Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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When the outside world heard Kobe's so-called "I'm not playing with that asshole ever again," the Lakers had reached a crossroads.

Now it was the owner's turn to make a stance.

At the end of every season, the Lakers would hold an internal party, which everyone in the organization was required to attend.

At the party were Kobe, Karl Malone, and Payton, as well as Fox and Fisher... and of course, Shaquille O'Neal with his wife. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

O'Neal still had the air of a leader about him, wearing a friendly smile, joking with everyone, then getting himself a drink.

He subsequently spotted owner Jerry Buss.

O'Neal originally wanted to greet Old Buss to show how much he was willing to continue playing for the Lakers. However, Old Buss turned away from the others, came up to Kobe and Vanessa to say a few words, and then left.

Although nothing happened, Old Buss's actions made it clear who he would choose to lead the team forward.

At the same time Buss was making his decision, the headline news in the rumor mill was that Kobe was on the verge of joining the cross-town Clippers.

If that had happened, it would have been as shocking as someone using a rusty knife to carve out Old Buss's heart and then hand it over to Donald Sterling for dinner.

Losing a 26-year-old superstar would be devastating for any team.

The day after, Kobe had a public meeting with Elgin Baylor, and by all accounts, they got on famously.

The Lakers began to seek Kobe's renewal at all costs.

Kobe's agent Rob Pelinka set forth two demands on behalf of his client, "Kobe no longer wanted to play for Phil Jackson, nor did he want Shaquille O'Neal on the team."

Therefore, the Lakers decided to part ways with Jackson with the term, "We've had our dreams, now let's shine on our own."

Three days after the finals ended, general manager Mitch Kupchak announced that the team would entertain all offers involving O'Neal.

It was said that O'Neal was at home eating chips when he saw the news.

The Lakers were going to trade him without even notifying him first.

The OK melodrama had finally reached its climax.

At the same time, Yu Fei had just finished recording "Two on Two" and spent some time in Los Angeles, living a two-person world with Christina.

Afterward, whether it was O'Neal's trade or the upcoming draft, Fei was compelled to return to Milwaukee.

A typical franchise player might respect the team management's professionalism regarding the draft, but having come from another time, Fei, although not very familiar with the NBA before 2015, recognized a few prospects from his accumulated knowledge over time.

On his last night in Los Angeles, Fei sought out this year's mock draft predictions, especially focusing on those players projected in the late first round and the second round.

He hoped to find a few familiar names there.

It proved that dedication always yields rewards.

Fei saw the name Kevin Martin in ESPN draft expert Andy Katz's predictions.

Fei had never watched Martin play, but he had seen many of James Harden's games.

During Harden's prime, due to his consistent high free-throw rate which polarized opinions, basketball experts would compare him with the free-throw pioneer Martin.

Thus, while Fei was not familiar with Martin, he knew Martin was a slim shooter with a precise shot and the ability to draw fouls.

Although Martin was ranked second in NCAA average points per game that year, he played for Western Carolina University, a weak school in a weak division, and his college stats were not considered valuable by NBA scouts, which is why he lingered between late first round and early second round in mock drafts.

The Bucks now appeared to be a dynasty-in-the-making, all shiny on the surface, but the signs of decline and aging were visible to the naked eye.

Fei was still young, but those around him were either aged or weakened, and Ray Allen, his supposed ally, was not exactly on the same page; moreover, this year's playoffs had exposed their lack of a robust offensive player off the bench.

Also, the Bucks' salary space was no longer as favorable as when Fei first joined.

They needed quality rookie contracts to alleviate the team's salary pressure.

Fei then went to watch Martin's college highlight reels, growing more fond of him as he watched; the kid's shooting form might look strange, but his touch was incredibly smooth—a rare sharpshooter indeed.

Beyond Martin, Fei discovered Trevor Ariza in Katz's mock draft predictions.

In his past life, Fei had watched Ariza play for the Rockets in the latter part of his career, and he remembered him as a decent 3-D player. In this life, he had heard of him early on.

Ariza had once been as famous as LeBron James in high school, but high school fame is fleeting, and LeBron's talent needed no college validation to be recognized by the NBA, whereas Ariza's stock plummeted when he entered NCAA, exposing his lack of technical finesse and tactical acumen, causing his draft prospects to drop and he was now rated only in the mid to late second round.

Fei immediately called general manager Larry Harris, specifically recommending those two players.

Especially Kevin Martin.

"No matter what you do, we must draft Kevin Martin," Fei insisted.

Little Harris verbally stated that the team would carefully consider Kevin Martin, but as soon as the call ended, he asked his assistant how they could move up their first-round pick by five spots to ensure they could draft Martin.

While Fei's actions seemed to overstep his authority, his recommendations from the previous year had played well, so his advice was taken more seriously this time around.

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Unlike last year, this year is considered an off-year for the draft, with the top two prospects both being 6-foot-9 undersized centers.

Apart from these two, the rest seem to be a mixed bag, with high-readiness talents lacking upside and high-potential players having crude skills. Choosing anyone could be a potential pitfall.

Now that Yu Fei has someone in mind, all the team needs to do is go all out to make it happen.

Even if they end up picking a dud, they would have still won the favor of the best active player.

After all, that guy is going to renegotiate with the team next year, so keeping him happy and securing the base is the utmost priority for the Bucks.

Besides that, the Bucks, along with the rest of the NBA teams, have another matter to attend to.

That is this year's expansion draft.

The Charlotte Bobcats will be officially joining the league next season, and as per custom, an expansion draft will take place before the draft commences.

The Bucks allocated their eight protected slots to Yu Fei, Ray Allen, Sprewell, Pachulia, Mutombo, Haslem, Gadzuric, and Quentin Richardson.

Due to the expiring contracts of Anthony Mason and Devean George, the Bucks only had Ratner, Horry, and (Shandon) Anderson on the unprotected list.

In the end, the Bobcats passed on the visibly aging Ratner and playoff performer Horry, instead choosing the tough-playing Shandon Anderson.

Seeing the Bobcats pick Anderson, Yu Fei could only remark that BYD Dan Zi remains the same keen judge of talent.

Although Anderson still has one year left on his contract, he has already expressed to the team his desire to retire.

By choosing him, it is as if the Bucks have suffered no loss at all.

Beyond Anderson, Anthony Mason, a veteran key to the Bucks' back-to-back championships, also decided to retire.

Actually, Mason's performance had already declined last season; combined with frequent injuries, he mostly didn't contribute to the team as much as Pachulia. It was only during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons that he suddenly performed excellently, but that was nothing more than a last hurrah.

During the finals, everyone from the Bucks side was showing off, with only Mason quietly scoring an average of 3 points and 2 rebounds with less than 40% shooting accuracy.

As for Mason himself, there were no regrets.

The last two seasons dispelled the shadow of the '95 Houston Rockets, improving his reputation, allowing him to leave the court a winner.

Thus, during the Bucks' championship celebration ceremony, Mason made it a point to thank Yu Fei.

He said, "Without Big Fei, none of this would have happened!"

Yu Fei, wearing sunglasses, brushed off the old man's praise with a smile.

He felt it was the best way to end things.

Mason curbed his desire to handle the ball, becoming a true blue-collar worker, and in the end, he realized his dream of becoming a champion and chose that moment to retire.

Yu Fei had kept his promise, and Mason was grateful for that.

It was like a perfectly rounded ending to a movie or TV show.

But the reason why such endings are universally seen as good is that the story always stops at that moment. If the story were to continue, then countless problems would begin to trouble the characters all over again.

Now, Mason has exited the stage with contentment.

But the journey of the Bucks, a dynasty in the making, is far from over.

A few days later, the draft took place as scheduled.

This year's draft differed from Yu Fei's previous life in two major ways.

One was that Ray Allen was not traded to the Supersonics, and with the team losing Payton for nothing last summer, the Supersonics entered tanking mode for a rebuild and got this year's number four pick.

The other change was that in Yu Fei's previous life, the Washington Wizards had traded their five pick, along with Ratner, Starkhouse, and others, to the Mavericks in exchange for Antawn Jamison before the draft. This trade did not happen in this life.

Instead, another trade occurred.

The San Antonio Spurs traded Tony Parker to the Wizards in exchange for their sixth pick.

Eventually, the Supersonics used the number four pick to select Josh Childress from Stanford University, while the Spurs chose Luol Deng with the sixth pick.

With front-positioned teams bustling in trades, the Bucks, aiming to please Yu Fei, also joined the fray on draft night.

The Bucks traded Dan Gadzuric, the 30th pick of the first round and the 30th pick of the second round, plus a 2005 second-round pick to the Trail Blazers, in exchange for the 23rd pick of the first round and the 16th pick of the second round.

Having obtained the draft rights, the Bucks swiftly used the 23rd pick to select Kevin Martin, but they missed out on Ariza with the 16th pick of the second round.

Ariza was chosen by the Magic with the 14th pick of the second round.

With the picks so close together, a trade was not impossible.

Bucks General Manager Little Harris immediately called the Magic management, offering the 16th pick of the second round along with one million US dollars in cash and successfully acquired the signing rights for Trevor Ariza.

And so, the Bucks quietly profited, securing the talents they needed amid the storm of draft night, and then discreetly stepping away.

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