When pride still matters

Chapter 621 Everything has changed, and nothing has changed
It's been an average summer for the Clippers.

This was destined to happen ever since Yu Fei announced his contract renewal.

They will definitely not have any major changes, the only thing they need to do is to maintain the team that won two consecutive championships.

In addition to keeping Yu Fei, the Clippers also chose to renew their contract with Antetokounmpo in advance.

The Greek has only one year left on his rookie contract, but he has been selected to the All-Star team and the All-NBA team for two consecutive years and won the championship with the team, fully triggering the "Yu Fei Clause."

After negotiations, the Clippers offered Antetokounmpo a four-year contract worth $1.2 million. This could be a dream come true for him. He finally realized the ambition he set when he entered the NBA, and the money is enough to provide his family with food and clothing.

At the same time, the Clippers also renewed the contract with veteran Richard Jefferson for one year. As for Yao Ming, even though his contract was still one year away from expiring, the team still offered him a two-year, $5000 million contract extension in advance. You know, Yao Ming is now a bench player and he will be 37 years old at the end of next season.

In this case, giving Yao Ming such a big contract is not just to match his star status, but the team owner feels that it is necessary to give back to such a veteran who has devoted himself to the team. This contract will also ensure that Yao Ming can still receive a salary of 2019 million US dollars in 2500.

Of course, the Clippers have the confidence to do so. Jokic's rookie contract bonus still has two years left. When Jokic also signs a big contract, if Yu Fei is still playing, the Clippers will face the pressure of four maximum salaries, but this situation only needs to last for one year. Yao Ming has made it clear that he will retire in 2019, so the team does not have to worry about the renewal issue.

This contract extension not only improves the Clippers' image and shows their respect for veteran players, but also allows the team to establish a good reputation in the league for treating players well. Compared with the practices of the Supersonics and the Heat, the Clippers' attitude is particularly noble.

However, Josh Richardson was traded after the championship celebrations in exchange for the signing rights of Pascal Siakam, a move that displeased some fans, who believed that Arn Tellem was a little complacent after leading the team to two consecutive championships.

The Los Angeles Times also criticized this: "JR (initials) proved in his rookie season that he is one of the best players in the 2016 draft class. As a team that has difficulty obtaining high draft picks, we should be grateful for having such outstanding young players. They are the foundation of the Clippers' rise. However, half a month after winning the second championship, JR was traded - in exchange for an older Cameroonian player. Arn Tellem will pay the price for this!"

When the Times takes the lead, other media in Los Angeles will naturally follow suit and raise questions.

However, Trem was not weak at all this time.

We have survived such difficult public opinion before, so what does this matter now?

Moreover, Siakam is the designated GOAT, and Tellem believes that this person must have something outstanding.

Another shadow beneath the Clippers' apparent glory is their rational and sober approach to mercenaries.

They like people like Jefferson who know when to advance and when to retreat, and they also like people like Brown who don't take advantage of others' favor. However, when Monta Ellis asked for a salary increase on the grounds of helping the team win the championship, the Clippers decisively put him on the free market.

Yu Fei agreed to this matter.

There are too many people who can do the job of backup scorer. Although Ellis is his classmate, the two of them are just working people.

The other party did what he should do last season. If he is willing to continue to receive the minimum salary, it is not a problem for him to stay, but if he wants a salary increase, he can only let him go.

Yu Fei believes Brogdon will be the perfect substitute for Ellis.

In addition to Ellis, the Clippers also signed Stephen Curry's younger brother Seth Curry.

This was the Clippers' last move of the summer, and it went unnoticed by anyone.

The NBA didn't have a summer as big as 2011 or 2009.

Yu Fei renewed his contract, James changed teams, the Clippers are still strong, and the Heat, taking advantage of the surge in salary space, suddenly gained the strength to break the balance in the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference Spurs signed Al Horford from the free market after Duncan retired, which was considered a move that could offset the impact of Duncan's retirement.

On the other side, the Warriors also unlocked salary space due to the sharp increase in the salary cap, but unfortunately, there are no players in the market who can change the situation, so they can only throw money to Nicolas Batum, an all-around forward from France.

After signing Batum, the Warriors' wing depth has improved a bit, but it still feels like they spent money but it doesn't seem like they spent any.

Because Batum can't change anything, their fate is still in the hands of Leonard and Lillard.

Summer is coming to an end.

ESPN contract writer Zach Lowe ranked the Clippers first and the Heat second in his 2016-17 NBA power rankings.

Lowe believes: "The Clippers' three-peat hopes lie in the growth of Giannis and Nikola, and whether Miami can interrupt the Clippers' dynasty depends on whether Steph can willingly accept the fact that he may no longer be Miami's number one player."

As soon as September passed, the training camp schedule was put on the schedule.

At this time, Yu Fei had just finished his overseas activities.

Before the training camp begins, he first needs to undergo short-term special training to adjust his body to the point where he can cope with the intensity of the training camp.

After the age of 30, this almost became a habit for him.

If he doesn't do that, he can't guarantee that he will be in good shape when he goes to training camp.

Generally speaking, some of his teammates will take the initiative to sign up for his short training camp.

Doing this can not only enhance your relationship with him, but also allow you to use his training resources for free.

That’s what Jokic did last year, but he didn’t come this year.

However, Yao Ming has come, and he is a rare guest.

Ever since the men's basketball team won the championship at home in Tianjin in 2009 but was severely humiliated by the Iranians, the Basketball Association has learned its lesson and realized that they can choose not to kill Yao Ming, their nuclear weapon, but they cannot fail to recruit him.

So, there were the World Championships in Turkey, the Asian Championships in Wuhan, the London Olympics, the Asian Championships in Manila, the first Men's Basketball World Cup in Spain, the Asian Championships in Changsha, and then this year's Rio Olympics.

For six whole years, Yao Ming had never had a good rest like a worker ant. However, from now on, he can have a good rest.

Even at the Rio Olympics, the men's basketball team focused on training.

All eyes were on the local World Cup a few years later, so the men's basketball team, which reused new players, suffered its first group stage elimination in Rio in the Yao Ming era.

In the following years, due to the restructuring of FIBA, the Asian Championships were no longer held. Since the Men's Basketball World Cup was held locally, there was no need to worry about qualification issues and the team could spend three years training.

An old player like Yao Ming is naturally not included in the training. He will not have to travel with the team before 2019.

Therefore, Yao Ming is now free to participate in Yu Fei's short training camp.

"You know what? If I was like you, playing from November to June every year, without a few days off, I would have to go back to my country to participate in national team games, and then be busy until September, and then take a short break and go to pre-season training camp... I might retire before I am 30 years old because of overwork."

Yao Ming replied seriously: "That's because you have never really carried the basketball honor of a country."

This is true. Even though Yu Fei joined the US team in 2007 in the name of "saving", it was still driven by commercial purposes.

The so-called "redemption" of the American team was just one of the means to enhance his personal commercial value. And Yu Fei's reputation did reach its peak in those two years, and no one has been able to approach it since then.

"But I should thank you," Yao Ming continued. "If you hadn't changed the rhythm of the basketball game, I might have given up a long time ago."

Yu Fei smiled and said, "You're welcome. I will continue to work hard and hope to keep you playing until you are 50 years old."

This is the butterfly effect that Yu Fei likes to see the most.

Ten days later, the training camps of various teams opened one after another. This year, the Clippers were particularly high-profile and opened their camps completely to the media on the first day. This move attracted a large number of reporters and media who had learned the news in advance and rushed to the training camp, hoping to interview the players and coaches up close.

The rise of social media has exposed players to the public at all times, and even a casual swear word outside may be photographed and posted online by fans. In order to protect their almost non-existent privacy, players usually prohibit the media from entering the stadium.

Generally speaking, only on media day can reporters freely enter the NBA's training grounds. The era of third-party media sending reporters to travel with the team and participate in internal team meetings is long gone.

This is why there were a large number of media reporters at the venue on the opening day of the Clippers training camp.

When Yu Fei walked into the camp, he saw reporters everywhere and suddenly felt irritated.

"Who agreed to this?" he asked, frowning.

Kevin Lin responded: "It seems to be Doug."

Yu Fei sneered, "He really knows how to please the media." Yu Fei was undoubtedly the number one person the media wanted to interview, but he was followed by two burly men. When the media tried to get close to the "GOAT", the bodyguard immediately warned: "Frye is not accepting interviews now!"

"I just have one question—"

"Get out of the way! Don't make me say it again!" the bodyguard shouted.

Only media approved by Yu Fei can approach him.

This is why Mark Stein and others have to speak up for Yu Fei no matter what. Although it is not pleasant to be a superstar's external mouthpiece, the exclusive information channels he obtains from it have benefited him greatly.

Stein is no longer the prolific ESPN news mogul. He is now a frequent guest on ESPN's NBA analysis program, where he often breaks shocking news.

The only way to make his source credible is to maintain his relationship with Yu Fei.

Today, Stein was also present.

After the reckless reporters were driven away by the bodyguards, Stein walked up to Yu Fei without being stopped: "These people are really ignorant."

"Doug shouldn't give them these rights. It's totally unnecessary," said Yu Fei.

Stein asked, "Was it Doug who decided to open up the press today?"

“Yes, he thinks this will give us maximum exposure at the start of the season,” Yu Fei said. “I hate this.”

Stein asked cautiously, "Do you want me to remind Doug?"

"No, exposure itself is not a bad thing. What I hate is that my exposure is too damn high!" Yu Fei said, "You will definitely say that you understand my life, but to be honest, Mark, you don't understand. You don't understand that I just want to eat a medium-rare steak outside, and the next day the media will laugh at my taste, and fans will start discussing why I like medium-rare steak. Some people will say that I am a country bumpkin, and some people will think that my taste is different. But what is the truth? I just happened to want to change my taste that day!"

Stein smiled and said, "I believe you can relate to No. 23 in this regard."

"Maybe. How is No. 23 doing recently?" Yu Fei asked casually, "Is he still alive?"

"He is still alive and well."

"That's good, we are all alive."

Maybe what Yu Fei really wanted to say was why he was still alive. But that was not important. What was important was that Stein realized that GOAT still regarded him as a friend as he did in the past.

This is more important than anything else.

Unlike the GOAT who thinks highly of himself and refuses all interviews, Giannis Antetokounmpo is working hard to build his own brand influence.

As one of Reebok's new superstars, Antetokounmpo received comprehensive training in the summer to learn how to understand "brand", "image" and "influence".

Today, he is very friendly when facing the media, humorous and patient, and willing to answer any questions.

When the media tries to stir up competition between him and the GOAT, Antetokounmpo will say: "There is no competition between Frye and me. We are more like master and apprentice. For me, the most important thing is to make him proud of me. I want to be a player like Frye!"

The Greeks are indeed full of star charm.

But his biggest problem was that he was Greek.

Even someone as great as the hockey emperor Wayne Gretzky could not steal the limelight from Magic Johnson in Los Angeles.

Although the United States is a country of immigrants and claims to be inclusive, nationality still matters in all competitive arenas.

The biggest obstacle limiting Antetokounmpo from becoming Yu Fei may not be his skills, but his identity.

Americans will not allow a black Greek to become a sports god.

After consolidating his relationship with the Clippers, Stein also needs to develop his own network within the Clippers.

He knows that GOAT will retire sooner or later, and he can't hang himself on a tree.

When he asked GOAT whether he preferred Jokic or Antetokounmpo, GOAT tactfully chose the former.

So, Stein walked up to Jokic and wanted to do an exclusive interview with him.

Jokic himself was somewhat resistant to the interview, but he didn't want to appear unfriendly.

"Whatever, I can do it."

So, the interview began.

Stein soon discovered that when he asked Jokic questions about basketball, he got perfunctory responses. However, when the topic turned to something other than basketball, everything changed.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight since coming to Los Angeles. I know the food here is a little different than in Serbia. What was the hardest thing to give up?”

"It's definitely the meat from my hometown. I miss it so much! I even stockpile a lot of it at home."

"Is this to prevent you from getting hungry suddenly?"

"Yes! But what I miss most is the fish soup, with some pasta on the side. If you have the chance to go to Serbia, you must try it!"

"Is that something you allow yourself to eat?"

Jokic's expression changed slightly: "Of course."

“Do you still drink Coke?”

"This is my destiny. I can't refuse it."

"So how much do you drink every day?"

"One gallon!"

Stein saw the truest side of Jokic when it came to diet, but it also made him a little worried about the future of the European big man - his self-discipline seemed to be insufficient.

After the interview, Stein and Jokic added each other as social media friends on the spot. Although the two were unfamiliar with each other before, they established a connection. Stein will use his own way to maintain this connection, which will continue for many years.

At the end of the day, Yu Fei still refused to allow any media without "permission" to interview him. He suddenly felt annoyed with the training camp, which was filled with too many young people.

After the training that day, Yu Fei returned to the locker room and saw Siakam putting things on Kwame Brown's locker. He reminded him, "Rookie, this locker is occupied. This guy has a bad temper and specifically bullies newcomers like you. You'd better pack up your junk before he notices."

"Thank you, Frye, I almost got into trouble!" Siakam responded gratefully.

He quickly moved his belongings and chose a cabinet in the corner.

When his figure disappeared in a corner of the locker room, an empty locker suddenly caught Yu Fei's eyes - it was Kwame Brown's old locker, a place he was once very familiar with.

And now, the owner of the cabinet has retired.

The team gave the cabinet to the newcomer, to the young player he was optimistic about.

All this seemed natural, but Yu Fei felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart.

The locker was still the same locker, and the training camp was still the same training camp, but everything here had become strange in his eyes.

Those once familiar faces have long gone, replaced by young smiles, and time has quietly changed everything around him.

Although it seems that nothing has changed, everything is no longer the same.

PS: I have a day off tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)