noveldrama
Chapter 859 859 534 Yu Feis Team_3
Chapter 859 859 534 Yu Feis Team_3
?Chapter 859: Chapter 534 Yu Fei’s Team_3 Chapter 859: Chapter 534 Yu Fei’s Team_3 Afterward, Fisher invited Yu Fei to attend the next negotiation.
But Yu Fei refused again.
And he had legitimate reasons.
“I’ve accepted an invitation from the Chinese Basketball Association to play games in China; I might not be able to help much recently,” Yu Fei said with a smile, “But you guys are doing so well, I have nothing to worry about. Rest assured, I stand with you, even if I am not there in person, my heart is with you all.”
Fisher was very moved.
“Thank you, Frye, your support is crucial to us,” he said.
Then, another incident that showed no progress occurred.
League Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver refuted the rumors of internal discord among the owners.
“From the start, we weren’t fooled by the label of a hard salary cap,” said Adam Silver. “We’ve said from day one that we need a system where all 30 teams can compete for championships and make profits. On this principle, our owners have absolute consensus. Therefore, despite discussing different concepts to achieve this outcome over the past few hours or even weeks, there is absolute agreement among us, and rumors of discord among the owners are utterly unfounded!”
August 20
On the morning at nine o’clock, the same day Yu Fei’s Team boarded the plane to China, the NBA officially announced an indefinite postponement of training camps and the cancellation of 43 preseason games.
Stern stated, “If a new labor agreement can’t be reached as soon as possible, the regular season will also be affected.”
The players’ union made no comment.
It was revealed that Fisher was furious, believing the players had already sacrificed a lot for the bigger picture, but the greediness of the owners was beyond imagination.
Yu Fei received this news as he disembarked the plane.
He could only say that he was glad he got out before things turned out this way.
Numerous historical lessons have proven that you cannot kill your adversary with kindness; any compromise or concession will be seen by the other side as an excuse to ask for more.
What is the correct attitude to deal with such a dispute?
If the other party is determined to make deep cuts even if it means canceling the next season, then you need to be prepared to let the NBA collapse rather than compromise your own interests.
All the situations were as expected, Yu Fei decided not to inquire further.
He could offer verbal support, but if they wanted him to lead the charge, then they could forget about it.
NBA players basically knew that Yu Fei was very popular in China, but unless you experienced it firsthand, you wouldn’t understand just how intense that popularity was.
Yu Fei’s Team was surrounded by a massive crowd outside the airport.
They wore Yu Fei’s jerseys, carried his posters, and chanted his name with a fervor beyond imagination, giving Yu Fei’s Team’s players a sense of what this meant.
“Is it because of skin color?” Roy asked curiously.
Yu Fei laughed and said, “Is there any chance it’s because I really did a lot of things that Chinese fans like?”
The security guards maintained order at the scene with heightened tension.
Yu Fei signed autographs one step at a time, his smile as trademark as ever, giving a friendly impression.
Roy realized that he also had quite a few fans.
However, apart from being his fans, they were also fans of Yu Fei. Hence, it was safe to say that their love for his teammate had spilled over to him.
Due to autographs and interviews, Yu Fei and his group were delayed at the scene for almost half an hour.
Afterward, they headed to the hotel arranged by the Basketball Association in a shuttle arranged for them.
In the evening, Yu Fei had dinner with Yao Ming.
Yao Ming was in good shape nowadays.
Not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.
This year marks his first return to the national team since the 2008 Olympics, and the two-year window period provided him with an opportunity to transform. He had ample time to lose weight and refine his perimeter shooting. Nowadays, Yao Ming looks like a richer version of Brook Lopez, with a sharpshooter’s three-point shooting percentage, a shooter’s level of output, the league’s top rim protection efficiency, and boxing-out efficiency, averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game this season.
His current weight is only 5KG heavier than when he was a rookie, making him look much leaner, but he is still a behemoth on the court.
Yu Fei could fully imagine what a horror Yao Ming would be as an offensive weapon in FIBA games in this condition.
The mental and spiritual health stems from his settling of scores with those who had once caused him trouble on his road to the NBA.
Today, Yao Ming has another identity, that of owner of the Shanghai Sharks.
The club’s ownership changed a few months ago, and the first thing Yao Ming did after taking over was to purge all the old-timers, including his mentor Li Qiu.
This is the gentleman’s revenge, ten years is not too late; Yao Ming now has no regrets. One benefit of the NBA lockout is that it allows him to focus entirely on preparing for the World Championships.
“You bring a bunch of scrubs to play the warm-up game, are you looking down on us?” Yao Ming said with a smug face, “You’d better play seriously when the time comes.”
Yu Fei laughed: “Is it necessary? Our bunch of NBA players, playing against you all is still no problem.”
“An NBA coalition that hasn’t gelled is just a rabble. You know that, don’t you?”
“A rabble?” Yu Fei retorted, “The group leading the labor negotiations is the real rabble.”
International players generally don’t care much about labor disputes unless they are star players like Yao Ming who can command a max salary.
If the league hadn’t locked out, Yao Ming would have been the star of the free agency market.
His contract with the Houston Rockets was expiring this summer, and as a super center with shot-blocking, low-post offensive skills, and three-point shooting, he should have been hotly pursued by all teams.
“Do you have any news?” Yao Ming asked, “How long will this go on?”
Although Yu Fei knew that the players’ camp would eventually compromise, the owners were currently too arrogant, so the labor side would definitely hold out for a while.
“I estimate it’ll drag on until next year,” Yu Fei said.
“That long?” Yao Ming asked in surprise, “Doesn’t that mean the next season will be canceled?”
“Not necessarily,” Yu Fei said, “but certainly a few dozen regular-season games will be canceled.”
Hearing this from Yu Fei, Yao Ming got the picture.
All of a sudden, his square face broke into a particularly sleazy smile, just like his meme-worthy smile that had already gone viral on the Chinese internet.
“What’s that look for?”
“I just realized I don’t have much to worry about. If it really comes down to it, I can go back and play in the CBA,” Yao Ming envisioned the scene, “the owner himself playing on the court, think about it, how wonderful is that?”
Indeed, “the coach warming up” is explosive, but “the owner warming up” is even more so.
Yu Fei could imagine how funny that scene would be.
Moreover, Yao Ming at his peak evolution in the NBA, if he parachuted into the CBA, it would undoubtedly be cruel for the other teams in the league.
Then, Yao Ming actually set his sights on Yu Fei: “If you have too much free time, you can also come and play in the CBA, the Shanghai Sharks welcome you.”
If Yu Fei had been earlier in his career, he might not have minded considering playing in the CBA. After all, with the NBA in a lockout, what difference did it make where he played? But now it was not possible.
His status in the world of sports was established, and setting aside nationalistic bias, the CBA was only a third-tier basketball league in the world. Apart from the salary, which could compare with Europe’s mainstream leagues, the competitive level was really far behind.
Yu Fei, even if he didn’t play for a year, could not degrade himself to play in the CBA.
So, he declined Yao Ming’s offer in a way that left Yao Ming cursing: “Forget it, even if you sold the team, you couldn’t afford to sign me.”
“Damn, !?#!?”