Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

For every Laker other than Shaquille O'Neal, the upcoming visit to the Staples Center by the Bucks wasn't essentially different from any other visiting team.

At best, it was just a regular-season game.

Media might add value to it, touting it as a clash between the best of the East and the West, a preview of the Finals, but if the players themselves got distracted by these things, the game would be tough to play.

But for O'Neal and Yu Fei, there was genuine animosity. Moreover, the hostility grew with each encounter between them. After every game, you wouldn't hear about them doing anything to ease the tension; instead you'd hear about what Yu Fei did to Shaq, what Yu Fei said, how Yu Fei behaved... and that was the problem.

As the League's best player, O'Neal hardly ever got the better of Yu Fei.

This raised some questions within the Lakers organization: could Frye be restraining Shaq?

Being "restrained" was seen as a very serious assessment in the eyes of O'Neal's camp.

O'Neal could not be restrained.

Every past failure had its reasons.

But who cared? This mattered more to O'Neal, but what about the rest of the Lakers? They had plenty of other things to worry about.

The afternoon's training session, because of Kobe not being able to show up, was incomplete.

Oddly enough, the boss Jerry Buss bypassed Phil Jackson and opened the training facility to the media on his own.

Stern had once decreed for the NBA to be more down-to-earth and required teams to lift media bans, making those once closely guarded daily routines of the team no longer secrets. However, for a team like the Lakers, one of the most influential in the entire League, naturally they had special privileges.

Phil Jackson could decide which days to open to the media and which not, but today, the situation was out of control.

This was another suppression of Jackson's authority by Old Buss following the Lakers' announcement to suspend the contract renewal discussions with Jackson before the All-Star weekend.

Jackson was getting more irritable by the day, realizing it was not just the team that needed to find its soul; possibly his father-in-law, who seems to have lost his mind during a 'Playboy' midsummer night, also needed to go somewhere to find his soul.

"No comment."

"Nothing to say."

"It's just an ordinary game."

Jackson's attitude towards reporters was extremely indifferent.

O'Neal, however, didn't want to pass up any chance to get close to the media, naturally playing the clown in front of the cameras and telling humorous jokes.

Only when asked about Kobe did he show a different face.

"Shaq, how are you guys going to take on the Bucks with an incomplete roster?"

O'Neal didn't say Kobe could make it back for the game, he said with a forced smile, "What are you talking about? Our team is complete, everyone is here!"

It was merely a rerun of his controversial comments from the start of the season.

The team Phil Jackson described as needing to find its soul still hadn't found its unity halfway through the season.

Rather, there seemed to be a bit of a sense of self-sacrifice to the devil.

Tex Winter, an insider and the originator of the Triangle Offense, couldn't pinpoint a precise culprit for the disaster. However, in his view, the tense atmosphere arising before the All-Star weekend was undoubtedly Jackson's own doing.

Back then, the Lakers only put a halt on the renewal discussions with O'Neal, but they were still very active in negotiating with Jackson. After all, Jackson, who was Jeanie Buss's fiancé, was part of the organization's long-term plan, and holding onto him was a consensus among the upper echelons.

Jackson, however, developed some misconceptions, acting self-important with Jeanie and overestimating his own status in Old Buss's heart. He publicly stated during the renewal negotiations that he and Kobe were incompatible; if the team didn't trade Kobe before the trade deadline, then he wouldn't renew his contract.

Phil Jackson entered a minefield and crossed Old Buss's red line.

The minefield was making demands to the management like orders, and the red line was obstinately wanting to send Kobe away.

Jackson was just a coach, not a godfather, and so his statement irritated the management. Threatening to leave unless Old Buss gave up Kobe was something the boss could not tolerate.

Thus arose the Lakers' sudden announcement to suspend the advance renewal negotiations with Jackson.

This was the source of the recent tense atmosphere around the Lakers.

At that time, the feud between Yu Fei and O'Neal was just a trifle for them.

As Payton once again exploded in a scrimmage due to failing to properly execute the Triangle Offense, "I'm fucking sick of this damn 'equal opportunity' offense!" Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

Winter smiled upon hearing this.

It reminded him of something from the past.

Jordan used to refer to the Triangle Offense in the same way.

Of course, the language of the 'god' was more sophisticated — he initially ridiculed it sarcastically as 'equal opportunity offense.' Then he went on to win six championships with that 'equal opportunity offense.'

This was almost the biggest issue the Bulls had faced before their championships.

But for the Lakers, Payton's little problem couldn't even be considered an issue.

That evening

"Everything here feels so familiar," said Yu Fei. "It seems like I was just here not long ago."

Sprewell nodded, helping Yu Fei to recall, "The last time you were here, you stole the show and took Shaq's AMVP."

"I like that you describe my achievement as 'stealing'," Yu Fei said with self-satisfaction, "That's one of the happiest things I've done in a while."

Then Mason suddenly interjected, "Happier than when the video tape princess gave you her contact?"

"Cut the crap, old man, I never even paid her any attention."

"Well, you're in for a tough night, look, the princess is back again."

Yu Fei followed their gaze and indeed found Paris Hilton in the same spot.

Yu Fei didn't take this to heart; watching the Lakers' game in person was just one of the social events for these celebrities.

During warm-ups, Yu Fei also noticed Lakers owner Jerry Buss in the crowd, seated beside his playboy-looking younger son, Jim Buss, surrounded by a flock of beautiful women.

Watching a home game without sitting in a private box was quite an unusual move.

Kobe even chatted with old Buss during warm-ups, the only Lakers player to do so.

After warm-ups, the Bucks' starters were the first to enter the court.

Unlike before, Karl included Dikembe Mutombo in the starting lineup.

Even though Mutombo had proven in 2001 that he couldn't handle even a single hair of Shaquille O'Neal's, the help he brought to the team in terms of rim protection was somewhat overlooked after being thoroughly dominated by Shaquille O'Neal.

The reason Kobe sang praises for his hometown like crazy during the finals that year was partly due to the 76ers' wings really being defensively solid, and partly thanks to Mutombo's DPOY-level rim protection, which greatly affected Kobe and the other perimeter players.

The Bucks' strategy against the Lakers had always relied on Yu Fei's unreasonably targeted attacks on Shaquille O'Neal to break the game, but today, Karl decided to test the waters with an unconventional lineup.

Karl had thought the Lakers would start by letting Shaquille O'Neal relive the 2001 finals, but instead, Payton played like he was another Kobe.

Shaquille O'Neal called for the ball in the low post on the right; Payton wanted it on the low post on the left.

Sometimes players behave so outrageously that fans don't know whether they're genuinely clueless or just acting.

Take the Triangle Offense, for example. Rodman didn't understand a thing back then and integrated into the Bulls just by sticking to the belief that "just pass to Jordan and let him do the single play."

Payton once claimed to have grasped the Triangle Offense in a week; half a season later, his understanding was to call for the ball in the low post on the opposite side during set plays to make Shaquille O'Neal's offensive space even more crowded.

This understanding couldn't be described as anything but top-tier; if Yu Fei were Shaquille O'Neal, he would have ditched Payton's mother first.

The Bucks made a change from last time by not having Yu Fei guard Payton.

Since the Lakers had Fox guarding Yu Fei on the defensive end, Karl let Yu Fei guard Fox to save some energy.

The tough nut Payton was left to Sprewell.

Sprewell didn't expect Payton's "profound" understanding of the Triangle Offense. Caught off guard, he was overpowered by Payton who turned and muscled in for a basket.

2 to 0

Yu Fei wanted to fast break, so he crossed half court and fed the ball to Ray Allen.

Ray Allen's follow-through three-pointer missed.

Kobe grabbed the defensive rebound and attempted a fast break, but was chased down by Yu Fei.

If it had been Payton with the ball, Yu Fei would have been worried the Lakers' counterattack would succeed. With Kobe, he believed his idol wouldn't let him down.

Kobe rushed to the frontcourt, and although the Bucks retreated quickly and avoided being outnumbered, their defensive positions were chaotic. Just passing the ball around to stretch the defense would easily lead to an open shot.

And Kobe, true to his name, fell right into the trap when Yu Fei feigned a flaw on the weak side. Kobe bit and tried to penetrate. By the time Yu Fei quickly reacted, Kobe realized it was a trap. A normal person would think of passing at this point, but Kobe felt he had a backup plan. He made a quick stop, stabilized himself, gathered the ball, and to everyone's frustration, disrupted the counterattack rhythm. Yet, he still persisted in his own offensive rhythm, forcing a shot over Yu Fei.

"Bang!"

As if to suggest Yu Fei's defense wasn't strong enough, Kobe shook his head as he went back on defense.

"It's okay to let him in, I'll help you with the defense," Dikembe's perpetually old voice offered, warm and comforting.

Upon hearing this, Yu Fei felt the murderous intent in his heart dissipate. While waiting for Mutombo to serve, he asked, "Dikembe, aren't you almost 60? You still have that much energy?"

"NONONONONO... not that old," Mutombo shook his head.

Yu Fei received the serve and slowly advanced to the frontcourt.

If Mutombo's distinctly personal voice smoothed out the slight agitation that Kobe stirred in Yu Fei, then the moment he saw Kobe taking the initiative to guard him, an eager desire to engage filled his mind.

Yu Fei took a step forward with his right foot, crossed over, accelerated, stopped quickly, then crossed over again, shaking Kobe by half a body, and gathered the ball.

Kobe's effort on defense, sparing no expense despite being shaken off by half a step—where others might have just symbolically reached out—Kobe lunged at him with all his might.

His eagerness to crush the opponent was praiseworthy, but his overzealousness gave Yu Fei more openings.

Yu Fei played the timing game and bypassed most of Kobe's body, then took off brushing past the remainder of Kobe's body; the referee blew the whistle and he shot.

"Swish!"

Was this soft foul a reward to the fans?

Yu Fei was about to say this, but a certain "Big Fatty," whom he already considered as good as a dead pig, beat him to the punch: "Do you need Rick to switch the defense with that kind of guarding? Don't you know your own limitations?"

Kobe glared coldly at Shaquille O'Neal, "What I do is none of your business!"

...Yu Fei whistled and slipped away.

That was close, almost lost my cool there.

Why compete with Kobe? The man had to attend court hearings and rush back to play games; his mental state hadn't been normal for a while. Couldn't he be more tolerant towards his idol?

To remind himself of this lesson, Yu Fei decided to dock himself a day of fan membership; for four days, he must forever protect the best Kobe, who defies Shaquille O'Neal.