Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Then, in the final seconds, Yu Fei dribbled the ball, started, made a sudden stop, pulled the ball back between his legs, and stepped back for a jump shot.

As the red light lit up, Yu Fei, with his hot hand, scored even without shaking off Jordan's defense.

"Swish!" Your next read awaits at empire

42 to 61, the first half ended.

ABC displayed Yu Fei's halftime stats: 22 shots, 17 made, amassing 40 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals.

Of course, they also "thoughtfully" showed Jordan's stats for comparison: 18 shots, 5 made, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists.

The crowd cheered for Yu Fei.

This sound was stronger than at the beginning of the game.

The disappointing performance of the Wizards contrasted with Yu Fei's dominant display, causing a good number of the fans in attendance to switch allegiances.

They increasingly wondered why the team traded Yu Fei.

This is the man who led the team into the playoffs despite Jordan and Hamilton both being injured, proving his strength and potential. Why trade him away?

The support for Yu Fei came with dissatisfaction for Jordan as well as the management, suddenly turning the Wizards' home court into an away game for the MCI Center fans.

As Yu Fei walked down the tunnel, they chanted MVP.

This scene naturally fell into the eyes of Wizards owner Abe Pollin.

He suddenly realized that Yu Fei not only continued to improve in his second season but had also accumulated significant popularity in D.C. during his rookie year, especially when Jordan's Wizards deeply disappointed the fans. The fans were increasingly aware of Yu Fei's value.

Then, the Wizards actually traded away someone who could have rewritten Wizards' history?

Pollin had traded Yu Fei for the short-term financial benefits Jordan could bring, and now he was enraged at losing the long-term economic benefits he could have extracted from Yu Fei.

What have I done?

No... it wasn't me, I wasn't the one who traded him!

Pollin's eyes, bloodshot, were filled with terrifying anger.

Susan O'Malley, vice president of the Wizards, had seen such a Pollin before—when the Wizards players were involved in scandals, when the Wizards suffered serious financial losses, when the cats and dogs around Jordan spewed nonsense about him, their tolerant owner, to the media, that's when a demonic Pollin would appear.

But at this moment, Pollin was angrier than any demonic version O'Malley had ever seen.

O'Malley wanted to say she had foreseen what would unfold tonight, but she wouldn't. Pollin knew what he had missed, but he still had to spend the last of his time with Jordan. Just that, before that, he needed to undergo a process of psychological construction for self-comfort.

During the second half of the game, Jerry Starkhouse did not return.

The Wizards had to shoulder the loss, letting Jordan and Cassell lead a team that had completely lost its fighting spirit.

Yu Fei noted that the Wizards continued to let Jordan match up against him.

It seemed to be Jordan's idea.

If he didn't match up against Yu Fei anymore, it would mean admitting defeat.

Jordan couldn't accept that, even though he was already being completely outplayed on the court.

This kind of personality might have helped him succeed in the past, but placing him in the present, it only made things worse.

Because Yu Fei wasn't one to hold back.

You present one cheek, he would keep it, and then backhand the other cheek.

During the Bucks' first offensive possession of the second half, Yu Fei drove the ball, leaving Jordan behind right from the start.

Under the basket, Cassidy White, starting again, couldn't block Yu Fei's floater.

"Bang swish!"

"27 to 2," Yu Fei said.

This tough night seemed far from over.

Yu Fei's fronting defense made it tough for Jordan to receive passes, forcing Cassell to start from scratch.

Fortunately, the Alien was a seasoned point guard capable of both personal offense and organizing the play, and he assisted White for an easy basket with Jordan not involved in the tactics.

Yu Fei didn't immediately take the ball to attack.

For more than a minute, Yu Fei didn't handle the ball, merely running around and screening for his teammates.

Suddenly, he found Jordan lagging behind in defense.

The old man couldn't possibly run substantially and still keep a tight defense like him.

Yu Fei promptly moved out to the three-point line, and the ball was passed out from the inside.

Jordan's defense was late, and Yu Fei fired off a three-pointer.

"Swish!"

"30 to 2."

Yu Fei refrained from any more trash talk, with the counting acting like a mere routine.

His detached demeanor only intensified the humiliating nature of the entire process.

Jordan kept moving, using screens to receive the ball.

But what good was it to receive the ball? Yu Fei wouldn't let him score freely.

Jordan still had to face Yu Fei's defense.

To Jordan, Yu Fei had always only used three moves.

Stick tight, push hard, and disrupt.

A year of playing on the same team had given him a very good understanding of Jordan's tendencies, and he also knew that Wizards Dan would put on an incredibly ugly performance if he couldn't find his shooting rhythm on game night.

Because his team rarely played fast breaks.

Even if Nash and Curry were to join the team, they'd have to respectfully accompany the old man in playing half-court games.

Don't ask why he made such an effort, the answer was to revive the spirit of the '90s, a task he embraced without question.

Tonight, his shooting was off, or rather, he had a moment of good shooting in the second quarter, but Yu Fei disrupted it.

From then on, he never found his rhythm.

Shooting continuously and accumulating misses, Jordan's mentality deteriorated, and his offensive precision slipped away.

Such imprecision in offense leads to many errors.

For a player of Jordan's age, losing physical abilities left no margin for error. Once there were flaws, they were seized by the disrespectful youth like Yu Fei, who would take the opportunity to deliver a harsh beating.