Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 793 793 514

?Chapter 793: 514 Chapter 793: 514 Just as the two were about to start arguing, Yu Fei intervened, “Enough, shut up!”

Moreover, the starting lineup changes didn’t end there.

Brown wasn’t the only one removed from the starters.

Coach Lu also announced that veteran Larry Hughes would start tonight, taking Anthony Morrow’s spot.

Since joining the SuperSonics, Hughes had been used as a utility player off the bench.

Wherever there was a gap, they put him in.

Standing at 196 cm, he could shoot, dribble, advance the ball, defend, and occasionally handle the ball himself, much like a poor man’s version of Roy.

His numerous skills were no longer at their peak, but among his visibly declining talents, the best-preserved was his defense.

However, due to his early career’s intense ball-pressure style, after the league banned hand checks, his defensive prowess significantly decreased.

But actually, the on-site enforcement of the no hand-check rule remained quite ambiguous for over a decade after its introduction.

You could see the same referee show zero tolerance in one game and then tolerate it gladly in the next, this kind of flip-flop even happening within different halves of the same game.

The first half, the ref lets you hand-check; the second half, he thinks you’re excessive, and then even contact with body hair is a foul.

Since there were indications that the refereeing standards could benefit him, Coach Lu thought continuing to emphasize offense, where the SuperSonics were far inferior to the Lakers, wasn’t a good bet.

So, as a pioneer of the small-ball era, Coach Lu slapped his thigh and decided they could play a contrarian game by leveraging these refereeing standards.

Let’s focus on defense.

As the old saying goes, defense wins championships.

Coach Lu believed it.

Since it was an afternoon game, the SuperSonics only had half their usual practice time.

After announcing tonight’s starters, he spent half an hour explaining the defense they might need and told the players in a tone that suggested “the referees are on our side” to step up the intensity against the Lakers.

Yu Fei didn’t like the idea of strategizing that “the referees are in my favor,” but since things had progressed this way, it would be truly foolish not to take advantage of the situation.

That afternoon,
Many of Seattle’s international corporations let employees go home early, and the affluent middle class not only filled the season ticket seats in Key Arena but also those usually indifferent to basketball, lured by the heat of a major battle, paid 10–15 times the price for seats with poor views just to watch the game live.

In Seattle, watching a SuperSonics game was not only fashionable but also a way to demonstrate one’s social status.

People with influence could pull connections for good seats.

Season tickets sold at a bargain during Reggie Lewis’s era now fetched thirty times their value, becoming the highest returning asset in the Seattle area.

Even Hollywood stars would try to catch a live game if their schedules allowed.

At this point, the facilities of Key Arena appeared inferior compared to those of elite arenas like Staples Center and Madison Square Garden.

They had suites, but they were nowhere near as comfortable as those famous venues.

There were front-row VIP seats, but their comfort level might not even be better than regular seats.

As a flagship team of the NBA, Key Arena was increasingly failing to match their status.

Not only professionals in the league saw it this way, but some Seattle fans who had traveled to big cities to support their team also thought Key Arena was utterly subpar.

Yet, after revealing the team’s annual profits of one hundred million US dollars, the SuperSonics’ long-planned new arena faced unprecedented opposition.

MCCAIT (More Important Civic Issues to Address) as the most influential civil rights organization in the Seattle area, had previously blocked the SuperSonics from acquiring a new arena on the grounds that the team made too little money to justify such an expensive endeavor. They even promoted legislation related to financing new arenas, requiring that sports clubs in the Seattle area must be profitable for two consecutive years before applying for municipal funding.

Two years had gone by, and the SuperSonics weren’t just making money—they were earning a fortune. So, MCCAIT changed their tune, arguing that the SuperSonics could make money at Key Arena, hence a new venue was unnecessary.

This is the ultimate fate of civil rights organizations in Western society when they get involved in social issues. They no longer think rationally or logically. They oppose the mainstream, reject all problem-solving methods, and hope to channel society’s resources towards vague and grandiose aims.

Now, the SuperSonics were the biggest topic in town.

The new arena was already on the planning board.

Clay Bennett loudly announced that he would submit a financing proposal to the city government during the finals.

MCCAIT’s protests against the SuperSonics became increasingly severe.

Recently, MCCAIT members and fervent SuperSonics fans had clashed physically.

This led MCCAIT to gather outside Key Arena on the afternoon of Game 3 of the Western Finals.

They held banners and played rock music with the lyrics, “Baby, what more do you want?”

A cartoon image of Clay Bennett sitting atop a mountain of gold was featured on the banners, with the headline: “Aren’t a hundred million dollars a year enough, Clay?”

The leader of MCCAIT publicly addressed Yu Fei in an interview, “Frye, the SuperSonics don’t need a new arena. What you need is Seattle’s support, which we have already given. Let citizens focus on more important issues!”