Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

At the time, the Lakers had little solution to this.

Nearly a year later, an ever-evolving Yu Fei employed the trick again, but Shaquille O'Neal continued to shrink back and not come out.

Yu Fei went straight for a pick and roll to a quick stop and shot a three-pointer.

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After scoring, Yu Fei even said to Fisher who had come up to defend, "You really worked hard to cover for a cripple who doesn't want to move."

Apart from Shaquille O'Neal, the rest of the Lakers Team was silent as a flock of sparrows.

"Don't listen to his bullshit!" Shaquille O'Neal shouted.

His voice was loud, but the disappointment in his teammates' eyes was evident.

They wanted him to stand up and take responsibility.

Shaquille O'Neal was forced into an embarrassing situation of humiliation, expectation, and helplessness.

He was desperate to get the ball, but was greeted by—Christian Laettner's foul, which was so rough it defied description.

Shaquille O'Neal glared at him, while Laettner turned and walked away.

"Bang!"

The first free throw missed.

Yu Fei commented, "It's definitely Chris's fault, he fouled too hard."

"Swoosh!"

Spurred by shame, Shaquille O'Neal made the second free throw.

Yu Fei didn't go for the ball, following Shaquille O'Neal down the court, "Heard your hands have been useless since you fell from a tree climbing as a kid, you really are persistently determined, huh?"

"Damn it, I ¥@#%#@%

Shaquille O'Neal and Yu Fei had another confrontation at midcourt.

No technical foul was called, and the referees calmed the situation; the Bucks continued on offense.

The atmosphere at Bradley Center grew wilder—Yu Fei was acting like a complete asshole on the court, but this asshole could help them win games, play beautifully, and always showed a tough face.

The fans enjoyed seeing this.

But for Shaquille O'Neal, this nightmare was far from over.

Yu Fei was like an unavoidable nightmare, constantly raining his malice down on Shaquille O'Neal. Shaquille O'Neal's comebacks seemed weak, but every word Yu Fei uttered hit him right where it hurt.

This insult, coupled with his teammates' silence, caused even greater psychological damage.

But Yu Fei was like a torturer who knew no satisfaction; his attacks on Shaquille O'Neal had no "end" or "enough," only waves that followed one after the other.

As long as Shaquille O'Neal was on the court, he wouldn't stop.

To many, this was Yu Fei's projection of an image against Jordan.

If he could be this brutal, merciless, and insane against the number one player in the league, what was a 40-year-old Jordan to him?

This time Yu Fei didn't call for a screen, he just penetrated the defense line and scored off a bank shot in front of Shaquille O'Neal.

"You don't defend against shots, you don't defend against close-up layups either, what exactly is your role on the court?"

Yu Fei's hostility came from the heart, which not only made Shaquille O'Neal's teammates tremble but also terrified the Bucks players.

They really didn't want to offend Yu Fei like Shaquille O'Neal did.

Power was quietly building up in Yu Fei; he wasn't Jordan, but he was becoming a Jordan-style terrifying figure.

Like a lion that no one dared to disturb while it slept, and since Shaquille O'Neal had woken him, let Shaquille O'Neal be finished.

The less help Shaquille O'Neal got, the more targeted Yu Fei became.

Every time he exploited Shaquille O'Neal's vulnerabilities for a score, Yu Fei would drop a spiteful piece of trash talk.

Initially, Shaquille O'Neal reacted violently. Then, he became numb. So Yu Fei would do something even more excessive to provoke his nerves.

Whenever Shaquille O'Neal's fiery spirit was aroused, trying to defend his dignity like a tough guy, Yu Fei would use pick and roll plays to beat him down again.

The irregular lifestyle of the offseason, the unbridled diet, and the two-month recovery period after toe surgery have turned Shaquille O'Neal, once the number one player in the League, into nothing but a name. Now, he is not the king of centers who led his team to three consecutive championships, but a frail King in need of rescue.

Kobe relished the thought of him being taken down by Yu Fei, teammates dared not get involved, Phil Jackson was absent, and O'Neal had lost all the support he could get.

By the second half, it had turned into a public execution.

Most of Yu Fei's offensive moves against O'Neal were effective, even if the shots didn't go in, they had nothing to do with O'Neal.
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Defensively, O'Neal was treated as a weak link, and on offense, he couldn't get the ball from Kobe, this hellish torture came to an end two minutes into the fourth quarter.

At that time, Yu Fei's stats read 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. He raised his hand and called for another pick-and-roll.

O'Neal knew it was futile, yet he chose to leave the paint. This allowed Yu Fei to move early, tearing through the Lakers' defense to charge inside the free-throw line. As he gathered the ball, his elbow jutted out, knocking the unsteady O'Neal away, eliminating his help-defense threat, and then leaped up like a beast slaying its prey, putting all his strength into smashing the ball into the basket.

"Boom!!!!!!!!"

O'Neal took an elbow from Yu Fei, and while staggering backward, he twisted his ankle again, falling backward like a disintegrating warship.

Yu Fei turned around, ready to add insult to injury with his usual trash talk, but he found O'Neal lying on the ground like a corpse.

"Hey, you look a lot better now," Yu Fei said, "like a dead dog."

There was no argument, no fight, not even a reply.

The referee called a halt to the game, and O'Neal was carried off the court. Yu Fei sat down courtside, completely unaware that he had just ended O'Neal.

Looking at the 16-point lead, Karl decided to let Yu Fei rest on the bench.

But, it depended on Yu Fei's wishes.

"Are you having fun yet?"

What Karl implied was, do you still want to keep playing?

"Having fun? It's far from enough," Yu Fei had no sensation of knockout pleasure as he glanced at the scoreboard, "But this game no longer needs to be played."

Karl smiled, "Then take a rest."

Afterward, Kobe tried to mount a comeback, but the Bucks' shooters held their momentum until the end of the game.

112 to 98

The Bucks sealed a season-sweep over the Lakers at home.

Post-game interview

"If we make it to the finals, I hope the opponent is the Lakers; in that case, Frye will become the most terrifying player in history." — George Karl discussing Yu Fei's performance tonight.

"If Kobe took 30 shots per game in the past three years, the Lakers wouldn't have a single championship." — Ray Allen commenting on Kobe's style of play.

"I understand Frye, he wouldn't target someone for no reason; we all know what Shaq did." — Christian Laettner refuting negative comments about Yu Fei's style of play.

"Sounds like Ray has a lot of experience on how to win championships, doesn't it?" — Kobe Bryant responding to Ray Allen's negative comments about him.

Shaquille O'Neal declined the post-game press conference, and furthermore, he demolished the locker room for the visiting team at the Bradley Center.

Yu Fei's aggressive style tonight sparked many questions, with some understanding and others challenging it.

"Why do you behave like a thug on the court?"

Yu Fei noticed the dog tag on the other person, emblazoned with the letters "LA."

"If I were a thug, Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't have walked out of the court alive."

"So you admit that you deliberately targeted Shaq on the court?"

"As an Asian American, do I have a problem with targeting a bastard who blatantly mocks Asians with racism?"

"But... Shaq already apologized."

"!@#!￥#" Yu Fei let loose a fine-worthy curse, "What makes you think that just because he apologized, I have to accept it? Why should I accept? I don't accept it, that's my attitude. I not only refuse to accept it, but I will also treat him as a racist. That's how I handle such people—next question!"

⑴ Interestingly, most of Kobe's contemporaries (stars) believe they could replace Kobe during the OK era.

⑵ The Jordan mistress mentioned in the text was referred through NBA referee channels to Jordan. Isn't that terrifying to think about? Doesn't it make sense to question the fairness of referees in officiating Jordan's games? If a referee can procure women for you off the court, what's a little biased whistle on the court⑶?

⑶ I'm just saying, not really questioning. I've already forgotten about the incident in the 98 finals Game 6, where Jazz's valid three-pointer at the end of the third quarter was called as expired time, while Bulls' expired two points in the fourth quarter was considered valid.

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