Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1138 - 628: Year of Discord_3
Chapter 1138 -628: Year of Discord_3
This is beneficial for the league. They need more opposition, more personal grievances, more heartbreak, and fists no longer tightly clenched over victory or defeat. Of course, it’s not the ugly scene seen last week at Madison Square Garden, where Oakley was dragged away by security, but real on-court competition.
However, these fights have not reached a higher level.
Marc Stein summarized: “Conflict is fun, but we might never see a confrontation like Frye with MJ in his rookie year again.”
That was once a scandal in D.C., then it became NBA history, and now it is an indelible chapter in the Greatest of All Time’s career.
The career of the current GOAT started with confronting the former GOAT.
How dramatic is that?
When the stars from both the Eastern and Western conferences took to the court, Yu Fei was naturally lifted up as the moon held aloft by the stars, walking towards the center of the court.
As the host, Anthony Davis was the first to speak.
Then it was Yu Fei’s turn.
Yu Fei, on behalf of the other star players, thanked New Orleans for its warm hospitality in recent days.
“Our purpose is to make this trip worthwhile for you. Have fun!”
Then, the game was about to begin.
Western All-Star Team coach Doc Rivers said, “Go ahead and play, I only have one requirement, do not play a zero-defense game! Anyone who doesn’t defend, I’ll take him out!”
After the game started, the Western All-Star Team clearly took the initiative.
Anthony Davis, with the help of his teammates, scored continuously, netting 14 points in the first quarter alone, already showing potential for AMVP.
Although this year’s AMVP trophy seemed tailor-made for Yu Fei, he ultimately decided to be a talented and virtuous senior.
Since the All-Star game was hosted in New Orleans, this city, once struck by a hurricane, needed its heroes to excel at home.
Davis was eager to win the AMVP.
It is also an unwritten rule of the All-Star game, to give the home court players the chance to shine and try their best to make him the star among stars.
When he was young, Yu Fei also once stole the spotlight from the host, but he is no longer young.
And really, is an honor like the AMVP worth keeping in one’s heart?
Even if the trophy was designed for him, what does that matter?
He has not announced his retirement, nor embarked on a retirement tour. If he wanted the honors a Hall of Fame superstar should receive in his retirement season, he could have just announced it at the beginning of the season.
He didn’t do that; he decided to keep playing.
Because he did not want anything distracting his team.
Keep in mind, apart from Jabbar, no one has started a retirement tour while their team was still competitive. Even Jabbar was able to do it without any burdens because he was no longer the team leader.
Perhaps, the Greatest of All Time has the greatest privilege.
He could compete and go on a retirement tour at the same time and retire perfectly like Jordan in 1998.
But that’s not now.
Absolutely not now.
That night, Yu Fei scored 11 points and handed out 14 assists, along with the other Western All-Stars, letting Anthony Davis touch the sky.
Davis scored 52 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the home-hosted All-Star game, with the Western All-Star Team winning by 12 points over the Eastern All-Star Team.
After the game, Davis undoubtedly lifted the AMVP trophy.
“Just for tonight, I feel that Frye’s passes are better than Chris’s,” Davis joked in his acceptance speech, “Anyway, I will always remember this night, this trophy belongs not only to me but to everyone in New Orleans!”
That scene made Antetokounmpo extremely envious.
He had dreamed countless times of coming out on top on this star-studded stage.
But clearly, this year wasn’t his.
Jokić left listlessly, he liked the money earned from activating the “Yu Fei clause” after becoming an All-Star, but he disliked the obligations of the All-Star and the All-Star game itself. These activities mostly ate into his vacation, making him a pitiful person who had to rush to a foreign city to work while his peers were on holiday.
However, just thinking that activating the “Yu Fei clause” in a few years’ time during renewal negotiations could increase his annual salary by millions of US Dollars, he felt the present hardships were worth enduring.
Klay Thompson was probably the most mentally stable person.
Being selected for the All-Star team for two consecutive years fulfilled his goal.
Now, his task was to indulge his personal preferences with the prestige of being an All-Star.
Over the All-Star weekend, he changed companions three times.
The Los Angeles Times reported, “Klay is as popular with the ladies as young Frye was.”
Yu Fei liked young people’s vitality, but he disliked that the media always dragged him into their narratives.
Before leaving, a reporter from New York asked him if he would regret not having won the AMVP this year.
“Why should I?” Yu Fei said indifferently, “I’m not short of AMVPs.”
“But everyone knows this AMVP trophy was designed for you…”
“So what?”
Yu Fei smiled.
“As long as I want, the League can design a trophy for me anytime.”
With that, Yu Fei brushed off the reporter.
Bodyguards kept the other media at bay, ensuring no further disturbances to their employer.
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But the media could fully imagine from the departing silhouette of the GOAT, the unabashed delight on the man’s face when Adam Silver would hand him a more exquisitely customized trophy.
Because in the past fifteen years, they had seen it too many times already.
