noveldrama
Chapter 860 860 535 The Door That Opened but Was Not
Chapter 860 860 535 The Door That Opened but Was Not
?Chapter 860: Chapter 535: The Door That Opened but Was Not Fully Opened Chapter 860: Chapter 535: The Door That Opened but Was Not Fully Opened Afterward, Yu Fei and Yao Ming inevitably talked about post-lockout matters.
Yao Ming’s contract with the Houston Rockets had ended this summer, and he was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
“The lockout is a good thing,” Yao Ming said, “It gives me time to seriously consider my future.”
Yu Fei teased him, “I thought you were the type of person who’d like to finish your career with one team.”
“The 22-year-old me did think that way,” Yao Ming said, “Back then, I earned 500,000 (RMB) a year in the CBA, and 4 million (US Dollars) a year in the United States. Of course, I hoped to stay here until I retired. After all, the NBA has high standards, and I’d make the same money anywhere.”
Since Yu Fei had almost witnessed the entire process of Yao Ming’s NBA journey before and after his transmigration, he understood the younger Yao Ming very well.
Like Yao Ming said in interviews back in China, when he came to United States for training and blew Tyson Chandler out of the water, and then found out the latter would be a top five pick in the NBA, he knew he had the ability to play in the NBA.
For the following years, Yao Ming’s actions all screamed: “Let me go, I want to improve so badly!”
And his response from the Shanghai Sharks was, “Dominate the nation first, then we’ll talk.”
In the end, Yao Ming leveraged the window of opportunity when his CBA arch-nemesis Wang Zhizhi entered the NBA, leading his team to a championship, and with the ultimatum that he would retire and go to college if not allowed to go to the NBA, he finally made it. During that period, he broke free from an amateur league that was neither professional nor commercial, and arrived at the most professional and commercial top league in the world. As a foreigner, he had no sense of local attachment; as long as the pay was the same, it didn’t matter where he played.
That’s why he thought it would be a good idea to finish his career with the Rockets.
“So,” Yu Fei asked with a smile, “why does the 30-year-old Yao Ming disagree with the 22-year-old Yao Ming?”
Yao Ming answered, “Because of you.”
Yu Fei expressed that he had no intention of making Yao Ming leave the ranks of those who represent “one city, one person.”
“How is it because of me?”
“How do you think it feels to be knocked out of the playoffs in the first two rounds every year and then watch you win championship after championship?”
There’s a saying on the internet: you’re afraid your brother will suffer, yet you’re afraid he’ll drive a Land Rover. Yao Ming entered the NBA in 2002, right when Yu Fei began to dominate the 2000s.
He could say he witnessed Yu Fei go from being vilified to praised across America, and today on his journey to the GOAT in popular expectations.
Yu Fei’s overwhelming success made Yao Ming, who always counted on Yu Fei to avenge his losses every year, suddenly feel that if he couldn’t change the Rockets’ competitiveness, he might as well try to emulate Chris Bosh and find a strong team.
Hearing this, Yu Fei understood.
But he still couldn’t resist teasing, “I thought you’d be happy to see me thrash in the finals the team that thrashed you in the playoffs.”
“Once or twice is fine, but the same script every year? Who could withstand that?” Yao Ming said graphically, “Every summer, the TV back home replays ‘Return of the Pearl Princess.’ How many people do you think would go back and watch it over and over?”
Sorry, but I, as a post-egg transmigrator, find it hard to understand the sentimentality of you ’80s and ’90s kids.
In my era, “Return of the Pearl Princess” was an outdated TV series that no one watched anymore.
“You’re right, but you shouldn’t compare my continuous championships with ‘Return of the Pearl Princess,'” Yu Fei said.
“Yes, you’re right, and I guess you wouldn’t know what ‘Return of the Pearl Princess’ is,” Yao Ming said, “I think ‘Friends’ would be more appropriate. These years have been like the reruns of ‘Friends’ on NBC.”
Yu Fei laughed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Now he knew that Yao Ming planned to transfer.
However, his decision came a little late, or more precisely, his contract happened to expire this year and not the last.
If it had been last year, he could have come to Seattle.
As it stands, the Supersonics’ cap space is locked in, with Roy and Chris Bosh’s max contracts taking up most of it, and Yu Fei yet to renew. It’s foreseeable that Yu Fei will sign a super-max deal using the full “Yu Fei Clause.”
Moreover, after this lockout, the salary cap might even decrease instead of increase, making the cap situation tighter for teams, making it certain that the Supersonics won’t be able to sign Yao Ming.
But most importantly, Yu Fei doesn’t like “Friends.” He tried to watch the show after transmigrating, then gave up midway.
This was because there was an intolerable plot point where the writers, for the sake of the show, made Chandler fall in love with Joey’s girlfriend. Such a setup certainly created a lot of dramatic conflict, but from Joey’s perspective, it was like his best friend was getting together with his girlfriend.
That was unacceptable.
However, Yao Ming’s comparison was apt; “Friends'” dominance on television could be compared to what he’d done in the 2000s.
“In that case, I think you must have made up your mind,” Yu Fei said, “which team are you thinking of joining?”
“I don’t know yet,” Yao Ming replied provocatively, “but I do know one thing: if I join a team that still can’t threaten you guys even with me, then there’s no point.”
With this as a premise, Yao Ming’s options were limited.
But Yu Fei fully supported Yao Ming in doing this, getting away from the Rockets’ bloodsucking owner was a good thing for Yao Ming.
A day later, Yu Fei’s team and the China Men’s Basketball Team played a warm-up game at the Wukesong Sports Centre.
Even though the team was named after Yu Fei, “Yu Fei’s Team” sounded like a tourist group, not very formal.