Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 464 - 318 How did we get here

Chapter 464: Chapter 318 How did we get here

On the day after the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals ended, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported that the Miami Heat had demolished the visiting team’s locker room at the Bradley Center. The Bucks officially stated that the Miami Heat would bear all damages to the Bradley Center.

“Stop the nonsense, just give me a bill,” Shaquille O’Neal said cheerfully.

Such a crisp attitude made people wonder about the situation of the Miami Heat, who were now 0 to 2 behind. Although losing two away games was somewhat understandable, in NBA history, the majority of teams that lost the first two games of a series ended up failing.

Why did they act as if “the real battle had just begun”?

The psychological change in O’Neal was beyond many people’s imagination. For these superstars who once stood at the peak, the biggest problem with aging was the inability to accept the change in role positioning that their decline brought.

Iverson disappeared from the NBA because of this, Moses Malone became homeless for this reason, and people like Carter who were ready for the transition early on were, after all, a minority.

O’Neal did not delude himself into thinking that his dominance could last until 40 years old. He believed that day would come, and he would eventually go from being the top dog to a hanger-on, but now, as he still had the ability and could still score 30 points and grab 20 rebounds in a series’ final game, why should he diminish his own status prematurely?

When the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals came, Yu Fei made O’Neal understand why.

Because he hated it!

He couldn’t tolerate accumulating defeats in front of Fei.

Ever since Fei’s debut, Shaquille O’Neal had only one victory over Fei, during the 2003-04 season when he was still with the Lakers. Fei had fought with him on the court, and both were ejected, after which Kobe massacred the opposition and led the team to victory.

Does that count?

He himself didn’t want to include that victory.

But if that game isn’t counted, then his winning rate against Fei is zero.

Even if he has won more championships than Fei, that dismal winning rate isn’t even worth mentioning anymore.

Because people will say, you only won those championships because Big Fei hadn’t entered the league yet.

Therefore, O’Neal’s attitude shifted in an instant before the game and evolved into a complete psychological acceptance.

What does it matter to give up his tactical position to defeat Fei and the Bucks? What is it to be Wade’s dog? Could it be worse than being Kobe’s dog? Could it be harder to accept than being blown out by Fei like a dog, being humiliated like a dog?

All dogs are not the same, only foolish dogs would follow Kobe, only useless dogs would get blown out by Fei. But what if he, as Wade’s dog, defeats Fei?

That would make him a good dog.

As O’Neal suddenly realized this, the Miami Heat immediately entered the best state of readiness for the game.

If an inside player who still has dominating power decides to focus his energy on rebounding and defense, the help he can bring to the team will be comprehensive.

Just as Charles Barkley once said, if he went after rebounds like Rodman, he could do even better.

Of course, the extent of “better” is determined by their talent and physical condition.

Take O’Neal, for example—he could grab 20 rebounds in a game, but you couldn’t expect him to suddenly become the DPOY. He would still be targeted, still afraid of pick and rolls, but the losses he brought on the defensive end could be compensated for in other areas.

American Airlines Arena

Dwyane Wade took a deep breath, shattered Bell’s defense with a change of direction, quickly broke into the basket, Bucks’ three players converged, but they couldn’t defend against his elusive step and changing angles of attack, ultimately scoring off the left-hand floater.

He turned, looking towards an overly excited, tearful middle-aged Black woman in the crowd.

How did they get here?

“111 to 104!” Mike Breen said excitedly. “Can you believe it? The Bucks have tasted defeat in the postseason for the first time in Miami!”

Fei achieved a triple-double with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, but Wade, benefiting from home-court advantage and star treatment, managed to score 40 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, getting to the free-throw line 19 times in a single game.

If only Wade had played well, it would still be hard for the Heat to win.

The key change was in O’Neal.

15 points, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks, that was O’Neal tonight.

No, instead of saying he played like O’Neal tonight, it would be more accurate to say, he played like an unstoppable Dwight Howard, dominating in rebounding and rim protection.

After the game, George Karl complained about the foul shots.

“Dwyane Wade took more free throws by himself than our entire team, how are we supposed to play the game?”

Fei also had to face some questions.

“Is this the first time Shaq has defeated you?”

“The second,” Fei replied. “He was with the Lakers at that time, and with Kobe’s leadership, he won against me once. Hmm, that night’s Kobe and today’s Dwyane were unstoppable.”

“How do you view Shaq’s performance tonight?”

“It’s amazing,” Fei said. “He is willing to be Dwyane’s dog, but not Kobe’s or Penny’s. Is it because Dwyane is better? Anyway, I’m glad he finally has the self-awareness to be a dog, being true to oneself is very important for every quasi-human creature.”

O’Neal’s camp described Fei’s personal attack as a “venting of frustration after experiencing failure,” but in reality, everyone who saw the interview knew that Fei’s emotions had not changed from beginning to end.

A day later, both Karl and Fei received fines from the league.

One for questioning the officiating, the other for allegedly insulting an opponent.

Yu Fei’s camp protested, saying dogs are man’s best friend, so comparing Shaquille O’Neal to a dog is clearly a compliment. How could anyone interpret it as an insult?

Afterward, the Bucks focused on preparing for Game 4.

Evening the series at home was undoubtedly Miami Heat’s strategy, but Yu Fei didn’t want that to happen.

According to history, the Heat were the team of destiny this year, expected to go all the way, but Yu Fei had already derailed their 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Hence, stopping the 2006 team of destiny wasn’t impossible.

O’Neal, having devolved from a wild boar to a rabid dog, certainly presented a tricky issue. But for the Bucks, the primary difficulty in extinguishing the Heat on their court was dealing with Wade’s three-meter-long metaphorical whiskers.

Let’s not even mention his untouchable status. His three-point shooting average in the Eastern Conference Finals was up to forty percent.

If luck is a consumable, Wade had definitely overspent against the Bucks.

“The difficulty of beating Miami has shifted from Shaq to D-Wade,” Karl said to Yu Fei. “Frye, you’re the only one on our team who can beat him, but to do that, you must first put aside your conflict with Shaq.”

Karl’s words made it clear, the focus of the series had shifted from targeting Shaquille O’Neal to targeting Wade.

Yu Fei nodded and said, “I know what to do.”

Karl wasn’t worried about Yu Fei acting on impulse, for dealing with Shaquille O’Neal could happen at any time. Now that the opponent was acting all high and mighty, it was time to strike down the tiger he relied on. Afterwards, they could deal with the dog however they wanted.

“I don’t believe his three-point accuracy will remain this high,” Karl pointed out another key aspect. “Starting with the fourth game, we still need to limit his penetration space. If he wants to shoot, let him shoot.”

With this made clear, the Bucks’ players had a clear defensive strategy against Wade.

This was Karl’s experienced side showing.

Although Wade’s recent shooting accuracy was high, his output wasn’t. This meant that his own shooting tendencies hadn’t increased with the hot streak—it reflected a lack of confidence in his shooting abilities.

May 29

Eastern Conference Finals Game 4

Despite their undefeated playoff record being broken, the Bucks still held a 2-1 lead.

The Heat had to win tonight’s game. Otherwise, without home-court advantage and trailing 1-3, they’d essentially be out of the running.

Yu Fei was confident in himself but somewhat worried about Wade’s increasingly fierce form, a concern reflected in his decision to practice shooting early at the American Airlines Arena.

He felt he had to be fully prepared to defeat Wade.

To be fair, this year Wade might have reached the threshold of the league’s top ten, but his performance in the playoffs could be compared to the top three in the league.

This kind of short-term outburst was extremely rare.

As the opponent, Yu Fei could feel that Wade was getting better with each game.

Therefore, he needed to use a victory to curb Wade’s rising form and help his team secure the series win.

To Yu Fei’s surprise, Wade also chose to come to the venue early to practice.

Accompanying Wade wasn’t the wife rumored to be on bad terms with him but a demoralized, plump African American middle-aged woman.

“Is that his mother?” Lawson guessed.

“I think so,” Yu Fei decided to go say hello.

After some pleasantries, they confirmed that the woman was indeed Wade’s mother, Jolinda.

However, looking at Jolinda’s mental state, it wasn’t great. She looked like the kind of homeless addicts Yu Fei saw wandering the streets of cities all across America.

In the end, Yu Fei exchanged some barbs with Wade.

“Frye, I hope you stop calling Shaq my dog,” Wade said. “He isn’t.”

“Hey, Dwyane, don’t think you can boss me around just because you won a game,” Yu Fei arrogantly said. “Wait until you’ve won the series, then you can tell me what I can and cannot do.”

Having said that, Yu Fei turned and went back to practice.

Wade watched his retreating figure with a fiery gaze. Ever since joining the league, he kept hearing comparisons between LeBron and Big Fei, as if LeBron was the only one worthy.

Yet which promising star of the future wouldn’t want to be part of that conversation? Being mentioned alongside Big Fei in the same topic indicated one might change the league’s dynamic in the future, redefining the league just like Big Fei did.

Now, LeBron was far from that level, whereas Wade had already stood before Big Fei and claimed a victory.

Wade’s mother Jolinda always asked her son incredulously, “How did we get here?”

Wade didn’t know the answer.

But if anyone asked Wade where he was headed,

Wade’s response would be definitive, pointing to where Yu Fei stood.

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That’s where he was headed.

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