When pride still matters

Chapter 630 He wants more
At the beginning of April, the Clippers had just finished their road trip and returned to their home court when ESPN broke the news: "Brandon Roy announced that the season is over!"

Later, a reporter who was close to Roy broke the news: "Brandon Roy is considering retiring."

Yu Fei wasn't sure whether Roy would really retire.

But he knew he had changed Roy's career as much as possible in his own way.

That night, Yu Fei called Roy.

Roy admitted that he was considering retirement.

Yu Fei thought there was no need for him to persist any longer.

"There's no need for a player who can only play 1/3 of the schedule every year to continue. Just retire and stop torturing your fans."

Yu Fei said mercilessly.

"Listen, no one can decide when I retire, except..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you lose to LeBron in the finals this year," Roy said. "If you lose, and even LeBron beats you, I think I can play until the end of this contract."

"Don't you feel a little sorry for KD saying that? They don't necessarily have to lose to Miami."

Roy smiled: "Yeah, I may have underestimated New York a little bit, but anyone who knows basketball knows that Miami is the best in the East. KD has no chance."

"Yes." Yu Fei said with a pain in his heart, "Just like anyone who knows basketball knows that you can't play anymore!"

Hearing this, Roy became angry and the call ended with the two of them cursing at each other.

The next day, Roy sent Yu Fei a text message: "As you wish, I'm retiring."

It is impossible to say that Yu Fei had no waves in his heart.

Roy was the first NBA player he kept in touch with after starting his second life.

They met at an invitational tournament in the Seattle area, and it has been 17 years now.

Yu Fei remembers Roy's initial appearance and his demeanor in the NBA. Today, 17 years later, he decided to end his career, and Yu Fei absolutely supports his decision.

A great player should know when to leave and not let people forget who you were in the beginning.

Yu Fei certainly knows that if Roy maintains his current attendance rate, he can continue to play, but what's the point? Does it mean anything to him and the fans?
Now, Roy made his decision.

This is serious.

Yu Fei believed that Roy would not joke about this matter.

So Yu Fei responded: "Congratulations, brother, you have had a great career."

A few minutes later, Roy sent another text message back.

“Don’t lose to LeBron.”

"When have you ever seen me lose to him?"

"Not long ago..."

“!@#￥!#￥”

Currently, only Yu Fei knows that Roy has decided to retire.

Although Roy's stay or departure has no impact on the NBA's landscape, it is still worth discussing for the Trail Blazers and Reebok.

Reebok needs to revise Roy's contract, and the Trail Blazers need to dispose of the remaining two years of Roy's contract at the lowest cost.

Only when these things are settled can Roy's decision be made public.

But one thing is certain, the die is cast, Roy's playing career is over.

It was April, and the Clippers lost to the Spurs in the first game of the new month, thus falling two games behind the Heat.

Although there are less than ten regular season games left, it is not an easy task to make the Heat lose three games during this period while maintaining an undefeated record.

In other words, the Heat have a high probability of securing the first place in the league.

In this way, Stephen Curry, who averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game, also secured the MVP.

With little hope of competing for first place in the league, the Clippers began giving role players more opportunities.

After a season of training in the Development League, Seth Curry is an eye-opener.

At the beginning of the season, Yu Fei suggested to Rivers that he give him a chance, but he was like a frightened little elk on the court and was completely unprepared.

Now, his body shape doesn't seem to have changed, but his mentality is much calmer.

As a substitute, Curry Jr. contributed 50% of his three-point shooting percentage, and whenever the ball was passed to him, he was able to keep the tactics running through effective pick-and-rolls.

At the same time, the coaching staff discovered another bonus: His defensive contributions exceeded everyone's expectations.

Curry, like his great brother, is undersized, unable to make up for it with elite athleticism, and destined to be a subpar defender, but he reads the game well and is always on his toes, ready to steal an opponent's pass.

He is good at anticipating the attacker's next move and usually succeeds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo likes him very much. Curry Jr. created many highlight-blocking opportunities for the Greeks in two-on-one defense. Curry Jr. usually becomes the prey of teasing by those rough guys, disguising himself as a target to make them relax their vigilance. When they think the scoring opportunity has come, the Greek monster will descend from the sky and pull them back to reality.

It reminded Yu Fei of his brother, the elder Curry, a rare defender who could manipulate these talented players like his younger brother. He would lunge at a player and appear to be going all in, but it was just a trick—a mind game. When the offense quickly passed the ball to the other side, the Curry brothers were already there, ready to grab the ball.

It was this series of performances that earned Curry Jr. a spot in the Clippers' substitute rotation.

If Curry's performance was a surprise, then Siakam's gradual display of his NCAA style at the end of the season was also a surprise.

As a veteran player, Siakam disappointed the team for most of his rookie season.

Compared with Antetokounmpo, who was also born in 1994, his performance on the court seems reckless, even though Antetokounmpo has become an All-Star starter.

Siakam is overconfident in his talent, but the NBA level is another matter.

He used the same approach he had in the NCAA to face the NBA, and the result was naturally shocking.

After a season of rigorous education, Siakam developed an apprenticeship mentality and rebuilt his game philosophy almost from scratch.

Although this journey was difficult, it successfully allowed him to change his playing style at the end of the season.

He began to use his excellent physical condition to expand the defensive area like a modern inside player, and he knew that at the NBA level, only offense with the dominant hand could pose a threat, so he resolutely stopped using fancy operations with his non-dominant hand.

These changes allowed him to average 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block per game as a substitute at the end of the season, basically meeting the Clippers' expectations.

As for Brogdon, this older rookie who was 24 years old when he entered the industry and is now 25 years old, if he does not have immediate combat effectiveness, he should really consider taking his talents overseas.

The 2016 draft was considered mediocre before it began. As a result, the No. 10 pick Ben Simmons was injured and was ruled out for the season. Although the No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram was called Durant II, it seems that he is still a long way from the level of rookie Durant. Other players also failed to stand out in their rookie season, making Brogdon's performance as a substitute averaging 3 points, rebounds and assists per game in a dynasty team pursuing three consecutive championships stand out.

As one of only two rookies in his class to average a point per game, he has all but locked up the Rookie of the Year title.

Yu Fei became the perfect wingman for the young man.

If Siakam is in good form, he will pass the ball to him frequently.

When Curry is in hot form, he will also get extra support.

George Karl, who has become a Twitter old man with skinny legs, sighed on social media after seeing Yu Fei like this: "How much can time change things? Just look at Frye in 2017 and Frye in 2002."

Carl was being cryptic.

When Yu Fei was in the Bucks, he was the one who had the final say. The whole team had to serve him. Can we expect him to serve others? That depends on his mood.

However, Karl witnessed Yu Fei's changes at every stage. He was a ball hog in the Bucks period, and he adjusted his position several times in order to coexist with Roy and to provide soil for Durant's growth in the Supersonics period. Now, this core player who was once ridiculed by academic coaches as selfish, plays like Larry Bird.

He played with amazing efficiency and less time holding the ball, and he put up an amazing performance.

In the third-to-last game of the regular season, Yu Fei came to Portland for the last time this season and scored a season-high 49 points in front of Roy.

At that time, Roy was wearing a suit and was not concerned about the outcome of the game.

Roy then held a press conference at the end of the game to announce the end of his basketball career.

At the same time, the Seattle SuperSonics eagerly announced that they would retire Roy's jersey next season.

Although Yu Fei made it clear that he would not retire his jersey on Clay Bennett's team, Roy was ultimately unable to be as decisive as he was.

Even though Bennett failed to let him live out his life in Seattle, Roy still accepted this zero-cost kindness.

Some fans began to reminisce about the past Sonics dynasty.

From 2007 to 2013, so much has changed in just six years.

But only four years have passed since 2013, and the Supersonics have gone from being the most respected team to a team that even Kyrie Irving doesn't want to stay in.

They stayed in Seattle and got the best arena in the league, but the team's status regressed to before 2007.

If greatness does have a shelf life, is that shelf life too short?

All problems need to be left to time. Yu Fei once again wished Roy well on social media, and then the Clippers announced that GOAT would rest in the last two games of the season.

因此，于飞在2016-17赛季的数据定格在80场比赛，平均每场32分钟，场均拿下25分、7篮板、6助攻、1抢断和0.6封盖。

It is worth mentioning that Yu Fei successfully entered the 35000-point club this season, and his total score ranked fourth in history.

Given his current form, if he plays one more season, he will definitely break Karl Malone's record; if he plays one more season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record will also be surpassed. By then, once Kobe retires, he will be the NBA's all-time scoring leader.

However, Yu Fei is not obsessed with this title.

Because he really doesn't need to use the total scoring title to prove that he has a longer peak period.

Some players who try to surpass others by peak length often lack a peak height that makes people despair.

Now, Jordan has been left far behind by him.

The status of GOAT is as stable as a rock, and the exclusive award of "the longest river" like the total scoring champion does not interest him at all.

Therefore, he completely ignored the blueprint drawn for him by the outside world.

After two games, the Clippers still won consecutive games even though Yu Fei was resting, and finally ranked second in the league with a record of 68 wins and 14 losses.

The Heat ranked first in the league with a record of 70 wins and 12 losses.

Kobe ultimately failed to live up to his trash talk.

He said to Fei "see you in the playoffs" out of anger during the All-Star Weekend, and as a result, he finished ninth in the Western Conference due to the win-loss ratio and missed the playoffs at the last minute.

The Clippers' opponent in the first round is also an old rival, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who defeated them once in the regular season.

This could be Westbrook's destined season.

He still averaged a triple-double, and still had difficulty leading the team into the playoffs, but unlike the main timeline, he would no longer win the MVP for averaging a triple-double.

"Russ, is everything okay?"

Westbrook averaged 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists per game for the Timberwolves. How cruel does it sound to see him work so hard to lead the team into the playoffs, but in the end he was only selected to the All-NBA First Team and then was hastily eliminated?
However, Westbrook ignored the GOAT's goodwill: "We beat you in the regular season, and we can still beat you in the playoffs!"

Yu Fei nodded: "I admit that there is a 0.1% chance of this happening."

The rest is up to the competition.

It is true that the Timberwolves have defeated the Clippers in the regular season, but that was when most of the Clippers players were in poor form.

Judging from the strength comparison, the Timberwolves have almost no chance.

One of the criteria for measuring a strong team is whether they can adjust to their best form in the playoffs.

As a team chasing three consecutive championships, the Clippers' adjustment ability may be the best in the league.

Westbrook was in trouble from the beginning.

Not only does he have to compete with Yu Fei in scoring, he also has to compete with Antetokounmpo in physical fitness, with Jokic in triple-doubles, and finally with Thompson in three-point shooting percentage.

Obviously, he lost most of his battles.

Aside from Westbrook's 30 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, the Timberwolves had almost no performance worth mentioning as they lost to the Clippers by 33 points in their opener.

"If you keep playing like this, you won't even have a 0.1% chance of winning."

Those were Yu Fei’s last words to Westbrook.

Will he understand? He won't.

Although both of them are averaging a triple-double, Westbrook's burden is much higher than Yu Fei's when he was with the Bucks and SuperSonics.

He had no help, or rather, he was stuck in a self-limiting cycle of "no one can help me".

With this understanding, he will tie the victory or defeat entirely to himself.

Yu Fei had never seen a player who could withstand such huge ball possession and pressure and drag the team by force; looking at the history of NBA, no one could do it.

This may be Westbrook's most attractive and simultaneously annoying trait.

Just like coriander, if you like it you enjoy it, if you don’t like it you hate it.

Yu Fei likes Westbrook like this.

In the second game, the opponent scored a triple-double again, but the Timberwolves still suffered a crushing defeat.

In the third game, Westbrook scored 45 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Timberwolves still lost by 11 points.

Coming to the season finale against the Timberwolves, the Clippers took a double-digit lead from the start, but Westbrook continued to attack the defending champions like a volcanic eruption.

Antetokounmpo knocked him to the ground while blocking the shot, and he stood up and pushed the Greek away hard.

Yu Fei hit a three-pointer over his head, and Westbrook immediately responded with an even longer three-pointer to the GOAT.

He raised the intensity of the game to the extreme. Even when the outcome was no longer in doubt, he still played frantically, and ultimately scored 52 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists on a night of total failure.

The Timberwolves lost by 22 points, and Westbrook is bound to be blamed and ridiculed, and the criticism of him for inflating his stats will intensify.

However, it was this kind of Westbrook that made Yu Fei feel that he was indeed old.

Even he couldn't match Westbrook with the same intensity throughout the game on this night.

Perhaps the question should be, who can do it?

"Regardless of winning or losing, I think those who criticize Russ should shut up," Yu Fei said after the game. "The biggest problem in this era is that even if a person gives his all and plays the perfect performance he can, we still ruthlessly criticize him. This is a disease. Please seek medical attention in time."

Westbrook and the Timberwolves were sent away.

For Yu Fei, this is a delicious appetizer in the playoffs.

He wanted more.

(End of this chapter)