Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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Although Yu Fei had long anticipated Kwame Brown's downfall, it was still quite shocking when it actually happened.

Yu Fei remembered watching The Last Dance, and during the scenes where Jordan disciplined Scott Burrell, the camera cut to B.J. Armstrong's interview. Armstrong spoke with a grave expression, "What you are seeing is just 1/100 of what we experienced."

By Armstrong's standard, how much of their experience had Brown just gone through? 50%? Or 100%?

Jordan called it a crash course for champions, and in the penultimate episode of The Last Dance, he defended himself with tears in his eyes: The teammates who joined the team later didn't go through what I did, I, Michael Jordan, never asked them to do anything I couldn't do...

Yu Fei, regardless of Jordan's accomplishments, saw this as bullying. Why should his teammates have to go through what he did?

Speaking of which, Scottie Pippen, a player with considerable influence in his own right, blasted Jordan in his autobiography. He believed that the old Bulls could tolerate Jordan not because they survived his crash course, but because they had a sense of honor and wanted to fight for championships.

Therefore, Jordan's success cannot justify the fact that he bullied his teammates.

This was in the 90s, but in the 21st-century social media era, an era where people get blasted in meetings even for something as trivial as 'James not attending Kobe's memorial service,' there is no room for tyrants.

Yu Fei walked over to Brown and asked, "Would you like to have dinner together tonight?"

Brown was no longer the big brother; he couldn't cover for Yu Fei anymore.

In a pessimistic estimate, he had to fend for himself starting today.

Consequently, he had completely lost his appetite, "Not hungry."

"That's a good excuse," Yu Fei said.

"Excuse?"

"If you get blown out again tomorrow, you can say you didn't have dinner last night because you weren't hungry."

Brown rolled his eyes, "Okay, where are we eating?"

"There's a decent Chinese restaurant nearby..."

At this point, Brown had no opinions of his own. Whatever Yu Fei suggested went—Chinese restaurant? Whatever.

When Brown saw a bunch of fried foods on the table, he hesitated, "Michael said... this kind of food is bad for me."

"Still Michael? Didn't he ask you to call him Mr. Jordan?" Yu Fei teased.

Although Yu Fei was joking, his words did sting Brown.

Recalling what had just happened, and the care Jordan had shown him since the draft, he couldn't reconcile the two images in his mind, convincing himself that they were the actions of the same person.

But the truth was, his relationship with Jordan could never go back to what it was.

Looking back, Brown realized how right Yu Fei's decision to keep his distance from Jordan from the very beginning was.

"Did you know from the start what kind of person he was?" Brown asked.

"Although I grew up in Kent, I'm half a Seattle person, you know. Seattle people don't like MJ. Like other Seattle people, I've read Sam Smith's The Jordan Rules. Many deny the authenticity of that book, but looking at it now, it accurately describes MJ's character," Yu Fei said.

In fact, Yu Fei had not read it, but he could get a rough idea of Jordan's character through The Last Dance and Scottie Pippen's autobiography.

Having plummeted from the virtual world into reality, Brown pragmatically said, "I'll take a look at that book."

"You really should," Yu Fei said jokingly.

After that, Yu Fei and Brown did not talk about Jordan again. They ate junk food, talked about their families and childhoods, trying to find common ground.

But apart from also being fatherless, Brown had almost nothing in common with Yu Fei.

Although Yu Fei grew up in a single-parent household, his mother, Yu Fenglin, had above-average comprehensive qualities among women, and they settled down pretty quickly after some initial difficulties.

Brown's childhood, on the other hand, was much harder. Yu Fei found it overwhelming to listen to, as he had heard similar tales from Iguodala and James.

Even though their childhoods had little in common, this heart-to-heart brought them closer together.

From now on, as freshmen, they would inevitably face the difficulties posed by the veterans, especially now that Brown had fallen out of favor. Yu Fei, a rookie who showed no respect for his elders, would certainly be a prime target for scum like Christian Laettner.

Yu Fei had already made a decision.

He would earn his place through performance. If the veterans tried to push him around based on seniority, they'd have to prove they were qualified first.

After all, whether it's playing pranks or throwing weight around due to age, everything has a limit. Cross the line, and it wouldn't just be Laettner—Yu Fei would stand up to Jordan himself. Don't talk to him about gang rules or unwritten workplace laws. Haven't you seen the crackdowns on workplace norms?

Doug Collins lived in uncertainty every day.

Even though he had just transitioned from commentary back to coaching, he had no doubts about his professional capabilities. Collins was renowned in the professional basketball world for his expertise; while commentating, he would often accurately predict the underdog team's strategy during timeouts.

But there's a difference between armchair strategizing and being on the front lines.

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Collins' biggest problem at the moment was not his professional ability, but his lack of persuasive authority as a coach.

Jordan's tendinitis was a ticking time bomb. No one knew when his injury would worsen. Grover had exhausted himself trying to explain, and the media's interrogations were tiresome, while Jordan stubbornly went his own way. Collins, as the coach, seemed to be the only one who could save him.

Provided Collins possessed the reputation, wisdom, and unquestionable authority that a normal coach should have.

The problem was that Collins was only a coach in name, much as Jordan was only a player in name.

Jordan was not just a player for the Wizards, but also the shadow coach, the shadow general manager, and even the shadow president of the team. Everyone, including Collins, Ansel, and even the owner Pollin, was a puppet to him, unable to defy his will.

Therefore, for Collins, Jordan's wishes were commands, and in order to please His Holiness, he had to attest that Jordan's knees were very healthy. Jordan didn't want to sit out? Fine, let him join the practice. It was negligible to risk a slight exacerbation of tendinitis to keep Brother Jordan happy — if anything went wrong, little Collins would take the blame.

That morning, Collins walked around the gym in Wilmington.

Jordan arrived early today because he felt his body had recovered pretty well and thought he might be able to participate in the full practice session.

But someone had arrived even earlier than Jordan.

Collins watched Yu Fei practicing shooting on the court.

There had always been doubts within the Wizards regarding Jordan's decision to use two lottery picks to select high school students, especially the trade that exchanged two future first-round picks for Yu Fei.

In the first few days of training camp, Yu Fei had made a good impression on Collins.

Yu Fei embodied the diligence, hard work, and seriousness that old-school players admired.

However, Collins' opinion of him dipped when Yu Fei got into a friction over a trivial matter with Laettner, indicating that Yu Fei had a fiery temper.

Moreover, there were rumors that Yu Fei was "Anti-Mike".

Collins truly did not know how to approach Yu Fei with any kind of attitude.

But what about how to deal with Kwame Brown? Yesterday, Jordan had already provided an answer.

The long-experienced assistant coach Johnny Bach walked up to Collins with a troubled expression: "Kwame says his back still doesn't feel right..."

Collins waved his hand in annoyance, "Enough! I'm fed up with these lazy excuses! Tell that kid, he must show up at the gym in his sports gear today. We've been waiting for him for several days. Even Michael is training; is his injury worse than Michael's? Excuses! They're all excuses!"

Yu Fei turned a deaf ear to the commotion nearby.

Even though Collins was the head coach, Yu Fei did not take him seriously.

This man had also appeared in "The Last Dance", and Yu Fei remembered his adulations for Jordan.

If you want to defeat Michael, you have to sever his limbs, but he would still wriggle and bite you.

That was the Jordan of 2020, his renown long past its peak, yet Collins still licked Jordan's boots in the documentary. It could be said that boot-licking Jordan had become his instinct; he was Jordan's marionette and would do nothing that Jordan didn't allow.

Therefore, Yu Fei gave no thought to the fuss Collins had stirred up, not even sparing a glance.

On the other hand, his sparring partner Anthony Lawson said with a grin, "That guy who claimed he'd have your back is having a tough time now."

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"Stop talking about him; just pick up the balls," Yu Fei said.

"Can you shoot more accurately?"

"You think I don't want to?"

Yu Fei practiced as usual until 11:30 a.m., then showered, ate, rested a bit, and waited for the start of the afternoon's team practice.

When Yu Fei arrived in the locker room, he encountered Christian Laettner.

They had nothing to say to each other.

However, just before leaving, Laettner said, "Now that the top pick has lost his status, the assurances he made for you no longer count."

Yu Fei asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I'm a person who really likes to settle scores," Laettner said ominously. "Today, on the court, let's settle our old accounts properly."

Brown's lesson was still fresh in Yu Fei's mind.

What others give, they can also take away.

Yu Fei clenched his fists and set Laettner as his target.

Jordan could establish authority with Brown; he could do the same with Laettner, who previously had already turned the page, yet this scum was offering himself up.

"I'm looking forward to it," Yu Fei said.

⑴ The Jordan Rules, another book that criticized Jordan. However, it can't really be considered criticism since the author simply wrote what Jordan had done. But we live in an age of "stating facts is considered bashing," so although the book only reveals the real Jordan, it's seen as bashing him.