Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Quentin Richardson's stay or departure did not affect the grand scheme of the Bucks' championship pursuit.

It could be said that Big Q was not a key figure. However, whether Big Q's contract was appropriate or not could reflect the team's attitude toward spending money.

Because in the coming years, if the team wanted to maintain competitiveness, they would need to spend more money.

Yu Fei did not comment on this matter and only called to congratulate Big Q on securing a sizable contract.

Then, the Bucks went silent in the free agency market.

The Lakers' decision to trade Shaquille O'Neal still dominated the trade market headlines.

But even if they wanted to trade, the Lakers needed to get a sufficient return.

Therefore, the trade process was long and agonizing for Kobe, who wanted to see O'Neal's locker explode right away.

As the team did not finalize the trade, Kobe naturally felt that things were not a foregone conclusion, so he continued to meet with teams that had cap space.

First came the Suns, then the Nuggets.

Every time Kobe finished meeting with a team, rumors would surface about him getting along splendidly with the other party.

This made the Lakers' executives feel like they could lose Kobe at any moment. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

The trade of O'Neal was expedited significantly.

The Lakers had an unwavering criterion when making trades: they would not send O'Neal to a strong Western team.

The Dallas Mavericks were initially the most eager pursuers of O'Neal.

Aside from Nowitzki, the Mavericks were willing to give up anyone.

And on the Lakers' side, aside from Nowitzki, they were not interested in anyone else.

Naturally, this trade fell through, but the longer the trade dragged on, the more ordinary the offers the Lakers received became.

Pat Riley, who had been waiting for an opportunity, made his move when the Lakers were caught in a dilemma.

Just like in history, the Miami Heat acquired O'Neal just by including Odom and three other players plus a future first-round draft pick.

After O'Neal was traded, Kobe immediately announced his renewal with the Lakers. The saga of the two superstars came to an end, and other big-name free agents also found their new homes.

The situation was basically the same as Yu Fei's previous life, with Nash leaving Dallas to start a new chapter of his career in Phoenix, Kenyon Martin not wanting to stay in Philadelphia to watch Iverson soloing limitlessly, he wanted to go to a younger and more promising team, which turned out to be the Denver Nuggets with a bright future in sight. As expected, Rasheed Wallace renewed with the Detroit Pistons.

The biggest trade after the opening of the free agency market occurred between the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards.

The Mavericks sent multiple players including Antawn Jamison to Washington in exchange for multiple players led by Jerry Stackhouse.

In Yu Fei's previous life, this trade also included the rights to Devin Harris, but now, the timeline had changed.

The Wizards player who replaced Harris and went to Dallas was named Kwame Brown.

Kwame had only spent one happy season with the Wizards, after which he was let go.

He was already regarded as the biggest bust since Michael Olowokandi.

But if one didn't consider him as a first overall pick, he was actually a decent blue-collar inside player.

While many teams were active, the Bucks were one of the few doing little.

After the start of the signing period, apart from letting go of Big Q and signing Brent Barry, there were only some inconspicuous signings.

By July 20th, the signing market had quieted down.

Teams that needed to reinforce their rosters had mostly done so, and now it was time for experts to assign offseason grades to each team's moves.

The would-be dynasty Bucks team was gloriously rated as a C.

Reason: On draft day, they inexplicably traded away Dan Gadzuric, a center who had won two championships with the team, and squandered the draft pick acquired on a frail scorer from a weaker league. While signing Brent Barry was a bright spot, letting Quentin Richardson walk was a big blunder.

Overall, the experts believed that the Bucks were inevitably heading towards the decline phase of a would-be dynasty team.

They no longer had the dominance of their first championship nor the desire for their second. The team's roster was aging, the salary cap was locked down, and coupled with the draft mess, decline seemed inevitable.

Miami Heat received an A grade, because they managed to trade 5 US dollars for 10.

Yu Fei was not interested in the experts' ratings.

This summer, his documentary was going to be released, and Reebok noticed his astonishing popularity in Asia, so they continued to arrange his Asia tour to consolidate his base.

This time, Yu Fei's Asia tour covered China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.

While Yu Fei embarked on an exquisite journey, Larry Brown's Dream Team was under scrutiny.

The leading figure of this Dream Team was Allen Iverson.

It is well known that Iverson was fond of being late. Even though he joined Team USA with the slogan, "The new Iverson stands before you," to change public perception, in just a week's time, he was suspended from an exhibition game along with James and Stoudemire for tardiness by Brown.

James's tardiness was somewhat excusable, as something terrible had happened back in his hometown.

For Iverson, the vice-captain, his tardiness was less acceptable to the outside world.

When playing in the league, your occasional lateness might only annoy the 76ers' fans. Now, you're wearing the Star-Spangled Banner and still late? It's simply a disgrace to the United States.

This made the young "Little Emperor" James feel it was his responsibility and duty to help the team uphold the glory of the Dream Team.

Yes, he saw himself as the right-hand man to Iverson and Duncan.

The "Boozer legend" still troubled him; he didn't know what his future held with the Cavaliers, but his journey with the Dream Team held surprises beyond the bitterness.

James realized he wasn't just the only newcomer; there were also Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.

Three NBA rookies making the Dream Team indicated just how many players who rightfully should have joined the team chose not to come.

As standout young players, James, Anthony, and Wade faced ostracism from the veterans, calling themselves the "new guns," but soon enough, conflicts arose like nightmares—Stephon Marbury from the New York Knicks thought James and Anthony's constant "hello, I'm the king..." attitude was a bit too arrogant.

This could be called narcissism in James's case, but Marbury's dislike for Anthony was genuine.

In New York, Anthony was more popular than Marbury.

The New York Times once conducted a poll asking fans to decide: If we could trade Stephon for Carmelo Anthony, what would you say?

The vote in favor of the trade was overwhelmingly positive.

This deeply wounded Marbury, and by association, he resented Anthony.

Larry Brown also felt he had lost control over the team, which was disorganized; of the 12 players that dominated the Americas Cup under his guidance the previous year, 9 were absent from competition.

Such a turnover in personnel was essentially no different from a team swap.

They needed to rebuild chemistry, establish starters, and redo work that had already been done. Under these circumstances, Brown, who already distrusted young players, was unlikely to give the '03 trio a chance.

Furthermore, the audience in Athens harbored great hostility towards the Americans; whenever the Dream Team fell behind, the noise from the stands felt as intense as the devilish home courts in the NBA.

In their first Olympic game, James played less than 20 minutes, with three shots, scoring 5 points, as Puerto Rico triumphed over the Dream Team by 19 points.

Larry Brown fiercely criticized the team, saying this and that were not working, especially the young players—one worse than the next. He would not trust them again.

That night, James, in his hotel room, remembered Yu Fei's resistance to joining the national team.

Yu Fei never explained why, as if he had foreseen this day coming.

From then on, James, like Anthony and Wade, was mostly sitting on the bench.

Brown had decided to rely entirely on experienced veterans like Marbury, as if the loss to Puerto Rico was the fault of the youngsters.

Afterward, the Dream Team lost to Lithuania but won the other three group matches, ensuring progression to the knockout stages; however, they were eventually defeated by Argentina before the finals.

The invincible myth of the Dream Team at the Olympics since 1992 had been shattered.

After the game, on the bus ride back to the hotel, the rift between the old and new generations deepened.

It was Marbury again; he shouted at James, who had played only 3 minutes that night, "You ain't shit; you didn't bring us any help!"

"What did you say?"

"You want that fucking close brotherhood?" Marbury cursed, "Fuck brotherhood! You'll never be the best! You're not even Frye! You're nothing compared to even a hair of his!"

James's emotions hadn't fluctuated much when Marbury was insulting him, but when he mentioned that taboo name—Larry Brown had forbidden discussion of Frye—James felt an unbearable sting that compelled him to retaliate.

He and Marbury started cursing at each other on the bus.

The fallout from the Dream Team's failure was met with national criticism and mockery.

Bill Simmons wrote in his column, "This team was destined to fail. We essentially did not learn from the failures of the World Championship and ignored, once again, the three elements necessary for success in international play—a point guard who can create for others, at least two or three shooting guards, and athletic big men who can play the post and pick-and-roll. When you don't respect the elements of winning, failure is inevitable, as always!"

For a long time, this was the most Yu Fei agreed with someone else's words.

As the Dream Team met their defeat in Athens, he was in Korea, enjoying the fiery hospitality of the passionate eonnis.

"Why is it that even Bill Simmons knows what Larry Brown and Colangelo don't?" Yu Fei said sarcastically, "I could never understand what they're thinking."

Lawson was enjoying a massage with Yu Fei, expressing endless contempt for Brown, "That stubborn old man has always been a fraud without any real talent; Big Fei, you were right not to join the Dream Team!"

"Of course, when have I ever missed the mark?" Yu Fei said with self-satisfaction.

"Exactly, Reebok thinks we should adjust the wording of your refusal to join the national team," Lawson said, "They think you could, like others, cite problems in the Middle East as a reason not to participate."

Yu Fei hummed comfortably, giving an approving glance to the eonni massaging his back, and then replied, "I don't want to touch politics, and I think that reason is not good. Why can't we be straightforward? I'd rather lie here and enjoy a massage than go play fucking basketball for the Dream Team in Athens! It's as simple as that."

At that moment, the eonni on Yu Fei's back left a kiss on his neck and said, "Oppa, I think what you said is just perfect!"