Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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After several days of training, the most pleasant surprise within the Bucks was the growth of Kevin Martin.

If last season's Martin was seen as utterly useless, this year's training camp has given everyone some hope.

Though Martin did not gain the 20 pounds Yu Fei had hoped for, he did solidly put on an actual 8 pounds (3.5KG).

On top of that, the league will be completely banning defenders from using their hands against attackers starting this season, allowing Martin's NCAA skills to be fully unleashed.

This was already quite apparent in the Bucks' intrasquad scrimmage.

At first, Karl had Sprewell defend him.

As a result, Sprewell, who couldn't keep up with the footwork, was repeatedly exploded on.

Afterward, Karl had Trevor Ariza, another player of the same draft class, take on Martin.

The still-needing-polish Ariza appeared like a plaything in front of Martin.

Finally, the player who successfully limited Martin was the new addition Raja Bell.

However, even for Bell, it was only in the rough style game of the team scrimmage that he managed to suppress Martin, and many of his moves would have been called fouls in a real game, which might not yield the same effect.

This year, ESPN predictably sent Marc Stein to the camp to observe the Bucks' preseason games.

Martin's performance left him exclaiming in his writing, "When Kevin Martin was criticized for his poor rookie season performance, Frye said we should at least give young people three years before we can tell if they belong to the NBA. Now, Kevin Martin has proven in just two years that he belongs here."

Stein boldly predicted, "Kevin Martin will be this season's Most Improved Player."

Then, Stein approached Yu Fei for an interview.

Yu Fei had a great relationship with Stein and naturally had no reason to refuse.

Stein took out his pen and notebook, ready to take shorthand.

His first question was, "The National Basketball Association is finalizing the roster for next year's World Championships in Japan, and you are very likely to be on the list of recruits."

Yu Fei just laughed and said nothing.

Stein asked, "What about this time?"

If it had been in the past, Yu Fei would have likely used the excuse "Whoever wants to go can go" to directly reject it.

But Reebok also realized that continuously rejecting the national team's invitation would give Yu Fei the reputation of being "unpatriotic", so they had prepared a script for Yu Fei in advance.

"I really want to play for the national team, but I don't have an answer for this question now," said Yu Fei, "There is still a long time before the World Championships, and I have to get through this season before I can decide. For now, I'm inclined to accept the call-up."

Stein immediately posed a second question, "What are your expectations for Kevin Martin's second season?"

"I hope he becomes a starter for the team, averaging 15 points per game," said Yu Fei.

If he does that, the Most Improved Player would be none other than him.

Stein thought and then raised another question, "You and LeBron raised tens of millions of US Dollars for New Orleans at Jay-Z's 'The World and I' charity event, which is still fondly talked about. How did that come about?"

On this matter, Yu Fei told the truth, "It was LeBron's idea; I was just a part of the plan."

"You said last year that you have to be patient with a rookie for three years. LeBron is about to enter his third season, do you think highly of the Cavaliers' performance this year?"

"Of course." If Yu Fei remembered correctly, the Cavaliers should make the playoffs this year, "LeBron has already proven himself, and if the Cavaliers' GM did a bit more, maybe they would have made the playoffs sooner."

"Are you confident in LeBron?"

"Of course, you know, he's my little brother."

Stein asked jokingly, "How do you plan to treat your little brother in the season opener?"

"I'll try my best to win," Yu Fei said. "And then wish him all the best."

A few days later, Marc Stein ranked the Bucks third in his season preview, only behind the Spurs and Mavericks.

This move made Stein quite controversial.

Because the Bucks didn't seem much stronger than last season.

To the outside world, the additions of Raja Bell and Kwame Brown might not necessarily fill the void left by Cuttino Mobley and Christian Laettner.

Danny Granger was a rookie, with limited influence.

As for sophomores Kevin Martin and Trevor Ariza, they were both deemed busts, and their influence was negligible.

In such a situation, how much must Stein have flattered Yu Fei to rank the Bucks third in the league?

To the controversy from the outside world, Stein did not reply, these people hadn't seen the Bucks' training camp, they didn't know the specifics, and they would naturally understand that the Bucks had quietly built a strong army for Frye once the season started.

During the media day, the atmosphere of the Bucks team left the media impressed.

This was no longer the gloomy Bucks team they remembered.

Although they still had veterans like Mutombo, Horry, and Sprewell, there were more mid-generation players like Yu Fei and Kwame, and a lot of young players.

"We reached the conference finals last season, so I think the championship is an achievable and reachable goal," said George Karl in an interview.

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Afterward, the Bucks, as arranged by the league, went to China to play two preseason games.

Due to last year's games in China being very popular, this year the league drew a winning hand by scheduling the Bucks and the Rockets to play an exhibition game in Shanghai.

Ever since the Rockets acquired McGrady from the Magic last year, their popularity in China had peaked, marking the beginning of a first love for a generation of fans—the Yao-McGrady era.

During the days leading up to the game in China, Yu Fei attended all the activities he could, presenting himself as the cultivated and amiable superstar the league and sponsors wanted to showcase.

In the following game, since it was preseason, both teams played with some restraint.

Yu Fei, embracing the idea of entertaining the audience, never let the opportunity slip to show off fancy passes, challenging dunks, and his addictive long-range three-pointers, leaving a lasting impression on the home fans.

In the end, the Bucks defeated the Rockets 117 to 104.

"Before the game, he (Yu Fei) said only a '250' would go all out in a preseason game," Yao Ming told the domestic media, "But as you all saw tonight, he pulled out all the stops—even more popular in my home court than I am. I'm the real '250.'"

The media was surprised, "Does Frye know what '250' means?"

Yao Ming smiled mysteriously, "He knows everything."

The other preseason game required both teams to move to Beijing to face the Kings, who had also played a preseason game in China last year.

Only, last year the Kings had a Chinese guard, Liu Wei, looking for an NBA opportunity, but this year there was no such attraction—it was merely a backdrop to the Bucks and the Rockets.

After gaining a significant amount of attention in China, the Bucks returned to the United States to play two more preseason games, securing victories in both.

The opening game of the new season was set to begin on October 30th.

There would be two games that day, one of which was the Bucks challenging the Cavaliers on the road.

Ever since James entered the NBA, the league had been hoping to create a mark of rivalry like the Yao-Shaq battle between them.

However, the close friendship between Yu Fei and James had foiled that plan.

Yu Fei wouldn't resent James the way Shaquille O'Neal resented Yao Ming, and James, aside from his skin color, seemed the anti-thesis of the traditional Black player, with an emotional intelligence that was exceptionally high, making a rivalry with Yu Fei unlikely.

Even the best marketing experts wouldn't be able to design a "rivalry" under these conditions.

But the league executives believed that the honeymoon period between Yu Fei and James would eventually come to an end.

This was not the 1960s when Russell would beat Chamberlain on the court and then go to Chamberlain's house for dinner, as close as brothers; nor was it the 1980s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird transcended racial differences without commercial conflicts and became close friends.

This was the 1990s.

Indeed, it was now the 21st century, but the rule created by Jordan in the 90s still continued to influence today.

That rule was that the pond of professional basketball was small, and "there could only be one" at the very top.

Yu Fei could, of course, continue the big brother-little brother game, since he was at the peak.

But what if one day James decided to challenge that?

Then anything could happen.

Today, Yu Fei, against his usual habits, arrived two hours early at the Cavaliers' new arena—Quicken Loans Arena.

When he first entered the league, Yu Fei would always arrive two hours early to get familiar with the away venues.

Now that he was already familiar with the home courts of various teams, there was naturally no need to continue doing so.

It was just that this season the Cavaliers had a new arena, so he rekindled the feelings from his rookie season.

Arriving at the unfamiliar new arena, Yu Fei could vaguely sense the deep pockets of Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers' new owner, and how much he wanted to please LeBron James.

James wanted a brand-new scoreboard, so Quicken Loans Arena introduced the newest scoring system.

James liked the wine color, so Gilbert changed all the seats in the venue to that color.

James was also fond of TVs, Xboxes, and sound systems, so each player's locker in the home and visitor's locker rooms were equipped with these items.

And, James was a bit vain and self-admiring?

That was even easier to handle. One of the large buildings outside Quicken Loans Arena was also one of Gilbert's assets; he rented it to Nike for its Cleveland division. Then he painted a ten-story mural on this building, the protagonist of which was naturally an image of James dunking, bearing the slogan "We Are All Witnesses" above it.

When Yu Fei asked to warm up early at the venue, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was busy preparing the event arrangements for tonight's season opener.

"Frye Yu, the guy who coerced the team into signing a two-year contract?" Gilbert asked.

The assistant nodded, "That's right."

For every owner, a rebellious player like this was their nightmare.

"Let him do whatever he wants, don't worry about him."

Gilbert was relieved that they had James and not Frye Yu.

99% of people believe Frye Yu will leave Milwaukee for the big cities, but is there even 1% who think James would abandon Cleveland?

No, there's not even 0.1%.

Having LeBron James was indeed Cleveland's blessing.