Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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Tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.

Yu Fei's words quickly swept through the sports programs currently being aired on TV; this was breaking news.

And the next day, those who preferred to get their sports news from the newspapers would also find out what had happened with the Wizards tonight.

"Frye, do you remember what I told you?"

"Not to do things beyond redemption?"

"You still remember..."

"Because I don't wish to redeem myself anymore."

Arne Trem organized his thoughts and felt that the current situation was not disadvantageous for Fei.

The only thing Fei might lose in this affair was part of his fan base.

Rumors of Fei's lack of respect for Jordan had been circulating for a long time, and tonight's interview confirmed it. Moreover, it was not just a lack of respect for Jordan; there was a hint of blasphemy. It was certain that Jordan's team would release a statement tomorrow revealing the other part of the truth, besides "he said he wanted to trade me."

By then, Jordan would be forgiven. He bullied Kwame Brown out of love for talent, cherishing talent, to strengthen the young man's will, but what about Fei? Didn't he grow under Jordan's "encouragement"? Why didn't he have a sense of gratitude? What did he mean by stopping Jordan from educating a rookie? Did he want to be the boss? Even if he had the potential, it was too early now.

It was certain that the media offensive from Jordan's team would put a final seal on the entire affair. By then, Jordan would still be Jordan, and Fei would have to bear the name of a troublemaker.

"Which team do you want to go to?" Trem asked.

"Anywhere but the Clippers," Fei replied.

"I understand. Go and rest. This matter is a big deal, but it's actually not unmanageable. History has seen many players who caused bigger scenes but ended up staying put," Trem advised. "The trade market changes in the blink of an eye, so until a trade actually takes place, you still need to be prepared to stay in D.C."

"I'm fine with that, since it's not me who'll be embarrassed if the trade doesn't go through."

"If I had known that you and Michael didn't get along..." Trem regretted allowing Fei and Kwame Brown to attend the Wizards' trials together.

Fei hung up the phone with Trem.

Just as he was about to rest, Quint DiMio called.

"Big Fei, how come you created such a big news story without any noise? The headquarters are going crazy!"

Fei retorted, "They disagree with my actions?"

"No, they have been wanting you to leave D.C. for a while now. As long as you're in D.C. even if you play well, you're just promoting MJ's shoes and nobody will notice your 'The Chosen One.' You need to go to a team that can build around you," DiMio said. "You've made a big move this time, but we were completely unprepared, so they're frantic!"

Fei hadn't really considered Reebok's reaction because when he had his three-hundred-round battle with Jordan in Washington, Reebok hadn't been involved at all.

Since the two parties had signed a contract, aside from some essential activities and the release of Fei's signature shoes, there wasn't much interaction between them.

It was only after Fei entered the starting lineup that Reebok realized the investment in him could yield a return several times over, possibly even tenfold if he continued to improve—his future was limitless.

Fei talked with DiMio for about ten minutes before someone from Reebok called Anthony Lawson, who quickly rushed to Fei's room to pass him the phone.

Fei had to hang up on DiMio to talk to the person from Reebok.

Reebok wanted Fei to detail every aspect of how things had started and transpired.

Because Jordan's team would definitely mobilize all their media power for a counterattack, relying solely on Fei's agent wouldn't be enough. It was Jordan's network built up over nearly 20 years in professional basketball. To not be at a disadvantage in the public opinion, Reebok had to step in.

"Can you outdo Nike in the media?" Fei asked curiously.

"We can't," the person from Reebok admitted candidly, "but MJ is a thing of the past for Nike, while Tiger Woods is the present. You should know, even a deity in the sports field must be at the peak to have the influence of a god. MJ has become symbolic, and Nike might not get involved in this, because in the end, those who like AJ will still buy AJ regardless of whether MJ's image improves or worsens, and those who don't like AJ won't buy them anyway."

These ins and outs were unknown to Fei before; it was something learned in the midst of a dispute.

After the person in charge at Reebok understood the situation, they asked about Fei's future plans: "Frye, would you be willing to play for a big-market team?"

"The company can get involved in this kind of thing too?"

"It's all in our hands, Frye. We will use all available resources and power to aid your transfer."

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"I don't have any specific thoughts on the matter, apart from the Clippers, any team is fine."

"Kid, you've got to prioritize the market, only those with a big market can build an empire."

Do I also have to be A KING then? He is already The Chosen One, wouldn't it be rude to also be A KING?

"You guys figure it out, I want to rest..."

The next day, the sports world indeed experienced an earthquake-like effect.

Whether it was Yu Fei's harsh critique of Jordan, or his statement "he said he wanted to trade me," or Jordan's team's counterattack, or Reebok mobilizing all media power for containment, it all churned professional basketball commentary into a mess.

Interestingly, among fans, the majority supported Jordan, while in the media, especially amongst those haughty sports writers, it was Yu Fei who had more backing.

Because Jordan's authoritarian ways were an open secret within the industry, Yu Fei standing up to resist was seen as completely legitimate by them.

The most thorough critique of Jordan came from ESPN's Marc Stein, who wrote in his article that day: "Now, Michael has no way out, he seems to have to trade Frye. Because Frye has dismantled his hegemony, exposed his despotism and bullying of teammates. For a long time, he has been untouchable as the only god of basketball, but why do we have to pretend he is a perfect saint? His peak was in the '90s, was it difficult to become the only god during that era? Not at all, you just had to not let assistants massage your prostate, not bite your opponent's ears during a game, not contract HIV from promiscuity, not be suspected of murdering your wife, and dominate the sport you are part of, and you could become the only god of that era. That's a very low standard."

The funniest was ESPN's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, who first went on a long tirade denouncing Yu Fei, from the fight with Eddie Griffin before the draft to publicly "betraying" Jordan at the press conference and bringing internal discord into the open to argue "Is Frye Yu the contemporary Rick Barry?" Then, at the end of his article, he "tagged" the Celtics' general manager: "Dear Chris Wallace, although Frye Yu has more issues than you do, he is still the best NBA rookie after Tim Duncan. If we have even a 1% chance of getting him, I implore you not to use your brain with only 10KB of capacity for any thinking, just trade! Whatever MJ wants, we give it to him, everything except for Pierce. I damn well want to see Frye in a Celtics jersey right now!"

Yu Fei officially went on the market, becoming an item for consultation.

It was also from this day that the Wizards, under the pretext of protecting Yu Fei, aside from letting him participate in daily training, no longer allowed him to play in games.

The first game Yu Fei missed was the Wizards' second battle at home against the Miami Heat.

From the moment news of Jordan wanting to trade Yu Fei was leaked by the person involved, Pat Riley immediately called Jordan.

And Riley's offer was truly heavyweight.

"Michael, you can have anyone from our team, I can also throw in three additional first-round picks!"

Only someone like Pat Riley, who values the future, would gamble the future in such a way if he believed that Yu Fei could bring a future that no one on his team nor the next three first-round picks could possibly bring.

Jordan did not immediately agree to Riley.

Looking at the standards of the offers, Riley's bid was already high—a standout high-potential rookie for any Heat player + three first-rounders, a chip that could be used to trade for an active All-Star player.

But Jordan didn't want to give in because he felt he might regret it one day.

In that night's game, Riley wished his players could all turn into supermen, just to show Jordan how formidable they were.

Without Yu Fei playing, the Wizards were disconcerted in all aspects. If not for the Heat's poor strength, coupled with Jordan's "high" 38% shooting percentage that night, they might have actually lost.

82 to 80

It was an ugly game with no highlights, and the Wizards won without Yu Fei. That was probably the only outcome that could satisfy Jordan.

Afterward, the Wizards waited at home for the second battle with the Knicks.

It must be said that Jordan and Hamilton did their utmost for victory, both performing above average, but they were the only ones from the Wizards who did.

The Knicks had six players score in double digits, the Wizards had two, and under such circumstances, losing was inevitable.

Then, the Wizards received another offer.

The Houston Rockets wanted to trade Eddie Griffin and the 2003 first-round pick for Yu Fei.

The proposal was rejected on the spot.

"Eddie Griffin? What kind of trash is that?!" Those were Jordan's exact words.

Offers, counter-offers, tugging... Jordan was resolved to trade Yu Fei but couldn't get a satisfactory return on the market because it was clear to everyone that the one in a hurry to make a trade was Jordan, so why should they go straight to their bottom line? Experience more tales on mvl

It was only Riley, who had a bit of a relationship with Jordan and really had no chips for trading, who could only gamble with the future for a swift victory, and the more Riley wanted, the less Jordan wanted to give.

Things stayed awkward there, yet Yu Fei wasn't anxious at all, training when he needed to train and resting when he needed to rest. Since he didn't have to participate in games, he didn't go the home games or follow for away games. He came home in the evening to see Vince Carter score 35 points teaching his senior a lesson while incidentally defeating the Wizards, and today was another perfect day.