Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bucks failed to close out the series at home.

"They had 25 free throws, while we only had 7," Karl criticized the referees bluntly, "This is why we have to go to Detroit and play a Game 7."

The League quickly slapped Karl with a $10,000 fine as a "reward" for his comments.

Yu Fei didn't know how to evaluate this game, although the Pistons once again suppressed the Bucks' shooting, the problem was, the Pistons' offense wasn't good, either.

When both sides shot poorly, the number of free throws could determine the direction of the game.

Since the Western Conference Finals of 2002, Yu Fei had believed that the League's top brass had plans for each series, because some series are more valuable when they go to a Game 7.

Just like that year's Western Conference Finals between the Kings and Lakers, Game 7 brought the League tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

Although the Bucks and Pistons didn't have such great commercial value, with the enmity from The Palace of Auburn Hills as a backdrop and the presence of Yu Fei, it was beneficial to the narrative-driven professional basketball for the two teams to go to a Game 7.

If the Bucks won, then this would be the story of Frye avenging his arch-enemy and etching his name forever in the nightmares of every Detroit person.

If the Pistons won, it was also a revenge story, but one where the once-defeated hero returns to the same stage a year later to conquer the villain who has evolved into a dragon.

The next day, a piece of good news dispersed the gloom of Game 6's defeat.

After voting, Yu Fei narrowly defeated Steve Nash and was elected the MVP for the 2004-05 regular season.

This news once announced, caused a huge shock in the outside world.

The congratulations to Yu Fei were quickly drowned out by Nash's supporters.

Yes, the Bucks had a difficult season.

True, Yu Fei's statistics were monstrous.

Of course, everyone acknowledged that as a player, Yu Fei was probably much better than Nash.

But to some, Yu Fei winning the MVP signaled a change in the standards of the award.

"Think about it, if the MVP criteria aren't about how much change a player brings to his team, not about the team's record, but blindly pursue individual dominance, crazy numbers, then, from the '60s until now, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, they should have swept every MVP."

"But that didn't happen, because we have some basic guidelines; MVP doesn't belong to the best player in a literal sense, it should go to the best player of the best team who brings about significant change."

"Steve Nash's MVP was stolen, he might never have a chance at the award again, surely this marks the day when the authority of professional basketball awards completely dies!"

Leading the charge was Bill Simmons, who had claimed he could accept Yu Fei winning the MVP, but not his inclusion in the defensive team.

Simmons's opinion was mainstream.

Yu Fei's monstrous statistics leading a beleaguered team to 53 wins were indeed great, but it couldn't compare to what Nash did in Phoenix.

In their eyes, a core point guard averaging 15.5 points and 11.5 assists carrying the team from just 29 wins last season to 62 wins holds more merit than someone averaging 36+8+8, leading his team to 53 wins while missing the first and second options.

Some anonymous voters said, "Steve Nash was definitely my first choice, but when I saw Frye's numbers, I wavered."

However, no matter how much the outside world criticized the voting result, it was irreversible.

Yu Fei won his second MVP trophy, causing an uproar at Reebok.

On the day of Game 7, the Bucks headed to Detroit.

Reebok staff prepared a special T-shirt for Yu Fei at the airport, with the words: Came before. Won last year. Winning again this year.

"What's this?"

Yu Fei liked the slogan but wondered why Reebok suddenly came up with it.

Quint DiMio smiled and said, "They want to use your money-making ability to develop more merchandise. The average viewership for the games between you and the Pistons is nearing 10 million. It's too good a selling point to waste."

"Alright," Yu Fei asked, "so besides earning more hatred from the people of Detroit, what else do I get?"

"10% of the royalties."

Yu Fei said, "Looks like I have another reason to win Game 7."

Afterward, Yu Fei boarded the team bus heading to the hotel.

When they arrived at the hotel, they saw crowds and security force personnel.

A group of crazed Pistons fans hurled vulgar insults at every Bucks player.

Yu Fei glanced at them, suddenly took off his jacket, revealing the T-shirt Reebok had prepared especially for him.

"Big Fei, are you sure provoking them here is a good idea?" Barry nervously asked.

Yu Fei countered, "They said you're not worth a dick hair compared to your dad, does that not make you angry?"

Barry's expression darkened, and he suddenly swore, "FUCK! This goddamn..."

"That's right, no need to be polite with them."

Four in the afternoon

The Bucks set out for Auburn Hills.

Games at the Pistons' home court usually start around five in the afternoon.

It was the same today.

The Bucks arrived an hour early, but the venue was already packed.

Mostly with staff members from ABC, TNT, and ESPN, as several media outlets regarded this game as the most important before the Finals.

ESPN's Jim Gray wanted to invite Yu Fei to a brief pre-game interview.

Yu Fei declined, "Jim, everything I want to say is in the game."

Then, Yu Fei kept shooting baskets.

His shooting had no pattern—wherever he picked up the ball, that's where he shot from.

He continued doing the same thing until the venue was open to the audience.

Since the last big brawl at the Palace, security and protection had been beefed up. In the words of the Palace manager, they could now ensure that the venue was foolproof.

The fans probably didn't want to throw stuff onto the court anymore, but that didn't stop them from doing other things to disgust Yu Fei.

Sarcastic posters, hateful quotes, and spoof cartoons.

Among them, the spoof cartoons were what made Yu Fei almost burst into laughter. The people of Detroit depicted him as a slave owner, with his teammates' faces drawn on dogs' bodies, led by him on leashes.

It read: Frye Yu and his wild dogs are doomed to fail!

With Mobley injured, the Bucks chose to start Trevor Ariza tonight.

The upside was a boost in the Bucks' defensive intensity, but the downside was obvious, too—lack of a spacing presence on the perimeter, which would make the Pistons' double-teams on Yu Fei more frequent.

Ariza was well aware of what was going to happen, so he warmed up with his shooting practice as seriously as Yu Fei.

Seeing that even Ariza couldn't maintain a stable hitting rate under practice conditions, Ratner couldn't help but tease him, "Rookie, don't be too outrageous!"

"Is this really the result of practicing 700 extra shots a day?"

Ariza shot back in embarrassment and anger, "Shut up, old man! Who doesn't have an off day?"

Ratner mocked, "Mr. Ariza, your three-point shooting percentage is 29% for the season. If that's considered being off, then you've been off the entire season."

Ariza couldn't retort and shot another ball.

"Bang!"

Ratner shook his head, looking as if he had given up on "motivating" Ariza any further.

Then, Yu Fei called out from a distance, "Chris, picking on the rookie again?"

"Yes! He's not only bullying me but also messing with my practice!"

Ariza had successfully left the impression of a bad dog in Ratner's mind.

They all say they're like the dogs around Frye, but as for this rookie... if I am a dog, I'm at least a Rottweiler; this rookie... at most is a rebellious beagle!

"Chris, don't disrupt him."

Yu Fei shot from two meters outside the three-point line, and it went in again.

"Frye, why are you standing so far out to shoot?" Ariza asked in astonishment.

Yu Fei didn't even glance at him, "Shoot your shot, mind your own business."

Under the basket, Lawson was like a relentless passing machine, picking up the ball and then passing it out.

The same spot, Yu Fei shot again.

"Swish!"

"That accurate?" Ariza exclaimed.

Ratner said, "That's 13 in a row now."

Ariza asked eagerly, "Is there some secret to it?"

Yu Fei had taught Ariza how to shoot, but when he told him about adjusting his breathing, Ariza seemed as if he was listening to incomprehensible scriptures.

"It's not that I won't teach you; this sort of thing varies from person to person. You might need more time, that's all."

After a while, the warm-up was over.

The starters from both teams gathered around their head coach to hear the final instructions before the game.

About the game plan, Karl didn't want to elaborate further. By game seven of the series, both sides had figured each other out.

Now it was down to who would perform better on the spot and who would make fewer mistakes.

"We stand here tonight, facing Detroit in game seven of the series not for so-called glory!" Karl felt he wasn't himself tonight but rather like his now-unemployed arch-rival, yet these were his heartfelt words. "It has nothing to do with a three-peat; it has nothing to do with the honor we're after. Do you know what we're fighting for tonight?"

Ariza quoted what Yu Fei had said, "For everyone?"

"Right!" Karl looked at him approvingly, "This is a personal grudge. We're fighting for those who can't be here tonight because of Detroit!"

After saying this, Karl sent his players onto the court.

It was the most pointless pre-game talk he had ever given, but he felt compelled to say it.

Succeeding that, the players from both sides entered the court.

Yu Fei walked over to Prince as usual.

What he didn't expect was that someone from the Pistons dared confront him with a declaration of victory.

Big Ben seemed to think that if they didn't state their intentions before winning, the revenge would be incomplete.

"Been here before, won last year, want to win this year too." Big Ben questioned Yu Fei, "That was what you said, right?"

In fact, those words were from his buddy's T-shirt.

Yu Fei saw no need to explain that and countered, "So what if I did?"

Big Ben said, "We'll make you take back those words."

"Save that kind of nonsense for scaring kids," Yu Fei mocked. "If you could do that, we wouldn't have to go to game seven."

PS: I went out celebrating the New Year until late last night, and when I got home, I set an alarm for 9:30 am to get up and do the update. But as you know, I overslept.

PPS: I wish everyone again a Happy New Year. My New Year's resolution is to have at least one full-attendance month without taking a day off.