Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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Entering the new year, the Bucks welcomed Ray Allen's return, but his comeback was a failure.

Ray Allen stumbled on the court, completely out of form. As a starter and second in command, he could neither score nor defend. In his first game back, he exposed all his weaknesses.

"Enough! If you're injured, then rest!" Yu Fei not only noticed that Ray Allen's injury hadn't fully healed, but also knew that the player was disturbed by Michael Redd's recent performances.

It seemed increasingly fanciful to expect these two to work together amicably for another season.

Michael Redd returned to the starting lineup.

Red's return to the starting lineup didn't mean that all was well, because sooner or later Ray Allen was going to come back.

As long as Ray Allen came back, the starting spot would be his.

This motivated Redd to try and perform better. He increased his shot attempts before the All-Star voting deadline, which, although it didn't affect Fei much, caused dissatisfaction among others.

Yu Fei's patience with Redd ran out on the day the All-Star voting ended.

"From now on, I don't want to see you taking more than 15 shots per game." Normally, someone who had taken an average of 30 shots a game in the absence of several key players might have a negative effect when advising a teammate, but Redd was very aware of Yu Fei's influence. "The All-Star voting has ended, and no matter how much you increase your shot attempts, you won't get another vote. If you insist on playing this way, I think you might be more suited to coming off the bench."

Red couldn't help but argue, "I am a substitute to begin with; as soon as Ray comes back... I'll be a substitute."

Yu Fei's expression didn't change, not even his tone of voice; Red could not detect any emotion from him.

For Yu Fei, whether it was Ray Allen or Michael Redd, they were just his helpers.

They didn't have a personal relationship, so he was very practical in handling these two relationships.

When he needed Red to push Ray Allen, Red was his precious asset.

When he wanted the team to be stable again and let Ray Allen heal in peace, Redd was clearly the first option off the bench.

What if Red refused to accept this reality and even wanted to change the situation, even if the cost was to throw the team into turmoil?

That was really very simple.

Yu Fei's face was calm, his tone measured, as if casually chatting in a restaurant, "Is there a problem? Ray is our core, and if you're dissatisfied with that, I can have you back on the bench right now."

Red felt a sense of despair, the kind where no matter how hard he tried, he could never reach his goal. It gave him the courage and audacity to confront the man who, in a sense, owned the team, "Do you think everything I've done was just to temporarily replace him after Ray was injured?"

Who doesn't know what you want, I acknowledge your ambition, but what about your strength? Strength speaks in this game.

Despite Red's performance during Ray Allen's absence in December being as good as Allen's.

But when we say someone is "not inferior to" someone else, the subtext is actually "just a little less than."

Moreover, in this context to say Redd is a little less than Ray Allen isn't about general ability, but specifically that Redd's shooting and ball-handling offense, which are his strongest suits, are just a little less than Allen's.

If you were to compare the overall capabilities of the two players, the difference wouldn't just be a little.

"You're being a bit presumptuous, Michael." Yu Fei really didn't like Red's name, so there was a change in his tone; it no longer sounded as indifferent as before. "So far, you have never shown that you can completely replace Rey-ray. You did play well last month, but if you think you can replace him based on that, then you're too naive."

Redd walked away.

He had realized the truth: Yu Fei would not help him in his quest for a starting position.

At that moment, Red discovered that he had no support apart from Yu Fei.

Who in the team would back him to fight Ray Allen for the starting spot?

His teammates were already dissatisfied with his recent hogging of the ball, the coaching staff trusted Allen more, and the only influential Yu Fei clearly sided with Ray Allen. As for the higher-ups, the owner...

Senator Kohl must be happy about matching the 4-year, 12 million US dollar contract last year.

Locking up a player with All-Star capabilities for four years with what amounts to a child's contract was indeed a very cost-effective deal!

Soon after, reality played a cruel joke on Redd.

Despite a dreadful attendance this season, Ray Allen was still selected as an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve. Michael Redd, who had been carrying the team since December, still went unrecognized.

As for the All-Star game, Ray Allen couldn't play because of his injury, so he magnanimously "gave" his spot to Redd.

Of course, this concession wasn't borne from Allen's volition but from the League realizing Allen couldn't play, so they had Redd substitute for him.

So, no matter how you look at it, Redd was still an All-Star.

But he remained Ray Allen's backup All-Star.

The moment big Ray was back in shape, he would be booted from the starting lineup.

Other than requesting a trade, Redd had no other way to change his circumstances.

So, a few days before All-Star weekend, Redd, through his agent, requested a trade from the team.

The news swept through the League in an instant, revealing a major crisis within the reigning champions. Countless people who disliked the Bucks were ready to revel in their trouble.

Then again, the Bucks weren't the only team with hidden troubles.

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Especially the three top teams in the Western Conference.

The Lakers "F4" started out with strong momentum, although the trouble caused by Kobe's case cast a shadow over the team's season, but Karl Malone and Gary Payton helped Shaquille O'Neal lead them to rebirth, and in the first two months of the season, they managed a record of 17 wins and 4 losses.

But good times didn't last long. As an NBA ironman, Karl Malone suffered a severe knee injury in January 2004, which meant he would be sidelined for a while. To add insult to injury, he was misdiagnosed by a quack during his recovery process, which meant he was almost unable to take the court for the next three months.

The Lakers' performance subsequently declined, and the relationship between O'Neal, Jackson, and Kobe became tense again, and the smell of gunpowder enveloped the Lakers Team.
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Then there was another team that seemed like it shouldn't have any problems.

Before the Lakers assembled their F4, the Spurs, having signed Jason Kidd, were the number one favorite to win the championship for the season.

However, Kidd's arrival dealt a heavy blow to Tony Parker's morale.

In just a few months, Parker went through a full cycle, from discouraged, to rebellious, to despairing, to requesting a trade.

If it were only Parker requesting a trade, the Spurs might not have been so flustered.

Requesting a trade isn't scary; if all else fails, just trade. Parker, already scratched off to reveal seventy percent of a top prize, wouldn't struggle to find takers.

But Kidd's conflict with Popovich dragged the Spurs into deeper trouble.

As a player, Kidd was known as the "coach on the floor."

If fans call a player that, it means the player has the makings of a great general. But what if the players universally recognize him as the "coach on the floor"? For strong-willed coaches, the last thing they need is another coach on the court telling them how to run their team.

Popovich led the team exactly like that, blasting Tim Duncan in front of rookies with a hairdryer treatment to tell the newcomers and others that even Duncan gets scolded by me, so you brats better tuck your tails and behave, and listen to daddy.

That tactic was ineffective on Kidd.

When Popovich tried to instill his coaching philosophy in Kidd, Kidd's defiance emerged, as if to say, "I don't want your opinion, I want my own."

Moreover, Kidd had enough confidence to stand up to Popovich, having turned a perennially lousy team in New Jersey into a Finals-worthy team.

In New Jersey, if he furrowed his brow, Byron Scott would have to ponder for a long time why Mr. Kidd was displeased.

Popovich wanted to give him the hairdryer treatment, but had to weigh Kidd's bad reputation first—after all, he was the first top household abuser of the new century, and his personality was definitely not the best.

One requesting a trade and the other refusing guidance, the Spurs entered a terrible purgatory.

It seemed strengthening their roster only to find it was better not to have strengthened it at all.

The other Western title-contending team having issues, in comparison with the other two, had the smallest problem and the mildest symptoms—despite the long absence of their key inside man Chris Webber, the Kings Team seemed to trigger Ewing's Law, and their record improved, to the point where there were rumors of "better off trading that soft egg Webber."

So it goes to show, everything is relative.

As for dissatisfaction in life, in the end, being happier than others is enough.

Looking at the troubles the Western teams encountered, the Bucks management realized that as long as they handled Red's trade request well, they wouldn't cause any additional negative impacts.

In the last game before the All-Star break, the Bucks faced the Kings at home, and Yu Fei chose to rest. Karl let Michael Redd play for 44 minutes and gave him free rein to shoot.

Redd knew what that meant.

Since a trade was in the works, he had to show off to the other teams one last time, the better he played, the more likely he was to leave the team.

So with the help of his team, Redd crazily shot 33 times, hitting 18 of them, and scored a career-high 43 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, but in the end, the Bucks lost to the Kings.

This game well reflected Redd's strengths and weaknesses.

His on-the-ball offense was decent, and his shooting ability was among the league's elite. If he went to a weaker team, he could cut scores, sell tickets, and lead the team to contend for a top draft pick, and if he went to a stronger team, he could also serve as a secondary attacker—it would be a no-lose situation.

"Rey-ray, if you were requesting a trade, would you go crazy like he did?"

Yu Fei, dressed in a suit, stood courtside with Ray Allen. The Bucks lost tonight, but Redd looked like a winner, all smiles as he accepted interviews. He was probably saying he would give his all no matter which team he went to.

Ray Allen looked dead serious, "I don't make such assumptions."

"Alright then, tell me, can you make a comeback after the All-Star Game?"

With Redd about to be traded, Ray Allen felt his position in Yu Fei's heart was restored.

What a practical man! When needed, he was ambiguous, and when not needed, he was kicked to the curb like a dog!

"The doctor said I can."

"Really?" Yu Fei said innocently, "Anyway, the trade deadline is after the All-Star Game, so if you can't come back smoothly by then, we'll have to postpone Michael's trade until the offseason."

"I hope he has fun at the All-Star Game. I'll pass him a few extra balls."

Ray Allen broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this—could the trade still be up in the air?

Realizing he might have shown his hand, Ray Allen glanced at Yu Fei, only to find the latter watching him with a mischievous look.

Yu Fei's expression was like that of someone who had successfully pulled off a prank.