Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Bucks made an adjustment to their interior lineup four minutes into the first quarter.

Christian Laettner and Robert Horry came in for Mutombo and Mason. To others, this might seem like a routine substitution for the Bucks, but those who had seen how Yu Fei had dominated Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers team knew exactly what bringing in these two players meant.

Phil Jackson's gaze was deep, as if he was pondering the Bucks' intentions.

After much thought, there seemed to be no other reasonable explanation than fulfilling Yu Fei's desire to hammer away at O'Neal on the court.

But even if they intended to deal with O'Neal, wasn't this too early?

This didn't follow the usual script.

In the past, the Bucks would usually engage with the Lakers in a few exchanges to establish dominance or when the situation was at a deadlock before resorting to this tactic, and it had been effective.

Now they were showing their hand just a few minutes into the game when the situation was still unclear and there was no apparent advantage or disadvantage—why?

No, he needed to observe a little longer.

As Jackson was thinking this, Yu Fei signaled out O'Neal right before his eyes.

Yu Fei called for a pick-and-roll at the five, and Karl Malone stepped up to defend the pick-and-roll in place of O'Neal. This was just a band-aid solution because another pick-and-roll at the four was coming up.

O'Neal was grinding his teeth with frustration; he was all too familiar with Yu Fei's combination moves and what was to come.

But what could he do? Switch on defense and come out? Impossible!

Staying in the paint like a shrunken turtle, he could only pray that Yu Fei was off his game, pretending to be a mobile interior player and defend the pick-and-roll outside. If he did, Yu Fei would just breeze by him and hold a dunk contest under the basket.

Because O'Neal refused to move out, the Bucks' four-pick-and-roll tactic successfully created an opportunity for Yu Fei to drive straight into the paint.

Naturally, he wouldn't challenge O'Neal in the paint after creating a clear shot with the pick-and-roll, but he could humiliate his opponent with a sassy half-basket shot from a position O'Neal could cover but refused to move from.

"Swish!"

Even Karl Malone was disappointed with O'Neal's defensive attitude.

Yu Fei taunted casually as he passed the hallway, "I told you, he's a piece of shit, his defense stinks."

After Yu Fei said this, O'Neal got mad.

But what could his anger do?

Looking at their playing style, Yu Fei greatly restrained O'Neal.

It's not that Yu Fei was a better player than O'Neal. From a stylistic and technical standpoint, few perimeter mains in the league could contain O'Neal to this extent.

The enraged O'Neal tried to reclaim his pride in the low post.

Instead, he was sent to the free-throw line by a rough foul from his old teammate Horry.

Horry, who played hard against O'Neal, felt no guilt whatsoever—after all, the person who had wronged him was O'Neal himself.

Last summer, after Kobe got into trouble, the Lakers actively recruited Malone and Payton. No one within the player ranks wanted Malone as much as O'Neal did; he knew Malone could bring more help than Horry did.

That made Horry feel as though his dedication over the years had been wasted on the ungrateful.

So, fouling O'Neal here, he felt completely justified.

"Don't touch me with your dirty hands!" O'Neal, agitated by Yu Fei, lashed out at Horry as well, "You lousy cheerleader!"

The two got into an altercation inside, luckily it was just a superficial conflict with dirty words exchanged but no excessive physical action.

Boos echoed throughout the Staples Center.

After stirring up trouble, O'Neal took to the free-throw line with steady performance but missed both shots, Yu Fei grabbed the defensive rebound, ready to fast break, only to be tactically fouled by Payton.

"Hey, thinking about a fast break?" Payton said smugly, "I can tell what you want to do with a blink of an eye!"

Yu Fei blinked, "Guess what I want to do now?"

Payton didn't bother to respond to Yu Fei and just took off.

In reality, Payton did stop a Lakers fast break that could have potentially led to a score.

But by stopping this break, he allowed Yu Fei to refocus on the half-court game.

Yu Fei, commanding a 5 OUT lineup, wasn't about to let O'Neal off the hook.

Back in the frontcourt, another pick-and-roll at the four and five was set.

O'Neal still wouldn't budge, Malone was stretched thin, and after Yu Fei broke through the Lakers' defense, he passed it back to Horry.

The Lakers, aware of Horry's threat from three, intended to help on defense but were too late.

Horry's three-point attempt was on target, a clean swish.

Horry posed with a villainous coolness, extending the Bucks' lead to eight points, and the Lakers called for a timeout.

Boos permeated the whole Staples Center.

Now, Phil Jackson seriously needed to consider how to defend the Bucks' four-five pick-and-roll.

O'Neal definitely couldn't go out, but he couldn't keep shrinking back either.

Jackson, on the defensive end, demanded that all players, except the one guarding Ray Allen, immediately switch on pick-and-roll plays, leaving their assignments behind. This was still a makeshift solution, using defensive efforts to cover for Shaquille O'Neal's inability to move out of the paint.

But Jackson wasn't content with merely protecting O'Neal; he insisted on feeding him the ball on the offense, even if it meant drawing a foul, as it still caused damage.

Then, Jackson made an adjustment to his lineup, substituting Kobe, who didn't get along with O'Neal, with the left-handed shooter Kareem Rush.

Kobe, whose latent energy had yet to erupt, was benched before he could explode. Jackson's move was without doubt a message to Jerry Buss in the audience about where his sympathies lay.

He was still on O'Neal's side; they both disliked Kobe.

The Lakers' internal problems meant little to the Bucks, who still needed to find a way to reduce the burden on their interior players.

O'Neal knew that the only way the Bucks could limit his inside game was by fouling him, so he forced his way into the paint at every opportunity.

He was intent on using his strength to create a chance where he could shoot immediately upon receiving the ball.

Christian Laettner naturally couldn't hold his ground; O'Neal got to the basket, and Payton lobbed the ball to him.

O'Neal simply pinned Laettner with his body while his other hand lightly hooked the ball in—a more effortless offense couldn't be imagined.

O'Neal was delighted, making faces as he backpedaled, but Yu Fei didn't give him the chance to savor the moment.

As a teammate inbounded from the backcourt, Yu Fei accelerated all the way to the frontcourt, asking the Lakers to let Karl Malone come over for a mismatched interference.

Yu Fei faked right, then stepped left inside the three-point line.

Although Malone had entered the defensive prime of his career after his physical peak had ended, the inevitable decline in physical function with age was inescapable.

When faced with someone like Yu Fei, who created distance with explosive bursts and quick changes of direction, Malone had no answer.

Yu Fei created a shooting opportunity and, upon receiving the ball, shot—a swish!

Phil Jackson had always disliked Yu Fei's style of play, believing this style of game disrupted some of basketball's ancient orders.

Players in certain positions do certain jobs—there are established templates for this, but Yu Fei brought a different possibility. He was neither fully a guard nor a forward, yet he managed the tasks of positions one, two, and three, while restricting his teammates to roles based on style.

Yet, Jackson admitted that Yu Fei was continuously improving; his shooting became more and more stable, he loved playing pick-and-roll to train the interior players, and with the Bucks' numerous shooters, this combination turned him into a real Sharks' killer.

However, Jackson still couldn't believe that O'Neal could be neutralized to the point of helplessness, so he preferred to bench Kobe to ensure O'Neal had enough of the limelight on the offensive end to see how he'd fare against Yu Fei.

Malone, on the other hand, wished that O'Neal would contribute more on defense, "Shaq, you need to come up high and help me!"

O'Neal could see the old man was panting from trying to defend Yu Fei's pick-and-roll offense, a testament to the pressure.

Therefore, O'Neal nodded solemnly, although he had no clue how to defend Yu Fei at the high post.

If Malone could be shaken off in one step, then up against Yu Fei, it might only take a burst of speed...

This rare moment of doubt lingered in the mind of the man who fancied himself as Superman for just half a second.

The Lakers spread the floor once again to create another strong attack for O'Neal.

O'Neal raised his arms high, and the ball arrived.

The Bucks' double team was timelier than the previous round, but Laettner's defensive collapse also happened faster than expected.

O'Neal, like an ancient deity, bulldozed Laettner, spinning to face Horry's foul with a savage dunk, and heard the whistle as the crowd at Staples Center had already grown accustomed to such scenes.

Since O'Neal arrived in Los Angeles in 1996, he brought countless stimulating brutal offenses to fans.

O'Neal felt empowered by the crowd's chants, reveling in his status as their supreme deity. In response, he roared and made a crude "give me the money" gesture towards Jerry Buss's position.

Laettner got injured during this defensive play, which led to a short pause in the game.

ABC cut to a clip of Buss at the beginning of the season during O'Neal's blatant "pay me" gesture, where Buss had given an interview stating that the team would renew contracts with O'Neal and Jackson.

"I believe when they sign, they will be the League's highest-paid player and coach," he had said.

Yu Fei also saw this interview on the big screen.

To him, what was truly interesting was the question that followed that response.

"What about Kobe? Will the Eagle County incident affect his future with the Lakers?"

"No, it won't. Kobe is like a son to me." It's unusual for an owner to call his player a son, but that was Kobe's special place in Old Buss's heart. "Kobe might reach levels that only two or three players have ever reached. I want to witness him reach his peak, and there are many years to go for that."

In his mind, Yu Fei wondered: What if someone didn't want you to witness Kobe's peak, Dr. Buss?

ABC knew the score; they quickly shifted the camera to Jerry Buss sitting in the front row.

He was not at all amused by his star player's antics; instead, he presented a face of utter solemnity to the public.

Yu Fei looked towards the sideline, where Dan Gadzuric was Laettner's replacement.

Last season, Big Dan was an unshakeable starter at center for the Bucks, but due to injuries this season, his performance had been inconsistent, costing him his starting spot.

Karl was now putting him in, planning to continue using his unreliable mid-range shots combined with Yu Fei's pick-and-roll. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire

Yu Fei felt like the prelude was nearly over. If the Lakers' coaching staff was so fixated on making O'Neal feel comfortable that they'd bench Kobe, then the match was going to be simple. Just like before, if they caused O'Neal to crumble, the Lakers' act of coddling the prima donna would come to a close.