Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 384 - 247 Arabian Nights

After Yu Fei made his stance clear, the Bucks management was thrown into panic.

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If the Bucks, who seemed to be in a great situation, had a nightmare, it would be a problem with Yu Fei’s contract renewal.

Losing Yu Fei could potentially be more devastating to the Bucks than when they lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar years ago.

During Jabbar’s playing days, the League’s commercial development was nowhere near what it is today, and most teams were operating at a loss. But now, the League has a very mature model of endorsing young stars and selling them to the world for profit.

Yu Fei could bring significant changes to the Bucks’ basketball market just like Jordan did, provided he stayed long enough.

However, they never expected to encounter a problem even before the renewal negotiations with Yu Fei had begun.

Yu Fei demanded that the management first finalize the renewals of players like Sprewell, and only then would he start discussing his own contract renewal.

With no other choice, they had to reluctantly approach Sprewell for negotiations.

Although Sprewell remained among the elite last season, the Bucks management believed that was his last dance.

Sprewell’s decline was foreseeable.

Therefore, they were not planning to offer Sprewell a big contract.

But considering Sprewell’s contribution to the team, it seemed too heartless to send him off with just a mid-level contract.

After much deliberation, the Bucks offered Sprewell a 3-year, 24 million US Dollar contract, with the third year being a team option.

Putting aside that only the first two years were guaranteed and whether the third year would be effective depended on the team’s desire, Sprewell himself did not even consider the amount to be sufficient.

When the Bucks management, represented by Larry Harris, felt they had already shown their sincerity, Sprewell sarcastically said, "That’s not even enough to support my family."

"Sprewell, 24 million US Dollars is enough for anyone to support a family," Little Harris said.

But Sprewell decisively refused.

This put the Bucks’ renewal plan at an impasse.

In their view, offering Sprewell 3 years for 24 million was already an overvaluation.

If he was sensible, he should have accepted it to save face for both himself and the team.

But no one is ever satisfied with money.

Even for those Forbes-listed billionaires who see money as just numbers, the value of their lives lies in making those numbers grow larger and larger.

After Sprewell turned down the 3-year, 24 million US Dollar offer, Little Harris immediately contacted Yu Fei to inform him of the situation.

Little Harris thought that Yu Fei would stand on their side because of this.

After all, they considered 3 years for 24 million a reasonable offer.

But Yu Fei’s only response was, "If Sprewell doesn’t renew, I won’t renew either."

"Fei, I understand your feelings, but you need to look to the future," Little Harris said, "If we use one third of our salary cap space on a 34-year-old man, we won’t be able to strengthen our team on the free agent market."

Yu Fei retorted, "Whether we have the space or not, we won’t be favored in the free agent market. You can fool the fans with that talk, but don’t say it to me. I stand by my words: if Sprewell renews, so will I!"

The news of Yu Fei and Sprewell’s joint stance spread quickly.

For those role players with uncertain futures, Yu Fei’s statement was of great significance.

But it didn’t include everyone, such as Ray Allen, who also faced his contract year but didn’t have renewal troubles.

Ray Allen didn’t have to make a fuss like Sprewell, because the team would obediently offer him a max contract even if he said nothing.

Whether he signed or not was his business, but the team was bound to offer the new contract.

Sprewell’s rejection of the new contract furrowed his brows.

Because he knew the amount of the contract.

3 years for 24 million US Dollars, though not a ten-million-level max salary, was still a near-max salary above the mid-level.

He couldn’t understand why Sprewell would refuse. Did he think he could stay young forever and always enjoy max contracts?

That was impossible, he should face reality.

What bothered Ray Allen was Yu Fei’s stance.

Yu Fei demanded the team renew Sprewell’s contract, and then he would renew his contract with the team.

This was a threat, and a direct display of a player’s power over management. Moreover, this was no minor squabble at the draft.

In the past, the team could waste a few low draft picks for Yu Fei to select the people he liked, as long as he was happy, but now, the team had to think about the future.

Ray Allen didn’t understand why Yu Fei would do something like this, only renewing his contract if Sprewell did? Why did he have to act like Sprewell was his biggest helper?

Ray Allen was sure that Yu Fei had never shown such support for him, nor for anyone else.

Yu Fei elevated Sprewell’s status above everyone else’s with just one sentence, something Ray Allen couldn’t tolerate.

Just like when Yu Fei said to Marc Stein on the night of the championship defense, "This is my team," Ray Allen didn’t think anyone could truly own a team. The owner was just responsible for paying salaries; the core players were responsible for leading, but the team belonged to everyone.

It was just that Ray Allen had never truly faced his own inner voice.

If he could say "This is my team" like Yu Fei, or state "I’ll renew only if he does" without worrying about angering the higher-ups, what then?

The position you’re in affects the way you see things.

Yu Fei didn’t care about Ray Allen’s thoughts; he didn’t even ask about his contract renewal.

Sprewell’s contract stagnated, and now the team had to start a long tug-of-war.

Before that, they hadn’t forgotten to give Yu Fei a little consolation.

Devean George, who followed Yu Fei to Milwaukee two years ago, signed a cheap two-year, $5 million renewal contract.

Afterward, the Bucks turned to Yu Fei’s trusted confidants.

Ratner’s contract would also expire next summer.

Ratner’s decline had become evident since the year before last, and at the Bucks, he often had to play as a stretch five, colliding with the fiercest interior monsters, causing him to suffer frequent injuries last season.

This made Ratner doubt his future.

He declined the team’s offered two-year, $8 million renewal contract (with the second year as a team option), indicating he wanted to wait until the end of the season to decide.

Yu Fei then shifted his focus to coaching the two rookies.

Ariza’s shooting wasn’t something that could be sped up, and even with extra practice of 700 threes each day, his accuracy remained low.

Therefore, Yu Fei decided to start with his defense; with a good build and talent, it was time to use them well.

Yu Fei often took Ariza one-on-one and pointed out his deficiencies after blowing him out.

Ariza was miserable, though Yu Fei wasn’t a hot-tempered person, his lack of patience meant if Ariza repeatedly made the same mistakes, the friendly demeanor would vanish, replaced by a stern "You best not make the same mistake again."

What surprised Yu Fei the most was Kevin Martin, whose series of negative evaluations from the scouts—all of them—proved true based on his performance in the internal scrimmages.

Although he was the second-highest scorer in the NCAA, the weak conference meant it had little reference value, and his frame was so slender he looked like a 15-year-old high schooler, suffering torment from the veterans in every scrimmage.

Yu Fei thought Martin would flourish under the likes of Sprewell’s toughening, but it was Ray Allen who delivered the heavy blow.

Ray Allen always chose to match up with Martin and then crushed him.

Whenever Martin looked desperate on the court, George Karl would tease Yu Fei, "Big Fei, you seemed to have made a misjudgment this time." Your next read awaits at novelbuddy

Yu Fei had anticipated Martin might struggle to adapt at first, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad.

Yet, looking at his physique, it was somewhat understandable why he was being bullied.

At 6 feet 7 inches (201CM) tall but only 194 pounds (88KG), his build wouldn’t stand out even in college or high school basketball.

Martin’s dominance in the NCAA was partly due to his skill, but also the weak competition.

But in the NBA, even the least capable player could be a core member in the NCAA, and now it was an era of the most intense physical confrontation.

Martin had always been thin, but now he was too thin, getting knocked off balance with every touch; no matter how good his skills, he couldn’t utilize them.

Yu Fei looked at him and said, "You need to put on at least 20 pounds of muscle to play like you did in college."

"Isn’t there another way?" Martin would rather practice a thousand shots every day than lift weights in the gym.

Yu Fei said tauntingly, "Well, you could pray for a rule that forbids defenders from laying hands on frail idiots like you before the League weeds you out. Otherwise, you better just buckle down and gain some weight."

Yu Fei admitted he was ignorant of basketball history; he didn’t know which year the NBA completely banned hand-checking.

But now, it seemed the emergence of players like Martin was likely tied to the introduction of the hand-check ban.

Still, even if such a rule could let Martin soar, Yu Fei hoped he would gain weight.

No matter how much the rules restricted defense, once you get to the playoffs, it’s impossible not to get physical; rules are dead, just consider how peak Curry was smothered, and think about how LeBron James was grabbed during his forceful drives. In desperate situations, anything could happen, and a strong body is a layer of insurance.

Otherwise, even riding the wave of the "no hand-check" rule, you might not last long. A fragile body can’t withstand the beatings, and sooner or later, it’s bound to fall.

Martin decided to hit the gym with Yu Fei every day and undergo special training with Tim Grover; after all, the NBA had so many years of tough play, how could there be a rule against defenders getting physical? That would be utterly fantastical.