Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

After returning to Washington, D.C. from University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the Wizards Team got a day off, then they needed to prepare for a preseason game at their home court.

Normally, the NBA would place preseason games in cities with a more commercial atmosphere, but after 9/11, some believed that the NBA's wealthy had an obligation to remind Americans that their country was still great.

In fact, Yu Fei considered this to be American formalism.

It was meaningless, because NBA news was difficult to find on television or in mainstream news, even Jordan's comeback was just causing some ripples.

Although it was all merely for form's sake, the Wizards still marketed it as "The Hero's Return."

The Wizards were set to welcome their first preseason opponent at their home court, the MCI Center—henceforth abbreviated as MCI—the Phoenix Suns.

Just before the Wizards' players entered the locker room, a uniformed police officer led a German Shepherd inside first.

"Oh, that's one hell of a big dog!" Kwame Brown asked in surprise, "Why is there a cop and a big dog here?"

Beat reporter Steve Wyche explained, "It's to prevent someone from bringing dangerous items inside."

Before 9/11, Brown might not have understood what that meant, but now he reacted immediately, "Could someone plant a bomb inside?"

"Don't make such a fuss!" Jordan chastised, "They're just doing their routine."

Both the Wizards and Jordan's team had latched onto the 9/11 buzz to imbue his comeback with a sense of holiness.

But in reality, Jordan was one of the rare superstars in American sports history with no interest in social issues or politics. During training camp, the Wizards players were never asked about 9/11.

Even though the television and newspapers endlessly showed the smoking World Trade Center, the Wizards players remained indifferent. They lived in a bubble, completely isolated from the outside world; only basketball mattered. In such an environment, it was hard to imagine any NBA players calling for a strike in the heat of the moment after a compatriot died due to violent enforcement.

Instead of asking about the impact of 9/11 on their lives, the media were more curious about whether the Wizards could make it to the playoffs in the new season, so they asked more than twice every day.

Yu Fei detested the playoff question, not because he didn't want to make the playoffs, but because the media had packaged it into a sort of "mission" in their own way.

You'll make it to the playoffs before Jordan retires, right? What would you give to make the playoffs with Jordan?

At first, Yu Fei managed to respond with official rhetoric calmly, but later, when he entered the locker room after each practice and saw veterans like Jordan and Ratner demanding ice for their joints, turning the locker room into a morgue, he really wanted to sling their ice bags at the media's faces.

Yu Fei took casual shots on the court, then saw security dogs sniffing every corner of MCI.

From the locker room to the corridors, from the trash bins to the restrooms, and every spot in the stands.

Once the security dogs finished their job, MCI immediately opened its doors for ticketholders to enter.

As one of the most anticipated teams of the new season, even the preseason game had sold-out tickets.

Yu Fei saw team owner Abe Pollin and NBA commissioner David Stern.

Suddenly, this was not just a preseason game anymore; it also served the mission of cooperating with the League to promote the NBA's image.

Yu Fei warmed up with silent shots.

Coach Lu, who had been observing Yu Fei since before training camp, noticed his improved shooting stability, "Frye, you've got a good touch today."

"Yeah, it's a pity this is just a preseason game."

Before the game began, the most important part of the evening started—though it had nothing to do with the match.

The owner of the Wizards, Pollin, took the stage to give a speech like a rock star.

Pollin seemed to have profound reflections on 9/11, starting from condemning terrorist attacks to the positive social significance of basketball games, segueing into Jordan's comeback and how he, as a hero, could uplift so many Americans, then circling back to the Wizards—subtly elevating his own image—Pollin announced to society that all firefighters and police officers involved in the 9/11 rescue would receive free season tickets.

Emphasis on: all firefighters and police officers involved in the 9/11 rescue.

At last, although the generous Pollin was great, he had to end this speech with greatness itself, so the topic once again returned to Jordan.

Pollin highlighted how important it was for him to have these heroes who participated in the rescue work witness Jordan's game, its importance to society, and as the owner, he hoped Jordan would bring heroic performances as he did in the '90s, ensuring a full house every game, ending with, "Terrorist attacks are such a tragedy, they have torn apart tens of thousands of families, but I believe that no matter how many tragedies we are facing now, as long as there is one good thing happening, the world will become a better place, let's get started!"

Well said, Yu Fei's hands were almost smoking from clapping.

But what he didn't expect was that after Pollin finished, Stern also went up to give a speech.

Stern's speech was very similar to Pollin's, consisting of the same central theme—that Jordan's comeback was very important to the world.

This statement is not entirely inaccurate, it would be spot on if you put "Kwame Brown's" in front of "world."

Without Jordan, it would have taken Brown at least two years to plummet from the glory of the first pick to a status worse than a dog on the team.

But Jordan had accomplished this on his very first day at training camp.

His presence was not just important to Brown but had indeed changed everything.

When Stern's speech concluded, the match of the night, Wizards versus Suns, was about to begin, marking an elongated finale.

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The preseason game tradition includes evaluating players, so Yu Fei and Brown both made the starting lineup.

Yet, the hero mentioned by Stern and Pollin firmly took a seat on the bench.

Insiders had no objections since Jordan had tendonitis, and naturally, he should rest as much as possible during an insignificant preseason.

However, fans who bought expensive tickets just to see Jordan play wouldn't be so forgiving.

Before the game even started, Doug Collins had already been verbally FUCKed by the fans at the scene thousands of times.

After the game started, both teams played quite relaxed, with basically no intensity. Within less than three minutes, the score was already 14 to 12.

Yu Fei's energy and style of play surprised some people.

During the draft, fans generally believed that Jordan had made a bad deal by trading so much for Yu Fei.

Because Yu Fei was an inside player, and the Wizards had already used the first pick to draft an inside player.

Turns out, Yu Fei was actually a small forward?

The Phoenix Suns sent out rookie Alton Ford (PF/SF) to match up with Yu Fei.

As a result, Ford, whose build and mobility tended more towards a power forward, couldn't keep up with Yu Fei on the perimeter at all.

By halftime, Yu Fei had racked up 21 points just on cuts and fast breaks.

In the second half, Collins benched Yu Fei, "Frye, you're not going to play anymore tonight. This is just a preseason game," he said.

Yu Fei knew what Collins meant.

He had passed the test with his performance in the first half.

If he didn't play in the second half, he probably wouldn't play much in the following preseason games either.

Any professional team of any level wouldn't play seriously in the preseason. The main point is to assess player standards and let the starters and rotations find their game rhythm—it's the basics.

However, Collins was somewhat worried about his feelings towards Brown.

Brown wasn't bad in the first half, playing simultaneously with Yu Fei he caught quite a few easy buckets—12 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block by halftime.

But Collins noticed that all the easy buckets Brown scored were fed by Yu Fei; passes from others either didn't result in a score or ended in a turnover.

Looking at the stats, Brown performed well, but this was achieved through 14 shot attempts, plus 3 turnovers.

Collins wanted to see how Brown would play without Yu Fei on the court.

Most importantly, in the second half, the person who took Yu Fei's playing time was Jordan.

On the Wizards team, Collins positioned Jordan as a small forward.

Replacing Yu Fei with Jordan was, to say the least for Brown, like falling from heaven to hell.

After nearly half a year of rehabilitation and training camp for the preseason, Jordan had completely regained his sense of the game. He entered and scored his first three shots like a shadow of his peak years.

Then Jordan's trash talk forced the Suns to intensify their play, and they sent out three players to trap him.

Jordan jumped up but realized that his leap wasn't what it used to be.

He couldn't find any space to shoot, but in a split second, he seized a gap to pass the ball with lightning speed, and the receiver was Brown.

Nice play!

Even the Wizards' top "Anti-Mike" couldn't help but cheer for Jordan.

However...Brown's hands weren't ready for this fast pass with a high spin.

The ball grazed his palms and dropped to the floor.

The Suns immediately took control of the ball and launched a counterattack.

"What the fuck are you doing?!!" Jordan raged, "If you fucking don't want to play, then get the hell off the court!"

Brown shrank his neck, not daring to talk back.

Yu Fei really wanted to laugh, but Brown was his friend, and how could he take pleasure in his friend's misfortune? Check out m_vl_em_p_yr stories

Yet, the scene was truly hilarious.

At the same time, it was terrifying, this was Kwame Brown's 9/11.

Unlike the event at the World Trade Center, this happened every day.

PS: The book goes live on the National Day, and tomorrow is the last day of the new book period. Hmm, what should I say? I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

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