Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

After their teammates separated Yu Fei and Laettner, the latter's face was already beaten to a bruised and bloody mess.

The scrimmage had ended, and nobody felt like playing anymore; now, the most important thing was to quell the repercussions of this conflict.

Even though the scrimmage was closed off, there were still media waiting outside the stadium.

If they found out what had happened here, by tomorrow a huge swarm of media would descend upon them.

"The rest of you continue with individual training, Dan, take Christian to the medical room, Frye, wait for me in the office!" Collins took charge like a coach and quickly controlled the situation.

Then, Collins walked over to Jordan.

He needed to get Jordan's opinion on how to handle the situation before deciding on Yu Fei's punishment.

"Michael, what do you think?" Collins asked.

Thinking back to how Fei had pounced on Laettner like a wild animal, Jordan felt a lingering fear. If he had been the target, would Fei have struck him?

The answer was definitive.

Jordan had no doubt that Fei would hit him, as well.

This man had no fear of him or the NBA's unwritten rules.

It wasn't that Jordan was scared of Fei; it was that such uncontrollable maniacs brought a lot of unpredictability.

What Jordan was really concerned about now was that Fei might become an obstacle to his leading the team.

"How did we handle this kind of thing back in Chicago?" Jordan asked with a cold face.

Collins said, "Suspensions, fines."

"But..."

"But what?"

Collins said, "Frye was indeed too impulsive, but if it weren't for Christian..."

"Yes, Christian is at fault as well, but that's no reason for him to attack a teammate," Jordan said with annoyance. "Besides, Christian only wanted to teach him some rules. It's just that the approach was too rough, that rookie..."

"OK...OK," Collins quickly placated Jordan, "I'll punish him according to the rules, Michael, what's most important now is to keep this incident under wraps. If the media get wind of it..."

Jordan also came to his senses, but he was powerless to do anything about it. There's no wall in the world that doesn't air its own breaches. Although he ruled the team, there were still opponents and haters within it who could easily leak the news.

What they needed to do now wasn't to enforce a news blackout, but to minimize the impact of the event.

Therefore, the punishment for Yu Fei had to be moderate.

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Otherwise, who knew what kind of mess this madman would stir up?

"Forget it, you handle it," Jordan said irritably. "You need to show that kid what he should and shouldn't do. If there's a next time, I won't let him off so easily!"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll make him understand."

Collins breathed a sigh of relief. As a coach, he actually felt partial toward Fei.

What Laettner had done to Fei was too dangerous, and it could have led to serious injury. Anyone would go insane in such a situation.

Besides, there had already been conflict between the two men.

Now it was just a matter of settling new scores along with old ones. It was laughable that Laettner still thought to throw a punch and ended up being knocked out with one hit. How did such a person even make it onto the Dream Team in the first place?

Shaking his head, Collins headed to the office.

When Collins entered the office, he found Fei holding a cup of Coke and drinking.

"If you want to have a long career, you'd better cut down on the soda," Collins said. "Dietary regulations are based on science."

Fei responded, "No, no, I think if I want to have a long career, it's best not to be teammates with someone like Jianzhong, who can ruthlessly hurt teammates."

"That's your teammate," Collins said. "You shouldn't refer to him that way."

Fei didn't want to listen to Collins's preaching, and moreover, was Laettner really a teammate?

"Coach, I don't think of him as my teammate, and I don't regret what I did today," Fei said. "I won't apologize to him."

Collins remembered before the draft, Fei had gotten into a fight with Eddie Griffin during a workout with The Celtics. Now it seemed the rumors might be true; this person's temperament was extremely unstable.

But Collins, who had witnessed the conflict, didn't think there was anything wrong with Yu Fei's response.

Laettner brought it upon himself.

It was fine for Fei to fight Laettner, but to oppose Jordan, that was not good.

This was what Collins wanted to remind Fei of, but the kid looked as if he couldn't care less.

"Frye, you need to understand that there are many unwritten rules in the NBA," Collins said. "As a rookie, you need to have the heart of an apprentice. You need to work hard, be humble, endure pain without complaints, and that's how everyone has made it through. This is the code that professional basketball has always followed since ancient times."

Work hard, be humble, and endure pain without complaining?

Your team drafted two high school players, and then you expect them to embody all those qualities?

If the NBA really had such high standards for rookies, then why are there so many busts every year?

"Sorry, I can't do that."

Yu Fei directly rejected Collins.

Collins was somewhat angered. Why was this rookie so stubborn?

"Let me put it this way," Fei stood up. "The team I originally wanted to join wasn't the Wizards. It was MJ who called me halfway through the draft to tell me he made a trade, and that I'd be playing in D.C. Okay, I accept the arrangement, that's how the draft works. But I didn't know he needed me to be a saint. An apprentice's heart? Humble? Overcoming injury? Who here has the heart of an apprentice? Who has been humble? Overcoming injuries? Has MJ overcome injuries? He only officially joined the practice today. Before he asks us to overcome injuries, please have him set an example first, or else to hell with it! In my opinion, the only thing I need to do is work hard! I can't speak for others, but I'm definitely the hardest working player on the team. I've trained three times a day since the summer to maintain a good condition and to have a great rookie season. I think I've done pretty well; I've lived up to my draft position."

"Indeed, I need to respect the veterans, but respect is mutual. If they don't respect me, then I won't respect them."

"Lastly, please tell Christian that if the foul he gave me was unintentional, then good, the punches I gave him were unintentional too. Why did he have to hit my fists with his face? It's such a pity that this happened!"

Leaving a slew of words that left Collins speechless, Yu Fei exited the office.

Collins had thought that he could control the situation, he believed that Jordan was the only uncontrollable person on the team, but now he realized how wrong he was.

Thinking back, how ridiculous was it when Jordan, picking Fei, said he had a "great character"?

That character was indeed great, so great that even Jordan himself might not be able to handle it.

Today, Fei had cemented his role as "Anti-Mike", and he would face Jordan's full range of tests.

However, Collins didn't think that Fei could compete fairly with Jordan.

Because Jordan was not just a basketball player.

※※※

The incident at Wilmington became known very quickly.

Of course, the first to receive the news were the executives at the Wizards Team headquarters in D.C.

Susan O'Malley couldn't help but smile when she learned that Yu Fei had embarrassed Jordan on the court and had a fistfight with Laettner.

She could imagine how angry Jordan was.

His personally chosen player, acquired at great cost through a trade, a high school player no less, dared to openly confront him?

However, the ensuing PR problem was also a headache.

To have such a scandalous headline on the first day of training camp when everyone was present was not something easily covered up.

But, the Wizards Team's PR department was used to dealing with such issues.

The scuffle between Fei and Laettner was nothing compared to the scandals stirred up by the Bullets back in the "Webber/Howard" era of the last century.

It was just a fight, right? Easy to clean up: both men are competitors, hot-blooded, and lost their reason in their desire to win, leading to physical contact. Now they've cooled down and apologized to each other. Although the incident had a bad influence, maybe for the Wizards, it could be a good thing? These two pugnacious guys will definitely play bigger roles under Coach John.

That's how we'll spin it, whether the media believes it or not, as long as the fans in D.C. do.

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"Frye Yu and Christian Laettner welcomed MJ back with a special 'ceremony.'" — The New York Times

"Perhaps we've all misunderstood Eddie Griffin. As it turns out, when faced with problems, Frye Yu tends to use his fists to do the talking." — The Boston Globe

"Is Frye Yu the successor to Dennis Rodman? He hasn't played a single NBA game yet, but he's already hit two people on the court. In the first season after Dennis was swept out of the NBA, Frye enters the League, and that's no coincidence." — The Dallas Morning News

"When two combative people lose their cool, a fierce battle inevitably ensues. MJ expressed satisfaction about this, believing that Frye and Christian brought a long-missed fighting spirit to D.C., a gem we lost since the Wes Unseld era" — The Washington Post

PS: Just to clarify, all the rants from Yu Fei are from his perspective, not me voicing my own views through his mouth. If you find Fei's roasting of Jordan to be amusing, I hope you maintain a good mood when you see him roast others.