Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1115 - 621 Parting Affairs
Chapter 1115: Chapter 621: Parting Affairs Chapter 1115: Chapter 621: Parting Affairs After the draft, the Clippers held a championship celebration.
This was the continuation of victory.
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Such grand celebrations deepened the connection between the team and the city, something that in the past was unique to the Lakers Team.
Although Los Angeles has multiple professional teams, most seem to be merely a background, only the Lakers have displayed outstanding strength since the 1960s, winning championships in multiple eras and deeply embedding the purple and gold dynasty into the memory of this city.
However, with the passing of Old Buss, those glorious days have gradually become distant.
In the social media era, the speed of information dissemination has accelerated, and with just two championship trophies, the Clippers have already begun to split Los Angeles basketball fans.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer excitedly announced that the plan for the team’s new arena has moved on to a new phase.
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However, what the fans are most concerned about is Yu Fei’s future.
They learned from various sources that Yu Fei would opt-in as a player and become a free agent.
However, Yu Fei then gave them reassurance.
He promised that this time next year, he would lead the team to make a strong comeback and win a three-peat.
This declaration triggered a tsunami-like cheer from the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Lakers also announced a 3-year renewal contract with Kobe, valued at 90 million US Dollar.
In terms of amount, Kobe indeed took a bit of a pay cut.
This was to create some salary cap space for the team to strengthen the roster during the offseason. However, this pay cut wasn’t enough to sign another star player.
But this decision was enough to appease the emotions of Lakers’ fans.
After all, 38-year-old Kobe was still in good competitive shape, but it was clear that the team had no hope of winning the championship.
Under such circumstances, Kobe’s choice to renew symbolized that he could still play, and the Lakers were willing to use him to attract ticket sales, meeting the needs of both parties, except for Anthony.
He had to waste his youth accompanying Kobe during his “old-timer’s days.”
Obviously, this wasn’t what Anthony wanted, so he submitted a trade request, with clear conditions—no small cities, no non-competitive teams.
This only made him look more clownish, because when he signed up, he didn’t request to include trade veto power in his contract.
This meant that these so-called demands he proposed could either be met or ignored by the Lakers’ management at their discretion.
High aspirations, fragile fate, wanting everything but getting nothing in the end—this was a portrait of Anthony’s career.
The Lakers’ drama was just about to start, while the off-season for stepping back from professional basketball had arrived.
The first shock of the off-season came from Timberwolves veteran Kevin Garnett.
After a 21-year journey, he decided to stop at his old team and end his professional career.
Just shortly after Garnett decided to leave basketball, another great No. 21 also announced his retirement.
Duncan was definitely one of the most low-profile superstars of the past 20 years.
Most people didn’t know what he did during the off-season, but when he retired, he received more attention than Garnett.
Shaquille O’Neal said, “The greatest power forward of all time, the invincible power forward.”
Mark Cuban said, “I regret that Duncan is retiring; we didn’t have a chance to honor him in a Mavericks vs. Spurs game. I’m glad I had many opportunities to witness his greatness.”
Yu Fei didn’t directly congratulate Duncan, but Marc Stein did this: “Frye told me Tim Duncan was the only opponent he could never completely defeat; he would definitely miss the games against TD.”
After playing nineteen years in the NBA and making the playoffs every year, that span of time has said it all.
Garnett wasted too much time at the Timberwolves; by the time he realized loyalty might have hurt himself, it was already too late.
His last chance to enter the championship hall was in 2008 in Boston, but unfortunately, he ran into the Greatest of All Time who had come with a mission.
This summer, the retirement news that truly made Yu Fei feel sad came from within the Clippers.
After fifteen years of battling, Kwame Brown, who held eight championship rings, believed his NBA career was over.
Last season in the Clippers, he was basically an expendable role, with only 24 appearances, an average of 6 minutes per game, and nearly negligible stats.
Everyone knew him as a dependent of the GOAT, but this trivial team status, for someone who had battled Duncan in the finals, was also torturous.
Brown joked on Twitter that he would sit on the bench until he developed hemorrhoids; but before hemorrhoids could form, he decided to start a new chapter in life.
Yu Fei intended to persuade Brown to play another year, the best ending would be the two retiring together.
Now, there are too many young players on the team. Veterans like Monta Ellis and Richard Jefferson, although contemporary with Yu Fei, didn’t have much past connection.
Brown was different.
Brown was the only person in the world who could say “I know how Frye became Frye.”
Yu Fei and Brown entered the NBA together, endured the seasoning from the Basketball God in D.C., Brown fell, while Yu Fei stood tall. Brown witnessed him confronting Jordan, and saw how Yu Fei pushed Jordan to the point of having to trade.
Brown followed Yu Fei to Milwaukee, then to Seattle, eventually arriving in Los Angeles.
