When pride still matters

Chapter 610 Long Summer
It's been an exciting summer for the sports media.

There are a lot of signings, and the stories behind them are quite fascinating.

Even a superstar like Wade, who played for the Heat for 12 years, has left Miami.

The second was the broadcast of "The Last Dance," a documentary about the 1998 Bulls.

The documentary has set off a craze in the sports world, and some media believe that this documentary came a little late.

If he had appeared when Yu Fei won his seventh championship, he might have been able to counter the momentum of the new GOAT.

Now, Yu Fei has won nine championships. It can be said that his honors have surpassed Jordan. Now people are wondering whether he can surpass Bill Russell's championship number before retiring? Jordan? The two are no longer on the same track.

Yu Fei is recognized as the greatest player of all time (GOAT), while Jordan is recognized as the vice-GOAT.

This may be a good thing.

Because before Jordan, the world only knew who was the GOAT, but there were many different opinions about the deputy GOAT, and each had its own reasons.

This also makes the selection of deputy GOAT very unfavorable to ancient players, because there are almost no contemporary fans who will speak for them.

Now, the former GOAT has become the deputy GOAT, which seems to have set a certain standard for the future.

His existence has pointed out a clear path for those who come after him: Want to become the GOAT? First surpass No. 23.

In August, Sports Illustrated gave a preview of the upcoming 2015-16 season.

They believe that unless the Clippers suffer major injuries, their chances of defending the title are close to 70%.

The only team that could potentially challenge them is the New York Knicks.

Also in this month, Yu Fei appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the Nth time.

Today, the rise of social media has caused the decline of traditional media. As one of the most outstanding sports media in history, Sports Illustrated has been famous for its outstanding long-form sports writing for 60 years, but the fragmented reading trend of social media has made it difficult for long articles to attract a large number of readers.

Expecting contemporary football fans to spend more than ten or twenty minutes reading a long article is as difficult as expecting movie fans to watch a movie without dragging the progress bar.

Sports Illustrated, which is gradually going downhill, urgently needs traffic.

Nowadays, no one can compare with the traffic brought by Yufei.

That year, Sports Illustrated used an article titled "The Chosen One" to make Yu Fei, who was unknown at the time, famous and directly entered the NBA's field of vision. Yu Fei has always been grateful for this.

Yu Fei took a cool cover photo, accepted an interview, and answered several key questions.

One of the questions was: "Do you still think you'll retire at 35?"

"Do you want me to retire at that time?" Yu Fei asked back.

Realistically, no one in the basketball industry wants the GOAT to retire at 35.

Because that day is not far away.

The questioner said: “No one wants this to happen.”

"If it were a few years ago, I would give you a positive answer, but now, I'm not sure," said Yu Fei.

"I do feel tired and a little numb to victory, but I still enjoy the feeling of victory and I like life under the spotlight," Yu Fei continued. "So, now I don't have an answer."

Isn't this a good thing?

No answer means the GOAT is still enjoying life in the present moment.

Another question that impressed Yu Fei that day was: "What do you think of Kenyon Martin's retirement announcement?"

Yu Fei sincerely asked back, "Has he still been in the league these years?" This sentence seemed more hurtful than ridicule. "I thought he retired a long time ago."

Martin's retirement marks the departure of another player who had a public feud with Yu Fei.

Back then, Martin played for the Nets and defeated Yu Fei, who led the Wizards into the playoffs alone, in the first round of the playoffs. After the game, Martin said that Yu Fei was hyped up.

The following year, Yu Fei defeated the Nets in the regular season and led the Bucks to win the championship.

Martin has been out of his sight since then.

Although the opponent would occasionally jump out to find some scenes, but in the game, Yu Fei taught him a lesson as easily as a father beating his son.

In the following years, the Nets disintegrated, and Kenyon Martin's career began to fluctuate. Injuries, leaving the team, and declining performance gradually made him fade out of people's sight. The last time Yu Fei heard about him was during the NBA lockout, when he went to China to play in the CBA.

After the lockout, Martin could only play as a substitute in the NBA, and had almost no chance to meet Yu Fei. The media no longer paid special attention to him. Instead, he himself liked to talk about the past when he defeated the rookie Yu Fei in the playoffs.

This is like a true portrayal of Jordan's trash-talking education for rookie players.

"I may not be able to tell my descendants that I defeated you, but you can brag to others that you defeated me."

Yu Fei didn't have any special feelings for Martin.

This is neither pure hatred like Jordan, nor strong disgust like O'Neal, nor a complex mixture of hatred and disgust like James.

In Yu Fei's list of Avengers, Martin is undoubtedly the most exaggerated one.

So when Yu Fei asked Martin whether he was still in the alliance, there was actually no malicious intent.

But even though the words were unintentional, the listener took them seriously.

After Yu Fei's reaction to Martin's retirement was reported, the outside world interpreted it as Jordan's insult to his old rival in "The Last Dance".

The public opinion interprets this as: Even at this point, GOAT still does not intend to let his enemies go.

Martin's reaction was very intense. He directly criticized on Twitter: "Frye is a hypocritical villain! He pretended that I was insignificant in the past few years, but in fact, I was still an excellent substitute player in the past few years. I played against him on the court, but he pretended that he had never played against me! This proves that he is still brooding over the defeat more than ten years ago. He is not even willing to face the fact that he defeated him that year!"

Yu Fei did not respond to this.

Responding to Martin came countless fans.

Normally, players would be panicked after being attacked by online violence, but people like Martin who were determined to take advantage of Yu Fei's black traffic would naturally accept it with a smile. Not only did he not care, but he continued to make fierce remarks to attract more attention and hatred.

However, during the whole process, Yu Fei never paid any attention to him.

This is undoubtedly the wisest choice.

The best way to deal with someone who wants to stand out is to forget him on the edge of the world.

Martin retired, but he wasn't the only veteran to say goodbye to the game this summer.

In addition to Martin, another player who had a feud with Yu Fei, Richard Hamilton, also announced his retirement.

As a mid-range shooter, Hamilton's last impression in this changing era was that he backstabbed Yu Fei. That year, he voluntarily gave up the entire season, leaving Yu Fei to fight alone. After that, the two went their separate ways, and Hamilton was always dissatisfied with Yu Fei, and eventually ended up drifting without a home and a lifetime of championship.

Yu Fei's fans will be happy to see this.

Compared to those who were directly retaliated by Yu Fei, what they find more disgusting are the minor characters who still feel unsatisfied even after being retaliated by Yu Fei.

However, the most important player to retire this summer is Yao Ming's old partner.

Tracy McGrady, who has been unable to fight again in recent years due to worsening back injuries.

McGrady, 36, suffers from congenital spinal problems. Doctors believed that he could not become a professional athlete. As a result, his professional career has lasted from 1997 to the present, nearly 20 years. Although he has not won the championship, he has made waves in the Eastern Conference in the 2000s.

Yu Fei sent his blessings to McGrady.

He specifically found a vintage photo, which was a snapshot of him and McGrady on the court when he first started for the Wizards in the winter of 2001.

“Kids today might not believe it, but 15 years ago, T-MAC was the best in the East, and I’m glad to play against such a great player in my first start of my career.”

Grant Hill was expressing jealousy under this tweet.

"In fact, I was the one who played against you the entire night."

In addition to McGrady, Yu Fei's former teammate Shawn Marion also chose to retire this summer. As the first generation of small-ball all-around forward, Shawn Marion was the first mercenary of the Sonics dynasty, the "Bosh" before Bosh. In fact, Bosh's end in Seattle was already revealed in Marion.

Marion did not have a good ending in Seattle, his contributions were not fully appreciated, and Bosh's fate was exactly the same.

In addition to them, other stars who retired this summer include former Clippers captain Elton Brand, Turkish agent Hedo Turkoglu, and Jason Richardson, who is in the same class as Yu Fei.

Time flies, and some people will eventually leave.

After the Clippers signed two generals in the free market, they adjusted their existing lineup.

They first renewed the contract with veteran Richard Jefferson for one year, and then impressed "Nine Fingers" Gerald Green with the dream of defending the championship, convincing him to take a pay cut and renew the contract.

However, Zaza Pachulia didn't buy it.

Before winning the championship, everyone can endure for the sake of honor, but if they still have to endure after winning the championship, then what is the point of winning the championship?
Pachulia discussed with the Clippers management several times, and when he saw that the other party had no intention of relenting, he decisively went to the free market to seek an offer.

If he stays with the Clippers, Pachulia can only get $400 million a year, and in the free market, many teams are willing to offer him a mid-level contract.

Although the Clippers have been "brainwashing" Pachulia with the ball market and commercial value of Los Angeles, he is very clear about his positioning.

It is true that Los Angeles has a strong business atmosphere, but for Pachulia, commercial value seems to be something he is not born with.

First of all, he is from Georgia. In the past two decades, Georgia is best known for its conflicts with big countries. As a niche star in a niche country, Pachulia is a traditional center who has neither a broad national base nor an attractive playing style. Although Los Angeles is full of business opportunities, these business opportunities will not favor someone who has no business attributes.

Pachulia decisively gave up the Clippers' offer and signed a three-year, $3 million contract with the Timberwolves.

For the Clippers, this is a loss of lineup talent, but it does not necessarily mean a weakening.

Because they brought in Brandan Wright.

In this era, Wright can play the four and five positions, and Nikola Jokic will take on more responsibilities in the new season.

Pachulia's presence is somewhat redundant, which is why the Clippers are refusing to give in on the offer.

After Pachulia left the team, the Clippers quickly used the funds originally prepared for him to sign Italian shooter Marco Belinelli.

It was no surprise that Belinelli chose to join the defending champions.

At this point, the Clippers have completed the last step of the offseason.

By September, teams have begun to gather and prepare for the new season.

After returning to the United States, Yu Fei started special training specifically prepared for the new season, mainly to restore his physical strength.

As time goes by, most of the players on the Clippers' roster have returned to Los Angeles.

There is only one exception.

That is Yao Ming.

The 2015 Changsha Men's Basketball Asian Championship will start in late September, and Yao Ming will have to wait until at least mid-October to return to the United States.

Before training camp begins, players still have free private time.

However, some people with subjective initiative will actively seek opportunities for improvement.

For example, Nikola Jokic, the Serbian stayed in the United States this past summer to participate in St. Barbara's "Soul Jump" special training camp.

It was a recovery, training and specialized strengthening camp designed specifically for top athletes.

The main focus is technology, effective training and systematic nutritional recovery.

Jokic temporarily put aside his beloved horse racing and stayed in the United States throughout the summer to improve his physical fitness. Finally, he walked into Yu Fei's training camp like a brand new human being.

"Nikola, why are you here?"

Yu Fei didn't expect Jokic to come.

“I want to be better sometimes,” Jokic said.

Yu Fei noticed that Jokic did not come to the training camp with an out-of-shape figure like last year. His face began to show angles, and his originally sturdy figure like a white bear now looked as tangible as an ancient Greek sculpture.

This is the "follow-up" impact of Yao Ming's substitute role in the finals.

If Yao Ming finishes the finals as a starter, no one will question his tactical position even if he is targeted by opponents on the court.

But Jokic witnessed the entire process of Yao Ming being sent to the bench off the court.

As smart as he is, he must know how Yao Ming was targeted, and he understands why he cannot adapt to games of that intensity.

Jokic also faces the challenge of defending pick-and-rolls in this era, but he is not a 220cm tall center after all. Even if he is "trained", he will not be as embarrassed as Yao Ming.

Moreover, he was very clear that his skills were also outstanding in the NBA. The only thing that needed to be improved was his physical fitness, so he chose to use a summer to transform his body.

After entering the training camp, Yu Fei was finally able to thoroughly observe his changes.

Then, Yu Fei noticed several key points.

After getting rid of the excess body fat, Jokic became more agile and began to dare to dribble from the backcourt to the basket. At the same time, his shooting accuracy has also improved significantly, and his hand-eye coordination is unparalleled, which is rarely matched in NBA history.

The last and most difficult to detect change is that although Jokic still doesn't jump high after losing fat, his jumping speed is very fast.

In basketball, this is very important.

Because successful defense often depends on whether you can get to the right place at the right time, not just how high you jump.

This also explains why Jokic is as effective in protecting the rim as some excellent blue-collar centers.

After the first day of training, Jokic was thinking about what to eat in the evening, but he heard Yu Fei say with a smile: "If you keep playing like this, when Yao Ming comes back, he will find that his starting position is gone."

"Are you kidding?" Jokic looked at Yu Fei seriously, "Can I start?"

"Now is not the time to discuss this." Yu Fei replied.

Jokic continued, "So can I start?"

"I don't know, kid, don't ask me." Yu Fei said, "I'm not a coach."

"Oh, I'm really sad. I worked hard for 100 days, but I can't even get a starting spot. I want to retire!" Jokic said in self-abandonment. "The money I make now is enough to open a horse farm in my hometown."

Yu Fei smiled and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Really?" Jokic said. "Unless you buy me two liters of Pepsi, I'm determined!"

"Get out! How dare you ask me for this?" Yu Fei said with a straight face.

Just when Jokic thought Yu Fei ignored his humor, the GOAT suddenly said: "I am the spokesperson for Coca-Cola, and you asked me to buy you Pepsi? You want me to breach the contract?"

Jokic said eagerly: "Coca-Cola is not a bad choice..."

The evening breeze blew across Yu Fei's face. He stared at the steaming cup of Coke in front of him and muttered, "I'm a professional athlete. How can I drink this?"

"If you want to retire at 35, there's no reason not to do it," Jokic said.

After a day of training, Yu Fei felt genuinely tired and sore. He hesitated for a moment and finally drank the Coke.

He hadn't drunk Coke for a long time. The refreshment he felt at that moment surpassed many things and gave him an evil idea: If I retire, can I enjoy these things at will?

It was an ordinary day, a day when one was not sure about anything.

This is how most people spend their day.

But for Yu Fei, this was a rare experience.

He likes this feeling.

(End of this chapter)