Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters - Chapter 542
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Chapter 542: Chapter 380: First Place in the Kobe Imitation Contest
Boston
When the Supersonics’ private jet touched down, there was no reaction from the scene.
So far this season, The Celtics had achieved a record of 35 wins and 5 losses, surpassing the once-dominant Bucks to become the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
“This is the best team I’ve ever been on,” declared sharpshooter Michael Redd, who averaged 18 points per game for The Celtics.
Redd had been a member of the ’03 Bucks.
As everyone knows, that was Yu Fei’s first year with the Bucks, and it was also the year when the team had the best roster depth in the previous two years. That year, Yu Fei avenged Jordan and responded to all those who underestimated him with his actions.
Most importantly, that team, inspired by the quest for revenge, won the championship.
This had been the best team Redd had ever been on.
Yet now, he was declaring this Celtics team to be the best he had ever encountered.
His satisfaction with the current situation was self-evident.
However, as a star player, Redd’s scoring average had been around 25 points since leaving the Bucks. Although he wasn’t a player who could carry a team to victory single-handedly, he was at least a scorer with a reliable floor.
Joining The Celtics and teaming up with players like Pierce and Garnett, what he needed to let go of was the statistical consciousness of a star player.
His points per game had decreased significantly, but he was still satisfied, owing much of this to The Celtics’ coaching staff.
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Doug Rivers knew what was happening.
On The Celtics’ training court, Garnett was furiously emitting his notoriously intense energy.
Roars, incessant roars.
If you think you are insignificant in the team because you don’t get many chances to play each game, leading you to believe you can slack off, then you’re mistaken.
“Big Ticket” would not let anyone fall behind.
“Glen, do you know why you’re so fat? You better run another lap, you should be thankful your teammate is me. If you had Frye by your side, he would make you wash the team’s underwear the whole season for constantly reminding him of Shaq!”
Garnett’s piercing voice spread throughout the gym.
Everyone who heard the joke burst into laughter.
“Damn,” Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis’s voice was as pleasant as his nickname sounded. “KG, I really tried my best!”
If Tim Duncan’s voice was among the most magnetic in the top ten of history, then Glen Davis’s voice was definitely the most pleasant among all the NBA players above six-foot-nine.
Garnett shook his head vigorously, “Not enough, your efforts are still not enough!”
“Right, Mike?” Garnett laughed, looking at Redd, “Frye would definitely kill this pig!”
Redd rarely talked about the past.
As the only player on the team with a championship ring, Redd never told his teammates, “I have a ring, so shut your mouth!”
Now, Garnett was making trash talk about Davis, using Frye, and he even asked the only person who had been Frye’s teammate before to confirm it.
All Redd needed to do was nod in agreement with Garnett’s words, and the whole joke would be complete.
But Redd said, “No, Frye wouldn’t care how much of Glen’s weight is fat.”
“He only cares if you can be helpful,” Redd added, “If you can’t be of help, then you’re worthless to him.”
Pierce snickered, “Sounds like someone who wouldn’t give up a three-peat just to save his hometown team.”
“Absolutely not!” Garnett laughed, “It sounds more like a carbon copy of Bean (Kobe’s middle name).”
Redd didn’t respond because when he left Milwaukee, Yu Fei was only 23 years old.
Now he was 26.
Who knew how much had changed in the past three years?
Then Rivers’s trademark voice rang across the court, “Listen up, we must win tonight!”
In Rajon Rondo’s memory, there were no must-lose games in this world, but he couldn’t help asking, “Why?”
“PJ is coming to the game,” Rivers said, “If we win, he will sign with us immediately.”
Rondo naturally asked, “And if we lose?”
“He’ll sign with the SuperSonics,” Rivers said, “That’s his agreement with Frye.”
Upon hearing this, Pierce arrogantly said, “PJ’s really gone senile. I admit Frye is great, but if he really wants to retire with a ring, isn’t the simplest way to just join us?”
Garnett cleverly said, “I’m sure PJ knows who has a better chance of winning the championship. That was just his diplomatic response to Frye.”
“Do we have to win then?”
“Shit…! I really don’t think we’ll lose,” Pierce said confidently. “I’ve had enough of losing over the past few years!”
When Garnett finished speaking, another howl went through the arena, and everyone was brimming with confidence.
Rivers wanted to warn them to not take it lightly, but considering they had only lost five games so far, as the team with the highest offensive and defensive quality and intensity in the league, no one could beat them if they took the game seriously.
Moreover, they had the real devil’s home court–North Shore Garden.
We will win for sure.
That’s what Rivers thought to himself. Then, he saw his reliable assistant Tom Thibodeau approaching with a stack of documents in his hand, no doubt all about pre-game analysis of their opponent.
“Tom, you just need to tell me, what’s our defensive strategy against Frye tonight when facing the SuperSonics?”
“Doug,” Thibodeau said seriously, “Frye is unstoppable.”
Evening, North Shore Garden.
The SuperSonics might be on a losing streak, but they are still one of the top four teams in the Western Conference. That was enough to make this game the focal point of attention.
And then there was Yu Fei.
Yu Fei was a money-printing beast at home and a traffic king on the road.
Whether a superstar is attractive to fans is actually simple to test.
That is, whether fans would adjust their schedules and plans to watch him play live, whether he possesses the draw of “I must see his game live, otherwise I might miss some spectacular moments,” determines if he is a box office superstar.
Since Jordan, there have not been many players in the League with such effect.
Iverson, Yu Fei, James, and Kobe after 2005–that’s it.
Yu Fei’s arrival filled the seats of North Shore Garden.
Whenever Yu Fei saw the excitement he generated at away games, he wondered if the fans would go berserk if he suddenly announced he was resting due to soreness in some part of his body.
Afterward, Yu Fei found that the Celtics side took this game more seriously than he had anticipated.
It seemed they also knew this was PJ Brown’s battle of loyalty.
In terms of strength, PJ really didn’t have the ability to sway the overall situation.
Even at his peak, he was just a blue-collar center with a built-in defensive system. As much as he added to a team, such a player could only fully exert his value in a strong team.
And now, PJ was getting on in years, his role was to provide ten plus minutes of superior defense and rebounding for the main center of a strong team when they needed rest.
The Celtics starting lineup had Garnett and David Lee, and off the bench, there were Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis, so they had an adequate interior rotation. The main reason for bringing in PJ was still the mentality of “not wanting rivals to get him.”
In terms of boosting a team, PJ would definitely add much more to the SuperSonics than to the Celtics.
First, it was the players of the Celtics, then the Celtics’ legends, and lastly, the Celtics’ General Manager Danny Ainge.
Before forming the Big Three, Ainge almost ruined his career as a Hall of Fame GM. Now, unless he wanted to leave, no one could drive him away.
Of course, Yu Fei’s favorite thing was the cheerleading performances provided by North Shore Garden.
As a tribute to Red Auerbach’s memory, the Celtics overturned the half-century-old ancestral rule right after his death and even designed the hottest dances for the cheerleaders as a vengeful viewing experience for both fans and players.
Most importantly, Yu Fei still remembered some things.
For instance, how he came to Boston for a tryout before the draft, got into a fight with Eddie Griffin, and how the management of the Celtics saw this as an opportunity to lower his draft status. They spread rumors that were not in his favor to the outside world, making it seem like he was a problem player.
It could be said that Yu Fei falling to the eighth pick and starting that fateful relationship with Jordan… if you trace the origins back, the Celtics definitely played a disgraceful role.
Seven years had passed, and the Celtics had their ups and downs.
Luckily, Yu Fei remembered everything.
That’s why, when NBA top fifty all-time player Tom Heinsohn, the Celtics’ home game announcer, asked Yu Fei how he felt tonight before the game started, his response sounded so unfriendly.
“I’m feeling good, Tom,” Yu Fei said indifferently, “just right to settle some scores with you all.”
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Afterward, as the game began and the Celtics won the tip-off, Yu Fei reacted faster, intercepting the ball and speeding towards the frontcourt.
Garnett chased him down swiftly, intending to stop Yu Fei, but he wasn’t expecting his opponent to pull a move right at the start.
The moment Yu Fei entered the paint, he violently elbowed Garnett, delivering a loud slap in the face to anyone who had doubted the authenticity of his being a fifteen-day-old Kobe fan. If there were a “Kobe Elbow Imitation Contest,” he would win without question, for even Garnett was knocked back by his elbow.
A helpless Garnett watched Yu Fei jump up fiercely and slam the ball with both hands.
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