When pride still matters

Chapter 607 I like to be alone

The Clippers' carnival is about to begin.

Even for Los Angeles, a Clippers championship would have important implications for the city.

It has been 13 years since the Lakers last won the championship.

The Lakers' next championship seems to be a long way off. Although the Purple and Gold have improved this season, they still lack the capital to win the championship.

As a more competitive team, the Clippers have clearly affected the Lakers' base in California. This championship will truly shake the Lakers' dominance in the Los Angeles sports market.

Steve Ballmer seemed extremely excited.

Many people were not optimistic about his acquisition of the Clippers. After all, he paid a record-breaking fee, but now, those expenses are no longer a problem.

The Clippers became the champion in just two years. Although Ballmer was not involved in the team building during this period, he was just a person responsible for investment, but as long as the team continued to win, what was wrong with such a role?
What's more, the team is on the right track and has achieved considerable profits before winning the championship. With this championship, they will reap the market even more frantically.

Ballmer knows who brought all of this to fruition.

Yu Fei, however, did not show the uncontrollable excitement like his young teammates. He walked towards Curry and whispered, "You played well."

The 27-year-old Curry missed the chance to lead the team to win three consecutive championships this year. Every player desires the achievement of a dynasty, but only very few can get such an opportunity.

If this opportunity is lost, will there be another one in the future? Curry believes there will be. After all, the man standing in front of him once achieved the great achievement of winning the championship for six consecutive seasons after losing the opportunity of three consecutive championships.

So, Curry said, “It’s not good enough.”

Yu Fei didn't say much and the two hugged each other.

Then, Yu Fei walked to the next person.

Wade doesn't seem that sad. After all, he is no longer the Heat's top player and lost the chance to win the Finals MVP last season. In the summer, he will become a free agent. As the league's top two-way guard, his market is still promising.

Yu Fei asked, "Will I see you wearing a Heat jersey next year?"

Wade did not answer directly, but said: "If even the Clippers can win the championship, then nothing is impossible in this world!"

Yu Fei had a judgment in his mind. A core player like Wade who had won two consecutive championships would never help Curry, a younger brother he watched enter the league, before his decline. Since the Heat chose Curry between the two, Wade had no choice but to leave.

Then it was Butler's turn. Yu Fei teased him for his resemblance to Jordan and thanked him for reaching the finals.

"You know why I'm in such a good state in the playoffs? Because I'm so excited when I think about someone who looks like No. 23 waiting for me in the finals."

Yu Fei's words made Butler feel helpless. It turned out that Yu Fei performed well because his appearance affected the opponent's emotions, not his performance. The GOAT needs to be in the best condition to win.

Finally, there is Love, who can be regarded as the number one war criminal of the Heat. Although his outside shooting ability is a headache when facing Yao Ming, what really prevented Yao Ming from playing is the outside singles line composed of Curry, Wade and Butler.

Loew is more of a icing on the cake. His advantage is that he makes it difficult for Yao Ming to play from the outside. In fact, it is the outside players who suppress Yao Ming that make Loew appear to have an advantage against Yao Ming.

Starting from the fifth game of the finals, the Clippers put Yao Ming on the bench. Facing Du Fei, Love directly became his ATM.

In the fifth and sixth games of the finals, Yu Fei scored 38 points and 16 rebounds and 35 points and 15 rebounds on Love.

As the key point of the Heat's failure, Love and Yu Fei did not communicate much.

Yu Fei said maliciously: "I hope to see you in the finals next year."

Next up is the Heat head coach.

Eric Spoelstra, who was Riley's chief assistant coach at the time, witnessed Yu Fei's advanced performance in 2006, which made O'Neal, who still had some power, unable to play.

That was 2006.

The Heat still believe that it was the year they came closest to a championship in the O'Neal era. If they could get past the Bucks, the Mavericks would have a good chance in the finals. Unfortunately, they ran into the GOAT.

Looking back, their failure that year was inevitable, just like all the teams that encountered Yu Fei in the finals in recent years.

Ten years have passed in a blink of an eye. They took advantage of Yu Fei's team's downturn to win two consecutive championships, but faced Yu Fei again at the critical moment of the third consecutive championship.

The results were virtually unchanged from 2006.

"Frye, are you really going to retire at 35?" Coach Spoelstra asked from the bottom of his heart.

"That's an inopportune question, Eric." Yu Fei's answer made Coach Spoelstra pale. "Nights like this always make me want to play until I'm 40 and then retire."

Yu Fei asked back: "Who can not love such a night?"

It’s hard to imagine what Yu Fei will be like when he’s 40, but Coach Spoelstra didn’t continue.

After Yu Fei greeted his opponent, he looked back and saw that Rivers had been splashed with energy drink by an unknown person, but he looked very happy.

It's no wonder, after a lifetime of basketball work, this is the first championship he has won in his career. He has waited too long for this moment.

"I always wonder, what would have happened if we hadn't met you in 2008?" Rivers suddenly said.

Yu Fei gave the answer: "Yes, I will win."

"I thought so too." Rivers wiped his face, "But none of that matters anymore. I'm already the fucking world champion!"

This may be the advantage of being a coach. As long as you stay in this industry long enough, there will always be a chance to compete for the championship.

The Clippers then returned to the locker room.

They don't have much time, and although young people like Antetokounmpo want to participate in the champagne celebration, they still need to return to the scene to attend the awards ceremony.

In less than ten minutes, the Clippers returned to the scene wearing neat championship T-shirts.

Adam Silver prepared a long award speech for the Clippers, which mainly revolved around the Clippers' tragic history.

Silver rarely used the words "long and difficult road" and "incredibly great achievement" to describe the Clippers' championship. This may be the award words that his predecessor has never given to a team in his 30-year career.

If Stern were to present the award, he might be more excited than Silver. After all, to Stern, the Clippers have long been like a rat in the gutter, seemingly unable to turn over. Who dared to believe that they could win the championship?

In the end, this trophy that many teams have fought for decades was handed over from Silver to Ballmer.

"More than just this one!" Ballmer yelled into the microphone, "Baby, we're going to win more and more championships!"

Next is the FMVP selection which is no surprise.

There is no doubt that Yu Fei won the award. He not only performed well in the finals, but also showed an unstoppable form since the playoffs and even since the regular season in March, and he maintained it quite well throughout the season.

In this year's playoffs alone, his buzzer-beater against the Lakers, his dominant individual performance in Game 4 against the Warriors, and his replacement of Yao Ming as center in the finals to replicate Magic Johnson's classic story - this series of impressive scenes solidified his legend.

The FMVP is just a testament to these performances.

Yu Fei stood in front of Bill Russell and received the ninth FMVP trophy of his career.

Fans are not unfamiliar with seeing Yu Fei and Russell in the same frame, as this scene has happened many times. What is different this time is that people are beginning to realize that Yu Fei has won nine championships. What does this mean? He is approaching one of the most untouchable records in NBA history - Russell's total number of championships.

Even the former GOAT Jordan, who was great, could not compare to Russell in terms of the number of championships. Russell won 13 championships in 11 years. If later players want to prove that they are GOAT, they need to cooperate with public opinion to belittle the achievements of their predecessors.

That's exactly what happened in Jordan's camp.

Yu Fei avoided similar debates in a clever way. When the GOAT debate between Yu Fei and Jordan was at its most intense, Yu Fei shared his views on the GOAT. He redefined the GOAT. The outside world believes that the GOAT is the greatest in history, but Yu Fei believes that the GOAT represents the best of an era, with a time limit of about 20 years.

20 years later, a generation of players will retire, a generation of fans will grow old, new players and fans will enter the field, and a new GOAT will be born in the public opinion field.

This definition certainly avoids controversy, but it is not what the media wants. To get traffic, the media needs to attract attention. If you are just a bystander here, where will our traffic come from? Who will care about GOAT if this continues? Isn't the most controversial point of GOAT because it covers every practitioner in the history of this sport? Moreover, it is different from a 4-meter race. It is impossible to directly prove who is the best through competition records.

Different eras, different competitiveness, different social atmosphere, different reference points, all these differences lead to the fans never being able to reach a consensus.

Yu Fei's GOAT is a consensus among the contemporary generation and young fans, but what about the older generation? Bill Russell is their main tool to deny Yu Fei.

So, today, as Yu Fei won his ninth championship, someone asked a surprising question: Can Fry Yu eventually win as many championships as Bill Russell?

When Yu Fei won his seventh championship and established his GOAT status, no one talked about this issue.

Because eleven championships are almost impossible for modern basketball.

too difficult!
However, Yu Fei is now only two championships away, and the Clippers have clearly not reached their peak yet.

On the podium, Russell said to Fei: "I have been waiting in the 46-time champion club for years. I hope you are the next one to come in."

"I may disappoint you, Bill." Russell thought Yu Fei would be humble, but he was wrong.

Yu Fei said: "In this matter, I like to be alone, so I might choose the Twelve Crowns Club."

Even a great person like Russell was stunned when he heard this, and then he let out a very personal reggae laugh on the spot.

Then comes the real celebration.

The Clippers sprayed champagne liberally in the visiting locker room.

Antetokounmpo aimed the champagne at everyone he saw, and then his childish behavior caused "public outrage" and his teammates mobbed him.

However, those who like to play like this are basically young people.

The old Dengs represented by Yu Fei and Yao Ming just sprayed a few times symbolically and then sat aside to savor the fruits of victory.

Yao Ming took a sip of champagne and said comfortably: "If I can get a maximum salary while sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates win the championship, that would be a good life."

Yu Fei responded: "You've lost your edge after only winning three championships."

"I am not you. I don't have a historical position to defend." Yao Ming smiled. "I am just a 35-year-old man, planning for my 35-year-old future."

Yu Fei asked: "So what future are you planning?"

"When I was 39 years old, I represented the national team in the World Cup in China, and then retired!" Yao Ming said this with great pride. "This way, my career is complete. How many players can participate in both the Olympics and the World Cup in China?"

"Until I'm 39? Really?"

As a time traveler, Yu Fei has imagined many things, but Yao Ming's participation in the 2019 China Men's Basketball World Cup is something he has never thought of.

Playing until 39? Is that really possible?

Yu Fei looked at him playfully: "Are you sure you can hold on until then? I mean, can you handle it?"

In recent years, Yao Ming has been playing for championship teams, so he has to play from November to June every year, and then only rest for a period of time before participating in national team training.

Since the Chinese national basketball team failed to qualify for the 2009 Asian Championships, the Basketball Association will definitely recruit Yao Ming as long as he is healthy.

Therefore, since 2010, Yao Ming has had little rest time in the summer.

Especially in recent years, the NBA schedule has become longer and longer, and the national team has to participate in various warm-up matches and intercontinental competitions.

With such damage, it is hard to guarantee that your body will not be able to bear it one day.

Yao Ming knew what Yu Fei was referring to, and he was clear about his situation.

"I just need to hold on a little longer this year," Yao Ming said calmly. "Next year, I will be much more relaxed."

Yu Fei pondered for a moment and said, "If you really want to catch up with the 2019 World Cup, I have an idea."

Yao Ming's eyes lit up: "What's your idea? Tell me now!"

"Don't talk about it now, wait until you get through this summer."

"Ce Na! Are you still keeping me in suspense?!"

That night, Yu Fei and Yao Ming drank champagne in the visiting team's locker room, and then returned to the hotel and called a few veterans to continue the small party.

Kwame Brown soon passed out drunk on the couch.

Next was Danny Granger. He didn't expect that he would win the championship with the Clippers without any effort. He couldn't stop crying when he thought about the time when he followed Yu Fei in Milwaukee. He couldn't control his emotions.

Then there's Zaza Pachulia, who also got touched.

But in the end, it was Yu Fei and Yao Ming who persevered to the end.

The two of them drank until midnight, and finally Yao Ming couldn't stand it anymore.

The next day, Antetokounmpo struggled to open Yu Fei's hotel room. Seeing the room full of alcohol and several veterans in low spirits, he shouted: "Ubuntu! We are going home today, you guys hurry up! GOAT, what's wrong with you GOAT?!"

"Don't bother me!" Yu Fei shouted.

"GOAT, we're going home!" the Greek said, "Everyone is waiting, there are a lot of people waiting in Los Angeles!"

"What are you excited about? Winning the championship or making 10 billion?"

The GOAT seemed to be a little drunk.

The Greek said innocently: "I didn't make 10 billion, but didn't we win the championship last night?"

Yu Fei then stood up, looked around, and gradually recalled what happened last night.

"Yeah, we won the championship."

After a while, Yu Fei still didn't know why his ninth championship felt as dreamy as his first.

(End of this chapter)