Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Who could imagine Jordan winning back-to-back three-peats without Pippen?

But isn't that the kind of person Jordan is?

By speaking this way, he indirectly proves that today, he isn't hiding anything; he's playing it real.

Carefully thinking about it, he's almost done settling the score with his enemies, so the speech should be about to end, right?'

But no, it isn't over yet.

After finishing with Krause, Jordan's gaze gradually fixed on the conspicuously present man.

In the past two years, countless people crafted narratives between them: "44 VS 23", "GOAT battle". Was their grudge that complicated? There was only one grudge between them: when 39-year-old Jordan and 19-year-old Yu Fei were on the same team, they could not tolerate each other's presence.

"Finally, I have to talk about one more person," Jordan said, looking at Yu Fei with a smile, "Frye's"

"!#@￥!￥"

This was what the audience had been waiting for; cheers and screams swept the stage.

"I don't know who sent him the invitation, but he came," Jordan said with irony, "Our story isn't as long as the one with Jerry, but it's also not something that can be explained in a few words. Even today, I still hear people say that the trade I made in 2002 destroyed the future of D.C. basketball. Maybe it did, but I don't regret it. In my opinion, the most important lesson a person can learn in life is to reverence authority, but he didn't. Not just towards me, but towards all of D.C., including Abe Pollin (Wizards owner). So, what I'm saying is, it wasn't me who traded him; rather, it was his actions that led to the trade occurring. I don't need to apologize to anyone, on the contrary, he needs to reevaluate whether he's fit to be a person."

"He wants to be the GOAT? Fine by me, I never thought I was. I've said it before, I never played against the great pioneers like Jerry West, so I won't claim to be the greatest of all time. But number 44 has shaken up the public perception of basketball as a team sport. He's muddied our view of what a dynasty looks like; a dynasty belongs to a team, but his empire serves only one.," Jordan commented bitterly, "I will never agree with that."

When Jordan denounced Yu Fei, the venue was met with occasional screaming, but mostly silence.

If Jordan's remarks about old rivals still contained teasing, with Fei it was pure negation.

This was the world in 2009, with Jordan as one of the main characters of the subject, making his stance clear.

Yu Fei was the last person he mentioned in the speech, but the presence of stars and media at the scene remained silent.

They worried that any sound they made would be interpreted as picking sides.

Jordan's speech was coming to a close.

He thanked everyone he should thank and cracked a joke to warm up the audience: "Maybe one day, you'll see fifty-year-old me playing on the court."

"Don't laugh, don't laugh. Never say never, for limits are often just as much an illusion as fears," Jordan said.

The funeral for number 23 was over.

Lin Kaiwen, sitting next to Yu Fei, had an ugly expression: "This old bastard has played the 'retreat to advance' card! He doesn't want to be the GOAT? If he doesn't, why even mention it!"

"Let's go."

Yu Fei rose calmly.

Kevin followed him.

Outside, the media swarmed.

"What do you think of Michael claiming in the speech that the trade was your fault?"

"Maybe it was my fault," said Yu Fei calmly, "I am very sorry that I didn't lead a 39-year-old old bastard to a championship in D.C. Although I won the championship for six of the last eight years, I definitely bear some responsibility for his failure in D.C. Although I can't decide which team to join on draft night, nor can I determine my role on the team, I can't decide on the staff of each department, nor can I decide my own future in D.C., but one thing I'm certain of, the thing that made 23 on the stage keep yapping today and eventually got kicked out of D.C. like a beaten dog, really was my fault."

How this war would evolve was no longer important.

When you don't give respect, others will resolutely disrespect you even more.

Yu Fei's statement blew up the Hall of Fame, and from that day onward, his feud with Jordan escalated to another level, but what did it matter? They both enjoyed the drama.

(1)The Assassin's response to this matter: "Dan Zi doesn't want to be my teammate, I can accept that, but who the hell is Pippen?"