Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Jerry Starkhouse had become the Wizards' first option since nobody knew when.

Because when he had the ball, his certainty was higher than Jordan's.

However, Yu Fei didn't care about Starkhouse; he always went for Jordan.

Jordan's scoring against him stayed at 2 points, while the points Yu Fei scored by calling for screens and targeting Jordan continued to rise.

Not counting the first quarter, Yu Fei had already racked up 20 points in the second.

With one minute left before the end of the first half, Yu Fei easily got past Jordan's defense and soared for a layup.

Starkhouse came to help on defense, wanting to prove something: Jordan couldn't contain Yu Fei, but he could, even if it was through a help defense.

But he wasn't a defensive expert. In the post-Jordan era, the biggest difference between the manufactured Jordan successors from North Carolina and the original Jordan was this—these forced successors, offensive machines, often only knew offense and not defense.

Starkhouse's help defense not only failed to bring any disruption, but it also cost him a foul.

"Jerry! You've played professional basketball for eight years and can't even make a damn good defense?" Jordan was furious.

Starkhouse glared at Jordan with full of resentment, realizing that nothing he did could satisfy this lofty senior.

He had failed to defend properly, but why was he messing up on defense here? Wasn't it all to cover for Senior Jordan?

"How fresh, to heap criticism on someone who failed to fulfill the task of defensive help, where did you get the courage?" Yu Fei mocked, "Could it possibly be your six championships?"

Jordan said, "This has nothing to do with you."

"Indeed, but it's 23 to 2," Yu Fei said, counting the subsequent free throw.

Jordan's complexion stiffened.

He had more than just 2 points; in fact, he now had 14 points. But Yu Fei wasn't wrong. He only scored 2 points when facing Yu Fei.

Then, the free throw indeed went in.

Now, the score on the court was 40 to 59, the Bucks leading the Wizards by 19 points away from home.

Yu Fei scoring 23 points in a single quarter, 38 in the first half, inevitably reminded people of his career-high 56 points scored during the first game against the Wizards at the start of the season.

At this momentum, breaking his personal best seemed possible.

"Jerry, how many times have I told you, your job is to help Michael, what are you doing?"

Collins failed to notice the change in Starkhouse's emotions.

Starkhouse, who should have passed the ball to Jordan, suddenly burst inside in that moment.
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Because it was so sudden, Devean George, who was on as a substitute, could not stop him.

As a result, just as Starkhouse burst into the paint, Anthony Mason, like a bully, forcefully stopped him in mid-air.

In the moment of physical contact, Mason's foot viciously hit the inside of Starkhouse's thigh while taking off.

Starkhouse screamed out loud.

Mason was called for a foul, but Starkhouse was lying on the ground howling. For basketball players, apart from tears or fractures of the knee cartilage, no injury is more troublesome than a groin issue.

A tough athlete can continue playing with a hamstring injury, but a groin injury causes intense pain near the abdomen, inner thigh, and genitals*, a terrible feeling enough to drain 99% of people's vitality.

With less than 20 seconds left in the first half, Karl took Yu Fei out for a rest.

Collins, seeing Starkhouse in pain heading to the bench, not only lacked concern for his injury but also expressed dissatisfaction with his offensive choice: "Jerry, what are you doing? Our strategy is..."

"Go to hell!" Starkhouse lost control, cursing Collins like a thug.

In that moment, he became unreasonable, leaving Collins dumbfounded.

People saw the Starkhouse from legends who had never revealed his true face—since entering the NBA in 1995, Starkhouse had been in fights with two teammates, one of whom was currently on the Bucks' bench.

Christian Laettner was not surprised at all: "That's just the kind of person he is."

Under extreme pain, Starkhouse felt he had made an effort for the team, but Jordan was not satisfied, Collins showed neither empathy nor sympathy, igniting his rage to extreme levels.

Teammates wanted to calm Starkhouse down, but the situation had spiraled out of control. He was howling, an overwhelmed Collins muttered helplessly, saying all he wanted was to help the team improve.

Just as everyone feared Starkhouse would take more drastic actions (attacking people around him or the coaching staff), he turned and walked towards the players' tunnel.

An utterly grating chorus of boos rang out in the MCI Center.

The angry fans seemed to say, "Is this the team I support?"

In that moment, Yu Fei changed his mind.

He stood up and said to Karl, "George, I want to play the entire second quarter."

Karl shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Starkhouse had earned two free throws for the Wizards, and naturally, Jordan, who was desperate for points, took on the responsibility for the throws.

He sank both free throws.

42 to 59

The first half was about to end, but many were still caught in the storm of Starkhouse's outburst.

Undoubtedly, that would be a PR disaster the Wizards would have to face after the game.

It was certain that the public would not get any inside story.

Yu Fei was running down the clock on the outside, with Jordan offering no words as he came up to defend.