Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Wizards' beat reporter Steve Wyche was engaged in the most meaningful work of the season.

That was to meticulously document Yu Fei's journey of revenge.

It was the most meaningful thing for the Wizards in this failed season, apart from the clichéd stories about Jordan.

At the start of the season, during Yu Fei's first return to MCI, Wyche published an article in The Washington Post titled "What the Return of Frye Means."

Back then, Wyche could feel the rage within Yu Fei. Find your next read at empire

The fury of wanting to score 100 points against the Wizards could be felt at courtside.

When Yu Fei returned for the second time, that anger had subsided.

But as the season neared its end, the third match between the Bucks and the Wizards was once again hyped by the outside world, especially since the Wizards could not afford to lose, this game took on additional significance.

Yu Fei was still sprinting on the court, but Wyche could no longer sense that intense rage in him; for him, it was like a mission to judge a heretic.

This was something he needed to do to the Wizards.

When Yu Fei scored 15 points in the first quarter, Wyche glanced at Jordan's stats.

7 for 2 in the first quarter, scoring only 4 points.

The proud and arrogant Jordan would not accept defeat, because the sole reason he returned from the realm of the gods to the mortal world was to prove he could still compete with the blossoming young stars.

For this, he was willing to risk tarnishing his reputation at the end of his career.

Doug Collins tried to show his loyalty to Jordan in every way. When Jordan was tired, he would ask if he needed to rest, and when Jordan wanted the ball, he was proactive in designing plays for him.

Now, with Yu Fei making Jordan look utterly disheveled, Collins wanted to know if his boss would take a few minutes to rest in the second quarter.

"Michael, do you want to sit down and take a break?"

But Jordan had no respect for his servant, and he pointed to the visiting team's bench, "Do you think that bastard will sit out the second quarter?"

Collins didn't know how George Karl would manage Yu Fei's playing time, but given Yu Fei's nature, he thought...

"Probably not," said Collins.

"He wants to win here, he has to go through me!" Jordan said angrily, "He'll have to knock me down time and again until I can't get up, so you'd better not talk any bullshit about resting!"

Wyche, who witnessed this scene, recalled that over the past two years, Jordan seldom showed respect for Collins.

However, when the Wizards played the Lakers last month for the last time, Jordan showed his affection for Jackson.

Reviewing the information, Wyche found that Jordan had once said in the '90s that he liked being coached by Jackson. For a deity elevated so high, 'like' was too strong a word.

But last month, during their final meeting on the court, Jordan explained why he revered Jackson: "One thing that impressed me about Phil was that he challenged me. He was never intimidated by me. While most coaches are easily scared off by me, he stepped up, and if I played poorly, he would tell me I played poorly. If he felt I needed improvement in certain areas, he would tell me. I respected him for that. I wanted a coach who could point out my weaknesses... because that would help me become a better basketball player. That's what Coach Smith did for me, that's what Phil Jackson did for me."

How vivid, how lifelike, how reasonable.

A coach who can point out a player's shortcomings is the one who is truly beneficial to them, not the coach who acts like a servant.

However, if Collins really thought he could point out Jordan's deficiencies, Wyche believed he would soon lose his job.

Just like what happened to Yu Fei, who had showed Jordan in D.C. "you are no longer the omnipotent god you once were" and was traded as soon as his rookie season ended.

Jordan was going to play, and Collins could not stop him.

This time, Jordan would not avoid a direct confrontation with Yu Fei.

As expected, Yu Fei chose to continue playing in the second quarter.

To the surprise of the Bucks, Jordan was also on the court.

According to the way Collins had been using Jordan this season, he wouldn't play at the start of the second quarter.

Putting Jordan out now could only mean one thing, both sides wanted to have a head-on collision.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball and saw Jordan standing at the top of the arc.

Based on the positioning, Yu Fei knew the Wizards were going to have Jordan guard him.

"So you finally stopped running away," Yu Fei taunted as he dribbled, "My respect for you has increased by 0.1%."

"Running away?"

In Jordan's world, opponents always avoided matching up with him; he never ran away.

The first-quarter avoidance was a tactical choice, he was no longer young, and couldn't possibly guard Yu Fei the entire game. Now, after one quarter of warming up, even though his strength had declined, his body was in optimal condition.

Angered by Yu Fei's trash talk, Jordan advanced fiercely, wanting to shock the sophomore who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut with a dark-age defensive onslaught.

Instead, Yu Fei forcefully dribbled the ball, and with a simple but extremely fast between-the-legs crossover, he shook off his defender and burst inside the three-point line, caught the ball at the free-throw line, leaped, and with a fire-blazing motion, slammed the ball over the head of Tim Thomas.

Yu Fei ran past Jordan, his face full of provocation.