Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

As these words were spoken, the friends around all showed ambiguous expressions.

"Getting to first base," "home run"—these terms may come from baseball, but they carry special meanings in day-to-day life.

Although Yu Fei always denied having any relationship with Scarlett, Donnie was always suspicious that there was something going on between the two, having heard that Scarlett's husband had had a conflict over this very issue.

Could last summer's gossip actually be true?

With a sly smile in his eyes, Tang Niu let Fei know he had been misunderstood again. He didn't mess with married women—that was his principle, but if she got divorced, that would be a different story.

But now, the focus was on the game.

Fei satisfied Donnie's wish for an alley-oop on his very first play of the game.

He took control of the ball at the high post, while the Lakers pressed forward to trap as they did in the first quarter.

However, the effectiveness of this trap was nowhere near as good as in the first quarter.

Because Zhan Ke was there at the time.

Now, Kobe wasn't even part of the trapping party. Fei tangled with him briefly, then casually tossed the ball up into the air.

Chris Bosh caught the ball and slammed it violently through the hoop.

"Boom!!!" Bosh pounded his chest, splattering spit as he roared, "Boom!!!"

Afterward, Kobe quickly found his rhythm.

Fei had hastened the arrival of the era of point guards, which, although it hurt some people, benefited many others, and Kobe was among them.

The Lakers now had the best spacing in the League, and as a result, Kobe didn't have to force up as many unreasonable shots as he did in his previous life.

Now, not only did he get plenty of one-on-one opportunities, but he also often had wide-open spaces.

The space was simply too vast.

If he could deal with opponents using picturesque moves in tight spaces, then this wide-open and fast-paced era was incredibly friendly to him.

None of the Supersonics' guards could match up to Kobe.

Within minutes, Kobe scored as easily as drinking water, truly embodying what the Zen Master said about taking on the lion's share, and to the Zen Master's relief, all his points came within the framework of the Triangle Offense.

Driving for jump shots, isolating on the wing, playing one-on-one in the post—none of his points came from isolation plays with the ball on the perimeter; they were all finishes within the tactical offense.

Kobe's performance ignited Fei's competitive spirit.

The final minutes of the second quarter were a real clash of titans.

For every basket Kobe scored, Fei would respond in kind on the next possession.

Conversely, if Fei scored, Kobe would similarly find a way to quickly even the score.

The two went from not guarding each other, focusing only on offense, to directly defending one another, carrying the duel of superstars through to the end. It was the showdown that everyone had been anticipating and what this year-long buildup to the great Empire Battle deserved.

At halftime, the score was 56 to 62, with the Supersonics leading the Lakers by 6 points. Fei had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists at the half, while Kobe had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.

"Number 44 and 24 have blood in their eyes!"

"The question is, what's number 23 doing?"

"Number 23 is sitting off the court, watching them go at each other's throats."

"Keep it going in the second half,"

Kobe said coldly as the first half came to an end.

Fei retorted sarcastically, "What about LeBron? Where have you put LeBron?"

"He's been a little timid," Kobe said with the most arrogant and self-assured tone Fei had ever heard, which, coming from him, didn't seem problematic at all. "I'll show him how to win championships."

How could he backstab like that with such a naive look?

James didn't seem timid to Fei.

Based on Fei's understanding of James, combined with what had happened in the first half, a reasonable explanation was that the team's leading star was being cancerous.

Just like some popularity-seeking celebrities obsessed with ranking and competitive gamers who throw the game if they can't play as the carry.

Jackson must have seen it, hence he increased Kobe's offensive role.

And Kobe truly didn't drop the ball; he was exceptionally high-caliber during the closing stages of the first half—a performance that could certainly give Jackson reason to frown at James.

It was something that everyone could see, except Kobe didn't see it.

He not only failed to see it, but he also wanted to teach James how to win championships.

Fei just smiled and said nothing, simply walking away.

Both teams returned to the locker room, where the stage was given to the coaches.

Coach Lu was very satisfied with the team's first-half performance.

But Jackson's words were loaded and pointed.

"I have always emphasized that as long as the Lakers become united, we can defeat any opponent, just like in 2001," Jackson said. "As a coach, I have failed because, to this very moment, we are still not united. We have too many stars, unable to align their thoughts. You can see Kobe's determination and the obvious carelessness of certain others. If we want to beat the Supersonics, this mindset is unacceptable."

Who was it playing carelessly on the court?

Jackson was very adept at using external forces to apply internal pressure.

This began when he was with the Chicago Bulls and engaged in a power struggle with Jerry Krause. After arriving at the Lakers, he took down the "LOGO Man," and, eventually, after a romance-novel-worthy saga with Kobe—first torment, then love—he now casually applied pressure to James with the same tactic.

The professional sports commentators on major networks quickly emerged as victors in this game of ghost hunting.

They realized the person Jackson was referring to was James.

In the first half, the Lakers Team played well, but there was an odd scent in the air.

It was that this Lakers team looked like a single-core team centered around Kobe, rather than a dual-core dance of both Kobe and James.

When they needed James to step up and seize the moment, James disappeared.

This was the reason the Lakers were behind by 6 points after Kobe's appearance, and why Coach Lu, a rookie coach, dared to bet on going all-in with Fei for 48 minutes.