Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 473 - 325: Before the Finals
Chapter 473: Chapter 325: Before the Finals
There is a basic consensus within the League that if the Bucks come up empty in the next two years, Fei will definitely leave Milwaukee.
Ironically, when they established this consensus, Fei himself didn’t even know about it.
For Fei, leaving Milwaukee is not impossible, but he currently has no intention of leaving, To leave, you’ll have to give him a reason.
An offer he can’t refuse.
But Fei also understands that with the change in his status, his position is critical to Reebok and other sponsors.
From a commercial standpoint, Milwaukee is not a good place to build a personal empire.
What rules here is college football, the Green Bay Packers, the legacy left by Vince Lombardi half a century ago.
1Think of him as the NFL version of Auerbach (only referring to his coaching period).
A talent like Fei, if put in any other city, would have already created a Michael Jordan-style effect by now, but at the Bucks, his main influence in Wisconsin is limited to Milwaukee, and even there, there are more football fans than basketball fans.
So when Fei faces a choice, these factors will become an issue, especially for the people around him, who see this as a decisive factor.
However, hearing Riley’s question, Fei countered, “Coach Riley, why don’t you get straight to the point and ask if I’m going to join the Miami Heat next summer?”
Riley asked expectantly, “Will you?”
“I can’t work with that pig.”
Fei stated bluntly.
“I’ll send him to the Clippers.”
Riley’s answer was explosive.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
“This is Dwyane’s team.”
“He’s a smart man and will know his place.”
Riley said unequivocally.
Well, now Fei believed that Riley really wanted him.
Fei remembered that when he forced Jordan to trade him, the Miami Heat were the most eager, but now, he was very glad that the trade did not go through.
Even though the Bucks only played two away games in the Eastern Conference finals, the Miami Heat fans abandoned their team five minutes early in the only game they lost at home.
One-third of the audience at the American Airlines Arena had vanished in a very short period of time.
He wasn’t saying that you can’t leave early during garbage time, but it was the playoffs, not to mention a key game related to the fate of the Heat’s season. With 5 minutes to go and a 15-point deficit, it wasn’t totally hopeless, right? But they just left.
This made Miami join Fei’s blacklist.
“I also want fans who won’t abandon the team when facing adversity,” Fei asked, “Does Miami have them?”
Riley never expected that fickle fans would become an obstacle to Fei joining Miami.
This made him reveal a self-mocking smile, “Fei, I can give you anything you want, except for that.”
“Then I still prefer Milwaukee,” said Fei. “At least the fans here will go down with us.”
After speaking, Fei turned and left.
Riley didn’t have much hope for Fei transferring to the Heat in the first place, but after speaking to him, he had an indescribable feeling.
This feeling made him believe that Milwaukee couldn’t keep this player for long.
When Fei arrived at the parking lot, Lin Kaiwen and Lawson had been waiting for a while.
“Big Fei, what are your plans for tonight?” Lawson asked.
Fei chuckled, “You should ask my assistant.”
“Alright,” Lawson turned to Lin Kaiwen, “Your Excellency the Assistant, how do you plan to reward Big Fei for once again exploding the Eastern Conference?”
Lin Kaiwen said, “Laura has been waiting for Big Fei to ask her out.”
“Hold on,” Fei interrupted, “I don’t mess with cheerleaders.”
Lin Kaiwen then said, “In that case, we might just have to try our luck at Sprewell’s party.”
“Sprewell’s party?”
“Yeah, they’re celebrating the team winning the Eastern Conference championship at Crystal Night.”
“We’re idle anyway, let’s go.”
While the Bucks eliminated the Miami Heat in five games to clinch their finals berth, the Mavericks were locked in a fierce battle with the Spurs in the West.
Compared with the Bucks’ steamrolling in the East, the path through the Western Conference was fraught with difficulty.
From the semifinals on, the Mavericks faced a challenge from the Suns. The series went to a deciding game, and it looked like Nash was about to beat his former team for a second time, but Nowitzki became furious, spouting German swear words as he exploded for 50 points and 12 rebounds.
The heartbroken Suns lost their fighting spirit in Game 6 and were eliminated by the Mavericks.
Then came the Western Conference Finals, with the Mavericks facing their old rivals, the defending champions, the Spurs.
For the fans of both teams, this was the most intense and thrilling of all their past and future clashes. Both sides had impressive records in the West, and most players were in top form, the only one showing signs of age was the Spurs’ point guard, Jason Kidd.
The aftermath of trading Parker for Kidd was disrupting the Spurs’ preparations.
Parker had had an All-Star season this year, while Kidd showed further signs of age, and although he remained comprehensive and his defense was decent, the Spurs already had Duncan, a player with similar attributes but several levels greater influence.
The Spurs urgently needed outside firepower to alleviate the offensive pressure inside, and that was not Kidd’s forte.
As Luol Deng was being suppressed by Josh Howard, the Spurs fell into difficulty; they needed Duncan to demolish the Mavericks’ interior, and they needed the duality of Ginobili to keep up his “divine” performance.
However, it was Ginobili who caused the Spurs fans the most anguish in Game 7. He first hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds left, putting the Spurs ahead by 3 points. Then, he practically paid homage to Nowitzki, handing him a 2+1. Nowitzki made the free throw, and at the very end, it was Ginobili again, as if to prove that Nowitzki was a great defender, offering the German a chance to block.
The game went into overtime.
Ginobili’s consecutive performances were like Zhou Qi’s in the last minutes against Poland at the 2019 World Cup, destroying the team’s morale from a psychological standpoint.
In overtime, the Mavericks unleashed a 15-7 run to dispatch the Spurs and earn their hard-fought ticket to the finals.
Some iconoclasts believed that Nowitzki’s playoff performance was more impressive than Fei’s.
For instance, Bill Simmons, who had a longstanding feud with Fei, dedicated an article to lauding the German on the night the Mavericks knocked out the Spurs.
In the most exaggerated passage, Simmons wrote, “My take is that Dirk’s level is higher than any power forward since Bird. Everyone else in the past 25 years has had some sort of flaw. Garnett and Karl Malone couldn’t take over the game when it mattered. Barkley was more suited to be a second option because his unstable shooting choices meant opponents could limit him in the final minutes. Duncan is the best all-round power forward ever, but his poor free-throw shooting made him a risky option when it mattered. But Nowitzki has no flaws—he scores against anyone, hits free throws reliably, grabs key rebounds in the crowd, and even protects the basket, mixes in the right amount of cold taunts, and since this spring, he has been playing the role of an assassin, a real killer, and I certainly never thought I’d write an article about Dirk Nowitzki. After he unplugged the Spurs, if you asked me who would win the finals between Dirk and Frye, I might lean towards the latter rationally, but emotionally, I’m 100% behind the former.”
As the world praised Nowitzki, Fei was actively preparing for the battle ahead.
All at once, life became simple.
All they needed to do was play one more round of series games, and they could go on vacation.
Even if they were to start planning for the off-season now, it wouldn’t be a problem.
But Fei knew all too well that popping champagne mid-game is the most treacherous slide in sports, so aside from participating in daily practices, the only outrageous thing he did was change his female companion every day.
Lawson said this was a stress response to being newly single and that it would pass in a few months.
Fei thought, a few months? Wouldn’t that mean completing a hundred conquests? It sounded thrilling, but for some reason, it smacked of Magic Johnson’s charm.
Fortunately, the battle between the Mavericks and Spurs finally came to an end.
June 8, 2006. Today is the opening day of the finals.
Fei arrived at the Bradley Center half an hour earlier than usual.
Since he had arrived early, the media naturally wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for an interview.
Thus, a host from a Dallas radio station decided to pose a creative question to Fei.
He believed that his question would be far more interesting to Big Fei than those annoying, stupid media questions asking about historical status, feuds with Jordan, national team call-ups, and the like.
Of course, creative questions always face criticism from outside because they are not politically correct and can even be somewhat repulsive.
But Davidson insisted on this, liking to challenge players and pose questions that would shake their pupils.
After bribing a Bucks staff member, Davidson approached Fei with that jaw-dropping question, “Frye, if a snake bit your mother’s chest, would you be willing to suck out the poison to win the championship?”
“No,” Fei’s response in that moment was priceless, “but I’d be willing to do that with your wife for the championship.”
(1) I’m blind to the ball, can someone tell me why the Mavericks and Spurs would meet in the semifinals in ’06? These two teams had the first and second best records in the West, right?
PS: I will handle this round of finals in the same way I did the ’04 conference finals. Just as the ’04 Eastern finals were akin to the actual finals, ’06 will be the same, and I plan to wrap it up in one or two chapters. That means the results will be out tomorrow.
COMMENT
0 comment
Vote
3 left
SEND GIFT
