabari Parker.

Parker is the most stable choice among the three kings in the 2014 draft. He has mature skills and outstanding combat effectiveness, and is a scorer like Carmelo Anthony. Parker's rookie season is only a few months old, but he has already shown the potential of averaging 20 points per game. It seems easy to win the Rookie of the Year.

However, Parker unfortunately suffered an ACL tear. This player, who should have shined, fell before he could fully blossom like Rose.

Parker has now returned, but that serious injury made it difficult for him to get back to his original self.

Parker's performance was disappointing tonight.

The Clippers are like a group of students in their last class on a Friday afternoon, full of endless enthusiasm for the upcoming vacation.

Yu Fei faced Parker at the power forward position.

Parker gained weight in part to add a layer of "protection" to his body. The Bulls saw that his weight gain and ACL injury affected his speed and athleticism, so they decided to switch him to power forward.

Parker has no objection to this. In today's league, almost every wing player needs to be ready to transform into a power forward at any time. This is a heavy burden placed on wing players in the small ball era.

However, Yu Fei thought to himself during his matchup with Parker: "Wouldn't it be more exhausting to play as a power forward?"

Although the overall quality of today's power forwards is not as good as the "forward heyday" in the early 2000s, the consumption of the inside position in any era is far greater than that of the outside position.

Parker faced Yu Fei cautiously.

He is a humble young man and a devout Mormon. If he had not played professional basketball, he might have considered missionary work as his lifelong career. This faith not only shaped his character, but also influenced his calmness and restraint on the court.

It is this character and steady style of play that makes him the third choice among the three emperors.

In contrast, Wiggins' talent reminds people of the future of "Joe and Kobe", and Embiid is even more impossible to ignore - just a few videos of Olajuwon on YouTube can master those complex footwork and skills. His talent is too attractive, while Parker, as a traditional "offensive kaleidoscope" type forward, is not so dazzling.

If Embiid hadn't had problems with his physical examination before the draft, and the Bulls were still worried about Rose's injury history, Parker might not have become the No. 1984 pick. The Bulls were even more reminded of , when the Trail Blazers were superstitious about the inside and risked Sam Bowie's injury, which gave the Bulls the opportunity to select Jordan. It was these complicated histories and realities that made Parker the Bulls' choice.

Parker was defeated miserably in the matchup with Yu Fei.

His body is much stronger than when he was a rookie, but compared with Yu Fei, there is a big gap in strength.

His offensive kaleidoscope also needs more practical opportunities to accumulate experience.

Before the end of the third quarter, the Clippers' lead had exceeded 30 points.

In the fourth quarter, Yu Fei was about to leave the court.

The stats he left behind were 24 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

Parker in front of him made only 11 of 3 shots and scored only 10 points and 3 rebounds.

As a senior, Yu Fei gave Parker a little advice: "Your force when starting is not scientific, which puts too much burden on your lower limbs."

"If you want to have a long career, it's best to learn how to use your body in a balanced way."

Parker is from Chicago. Due to the relationship between Yu Fei and Jordan, the media in the Chicago area has always been mostly negative about Yu Fei.

Parker was influenced by the propaganda and thought that Yu Fei was a rebellious and bad-tempered person.

But the two sentences just now were the only two sentences Yu Fei said to him tonight.

He believed it was sincere advice because there was no reason for the GOAT to give him wrong advice.

He was about to ask more questions, but the Clippers had already replaced the GOAT.

After the game, despite the Bulls' crushing defeat, Parker thought it was the most interesting game he had ever played in the NBA.

"This is the most interesting! I mean, I was playing against the greatest player in history, and he didn't hold back at all. I was blown away, which made me see the gap. Moreover, Frye was not as mean as the legend said. He gave me a lot of advice!" Parker said, and began to denounce the media that had carried out negative publicity on the GOAT. "Why did I form such an impression of Frye? This is all the fault of the media. Most people will never be able to get in touch with Frye in their lifetime. They can only understand him through the media. If the media portrays him as a villain, then we will think he is a villain, but Frye is not! He is a good person!"

The Chicago Tribune responded to Parker's accusations against the media with a quip: "Frye was a good man. I hope that's what's on Shaquille O'Neal's tombstone."

Yu Fei did not respond publicly to Parker, but chose to follow the other party's account on Twitter.

Parker, who succeeded in chasing his idol, immediately followed back and then had more exchanges with Yu Fei.

This is a small thing before the All-Star Weekend.

This year's All-Star Game is held in New York, and the league attaches great importance to it.

The Knicks are currently ranked first in the Eastern Conference.

Their absolute core is Kevin Durant, who currently averages 32 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game, followed by DeMar DeRozan, the lottery pick in the 2009 draft class who has quickly become Durant's right-hand man in the past two years.

There is also DeAndre Jordan, who chose to play brotherly basketball with Durant.

and Andre Iguodala, who chose to join New York last year.

Then, the one who connected everyone's talents was Rajon Rondo.

This is a breakout season for the Knicks after years of weakness.

Due to the team's activeness, there are fewer voices in Apple City about letting James Dolan go.

Before the All-Star Weekend, some unpleasant news came out from Seattle.

Brandon Roy sprained his knee without any confrontation in the last game before the holiday. At first, it was not serious and he even played for a few minutes. After examination, it turned out to be ACL.

Seattle whines.

Since Yu Fei's last season in Seattle, Roy has been plagued by injuries, and his body seems to be increasingly unable to withstand the high-intensity NBA games.

With the support of Irving and Roy, the Sonics were able to barely maintain a top ten record in the Western Conference and have a chance to compete for a playoff spot. But with Roy injured again, the Sonics' games gradually became Irving's personal show.

The chance to meet Roy in New York was thus ruined. Yu Fei didn't know how many old friends he would be able to meet when he arrived in New York.

After the All-Star Weekend officially began, Yu Fei still went back and forth to the Clippers' training base because Arn Tellem had some questions about trades and wanted to ask him for his opinion. At present, the Clippers are in good shape, with excellent chemistry in all positions, and there seems to be no urgent need for trades. If they really want to strengthen, they can only target the No. 1 position. However, there are no high-quality No. 1 positions suitable for trading on the market. Even if there are, such players must be expensive, and whether the Clippers have enough chips is also a question.

The only player with trade value is Danny Granger, whose contract is about to expire. Although Granger's performance on the court is running out, his contract will free up a maximum salary space for the team in the summer. The Clippers are in the bonus period of Antetokounmpo and Jokic's two rookie contracts, so Yu Fei's suggestion is to keep Granger's contract and wait until the end of the season to clear the salary space.

But after turning the tables in the public opinion field, Tellem began to have the illusion that "I might really be a genius GM." He became more and more interested in the trading market and wanted to show his skills. However, if Yu Fei disagreed, Tellem could only helplessly watch other GMs fighting in the trading market.

On the training ground, even though the players had been on vacation and the Clippers' training facilities were supposed to be closed, Antetokounmpo still insisted on training. In order to cooperate with the Greek monster, the team's physical trainer and assistant coach had to work overtime.

Antetokounmpo's training method is extremely rough. He first jumps with all his strength under the basket, hits the backboard with the ball, and then jumps again to complete a dunk. Then he quickly runs to the outside to catch the ball and shoot a three-pointer. After this high-intensity training lasts for five minutes, he has to make ten free throws at the free throw line, otherwise he has to start over.

This training simulates the intensity of NBA games, and its purpose is to allow players to improve the stability of shooting and free throws in a real combat environment. This is a training method invented by Yu Fei's friend Lawson in his training camp. Yu Fei promoted it in the Clippers, and Antetokounmpo fully accepted this concept.

However, free throws became a challenge for Antetokounmpo. After he missed two shots, the physical trainer reluctantly advised: "Forget it, Giannis, you can't do it."

Antetokounmpo was not discouraged: "I heard that GOAT was not good at shooting at the beginning, but now? His shooting is accurate!"

The physical trainer rolled his eyes and thought, this guy is crazy! Who can compare to Frye?
"That's right!" Yu Fei responded from a distance.

"GOAT!" Antetokounmpo asked in surprise, "Are you coming to practice too?"

Yu Fei was already past the age where he could still train during the holidays. "I was just passing by." Because he knew that if he answered "yes", the Greeks would definitely invite him to train together, and then he would not be able to leave.

"GOAT, you should supervise Nikola more strictly! I invited him to train with me, but he refused. The reason is ridiculous!"

"What's the reason?" Yu Fei asked curiously.

"He said he shouldn't pay so much tax and he wanted to write a letter to protest against the tax bureau!"

Yu Fei couldn't help laughing: "What do you say?"

"It doesn't work!" Antetokounmpo complained. "I tried it a long time ago! The IRS said I make so much money that I deserve to contribute to society!"

Yu Fei laughed and said: "You should say to him 'Welcome to the NBA!'"

Antetokounmpo didn't get the joke, nodded seriously, and then yelled, "Break is over!"

He continued to train.

Yu Fei watched for a while, and couldn't help but think of his days in Washington. At that time, he was isolated and helpless, and could only train hard. Only by constantly improving could he break Jordan's hegemony.

These extraordinary training volumes allowed him to make rapid progress in a short period of time and eventually reach the top. However, more than a decade later, he has learned to relax at the right time and even strictly control his diet to ensure that junk food does not affect his body functions.

Antetokounmpo has the most training in the team, has no restrictions on diet, and is almost crazy about strength training, just to become the "Ubuntu" of the league. Yu Fei understands his ambition and knows that the Greek monster has the potential to realize his dream.

He wanted to leave, but finally turned back and said to Antetokounmpo: "I'll practice with you for a while."

Perhaps out of nostalgia for his youth, Yu Fei accompanied Antetokounmpo in training until late at night that day.

A few days later, the Clippers' All-Star team set off for New York.

The All-Star Weekend has long become one of Yu Fei's most disliked holidays.

For him, this is not really a vacation, but a time when his workload doubles. If these tasks were limited to the court, it would be fine, but the problem is that at least 95% of the tasks have nothing to do with playing.

However, this is an unavoidable reality.

As soon as Yu Fei stepped out of the airport, he was surrounded by his agent Christian Laettner and the entire Reebok team. A swarm of media had already gathered outside the airport.

After finally dealing with the media, Yu Fei walked out of the airport and found a long queue outside. Fans were wearing Yu Fei's jerseys from different periods of his career. The entire street was completely occupied and traffic was in chaos.

Yu Fei had to step forward to maintain order. Only after handling the situation could he get in the car and leave for the event venue arranged for him by Reebok to start his busy day.

According to statistics from the Associated Press, Yu Fei is considered the top athlete in the United States among people aged 12 to 42. Beyond sports, he is also one of the top ten most influential celebrities in the United States today, and the only sports figure among them.

The products he endorsed were very popular, and the projects he handled were very successful. Thanks to his rise over the past decade, Reebok surpassed Nike and became the world's number one sports brand.

Even in 2015, Yu Fei's influence was still strong. He led the second-place Kevin Durant in the All-Star voting by nearly twice, and this gap was not the limit of fan voting, but because the battle for the top vote was undoubted, fans only needed to maintain his huge advantage.

If it is necessary to mobilize fans to vote, the media estimates that Yu Fei's fan base can double the current number of votes.

This powerful appeal can often be directly converted into commercial value in superstars.

This year's All-Star Weekend was held in New York. Reebok naturally would not miss this opportunity and arranged a full schedule for Yu Fei.

The last stop of the day was at a Reebok store in Manhattan, where fans swarmed and filled the entire store.

NFL players often talk about the atmosphere of the Super Bowl. The feeling of being surrounded by a sea of ​​people in a dome with more than 100,000 people is something that most NBA players find difficult to experience.

But this is Yu Fei's daily life. Wherever he goes, his fans will follow him.

When he left, not only had the event been completed, but he had also brought in more sales for the Reebok store than the previous month.

After a busy day, Yu Fei sat tiredly in the car, listening to Lightner introduce tomorrow's itinerary.

"Fourteen years ago, my rookie cards sold for $14," Yu Fei suddenly mentioned something seemingly unrelated. "Now, they're worth $100. If they have my signature on them, they'd be worth double that. What happened all these years, Chris?"

Lightner was confused after hearing this, but felt that this sentence was unexpectedly suitable for the city they were in.

NEW YORK — This city is unique in that its differences are more metaphorical than physical. Looking out from Staten Island toward the edge of New York Harbor, the Manhattan skyline is a symbol of endless possibilities — and the parties and star-studded events during All-Star Weekend — that seem so close yet so far away.

“A lot of things have happened, Frye,” Laettner responded. “Most importantly, you’re no longer the same person you were.”

This sentence does not sound like an accusation against someone who is blinded by greed and forgets his roots, "You have changed", but rather a deeper realization: Yu Fei, who was a nobody back then, has now become the face of the alliance.

"Besides these business activities, I should have more important things to do, right?" Yu Fei asked.

Lightner hesitated: "I think... maybe there is."

As for what it is, Laettner is not sure yet. But he believes that as long as he thinks carefully, he will be able to give GOAT a satisfactory answer.

(End of this chapter)