Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 869 869 537 I Will Always Like_3

?Chapter 869: Chapter 537 I Will Always Like_3 Chapter 869: Chapter 537 I Will Always Like_3 Chris Paul then took the stage as the acting president of the players’ union.

Fisher’s downfall meant one thing: the labor and capital sides had lost the possibility of reaching a consensus in the short term.

At this point, the league had already canceled the regular games of November and December, and once the impact of the lockdown spread to the new year, even if a compromise with the labor side was reached and a temporary CBA agreement allowed the league to resume, it would still be a heavy loss for the owners.

Given this, both parties would head toward that deadly conclusion.

Moreover, led by the radical faction of Billy Hunter and with Chris Paul determined to follow a tough route, they had decided to dissolve the players’ union and officially pursue legal proceedings.

On the evening of his 28th birthday, Yu Fei received news of the dissolution of the players’ union.

He knew what the process would look like after this, and he knew that there would be no 2010-11 season.

This birthday gift was undoubtedly terrible for him.

It was like losing a peak season for no reason at all.

But the greatest loss was not suffered by Yu Fei.

As a player, he had already achieved the ultimate achievement of an NBA player in the previous season—ascending to GOAT.

For the rest of his career, all he had to do was continually consolidate this status.

For those who were bent on revenge against him, they lost a precious year.

For instance, the Lakers Team.

Kobe was already 32 years old, and if the 2010-11 season were canceled, he would be 33 when he returned to the court. James was still young, but what about their helpers?

To be precise, what about Richard Hamilton and Antawn Jamison?

Both were at the tail end of their peaks, and by then, who could predict what they’d have deteriorated into.

But the Supersonics had no such worries.

Yu Fei merely lost a season of data accumulation; after all, he had already become the highest mountain, and he had no interest whatsoever in becoming the longest river, while the Lakers lost a precious championship window.

The Supersonics of course also lost a chance at a fourpeat, but as long as the team was intact, they still had a great chance to complete a fourpeat domination even in the 2011-12 season.

After all, youth is capital.

After weighing the gains and losses, Yu Fei decided not to dwell on this matter anymore.

It just meant he could use this long break to do some things he previously had no time for, such as finishing the long-prepared film in one go, or personally hosting the inaugural training camp of the Yu Fei Scholarship in China.

Following the entrance into 2011, the struggle between labor and capital became increasingly fierce.

As the players dissolved the union and sued the league, David Stern announced on January 20 that the entire 2010-11 season was officially canceled.

After MLB and NHL, the NBA became the third major North American League to cancel a full season due to acute labor disputes.

This caused the domestic audience in the United States to shift their attention more to the NFL.

From the point of view of the fans, they equally despised the faces of both sides fighting over power and profit.

The disagreements between millionaires, multimillionaires, and billionaires bore little significance to them. They just wanted to watch the games and support their teams.

Every lockout was a severe blow to the league, resulting in a significant loss of viewers.

It usually took four to five years to recover.

In this sense, the renaissance that Yu Fei and the myth of Seattle brought to the NBA had already ended.

In fact, Yu Fei was still pondering his role in this lockout.

Initially, he was part of the players’ hardline faction, but later realized the lack of fighting spirit among the players and withdrew. Yet, now things had still developed to this point.

He could confirm that the lockout that occurred during this period in his past life did not affect the entire season.

But in this life, the team monopoly on championships, the revival and rise of the Supersonics, James’s decision, and grouping with Kobe, among several other occurrences, seemed to have produced a butterfly effect he had not anticipated.

This was the shadow under a great era, and its produced torrent washed away everyone.

When labor and capital could not settle their dispute in court, and both owners and players suffered heavy losses, by April 2011 both sides decided to renegotiate.

After the negotiations concluded, David Stern contentedly stated, “The negotiation was very productive, and we reached a consensus on shortening the maximum contract length, which is the first step from nothing.”

The president’s smile was so radiant, as if he had once again become the winner.

He might have forgotten at that moment that the path to a second golden era for the league under his management had been obstructed by this lockout.

Thus he could be so pleased about the little progress made in the negotiations.

“We reached a consensus on shortening the maximum contract length.” To put it plainly, the players agreed to reduce the longest contract duration from five years to four years.

This was the achievement after the NBA was locked out for 274 days.

Yu Fei had thought of the lockout as a rare break for him, just like Jordan’s baseball hiatus.

Jordan rested for a season and a half, while he could rest for a whole season without engaging in any other sports.

Years of matches, countless training sessions, flights lasting seven to eight months…

A long season was a stern test for both body and mind.

After becoming GOAT, Yu Fei truly needed to rest.

He thought he could wholeheartedly engage in other things, and he indeed did so.

Anything he could think of, he did.

But he found that he couldn’t derive sustained joy from other things.

Even women could not provide him passion for long.

Even if this woman was the 21-year-old female lead of his new movie, Elizabeth Olsen.

Olsen was a special woman, born into a prestigious family, a child star, but her career had not been as smooth as Scarlett’s, who also started as a child star. Nowadays, she juggled studying with acting, striving for every opportunity to appear on the big screen. As a transmigrator with foresight, Yu Fei certainly wouldn’t miss out on the “rookie period” of Olsen, whom he chose from many candidates at first glance.

As they filmed and dated, to Yu Fei’s surprise, this woman, who dared to sell her looks in movies, was quite conservative in reality. To her, nudity in films was out of work necessity, while in real life, she dreamed of a romantic and delicate love affair with a Prince Charming.

When Yu Fei finally kissed Olsen after several months of filming, he touched her outstandingly striking bosoms.

Yet afterward, all he could think was:
I still like playing games.

I always will.