Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Duncan easily won the tip-off.

The Wizards players swiftly retreated in defense, with Yu Fei matching up against Bowen, who always stood in the corner.

On the other side, Duncan's aggressive post-up positioning naturally made him the Spurs' go-to offensive player.

Doug Collins' defensive strategy for Duncan was clear: as soon as he received the ball in the low post, they would collapse on him and double-team.

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Parker was left wide open by Jordan, not just in front, but in all three directions up to the free-throw line, no one was guarding him.

And in the instant the Wizards' defense collapsed, Duncan passed the ball to Parker.

Although Parker said in his Hall of Fame speech that Duncan hadn't spoken a word to him in his rookie season, it was clear that Duncan had done everything for him but talk.

With such an open shot, Parker could take the shot without any burden.

3 to 0

Then, surprisingly, Ratner aggressively called for the ball.

It seemed he wanted to make a counter-move against Duncan.

Though Yu Fei had no idea what he was thinking, he had to admit it was as shocking as seeing the sauce vendor in "Kung Fu" publicly declare his intent to avenge the three masters.

Waiting for Ratner wasn't a slap from the landlady, but a turnover.

Jordan clearly didn't feel like a point guard, feeling secure as soon as he saw Ratner post up, he passed the ball inside, but that was exactly what Duncan had lured him into—a trap. As the ball arrived, The Stone Buddha swung his long arms and destroyed the pass.

Bowen silently picked up the loose ball; the Spurs counterattacked immediately.

Fei chased after him, completely overshadowing Bowen on defense. But Bowen didn't rush his shot, waiting for Fei to approach before passing the ball backward to Duncan, who was following from the middle.

Duncan caught the ball with one hand, raised it directly, and scored with a follow-through dunk.

Duncan lightly tossed the ball under the Wizards' basket and said to Fei, "You run pretty fast."

It was a meaningless statement— it couldn't even be considered trash talk.

Bowen ran back silently.

Guarding this player, Fei had to stay alert. Although he hadn't seen Bowen play basketball in his past life, he had seen the sudden collective strength of ten-year Suns fans digging up all sorts of Bowen's dark history after Zaza Pachulia, due to being "too clumsy," "accidentally" injured Kawhi Leonard in 2017.

Although it's unclear where those Suns fans who lived a decade in a single day came from, all we need to know is that if Bowen hadn't done those things, the die-hard fans wouldn't have come forth.

With two athletic twin towers in the starting lineup, the Spurs applied full-court defense against the Wizards. There was a moment when no one stood in the paint.

The Wizards passed the ball back and forth, eventually getting it to Ratner, who was once again matched up against Duncan.

Since Ratner was far from the basket, Duncan didn't interfere much with Jordan's pass. Ratner caught the ball easily, then slipped on his footing while facing the basket, getting ready to make a move.

"Slap!"

Duncan's simple yet effective steal was complete.

Duncan immediately threw the ball to Parker.

The French sports car was ready to launch. Jordan managed to delay him, but couldn't completely block his counterattack.

Parker nearly shook off Jordan with his speed, charging to the basket for a layup, but Fei's shadow suddenly overwhelmed him.

"Frye's block halted D.C.'s downward spiral!"

"MJ has control of the ball, now it's D.C.'s turn to counterattack!"

"The Spurs have completed their defense!"

Seeing Jordan, slowed by his advancing age, successfully get back into position, Collins suddenly wondered: if Fei had pushed the counterattack, could they have scored?

According to the plan, Jordan was supposed to rest tonight. Heffernan believed that Jordan was at full capacity and that without rest, he risked catastrophic injury.

However, Jordan was provoked by the news of "Yu Fei's pitch to Bolin."

Jordan could accept Fei's defiance toward him, but he couldn't accept the idea of a wild horse he couldn't tame himself being easily subdued by Bolin.

Moving to point guard added to Jordan's burden, and his speed had clearly decreased.

Jordan still had no intention of passing the ball to Fei—it had been three possessions already.

"Feels good to be ignored, doesn't it?" Bowen seemed to know Fei's troubles.

"Don't talk to me," Fei responded coldly, "I'm allergic to sleazy-looking baldies."

This time, Jordan decided to take the shot himself.

He didn't call for a screen, hoping to use his stature to overpower Parker. It was a good idea, assuming his lower body could provide enough power.

His legs had no strength left.

"Bang!"

A missed shot was inevitable. Jahidi White desperately pushed David Robinson aside and slapped the offensive rebound in Fei's direction.

Fei immediately pushed off Bowen, securing a favorable position to take the ball.

Fei was now on the weak side. He gestured for the others to spread out and then used the probing step he had learned from McGrady on Bowen.

Left, right, left, front, left... Fei still couldn't produce the silky rhythm like McGrady, nor was it very aesthetically pleasing, but it was threatening. Bowen, who was not very familiar with him, made just one small mistake—being shaken by the probing step—and Fei's breakthrough, like a charging stallion, became unstoppable as he tore through the defense and dunked the ball into the basket.

2 to 5

"Bruce, you do realize you're up against a rookie, right?" said Duncan, picking up the ball and getting ready to inbound.

Bowen corrected: "He may be a rookie, but he's a rookie who scores an average of 15 points per game."

"Is that your excuse? OK, hope Pop will buy it," said Duncan before running forward.

Seeing Popovich's suddenly darkened expression, Bowen indeed had a bad feeling. He didn't want to get a "manners lesson" from the coach after the game.

Compared to the Wizards, the Spurs' tactical system was much more comprehensive. Robinson set screens, Duncan provided cover, and starting shooting guard Steve Smith came out to catch the ball and shoot.

8 to 2

"Why wouldn't you ask for the ball?" Bowen actually wanted to defend against Yu Fei's offense again.

Yu Fei had no idea why this sleazy bald guy was so chatty. It was awkward whether he responded or not, so he said sarcastically, "Because sleazy bald guys like you don't like passing the ball to handsome young men."

After speaking, Jordan passed the ball to Hamilton.

Hamilton didn't disappoint, sinking a mid-range shot.

8 to 4

However, when Yu Fei executed Collins's strategy to tighten up, Duncan actually managed to draw a foul from him.

It was a legitimate body foul. Yu Fei had contracted inside but hadn't touched Duncan at all, yet the referee still called a foul as Duncan's shot was blocked.

Yu Fei had nothing to say; it was the trifecta of star, home court, and rookie intimidation calls. If he didn't want to eat that kind of foul, he should stay away from the paint.

Duncan made one of two free throws.

9 to 4

Yu Fei still stood in the corner playing the lookout.

Because he knew Jordan wouldn't pass him the ball.

He and Bowen were the two most idle men on the court.

"You know I have to stop you at least once to make up for my earlier mistake. Can you ask your teammate to pass the ball to you?" Bowen didn't know if he was provoking Yu Fei or actually "asking for help."

Yu Fei had never encountered a trash-talking player like Bowen and didn't want to engage in pointless chatter with him.

Just when Bowen thought Yu Fei couldn't possibly get the ball this round, suddenly, Yu Fei tugged on his jersey, throwing him off balance, and dashed into the paint.

In that instant, Jordan made a turn-around jump shot while backing down Parker.

Yu Fei was sure he would miss.

Because his footing was too unstable!

Indeed, Jordan's shot hit the backboard squarely, and Yu Fei leapt up, edging out Robinson to snatch the offensive rebound, and passed it to White before landing.

White, who had been overwhelmed by the Spurs' twin towers, finally came alive, letting out a roar as he dunked the ball.

"Great pass, Big Fei!" White shouted.

Yu Fei waved his hand as if it were nothing and then turned to Bowen, holding up two fingers.

Now, you sleazy bald head might have to stop me twice to make up for your mistake.

That was his message.

Bowen didn't look at Popovich, because he knew—

"Bruce, if you're not awake yet, get your ass to the locker room and take a cold shower!" Popovich was in full-on rage mode, "Are you fucking blind or just brainless, @#\\$%#\\$%"

Did that sound pleasant? Pleasant only meant a good cursing.

Yu Fei clapped mid-court for Popovich's "lesson in manners," drawing the ire of Spurs fans.

"Feeling smug, huh!?"

"Damn Chinese, Bruce is going to teach you a lesson!"

Yu Fei, delighted by their reaction, clapped back at the front row fans of the Spurs while retreating, inducing more boos.

"He really seems to have a need to piss everyone off, right?" Tyronn Lue commented to Kwame Brown after watching.

"No no, Frye isn't that kind of person." Brown was a staunch supporter of Yu Fei.

Then, Yu Fei once again chose to leave Bowen unguarded and move back to help defend the paint.

Duncan, kind-hearted as he was, couldn't bear to see Bowen completely forgotten in the corner, so he passed the ball to the wide-open Bowen.

And Bowen proved why he was left open; even though it was his only reliable three-point spot, misses from open positions still happened.

Like this time, Yu Fei could tell by the trajectory that it was going awry, and indeed it missed.

Yu Fei decisively rushed into the paint to secure the rebound; his previous success in going over Robinson made him feel that the same trick might work on Duncan as well.

But Duncan had core strength that could rival Ben Wallace's. In a flash, Yu Fei felt like he had been hit by a Shinra Tensei; not only did he fail to impact Duncan, but he also got knocked to the ground by Duncan, who grabbed the rebound in mid-air and managed to complete the put-back and knock him over in the process—reminding Yu Fei how brutally physical the NBA paint was in 2001.

The referee blew the whistle, calling another foul on Yu Fei, this time a legitimate blocking foul, and since Duncan's put-back went in, he got an and-one.

Not even halfway through the quarter, Yu Fei had accumulated two fouls, so Collins decided to make a substitution.

Yu Fei, catching Jordan's indifferent reaction, couldn't help but say, "You sure you don't want to give me a hand?"

Hearing this, Jordan coldly replied, "Let that damn midget help you!"

"BOSS prefers to be called Mr. Bolin."

"So you admit it?"

"What does it matter if I admit it or not?"

Yu Fei stood up, saw that Collins wanted to put Chris Whitney in and move Jordan to the small forward position, knowing that Collins had fully realized playing Jordan at the point was nonsense, a death wish.

Yu Fei patted his butt, ready to switch with Whitney, and said to Jordan, "If the world was ending and I only had you and one other person to choose from, I promise I would never choose you. So, do your best. I hope we aren't too far behind by the time I'm back in."

Whitney substituted for Yu Fei.

Collins thought about saying something to Yu Fei but felt it wasn't worth wasting his breath.

And the most shocked of all were the Spurs players; they had overheard Yu Fei's dialogue with Jordan. Was this how teammates communicated?

Not even at the end of the world would I choose you?

Is this person a teammate?

"Understandable," Duncan nodded, "I also have teammates I wouldn't choose even if it were the end of the world."

With that, he glanced at Parker.

Thanks to Fey's alliance leader reward, and thanks also to Yu Blade, Looking Up, Three Buns, A Peng, Extending Months to White Clouds, KWRCZJQ, Summer of Mi Hang, samko, Flash Pursuit Kingdom, re78, Book Friend 20191018172727975, McGrady Moment, Illumination Society, White Gown Sauce for their support.