Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In the office of the owner at the Verizon Center, Abe Pollin sat in his seat, listening to the report from Susan O'Malley.

It was about the disputes and contradictions between Jordan, Yu Fei, and Collins.

To the face of Jordan, Pollin was a tolerant and kind old man, but in the eyes of O'Malley, he was an authoritative figure.

"Basically, Frye is the only player in the player camp clearly opposed to Michael," O'Malley said, "This is the reason Doug doesn't want Frye to start, because Michael doesn't want him to start."

Pollin recalled the scene of meeting with Yu Fei just now.

Yu Fei didn't give him a particularly good impression, although he expressed honor for his own "praise," he was certainly not a pragmatic person like Wes Unseld, who would respectfully call him "Mr. Pollin" and serve him wholeheartedly.

"Do you think he will bow to MJ?" Pollin asked.

O'Malley said, "If he wanted to bow, he wouldn't have waited until today. His performance today just proves that he is determined to draw a clear line with MJ."

This made Pollin fall into deep thought.

Of course, he knew how rare it was to have an adversary of Jordan in the player camp.

Since the early 2000s, when Jordan took over the Wizards, Pollin had given up a lot.

The right to build the team, the management's right to suggest, the executives' right to supervise—being the owner, the only thing that made him feel like this was his team was when he walked into the Verizon Center, and everyone knew, besides Jordan, the Wizards had a big boss.

Although Pollin had repeatedly emphasized to the outside world that the Wizards were not Jordan's one-man show, so far the only trade not approved by himself was the "Nesby trade," but insiders knew it was just an excuse he made to save his dignity.

The Wizards were Jordan's team.

Pollin lost a lot, but he also gained a lot.

Since Jordan joined, the team achieved its first peripheral profit in its history.

As long as money could be made continuously, Pollin really didn't mind letting others manage the team, but the problem was that Jordan had no sense of gratitude. He took Pollin's tolerance and backward steps for granted, indulged his people to insult colleagues at will, and called him a "troll."

Pollin was enduring. He must endure because the team still needed Jordan.

As long as he was still playing, a god was still a god.

What if one day he stopped playing?

Pollin had a faint idea of what he would do that day.

A while later, the assistant general manager Rod Higgins came over to announce the decision of the coaching staff: "Doug agrees to let Frye start in the next game, problem solved."

"That's it?" Unseld opened his eyes wide.

O'Malley said, "The opponent for the next game is... Orlando?"

"Orlando?" Pollin of course knew about Orlando, but what did Orlando mean?

Unseld said, "Frye's first start in his professional career is going to be against Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady?"

"It seems so."

Higgins looked at them with a playful gaze. He, of course, knew how much Pollin and his two attendants hoped Yu Fei could enter the starting lineup, an opposer of Jordan, yet becoming a starter under Jordan's command—how ironic was that?

But unfortunately, Yu Fei's dream of starting would soon wake up.

"Well, I have some work to handle," Higgins excused himself.

Unseld looked troubled, "This is difficult, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady are both top-notch star players..."

O'Malley then looked at Pollin, "Sir, should we arrange a private meeting between you and Frye?"

"No rush," Pollin said, "Let's wait until after tomorrow's game. He's only valuable to me if he can secure his starting position. That's also something he must prove. If he lacks strength but fantasizes about 'Anti-Mike,' he's a fool— I wouldn't expect to get anything out of such a person."

When Collins went to the gym to inform Yu Fei that he would start tomorrow, Yu Fei's thought was: is that it?

He had thought there would be more of a struggle, and maybe he would really need to request a trade.

Unexpectedly, Jordan relented.

However, Collins also said, "Tomorrow you will be facing Grant Hill. If you perform badly, you know what will happen."

Yu Fei understood immediately.

This was the reason for Jordan relenting. He wanted Hill to teach him a harsh lesson, then they would have a reason to keep him as a substitute.

The idea was beautiful, but Yu Fei didn't think that Hill, barely recovered from a major injury, could explode against him.

If he were up against McGrady, Yu Fei might inwardly curse the mothers of Jordan and Collins, but with Hill, this was perfect.

The next day, in the evening

Yu Fei, as usual, was neither nervous nor excited. He practiced in the morning, in the afternoon, and after dinner, he arrived at the MCI an hour early.

Still coming with him were Kwame Brown and Chris Whitney.

"If I made as big a fuss as you, could I also get a starting spot?" Brown asked eagerly.

"Possibly," Yu Fei nodded, "But you'd have to get over your fear of the boss first."

As soon as Yu Fei finished speaking, Brown wilted.

"You seem to be in a good mood?" Whitney didn't expect Yu Fei to be so open-minded.

Is this the state a person should be in when they're starting for the first time against Grant Hill?

"What, should I cry over a starting position I earned fair and square?"

"What do you think the coach will do if Hill blows you out tonight?"

Yu Fei saw the concern in Whitney's eyes; compared to Hamilton, he cared more about the young players on the team.

Maybe he was the real leader of the young players.

Yu Fei laughed and said, "Chris, if you really like hypotheticals that much, why not imagine what if I blew out Grant Hill? What would the coach do then?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

However, Whitney felt that if Yu Fei really did blow out Hill, the Wizards' internal environment would become even more complicated, and the conflicts would intensify.

Because Yu Fei's starting position today was obtained by having Hamilton benched.

If Yu Fei blew out Hill, then securing a starting position would naturally be no issue, but then what about Hamilton? Was he supposed to be benched forever?

Was Hamilton benched just so that Yu Fei could start?

Could this be a series of cunning plans by the wily Collins?

To sow discord between Hamilton and Yu Fei, to further isolate Yu Fei so that even if he started, he wouldn't receive any support.

Whitney kept his thoughts to himself; he believed Yu Fei had his own considerations, and there was no need for him to say anything more.

From the moment Yu Fei decided to counter Jordan, his rookie season in D.C. was destined to be an uphill battle.

Upon arrival at the court, Whitney gave up his shooting warm-up and chose to stand under the basket to rebound for Yu Fei instead.

"Do you remember how I taught you to adjust your breathing?" Whitney said, "Your shooting technique is fine, but you always fail to find a balance between your breathing rhythm and your shots. Get familiar with that feeling now."

Brown complained, "That's not fair, why don't you pass the ball to me?"

Whitney gave him a look, "Earn a starting position first, then we'll talk!"

"Fine, fine, fine, if that's how it is, then tomorrow I'll crush Cassidy just like Big Fei does!" Brown shouted.

"If you can say that to Cassidy's face, then maybe I'd think there's still hope for you."

"Big Fei, don't get too cocky, I'm the number one draft pick!"

The number one draft pick who plays less than 10 minutes a game...

Actually, having been together for so long, Yu Fei and Brown both understood each other's abilities.

Brown was undoubtedly a bust as a number one pick, but the Wizards' method of nurturing him was problematic. Even if he couldn't become a star, with his talent, there should have been no problem for him to start in the NBA for seven or eight years, then play as a reserve for another five or six years. But now, no one was coaching him properly.

Previously, he could only occasionally put on a good performance through his tacit understanding with Yu Fei on the court.

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If Yu Fei's starting position solidified, Brown would have a hard time.

Half an hour before the game, the Orlando Magic arrived at the MCI.

When McGrady, Hill, (Mike) Miller, Ewing, and (Horace) Grant walked out together, that sense of oppression was indeed extraordinary.

Before the season began, the Magic were seen as the biggest challengers to the Lakers' three-peat.

McGrady, who had joined last season to support Hill, did just that until Hill put on a suit. Then McGrady became the core, averaging 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, quickly becoming a hot new superstar, effectively swapping places with Hill.

Last year's biggest problem for the Magic was that they only had McGrady as a lone star. Although they had shooters like Pat Garrity and Rookie of the Year Mike Miller on the front line, their interior line was weak, and no one else was there to share the burden. As a result, they finished with 43 wins and were swept in the playoffs by the strongest Bucks team since the 1980s.

After one summer, McGrady promised to sweep the league, Hill came back from injury, and the frail interior was bolstered by the seasoned players Ewing and Grant. Sports Illustrated predicted the Magic would secure 60 wins.

You could say they were the off-season champions of the new century.

However, thus far, the Magic's record was 7 wins and 7 losses, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference, which surprised many observers and sports writers.

Still, with the season just starting, experts unanimously believed that once Hill found his form, the Magic could still secure 60 wins.

Yu Fei glanced at them, then it was time to warm up.

At 7:30 PM, the MCI was filled with spectators, and the Wizards did not give up on the selling point of "Frye Yu's first career start."

Posters of Jordan battling McGrady, Yu Fei against Hill, were hung outside the arena.

"Play your roles, unite as one."

Before the game started, Collins served up some motivational soup to his players.

Yu Fei walked onto the court as a starter for the first time, while McGrady across the way tucked in his jersey and came over to greet him like a big brother.

McGrady greeted Jordan first, then said to Yu Fei, "Hey, rookie, please be gentle with Grant."

"As the Eastern Conference's best player," Yu Fei responded coolly, "please also go easy on our old fellows."

Yu Fei's words caused McGrady to smile awkwardly and attracted Jordan's deathly glare.