Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The League requires NBA teams to maintain transparency with the media during preseason training camps as part of David Stern's "public closeness" policy.

He wanted the outside world to know what NBA teams were doing at this time.

As the sports website with the highest traffic on the American internet, ESPN would not miss this opportunity.

They dispatched all of their full-time NBA writing sports journalists, Marc Stein, Howard-Cooper, Lawrence May, David Aldridge...

Among them, the person most fascinated by basketball was undoubtedly Marc Stein. He was determined to excel as an NBA observer.

The first stop Stein chose was the Washington Wizards, and the second was the Milwaukee Bucks.

Yesterday, he did not get the chance to interview Jordan.

When he asked Doug Collins what the Wizards' purpose was in trading Yu Fei, Collins seemed very embarrassed.

"This is the NBA, when a trade happens, it happens."

Collins uttered a platitude.

Stein didn't get an answer, so he hoped to get one from Yu Fei.

That was why he chose the Bucks as his second stop.

Speaking of which, he also had a history with the Bucks. Before the start of last season, he predicted the Bucks would enter the Eastern Finals as the second seed in the Eastern Conference, only to lose to the first-seed Magic.

As a result, the Bucks didn't make the playoffs, and the Magic, after losing Grant Hill to injury, relied solely on McGrady and ended with an early round exit.

Fairly speaking, was it his fault for jinxing them? He was not the only one who was optimistic about the Bucks and the Magic. In fact, the Bucks did seem promising at the start of the season.

They began with 9 wins and 1 loss, looking not just like the second seed in the East, but the first.

Then, the Bucks went into a slump, and lost games continuously. Losing not only resurrects old conflicts but also generates new ones. George Karl is a coach who never shies away from problems; he likes to criticize his players in front of the media. Anthony Mason, the Bucks' new recruit, was outspoken about this too. And the Bucks' original three gunners expressed that they disliked Karl's criticism as well.

The Bucks incredibly fell from the first in the Eastern Conference to the brink of the playoffs.

"What about this year?"

This was what Stein asked George Karl.

"Let's wait and see!" Karl repeated, "Let's wait and see!"

How is Frye doing?

"Better than I imagined," Karl said happily, "Even if you just stand on the sidelines and watch him for a few moments, you'll notice his extraordinary talent. He's the kind of plug-and-play player."

After that, Stein came to Sprewell's side. He wanted to know if The Madman was adjusting to Milwaukee's chill after returning home.

"It's certainly not as lively as New York, and I can't find much entertainment, but this helps me focus on basketball."

How are you getting along with Frye?

"We're still getting to know each other, but I can see he's someone who can play well, that's clear at a glance."

Sprewell's assessment of Fei matched George Karl's uncannily, which Stein found interesting.

Stein then approached Anthony Mason, recognized as the "chief culprit" behind the Bucks' slide from Eastern Conference runner-ups to lottery territory.

As someone who was even more willing than the head coach to criticize his teammates after a game, Mason defended himself in front of Stein, "If there's a problem, it must be pointed out. A team that refuses to face its issues has no future. I have no regrets. However, many new players have come in this year, and I think they are very talented. For this reason, I feel I need to make some changes. But, if I see an obvious problem and we don't change it, you will still hear me grabbing the mic and speaking some unpleasant truths."

Many have complained about your ball-holding; what do you think?

"That's not a problem; that's my habit."

How is Frye doing?

"Don't be fooled by him being just a second-year player, I think no one here is better than him."

Before questioning Fei, Stein still needed to meet with "the remaining gunner".

Ray Allen is a pleasant interviewee, not as crude as most black players, articulate and elegant, like a white man in black skin.

Stein harbored no racial prejudice, but he felt that if every black person were as educated and articulate as Ray Allen, racial discrimination would completely disappear.

Another reason for the Bucks' demise last season was the intensified conflict between Allen and Glenn Robinson due to their losing streak.

Milwaukee's meager media attention diluted the Bucks' internal strife.

But Stein had learned from his sources that the two were hardly able to coexist towards the end of the season.

That was why the Bucks had to trade one of them.

"Did you and Glenn mend your relationship?"

This was a question Stein posed to Ray Allen.

Allen responded, "Mend a relationship that never existed? No, I wouldn't do that."

"Will the departure of many familiar faces affect your preparations?"

"No, I'm a forward-looking person."

"Who is the leader of St. Francis?"

"I hope it's me, but that's yet to be determined."

Then, Stein got to the critical point, "Do you think Frye could be that person?"

Allen's gaze was piercing as he looked at Stein, "He has the potential."

Stein knew about Allen's ambitions and knew how unpleasant it was to make him admit that Fei, a sophomore, had the credentials to compete for the top spot.

Sorry, Rey-ray, but that's the real world.

Stein walked over to Fei.

The most unique person at the entire St. Francis Training Center was training with the help of three people.

Moreover, Stein knew that those three weren't insiders with the Bucks, but were Yu Fei's trainer, physiotherapist, and assistant.

"Frye, can I interview you for a moment?"

Anthony Lawson had intended to drive Stein away because Yu Fei's training wasn't over yet.

But Yu Fei stopped him, "Tony, take a break, Marc is a friend of mine."

Since Yu Fei wanted to rest, Lawson and the others naturally had nothing further to say.

Yu Fei and Stein walked to the side of the court and asked, "Marc, I heard you went to D.C. yesterday?"

Stein looked at Yu Fei, surprised.

Although it wasn't a secret, there were only two possibilities for Yu Fei to know so quickly: either he tracked Stein's columns, or he still had sources in D.C.

Stein didn't believe that Yu Fei would bother following his articles.

So there was only one answer.

"Yes, I watched their training yesterday."

"How did it look?"

"Pretty good, the Wizards haven't had such an exciting lineup in many years."

Jordan, Cassell, Starkhouse, together making an exciting lineup?

Well...
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But Yu Fei felt the Bucks were better.

If their owner were more generous and matched Michael Redd's 4-year, 12 million US Dollar contract, then their strongest four would be: himself, Ray Allen, Latrell Sprewell, and Michael Redd.

You could even call this lineup the "Big Four".

Afterward, Stein continued, "Are you getting used to Milwaukee?"

"The balls here are the same shape as in D.C., the air is the same as in D.C., and the fans all have faces. What's there to get used to?"

"What do you think about D.C. trading you?"

"I am grateful for it."

Yu Fei's answer made Marc Stein pause in thought.

Grateful?

Hmm?

Stein looked at Yu Fei intently, "What's there to be grateful about that?"

"I suppose everyone knows that it was between MJ and me that D.C. chose the latter, that is why I am grateful to them. It proved how foolish they are, and playing for such a foolish franchise would have been a disaster for me. In five years, I'll be the best player in the league, probably without equal, and MJ will have faded into obscurity in professional basketball. Yet, they chose MJ over these two futures, and I am grateful that I escaped such a stupid team."

Since entering the league, Yu Fei had been known for his boldness in speaking out.

Even during his rookie season, he was known for quotes like, "The team lost, I didn't lose," and "He says he wants to trade me."

But Stein hadn't expected Yu Fei to express his point of view so bluntly.

This made Stein incredibly excited, because this was clearly not all that Yu Fei wanted to convey.

"Can I include these words in my column?" Stein asked cautiously.

Yu Fei said nonchalantly, "Isn't that your job?"

Stein could be said to be the ESPN writer who most admired Yu Fei, and was one of the few NBA commentators who had clearly stood on Yu Fei's side during the "He says he wants to trade me" incident.

Now, he realized he could not only be a supporter of Yu Fei, but even a fan of his.

"Do you have anything to say about your relationship with MJ?"

"No. My relationship with him is like the two poles in the Yin-Yang symbol, pushing apart, always so, and you have all seen it."

Stein felt that he had already gotten enough information for the day.

So he asked his last question, "Do you have anything else to say about MJ?"

For a long time, Jordan's team had always held an advantage in public opinion because Yu Fei didn't have his media power.

His media power mainly came from his agent and Reebok, but these entities had many other players under their umbrellas, and unless Yu Fei grew to be their best, they wouldn't fully back him.

Therefore, Yu Fei needed his media power. How powerful this force was, whether it was the current Jordan or the future James, it had been shown to him.

This was why he was showing goodwill to Marc Stein, who was ESPN's second most popular writer in basketball, mainly due to his volume of writing. He wrote an average of ten articles a week, far surpassing many colleagues, including Bill Simmons.

It was a person worth courting.

So, Yu Fei was very willing to provide the information that the other party wanted.

"Being traded to Milwaukee doesn't mean I lost in the competition with MJ. Rather, it was almost because I was winning the competition that I got traded. Because MJ cannot fail, Nike needs MJ to succeed, D.C. needs MJ's influence, and MJ despises me, that's why I was traded to Milwaukee. But it's good this way; I no longer need to compete with a player who is also an owner. Since he unscrupulously traded me, I can only wish him luck, but I must say, he's no longer the His Airness you know, he is a coward afraid of failure, and anyone who wants to dispute this should first find out why I was traded."

Lastly, Yu Fei said prophetically, "I will do better than him, that's my determination, and I will succeed in Milwaukee. That's the only way I can prove the stupidity of this trade."

A day later, Marc Stein's "Bucks Training Camp Observations" caused quite a stir.

Five days later, the Bucks announced they were matching Michael Redd's 4-year, 12 million US Dollar contract, which was a 3+1 deal with the last year as a player option.

Two days after that, the Bucks held a media conference.

Yu Fei sat at the center like a designated leader, flanked by the owner Herb Kohl and head coach George Karl.

What was the goal for the Bucks' new season?

Owner Kohl said, "During the past few days, I have been thinking about Michael Reed's contract. I know that retaining him would cost me in luxury tax. But Frye wants to play with Michael, George thinks Michael can help the team, so I made up my mind. We don't just want to return to the playoffs; we want to compete for the championship, that's our goal. Last year we were the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, with so many good players joining us, we have no reason to not be the best."