Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Kobe tried another twisty baseline up-and-under layup, but it didn't go in.

Yu Fei grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to Carter, helping him complete the dunk.

The Western All-Star Team initiated the offense from the outside again, this time it was Kidd; his pull-up jumper missed, but the rebound was taken by Yao Ming. Under no defensive pressure, Yao went for an O'Neal-style dunk right on the spot, making Big Ben seem as small as an ant beside him.

After that, Big Ben set a pick and roll for Yu Fei.

He rolled without really stopping anyone because Kidd's defense was so poor that even 1% effectiveness of the screen would be a disrespect to this lousy defense.

Yu Fei tossed the ball up, Big Ben showed off his clumsy dribbling skills, and then went for a layup. If Yao had not been kind-hearted, he would have swatted Big Ben's attempt away long ago.

Yao Ming had assimilated into the All-Star rhythm and mainly focused on showmanship.

Yu Fei added another assist to his tally.

Continuing this way, Yu Fei didn't know how good his final stats would be.

For now, he just wanted to make more plays for his teammates, pretending not to care about the stats to deceive them, before getting serious when O'Neal came back on the court.

Then, the night's first unsportsmanlike act occurred.

Yu Fei was not surprised at all.

Kobe swooped in from the side and blocked Iverson's layup.

"Man, was that necessary?!" Iverson complained.

Do you even understand what Mamba Mentality is? Fans don't want to see a lame All-Star game.

With Kobe starting things off, it was easier for Yu Fei to follow suit. He decided to take care of Garnett first, in anticipation of the double-teaming strategy for when O'Neal would come in.

Now, with Kidd and Francis, two poor-shooting backcourt players for the Western All-Star Team, even if they passed the ball out, it wasn't a concern.

Garnett's almost certain isolation play was disrupted by Yu Fei's double team.

Garnett didn't even get a chance to settle the score with Yu Fei when Yu Fei came looking for him, something Garnett had not expected.

"Don't glare at me," Yu Fei said righteously, "Kobe started it first!"

If anyone asks why Big Fei, as a Kobe fan, would throw Kobe under the bus, Big Fei can only tell you this: If his idol can't take the fall for his fan's actions, isn't he a fake honey?

Besides, aren't 99% of celebrity haters just those who say, "I didn't dislike him originally, but his fans are so disgusting"? This move precisely proves the value of Yu Fei, who had been a Kobe fan for only four days. If this planet got one or two more Kobe haters because of him, that would further prove his worth as a Kobe fan.

Seeing Yu Fei stand up for him, Iverson thought back to when he'd looked out for this little brother and felt it hadn't been in vain.

"There's no need, Big Fei. Kobe is just like that," Iverson advised as a person who had been there, "You shouldn't learn from him, right?"

Yu Fei nodded vigorously: "Okay, I'll just learn from you."

He vowed to unleash all his frustration on Christina tonight if he didn't get AMVP!

"Don't learn from me either," Iverson said earnestly, "Be yourself, brother."

Before the time travel, Iverson was one of Yu Fei's least favorite stars of the 2000s, not just because he came to China to make money and didn't even do a good job at it, but also because his diehard fans, who hadn't even retired with him, always used him to trash Irving.

After time travelling, Iverson's sincerity to his friends had changed Yu Fei's opinion of him.

Although he liked to tease Iverson about chasing his wife with a gun, that was a separate issue. If making friends involved moral judgements, he would have a hard time finding companions in the NBA, where beings pretending to be human gathered.

Since everyone is saying to be yourself, then let's be yourself.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball and drew Garnett's double team.

It seemed Garnett was really upset.

Amidst the booing from the crowd, Yu Fei forcefully drove through Garnett and passed to Jermaine O'Neal on the other side, assisting him for a dunk.

"!!@#￥!@"

Lakers fans had conflicting perceptions of Yu Fei; they acknowledged his skills but resented him because of the O'Neal affair.

This brilliant breakthrough pass brought back fond memories of Magic Johnson for many old-time fans.

"You've heard Lakers fans angrily deny that Lamar Odom is the second Magic Johnson, but you've never heard them get mad because Frye is called Magic Johnson 2.0," Collins praised Yu Fei from the commentary booth, "That's the special thing about Frye, even the fans who hate him the most are attracted by his charm!"

Yu Fei assisted Carter again.

Based on Carter's performance tonight alone, basketball-unfamiliar fans might not understand why he received two million votes.

He really had no desire to put on a show today, just standing on the sidelines shooting the ball, but he was on fire, making every shot he took.

This gave Yu Fei an easy route to rack up assists; whenever he was unsure who to pass to, he just gave the ball to Carter.

"Vince!"

Finally, after Yu Fei intercepted a pass from the Western All-Star Team, the top vote-getter got his chance to perform.

Carter sprinted down the court; it seemed he wanted to dunk to get his muscles moving.

As Yu Fei was advancing the ball, he remembered the classic play between Crawford and Griffin, the behind-the-back, between-the-legs alley-oop pass.

So, he cut into the middle, took off, and replicated the move, perfectly tossing a flashy between-the-legs alley-oop to the highest point reachable by UFO.

Carter soared high, grabbed the ball, and went for his signature windmill tomahawk slam into the basket.

Yu Fei excitedly shoved Carter and yelled, "With skills like that, why shoot at all!"
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Carter flashed a grin, his mood lifted a bit, "Why are you targeting KG like that?"

"Would you believe me if I said I wasn't targeting him?"