Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The 2008-09 season would become another hallmark season for Yu Fei after he averaged a triple-double during his time with the Bucks. If the year of the triple-double was a myth of statistics, this year was a myth of efficiency. Yu Fei played in all 82 games of the season, averaging 35 minutes per game. He attempted 18 shots and made 11 per game, resulting in a nearly 58% field goal percentage and averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals per game. He ranked first in all advanced statistical categories and led his team to break the Bulls' historical best record. 73 wins and 9 losses. The '09 Supersonics became a new milestone in NBA history. The New York Times wrote in its sports news section, "Michael Jordan predicted in The Last Dance that a player better than him would emerge in the future. But he certainly never imagined that he'd trade away this man during his regrettable stint with the Wizards." ESPN's lead reporter Marc Stein wrote a special non-report column for this occasion. "Frye took seven years to surpass Michael's thirteen-year career (referring to the '09 Fei being stronger than the '97 Dan), in every set of statistics we understand, Frye is the more comprehensive and efficient one. Michael never proved himself in the zone-defense era, just as Bill Russell dominated a league with only eight teams. Michael was epoch-making for the business of the basketball world, but so is Frye, and he has ignited a widespread craze among the largest demographic in the world—the Asian community—who have never loved basketball like this. Frye also has one advantage Michael never had: he changed the game of basketball. The three-pointer entered professional basketball in Michael's era, but Michael never really did anything with it. Frye, on the other hand, changed the game with the three-pointer. The most direct evidence of this isn't the current speed of offense so much as Stephen Curry, who almost five years ago might have seemed a poor man's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, is now nearly locked for a top-three pick in the 2009 draft because his style of play is the answer to this era." Stein concluded by saying, "There has been no change as thorough in basketball since the George Mikan era, and Michael was just following the steps of those before him, but Frye has changed this reality. From now on, everyone will play the game his way. In that sense, he's like the Elvis of basketball. I would choose him as my GOAT. But if the Supersonics defend their championship this year, then Frye will complete the unique 'SoleImperium'. At that point, I'll unhesitatingly rank him above Michael." Ever since Yu Fei was traded to the Bucks by Jordan, he actively cultivated media influence and maintained close relationships with many senior media figures. Stein was one of them. Over the years, Stein, with his comprehensive reporting and news output, has been regarded as the top basketball reporter at ESPN, alongside the hottest sports writer of the moment, Bill Simmons, as the dual titans of ESPN news reporting and 'The Second Page' columns. Moreover, because Stein had exclusive access to Yu Fei's news, he was also seen as the spokesperson for The Chosen Country to the outside world. Since the start of the season, Stein had been actively promoting his definition of the Fei dynasty, which was "SoleImperium". Unlike the traditional notion of "dynasty" which emphasized collective achievement, Stein's "SoleImperium" highlighted Yu Fei as an individual. In his narrative, he portrayed Yu Fei's dynasty as a unique, unreplicable empire. As the media narrative escalated, so did the deprecation of predecessors. Just like after the 2020 Lakers won the championship in the bubble, the subordinate group looking up at No. 23 on a certain forum executed a comprehensive reckoning. At this time, Yu Fei was at an all-time high. The Bulls' record was broken, momentarily tipping the scales in favor of Fei's supporters over Jordan's, as they widely adopted the theory of basketball evolution to belittle the basketball of the 90s. But this mocking assault soon provoked a backlash. After all, Jordan wasn't the only one playing in the 90s. Some contemporaries of Jordan began to speak out against Fei's zealous fan base. They believed that this extreme group had severely damaged the ecosystem of the basketball world and had a very bad influence on the industry. "You should not promote yourself by demeaning those who came before you," said the least likely to be on Jordan's side, Isiah Thomas, on a TNT program. Thomas set his personal grudges aside because Yu Fei's famous henchman, Kwame Brown, showed flagrant disrespect for the old era of basketball during an interview in Seattle. "Man, sports are improving every day, especially basketball. The changes in this decade are huge. The old games lacked zone defense, nobody could hit threes, defenses were undisciplined, and a whole game wouldn't see as many changes as we see in one quarter now. They were like plumbers." Brown specifically pointed out Jordan's lifetime rival, "Can you imagine a tiny guy like Isiah Thomas who can't shoot winning three consecutive series against Frye in the postseason of our era? Brother, that wouldn't happen even in a hundred years." Once a group is inflated to no limits, it gains a target. And when it has a target but can't immediately achieve it, it will seek various ways to accomplish the goal. Inflation, extremism—these are inevitable outcomes. In 2009, the die-hard fans of Yu Fei were like the combined forces of Kobe and LeBron fans at their peak; they even scorned considering contemporary players, aiming to overshadow those from the old days. This war between No. 44 and No. 23 has transformed into a battle between the present and the past. But the essence is, No. 44 wants to ascend to the top while No. 23, representing the past, will stop at nothing to prevent that. People from the old era started siding with Jordan, while those from the new era? Unfortunately, they were all defeated by Yu Fei; even though they were helpless, they wouldn't easily step forward to admit: "Okay, I was screwed over by Frye, he is the GOAT." Such things could only be said after retirement. Just before the playoffs started, even Scottie Pippen, who had absolutely no reason to side with Jordan, became fed up with the nauseating praises lavished on Unbelievable Fei. He and his former teammate Ron Harper started a show, where they talked about anything and everything. Drinking red wine, they reminisced about the '96 Bulls, how strong they were back then, never imagining that 13 years later they would be belittled as an "ancient team" out of touch with the times. "Scottie, what's your take on the basketball evolution theory?" Harper asked with an amused look at his old friend. "Evolution or lack thereof, does it really matter?" Pippen said. "Back then, we paved the way, now others enjoy the shade. They shouldn't belittle past games just because modern games have advanced. Let's talk turkey; if you can't win a championship, what good is a 73-9 record?" Pippen's words were very reasonable. Yu Fei completely agreed. From the end of the regular season to just before the start of the playoffs, it was really hard for Yu Fei to notice any changes in the world from his perspective. Every day the sun still rose as usual, and the only noteworthy change he could see in Seattle was that the Emerald City was transforming from a baseball city into a basketball city, with far more people wearing Supersonics jerseys than those sporting jerseys of Ken Griffey, Jr. or Ichiro Suzuki. The Supersonics had become a hot topic in the local area. Because Yu Fei had inexplicably become the Elvis of basketball, and the founder of "The Only Empire." This year, there were significant changes in the Western Conference. Due to trades at the trade deadline, the Houston Rockets' record plummeted, dropping them directly out of the playoff race. For the Rockets, this was unfortunate. But it might have been a stroke of luck for Yao Ming. He was influenced by the small-ball trend started by Yu Fei and was forced to lose weight and increase his three-point shots. However, such a transformation couldn't be completed in one season. The early end to the season meant that he reduced the additional risk of injury from the high-intensity playoffs, and at the same time, he had an entire summer to reshape his body and improve his three-point shooting. Since there was no international competition for the national team this year, and at last year's Beijing Olympics, they had fought tooth and nail with runner-up Spain, the confidence at home was high. They believed that even without Yao Ming, the Olympic team led by Yi Jianlian could easily clinch the championship at the Asian Championship held on home soil. This gave Yao Ming an unexpectedly free period off-season. However, for the Denver Nuggets, who replaced the Rockets as the eighth seed in the West, things were dire. "Big Fei, we're brothers from the Night High Alliance, you've got to have mercy on me, don't sweep us aside." Carmelo Anthony joked before the game. "Melo, the only thing I can promise you is," Yu Fei said, "you guys will make a graceful exit." And Yu Fei's words followed the law; The Nuggets had no resistance against the Supersonics. In four games, the Supersonics consistently won by 20 points, even allowing Anthony to average 30 points per game; they easily completed a relaxed sweep of the first round. Moreover, Anthony, with an average of 30 points 5 rebounds 3 assists per game, also earned the title of a "noble loss." "Losing the game pisses me off a little," Anthony told an ESPN reporter. "But Big Fei said he was proud of me, and that makes me feel a lot better." "Why is he proud of you?" Anthony said, "Because I'm the only one in the Night High Alliance who doesn't sign short term contracts, this proves that I'm someone who stays loyal to the team, fans, and friends." "So, you're going to retire in Denver?" "What are you thinking?" said Anthony. "Isn't the important thing that Big Fei is proud of me?" I suddenly thought of an analogy not quite suitable to compare the atmosphere of 44 vs 23 in the book. Hmm, like the fan war between Shi Hao and Ye Fan.