Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 421 - 280: Just Need One Shot

Chapter 421: Chapter 280: Just Need One Shot

The day after the season opener, Reebok activated its media machinery to hype the game, which was a one-sided regular-season matchup, as if it were as significant as game seven of the finals.

Although somewhat excessive, Reebok achieved its goal.

Any basketball fan would know that last night the Bucks slaughtered the Cavaliers by 45 points at the Quicken Loans Arena, with Yu Fei completely outshining James.

Due to the over-saturation of coverage, some media commented, “The Bucks and Cavaliers game reports were more widely spread than Paris Hilton’s sex tapes.”

On Nike’s side, not only calming the artificially amplified public opinion required mobilizing more media resources.

This left them frantically busy, with numerous individuals publicly criticizing the Cavaliers’ head coach, Mike Brown.

For the usage of players like James, the Bucks already had a mature example. They just needed to copy the correct answer. What’s the need for scientific research? Even Popovich still has to coach Duncan hard; do you think you’re better than Popovich?

James also subtly expressed his dissatisfaction with the team arrangements.

“You know, I’ve always been a ball-handler,” he said, “I like to have the ball in my hands and distribute it fairly to everyone, but now I can’t do that.”

Dan Gilbert caught the implied meaning and immediately called Mike Brown, telling him he must build the system around James as the absolute core.

Afterward, James’s ball-handling responsibilities returned.

Yu Fei stirred the Wings of the Traveler, clearly reflecting the butterfly effect on the Cavaliers.

Following the pattern of his previous life, the Cavaliers still needed to fumble for a few months under Mike Brown’s new system before gradually realizing, after the new year, that an all-round system was not nearly as effective as giving the ball to James to play freely.

Now, however, the Cavaliers were back on track after just one game.

The Bucks were on their way to the airport by bus.

Yu Fei sat on the bus, looking out at the streets, Cleveland gave him an irremediable sense of desolation, with aging infrastructure and a city that seemed lifeless. A bunch of drunks could only intoxicate themselves on the streets after work and then reminisce about the prosperity of the last century.

Back then, Cleveland was one of the most important industrial cities in the US, and the Browns were still great.

“Frye, what are you looking at?”

George Karl sat across from Yu Fei and asked him, as he seemed engrossed by the street views.

“Nothing,” Yu Fei replied, “I just suddenly understood Carlos Boozer.”

Karl asked, “That bastard who even deceives the blind?”

“Yeah,” Yu Fei said, “I don’t know how many players can sincerely say, ‘I’d like to play here until I retire.’ I feel like I certainly couldn’t do it.”

At that moment, Kwame Brown, who was sitting next to Yu Fei, laughed and said, “What’s the problem? The guy just has character issues. Cleveland’s not good, but how much better is Milwaukee? Kobe was practically begging me, and didn’t I still turn down Los Angeles?”

When it came to self-aggrandizement, Kwame Brown had no rivals in the league.

Yu Fei was taken aback.

He knew Brown was right. Milwaukee really wasn’t much better than Cleveland; in terms of basketball markets, it could even be said to be much worse.

Forget it, don’t think about it anymore. I’m planning to pursue my third championship ring in Milwaukee, while little LeBron can still have Cleveland chanting euphorically before he makes his decision, “With this son, Cleveland is blessed!”

Everyone has a bright future.

When the Bucks left Cleveland, the league handed out a record-breaking fine.

Last night, several players from the four teams involved in the season opener were fined for violating the dress code.

Multiple members of the Bucks were found in violation.

The most wronged was Kwame Brown, who was dressed in a suit, but without a tie, which resulted in his gold chain being exposed.

“David Stern is trying to fine me 5000 USD for a fucking chain?” Brown cursed, “I’ll die before I pay that!”

A suit paired with a thick gold chain?

Just imagining the scene, you feel Stern didn’t fine him nearly enough.

To avoid future fines from the league for similar reasons, Yu Fei decided to hire a personal stylist.

Initially, Yu Fei asked his girlfriend Christina for help, but being a minor actress, she did not have a personal stylist, nor did she know whom to trust, so he ended up calling Paris Hilton’s home for assistance.

If you expected Paris to tell you about recent commodity, fuel prices, whether they increased or were expensive, you’d likely get a modern version of “Let them eat cake,” but when it came to hiring people to serve oneself, she was an expert.

Paris quickly recommended a good candidate to Yu Fei—Dean Morris.

Morris studied Chinese in college and wanted to pursue a related career, but upon his graduation, when he was named the best-dressed person at his school, he had an epiphany and decided to become a stylist instead.

Initially, he worked for entertainment magazines, which introduced him to a few stylists hired by celebrities. After a period of learning, he got the chance to be the stylist for Will Ferrell and Judi Fox. His career started to take off.

Morris’s story impressed Yu Fei, and his advice was the reason Yu Fei decided to work with him.

Morris advised Yu Fei to be picky about the brands he wore and to avoid obscure, unrecognizable brands, as it was also an opportunity to attract sponsors.

In Morris’s view, Yu Fei had the potential to set fashion trends in the NBA.

“The same outfit might make some people feel uncomfortable if worn by Kevin Martin,” Morris said, “but if it’s worn by Frye, some wealthy and influential people will point at you and tell the people around them, ‘If I wear the same suit as Frye, I can be as cool as him, because he and I are very alike’.”

Yu Fei laughed at the words, “If you hadn’t brought up Kevin, I would have been happier.”

Morris also laughed, “I’m a Bucks fan, and I really think his involvement was a big reason you guys lost the Eastern Conference Finals last season.”

Yu Fei hired Dean Morris to be his personal stylist.

From then on, Yu Fei’s life included a new term: makeup time.

The hand-checking rule was having a broad impact across the league.

The most direct effect Yu Fei felt was that drawing free throws became too easy.

In the past few seasons, the most free throws Yu Fei averaged were last season at nine per game, but that was because he was carrying the team solo and shooting a lot.

Now, after leaving Cleveland, Yu Fei played three games for the Bucks, taking 21 shots per game and averaging 10 free throws.

Drawing free throws was addictive, especially when they came so easily.

This made Yu Fei think about introducing Kevin Durant’s famous rip-through move earlier than it appeared, but considering his own reputation, it would be better to do less of that.

A day later, the Bucks went to Oklahoma to challenge the Hornets.

Affected by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets had to play their home games in an unfamiliar city.

Oklahoma, as a city without any professional sports teams, welcomed the Hornets with great enthusiasm.

They also showed great passion toward the Bucks team.

The fans at the game were very enthusiastic about the match, showing a potential big market.

Yu Fei saw many fans wearing his jersey, and even though they were mainly cheering for the Hornets, they would still stand and cheer when he made exciting plays.

The Hornets’ rookie star Chris Paul didn’t have a good night.

At least compared to Danny Granger, the rising star of the Bucks, his 10 points, 5 assists, and 3 turnovers were far from close.

It was Granger’s night of his career, as Karl put him in the starting power forward position again, Yu Fei kept calling for 1-4 pick-and-roll, resulting in Granger easily letting his three-pointers fly, hitting 7 out of 12 for the game with the team-high of 32 points and 5 rebounds.

Being from New Orleans, Granger felt sympathy for the Hornets’ plight.

“I’m a little boy from New Orleans,” Granger said. “I want to make my hometown proud.”

Yu Fei easily scored another triple-double.

The Bucks achieved five straight wins at the start of the season.

In those five games, Yu Fei got triple-doubles in three, currently averaging 30 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block per game, just one assist away from the legendary average triple-double.

A few days later, the Bucks’ streak came to an end at the hands of the Kings after their outside shooting went cold, then they vented their frustration, blowing out the 76ers by 30 points and smoothly handling the internally troubled Minnesota Timberwolves before facing their arch-rival, the Detroit Pistons.

Although the hand-check ban had been imposed, the Pistons were still considered a defense-first team. However, under the new rule, many of their past defenses were no longer valid, and even though they still had their stifling Iron Bucket Formation, it was riddled with holes in front of Yu Fei.

Yu Fei scored his second 40+ point triple-double of the season, leading the Bucks to smash the Pistons’ defense, crushing them 112 to 99.

After this game, Yu Fei’s average stats officially reached a triple-double.

For the basketball world, this was an earthquake.

Since the 1980s, when sports media promoted the concept of a triple-double from Magic Johnson, the appearance of averaging a triple-double for a single season seemed as unreachable as Chamberlain’s average of 50 points per game.

Yet now, someone had achieved it in a short amount of time.

Reebok was over the moon and urging the media to capitalize on the buzz; since the opening game where Yu Fei annihilated the Cavaliers, his name was once again known nationwide.

But when ESPN wanted to do an exclusive interview about this, Yu Fei declined.

“If I finish the season with an average triple-double, then it won’t be too late for the interview,” Yu Fei explained. “Besides, when The Big O averaged a triple-double back in the day, he didn’t even know that such a statistic existed—it’s our generation that has given it additional meaning. So, I won’t focus on this data.”

The uproar over the average triple-double undoubtedly affected the Bucks’ preparations, and in the following game against the Golden State Warriors, the Bucks suffered a shocking loss but then avenged themselves by defeating the Kings by 15 points.

For a team with young people and mid-generation players as its core, instability was inevitable. Even so, on the eve of the last game before Thanksgiving, at 8-2, the Bucks ranked fourth in the league.

The last opponent before Thanksgiving was not an easy one.

It was the Dallas Mavericks.

Since Yu Fei was traded to Milwaukee, the Bucks had a “nemesis” in each conference—in the Eastern was the Pacers, and in the Western, the Mavericks.

Against these two opponents, the Bucks often lost more than they won.

But internally, the Bucks only acknowledged that the Pacers had a lineup that could more easily restrict them. The term “nemesis” didn’t really apply to the Mavericks.

However, the Mavericks enjoyed this label.

Their star guard Jason Terry exhibited a determination to win before the game against the Bucks: “Our goal is to become number one in the league. Beating the Bucks will take us up to number two in the rankings.”

“Frye is averaging a triple-double now, and the Bucks are coming strong. Are you really that confident?”

“Buddy, we’re Western cowboys, we have guns,” Terry said confidently. “To hunt down a strong buck, you only need one shot.”

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