Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 385 - 248 You know, Kobe has always been my role model

Before Media Day arrived, the Bucks had a half-day break from their preseason training camp.

It was said to give players rest, but many were called to take part in community activities.

Yu Fei, however, declined today’s activity and invited Lawson to watch the highly acclaimed "Million Dollar Baby."

About 35 minutes from the end of the movie, Yu Fei believed he was watching the best sports film since "Coach Carter" (which, of course, he had seen in a previous life).

But in the last 35 minutes, the director gave him the worst ending—also the best ending.

Movies should be entertaining, especially sports movies, which should ideally leave people feeling healed and inspired like "The Pursuit of Happyness," but "Million Dollar Baby" chose to have its protagonist fail and then die. This left Yu Fei in a terrible mood after watching the movie, to the point where he wanted to blow up the cinema.

"Hilary Swank should definitely be next year’s Oscar Best Actress," Lawson said confidently after watching the movie, "At least 20 Hollywood actresses could gain weight like Charlize Theron and play a pool killer, but who could interpret the role as perfectly as Swank!?"

Yu Fei looked at Lawson teasingly, thinking, why compliment someone while dragging others? Did Theron ever do anything to you?

"Indeed, just as there are at least 100 actresses in Hollywood who could perform brilliantly in a passionate scene with Billy Bob Thornton and then win an award," Yu Fei gave an example that made Lawson jump.

"Damn it, Big Fei, Halle Berry won that Oscar on pure merit!"

Yu Fei nodded, he had to admit Halle Berry was outstanding in her passionate couch scene in "Dance of Death Row Inmates."

The following day, Yu Fei appeared at Media Day in the new Bucks’ jersey.

Countless reporters approached him, all for a precious interview opportunity.

Aside from acquaintances, Yu Fei was not easily giving them a chance to interview him.

Some asked about the progress of Yu Fei’s contract renewal, others inquired whether the rumors of the stalemate in Sprewell’s contract negotiations with the Bucks were true.

An honest and straightforward reporter asked the most ordinary question: "How confident are you in completing a three-peat?"

Yu Fei counter-asked, "Historically speaking, what are the odds of a team that has won back-to-back championships completing a three-peat?"

"Not counting the examples from before the merger era, the probability is 60%," the reporter said. "The Bulls completed the three-peat twice in the ’90s, along with the recently ended Lakers dynasty, while the two teams that failed the pursuit of the three-peat were the 1989 Lakers and the 1991 Detroit Pistons."

Looking at it this way, the odds of a three-peat seem pretty high.

Yu Fei joked, "Let’s hope we don’t become another team to lower the three-peat chances with a failure."

Interviewing Yu Fei was an interesting affair for reporters.

When he was in a good mood, he would crack witty jokes. And when he wasn’t in a good mood, that was even better, as he would deliver unpredictable wild lines.

Today’s Yu Fei was not crazy, but it was apparent that he was in a very good mood.

On the other hand, Ray Allen gave a conservative response about his future with the Bucks.

"I’m loyal and fond of nostalgia, and if possible, I would absolutely love to end my career in Milwaukee, but I also know that this is all business, and the team has to consider the best options," he added, "I need to as well."

Sprewell openly admitted he was negotiating with the team.

And he did not deny the negotiation process had been difficult.

"You know, I’m a Milwaukee man, it would be like a dream for me to finish my career here, I can’t imagine wearing another team’s jersey. For me, it’s quite simple, give me respect, stuff my pockets with money, that’s what I want. If not, I’d rather stay home and sleep."

Issues such as player aging, contract problems, and a disconnect between management and individual players’ goals... all kinds of complex problems that destroy potential dynasty teams were starting to breed within the Bucks.

This affected their state of preparedness.

After the training camp, the Bucks had a preseason record of 2 wins and 2 losses.

Although preseason outcomes should not be taken too seriously, the team’s condition can nevertheless be glimpsed within these games.

On October 30, 2004, the Bucks went to Cleveland for the opener game.

As defending champions, not being able to play the season opener at home was a pity.

But if the opponent was Cleveland, that was a different matter.

After clumsily losing Boozer over the summer, the Cavaliers’ management naturally sought a remedial plan.

Their choice was Drew Gooden of the Orlando Magic. Even though he was the fourth pick in 2002, after two years, the Magic had perceived his limits and concluded he wouldn’t succeed, so they shipped him off to the Cavaliers along with rookie Anderson Varejão.

For LeBron, this was at best a consolation prize.

Gooden might not even have 50% of Boozer’s strength.

The biggest downside to playing the opener away was not being able to hold the ring ceremony immediately, so the Bucks team was eager to quickly dispatch the Cavaliers and then return home to receive their rings.

After several months, Yu Fei saw LeBron James again. After being tempered in Athens, his little brother seemed a tad more muscular, with brows filled with longing for the new season.

"Frye, if you’re not happy in Milwaukee, you can come to Cleveland," LeBron joked, "after all, you were originally selected by Cleveland."

"Great idea!" Yu Fei said, "Before I join the Cavaliers, I feel I need to do something to convince you guys that I can be of help."

"What will you do?"

"Win by 30 points tonight, for starters."

Big Fei’s humor amused the Little Emperor.

However, as the game started, James gradually stopped smiling.

He realized that Yu Fei was serious.

This summer, aside from maintaining his physique, Yu Fei’s main focus in training was skill development.

To many people, his offensive skills were already quite sophisticated.

From beyond the arc, he could shoot threes from any angle with a 36% hit rate, and inside the three-point line, his mid-range game was expansive, with hardly any cold spots in his shooting range, except the left side of the paint.

He could shoot from outside, pull up from mid-range, and make tosses up close. Yu Fei had mastery over the three most important aspects of positional offense, but he still wanted to develop more ways to attack.

Yu Fei explored the turn-around layup after driving to the basket.

He also developed a set of high-post, ball-handling one-on-one fake moves combined with step-backs that he alternated in use for his jump shots.

If these two offensive moves could be incorporated into actual combat, they would enrich his arsenal and add depth to his ball-handling offensive game. Explore more stories with novelbuddy

Today, he just happened to use the Cavaliers to test these new moves.

Interestingly, the Cavaliers chose James to match up against Yu Fei.

This so-called ace vs. ace matchup made Yu Fei unable to resist going one-on-one whenever he saw James defending him.

At the high post, Yu Fei waved for space, faked to the left, stepped back to the right for the jump shot, and made it.

In another possession, after consecutive dribbles between his legs, he used his body to make a strong drive move, shaking James off balance before shooting, and it went in again.

A minute later, Yu Fei went one-on-one again. This time he used the full set of moves, shaking so badly that James could hardly tell left from right. When Yu Fei stepped back, James’s body teetered, almost causing him to fall to the ground.

Even though he managed to steady his body and not fall, his defensive stance was mostly broken, making it impossible to defend effectively.

In the first quarter, Yu Fei took five shots, three of which were one-on-ones in front of James, all of which he made. However, the two attempts he made at turn-around layups under the basket both missed their mark, going off the rim.

The second-year James still displayed the naivety inherent in a rising star on defense, but his offense had improved greatly from his rookie season.

After being humiliated by Yu Fei in the first quarter, he naturally wanted to retaliate in the second.

Following a pick-and-roll call, James attacked the mismatch aggressively. In the Bucks’ defense, only Yu Fei and Sprewell could somewhat hold their ground; the others were easily knocked away.

Seeing James so active, Karl began to arrange for ambushes and traps on the court.

But it was no use; James was a good passer with excellent vision, easily breaking through the traps.

However, even with an outstanding performance, James still had to contend with the issue of his teammates’ lack of strength.

Yu Fei didn’t need to worry about the game at all; a few one-on-ones with James, testing the turn-around layup, playing some fastbreaks, and assisting shooters to score easily brought the game to a close.

The Cavaliers were tenacious, and James performed well, but Yu Fei’s prediction came true.

112 to 81

The Bucks won by 31 points in an away game against the Cavaliers, with James scoring an empty 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

"Watching him is like seeing my former self," Yu Fei told an ESPN reporter, "I think this ends the debate over whether LeBron is more deserving of Rookie of the Year than Melo; he’s the rightful winner."

Two days later, the Bucks returned to their home court.

The League had scheduled their first home game of the season against the Orlando Magic, but the Magic had already traded McGrady to the Rockets. Though they had the top draft pick, Dwight Howard, it was destined not to be a marquee matchup.

Before the game started, Yu Fei received his second championship ring from Stern’s hands.

"Frye, do you know how many eyes are watching you?" Stern said to this sensational junior star with mixed feelings, "Act with dignity, don’t be like Kobe."

Yu Fei didn’t know how bad his reputation was, wondering why Stern had to use Kobe as a reminder.

What had he done? Was it just because he didn’t play in the Dream Team’s games and went to Asia to indulge himself instead?

"Kobe is innocent, Mr. Commissioner. He’s been wronged," Yu Fei, as an eight-day-old diehard Kobe fan, felt compelled to speak up for his idol, "You know, Kobe has always been my role model; I can’t allow people to hold prejudices against him, even after the judge has cleared his name!"

(1) The Finals ended + 4 days

As for Stern’s response, he could only roll his eyes and walk away.

He liked Kobe, just as he liked Yu Fei, and he also liked Garnett and James. These outstanding high school stars were some of the League’s most valuable assets.

But he swore that imposing restrictions on high school players entering the draft was one of the most correct things he had ever done. These self-important brats really needed to go to college to be properly educated!

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The award ceremony ended, and the game began. Howard smiled at Yu Fei, but Yu Fei greeted him with a poster dunk to welcome him to the NBA. The Bucks also secured back-to-back wins at the start of the season.

It seemed they were on the right track, yet the issue of contract renewals was still a focal point for the media.

Players, coaches, and even management were tired of being asked about it.

Then, Larry decided to put Sprewell’s matter on hold, after all, aside from Big Fei and The Madman, there was another person they absolutely needed to re-sign.

In mid-November, the Bucks offered Ray Allen a 5-year, $80 million max contract extension.