Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

"Does Frye really have such a knightly spirit?"

That's what Christina asked the person beside her.

Anyone who truly understood the essence of knightly spirit might think she had some misunderstandings about it, but everyone at the Bradley Center was licking Big Fei's boots.

Do you say Big Fei has knightly spirit? Of course he does.

"Absolutely! Frye is the most knightly person in the entire league!"

So many people like him; he really is a charming guy.

Payton wasn't the type to be intimidated by a few words.

If Yu Fei didn't want to hear him barking, then he would actually act like a dog. Moreover, he would become the world's most eager barking dog, just like those bad dogs that bark all night long, preventing people from sleeping.

That's Payton, the same Payton the fans knew.

But Payton didn't know much about Yu Fei as a person.

Last season's game between the Supersonics and the Bucks had gone by without incident, but now, Payton had come to the Lakers, and he had unwittingly inherited the feud between them.

The war between Yu Fei and Shaquille O'Neal hadn't even started yet, and Payton had already become the target.

In Yu Fei's eyes, Payton was an old dog that needed to be severely dealt with.

As it turned out, angering Yu Fei was the worst decision Payton had made. If he had been on a team where he was the core, maybe he could have stood his ground against Yu Fei.

But he was on the Lakers Team; it was OK's team.

Just like Karl Malone, from the day he signed, Payton knew he was there to hold onto coattails. Since he was holding onto coattails, he naturally needed to be aware of it. The team wouldn't build its strategies around them; instead, they needed to gather around OK like dog's legs.

When OK had a falling out resulting in dysfunction, the Lakers also didn't have a backup plan for Payton and Malone.

For the Lakers' coaching team, OK was the cornerstone of championship contention. Now they were adversaries, but maybe they would reconcile after a while. Payton and Malone just had to wait.

This meant that if Payton needed to defend his pride as the outstanding point guard of his generation, he wouldn't get support from the team. He needed to rely as much as possible on himself. Maybe Malone's pick-and-roll could be of some help, but external assistance was ultimately limited.

Back on defense, Yu Fei blocked Payton's shot once again.

Then, during a chase-down, he gave Payton a block that was nailed to the backboard.

Moreover, Yu Fei had never said he would rely on his own strength to shut down Payton.

Therefore, Sprewell, who was already matched up with Payton, became one of Yu Fei's sources of support.

With Sprewell's help, Yu Fei prevented Payton from scoring for several possessions in a row.

And his offense even gave the Bucks a few opportunities for defensive counterattacks. Even if they moved to set offense, Payton's cherished defense, now faced with Yu Fei, was also significantly less effective due to the physical disparity.

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Halfway through the game, ABC Television Station's commentator Doc Rivers, who had just finished class, said, "This is the biggest gap between offense and defense I've seen in recent times; Frye has completely torn the Glove apart!"

During the timeout, George Karl was also incredulous because Payton had been blown up.

"I have never seen Gary get played like this," said Karl in amazement.

Coach Ron Adams said, "Although it's hard to believe, I feel like Frye's summer training has helped him make significant progress."

Karl was astonished. In terms of ability, Yu Fei was already a top ten player in the league, but in terms of honors, he was the league's first man last season. Even if he maintained this level of ability, it was already enough.

Yet he was still improving?

"If Larry Brown heard me say this, he would be very angry," Karl said with a sly smile. "If Frye's special training is so useful, no one would bother with the national team!"

On the other side of the court, Phil Jackson was disillusioned with the performance of his "soul-searching team."

They were simply a mess.

Jackson had no solution to this situation because it was getting out of control. This superstar team, so highly regarded by the outside world, seemed to him like being forced to swallow four bottles of poison.

The formation of the F4 team had never once inquired about his opinion.

Old Buss loved stars, Little Buss pursued stars, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe both wanted a super team, Karl Malone wanted to join a team that could reliably win the championship, and the only reason for Payton to give up his soul and superstar dignity to join the Lakers was that this team was unbeatable. Since no one could beat them, why not join and earn a ring? Why not?

Jackson liked Karl Malone's addition, but he didn't care for Payton. Or rather, he didn't think Payton could play the Triangle Offense well.

Although Payton said he could master the Triangle Offense in a week, months had passed, and he fit in even less than Chen He in "iPartment 5." Jackson had predicted this. The Triangle Offense requires the point guard to cede the ball to the wings and the posts; the point guard's only job in the system is to bring the ball up court, pass, and shoot set three-pointers. Even a non-star guard could handle these tasks.

Fisher did it well before, but now he was forced to sit and watch Payton take over his starting role, performing like crap.

No one could blame Payton; he had given up everything from status, to salary, to tactical importance. It's just that he didn't play well, and it wasn't his fault—the Triangle Offense naturally repelled those aggressive, ball-dominant point guards.

Payton's inability to adapt was something Jackson had foresaw, but being destroyed by a junior like Yu Fei to the point of being skin and bones, no one saw coming.

In front of Yu Fei, Payton did not display his legendary "Swearing Museum." He had shown Yu Fei some content from the museum but was then severely blown off.

When Payton trash-talked about Yu Fei's fiery red-haired girlfriend, Yu Fei became extremely aggressive. In one-on-one, he scored over him and added, "If your skills were half as hard as your mouth, you would have won a championship by now."

Whenever Yu Fei blocked Payton, he would humiliate him doubly: "You couldn't satisfy the bitch at my front door, aside from a filthy mouth you've got nothing left!"

This reminded Jackson of last season's second meeting with the Bucks, where Yu Fei ruthlessly humiliated Shaquille O'Neal who had made racist remarks towards Asians.

During that game, Jackson was absent due to health problems, but he watched the game footage afterward.

In many ways, Yu Fei reminded Jackson of an old friend.

Not Jordan, but his old teammate from New York, Willis Reed. Discover exclusive tales on empire

His courage, his dominance, his overcoming spirit, and his mercilessness toward enemies—now, the same plight was happening to Payton.

Payton's flame was extinguished.

19 to 12

The Bucks, led by Yu Fei, were leading the Lakers by 7 points.

Payton's performance was a sight for sore eyes, 0 for 4 in the quarter.

Jackson waited until Payton's dignity was swept away before substituting him out.

For Jackson, a proud Payton was of no benefit to the team. Perhaps Yu Fei did him a favor, being mercilessly torn apart on the court could make it easier for Payton to accept his place.

Coming back from the timeout, the Lakers substituted in Fisher, while the Bucks sent Red and Ratner in to replace Ray Allen and Mason.

Although Fisher's individual ability wasn't even close to a single hair of Payton's, as soon as he was in, the Lakers' Triangle Offense began to take effect.

The only one not working was Kobe, who had already cut himself off from the team; as long as he got the ball, he would play his own way.

A double-team?

Just a double-team? That's a great opportunity.

Kobe forced a three-pointer from the outside.

"Swish!"

19 to 15

He made it, no one could criticize him.

Of course, except for Shaquille O'Neal.

"If you keep playing like this, you might as well finish the game by yourself!" Shaq threatened, "You don't need teammates anyway!"

The Bucks players were greatly shocked.

What kind of person could say, "If you keep hogging the ball, I won't even play defense or rebound" with such self-righteousness?

Yu Fei had only one feeling.

We're taking this game so seriously and you guys are fighting among yourselves during the match?

A team slated for 75 wins plus the championship; if Young Master Yu wasn't from another time, he might actually believe in the F4's curse.

Yu Fei dribbled up to the frontcourt, intending to execute a tactic.

Unexpectedly, Kobe actually left Allen on his own to guard him.

What was he trying to prove? One-on-two on offense and still being the frontmost on defense?

Yu Fei had no ill will towards Kobe; after all, he had been a Kobe fan for four days. Even without considering his Kobe fan status, watching Kobe's antics was one of the highlights of a Lakers game.

"Why doesn't that fat pig come to guard me?"

Kobe caught him off guard by saying, "He doesn't dare."

This amused Yu Fei, greatly reducing the killing intent Payton had incited.

Yu Fei passed the ball back to Sprewell.

"You guarded me, now go back and take credit." If Kobe didn't give Shaq some lip next, Yu Fei swore he would crush him in the next round.

Sprewell blazed past Fisher like lightning and slashed into the key in a diagonal line.

Shaq, looking before and behind, didn't dare to step up, allowing Sprewell to score an easy 2 points.

It proved that Kobe fans could always trust Kobe.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kobe's roar was thunderous.

Yu Fei felt he had found the joy in playing against the Lakers. Before, he only wanted to settle scores with Shaq, but now, watching Kobe and Shaq give each other a piece of their mind was simply delightful.

The racist deadweight and the arrogant cancer loving and killing each other, such a show was worth its weight in gold.

Unfortunately, Shaq was subbed out after just nine minutes, while Kobe and Yu Fei played the entire first quarter.

After Shaq left the court, Kobe led an offensive stint, quite impressively, with solid defense, strong offense, and some organizational display, finally looking like the star player.

On the Bucks' side, besides stabilizing the situation, Yu Fei also kept an eye on Red.

Since Ray Allen apologized, Red had also ceased his bluster.

In the last two games, he hadn't turned into the ruthless scoring machine he was in the season opener.

This made Yu Fei somewhat look forward to how the game would progress after he was off the court.

In the final attack of the first quarter, Kobe's lax defense in coordination with his teammates gave Yu Fei a wide open space.

Yu Fei gladly accepted the gift, hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Shaq leaped up, as if catching Kobe red-handed not playing defense.

Even Kobe was annoyed at himself for making such a mistake.

Then, Yu Fei actually said to him, "Don't mind it, it's just a missed defense, Shaq did it too!"

PS: The illustration is free; I added it purely for the sake of enhancing the reading experience.

If you don't like it, I won't add illustrations in the future.