Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 519 - 359 This is Worth It

Chapter 519: Chapter 359 This is Worth It

Yu Fei knew Durant, but not the Durant he was seeing now.

The rookie Durant blurred the dark image of the one who used a burner account to insult teammates, had a poor relationship with the media, destroyed every team he had been on, had a pride that was both immense and fragile, and could completely let go of his ego to argue with fans online.

However, Yu Fei didn’t believe a person could undergo such a change in temperament without experiencing some terrible trauma.

And opportunities for such terrible trauma were rare on the basketball court.

Looking at Durant’s career, his time with the Thunder might have had its ups and downs, but it was unlikely to leave him with psychological scars.

So, Yu Fei’s judgment was that Durant’s current Mr. Nice Guy image was part of Nike’s marketing strategy.

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Just like Robert Downey Jr. would act like Tony Stark when he represented Marvel at events, the purpose was to make people feel like he had walked right out of a movie.

And Durant? Nike had given him an endorsement contract second only to James.

Like all other superstars, they needed their own image.

Yu Fei was The Chosen One, James was the King, and Durant? Before entering the NBA, he was widely considered inferior to Greg Oden, and that was still the case, with many thinking that the SuperSonics’ failure to pick Oden was a catastrophic draft blunder.

Before college, Durant was also a top-five high school player nationwide, but he didn’t get the national attention Oden did since he was 15.

Oden knew that a sunny smile could win the media’s favor, while Durant still wasn’t comfortable with cameras and microphones.

A player’s public persona needs to be designed based on the actual situation, and Nike’s initial setup for Durant was the boy-next-door image.

He didn’t have to conquer everything with a regal will like Jordan, didn’t need to become a king dominating the court from birth like James, and he didn’t possess the villainous charm similar to Yu Fei that Kobe had. He was someone lacking in distinctive traits, so Nike decided to give him a very ordinary persona, which, however, was extremely rare among stars.

Durant was a good guy.

Just like that, he was a good guy.

Apart from Tim Duncan, there were few stars who could make this image look believable.

But Yu Fei didn’t buy it; he believed the later unpopular Durant didn’t just appear out of nowhere. That evil side must have been attached to Durant all along, just without the chance to take over his will.

It turned out that the derailed Durant was the strongest Durant. A Durant who became public enemy could dominate James twice in the same pose in the finals, could deliver two historic performances when two of the Big Three were down, and ultimately fell short, losing to the season’s champions by a whisker.

Yu Fei wanted to see that Durant; the current good-guy version was too boring.

However, the young Durant was submissive, no matter how much pressure was applied, he just wouldn’t blow up. Occasionally, he seemed on the verge, but as soon as he took a deep breath, he suppressed that anger.

Yu Fei could only continue to wait. He believed that with enough determination, the young Durant would eventually turn dark.

That would be the time they could face each other honestly.

In early October, the SuperSonics’ training camp concluded.

Unlike his time with the Bucks, Yu Fei shifted from being the main ball-handler to a small forward with organizational responsibilities.

The primary duties of the point guard were thus taken over by Roy.

An excellent combo guard, Roy could bring the ball up the court and act as the organizational core, which for Yu Fei meant simply continuing the role he played for Team USA with the SuperSonics.

This was a transformation, and a necessary change after moving to the new team.

If he continued to play as before, others would have obediently cooperated given Yu Fei’s status, but that would make it difficult to transform later on.

A ball-dominant core essentially is an immensely talented person who sucks up the team’s statistics to make themselves appear stronger than they actually are. While at the peak of their powers, this approach might result in 1+4 exceeding the sum of 5, but as age catches up, such a style might maintain personal stats yet not guarantee the team’s success.

Plus, at that point, transformation is almost impossible. Because the playstyle is fixed, habits hard to change, and the inertia of the game instinctively repel any other manner of playing.

Therefore, if changes are to be made, it is best to do so while young, and now is the appropriate time.

As it was last year, Yu Fei’s team was once again scheduled to play preseason games in China.

Also heading to China were Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets and Space Easy’s Trail Blazers.

It’s worth mentioning that when the Trail Blazers chose Space Easy, many Chinese fans worried that their naïve and kind Yi Jianlian might be led astray by the scoundrel Zach Randolph, who could fabricate a relative’s death as an excuse to party at the nightclub.

Such concerns were, of course, justified.

After selecting Yi Jianlian, it only took one week for the Trail Blazers’ management to come to a realization.

Their reasoning was “we better not let Yi meet Zach”.

So Randolph was shipped off to New York.

Trail Blazers’ head coach Nate McMillan claimed Yi’s potential was unimaginable, the most outstanding young player he had ever seen. They hoped Chinese fans would believe that Yi would become the cornerstone for the Trail Blazers.

The SuperSonics’ first game in China was against the Trail Blazers, featuring Space Easy.

From the preseason games, it was evident McMillan’s words held truth; Yi played 28 minutes and took 15 shots.

For a big man, that’s a high number of attempts.

But Yi’s shortcomings were already becoming apparent. Simply put, his array of post moves were limited with little variation. While his physicality worked in the CBA, in the NBA, where tough guys abound, this approach was prone to getting his shots blocked. Yet Yi was smart; if the inside game was tough, he could move outside, which brought another issue – his outside shooting accuracy was far from ideal.

With player development in mind, the SuperSonics fielded a 12-man rotation and narrowly edged out the Trail Blazers by 3 points.

“He will be outstanding,” Yu Fei responded to the Chinese media about Yi’s performance, “He just needs to carefully sculpt his skills.”

After that, it’s the old rival, the Houston Rockets.

Every time they come to China for preseason games, facing the Rockets is pretty much a given.

It had been a while since Yu Fei had seen Yao Ming, and he missed him, but to his surprise, the guy had noticeably bulked up in a few months. From his build, it was clear he had put on a lot of weight during the offseason.

“Damn!” Yu Fei greeted him warmly, “How did you get so fat?”

Yao Ming hummed in response, “It’s to become stronger.”

“Stronger is good, but can your body handle it?” Yu Fei seemed to foresee Yao Ming’s future, “The season is very long.”

Yao Ming said optimistically, “As long as the playing time is controlled, there will be no problem.”

The scary thing is, with such weight, it might far exceed the body’s load capacity, so even with playing time controlled, an injury meant to happen, would still happen.

Yu Fei believed Yao Ming understood this.

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His lower extremities were robust, but an old injury from his youth team days lingered on his feet. If it became a repeated issue, it would significantly shorten his athletic career. Yu Fei knew that doctors understood these principles better than he did, and Yao Ming must have received plenty of advice, but he still chose to gain weight, trying to push his limits.

Everyone is prone to wishful thinking.

In that evening’s game, Yao Ming indeed dominated gloriously, unmatched in the paint; Kwame Brown looked like a dwarf behind him, utterly powerless.

Since it was a preseason game, Karl did not employ the classic Yao-shutdown strategy (fronting and double-teaming), letting Yao Ming ravage the basket unchecked.

McGrady was also in fine form, while on the SuperSonics side, apart from Yu Fei playing 30 minutes and going head-to-head with McGrady, both scoring 30 points, the focus was on evaluating players.

China could be said to be the Rockets’ second home court; they ultimately defeated the SuperSonics by a 6-point advantage, achieving a clean sweep in the China games.

But preseason is of little significance; neither team particularly cared about winning or losing, the most important thing was whether the fans were satisfied. Without a doubt, both teams gave the fans a feast for the eyes, with Yao Ming dominating the interior, McGrady and Yu Fei putting on a shootout—worth the price of admission.

After the China games, the SuperSonics returned to the United States to play another two preseason games, then focused on preparing for the upcoming 2007-08 regular season.

For the first game of the new season, the league thoughtfully scheduled the SuperSonics to play the opener in Milwaukee.

Yu Fei would receive his fourth championship ring in the first game of the new season.

This was also his first return to Milwaukee since his transfer to Seattle.

October 30, 2007

The Bradley Center was packed inside and out.

Wherever Yu Fei went, people called out his name loudly, but no one blamed him for leaving.

Although he had left, he remained a hero to this place.

Perhaps due to the emotions of a long-awaited reunion, Yu Fei felt that he was more popular than before he left.

Karl explained the phenomenon.

“After you lose something, people start to love you. They still don’t know what they’ve lost.”

That evening, when the SuperSonics’ bus arrived outside the Bradley Center, thousands of fans gathered around, loudly chanting Yu Fei’s name.

“Can you believe it? In the past five years, this is the first time I’ve realized Milwaukee has so many basketball fans,” Yu Fei said calmly, “I hope all this is worth it.”

Returning to his former home court, the banners hanging above the arena silently told the stories of what had happened here.

Former teammates came forward one after another to pay their respects.

Before the game started, the DJ would turn off the BGM and intentionally use a flat tone when announcing the names of the visiting team’s starters.

Kwame Brown, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Rashard Lewis.

Not one worth cheering for.

But before the last name was called, epic music began to play.

“Finally, No. 44!”

The spotlight fell on Yu Fei, and the cheering in the venue began to rise.

“Playing forward!”

The DJ’s voice was indistinguishable, it was too loud in the arena.

“From Kent Meridian High School!”

“Frye~~~~~~”

Yu Fei could no longer hear any sound; it was too enthusiastic, too piercing.

He had too many emotions in his heart.

That was what he left behind, what he gave up; there was no turning back, he had to look forward, but he hoped that when it all ended, he could tell himself it was worth it.