Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 880 880 541 Basketball Issues

?Chapter 880: 541 Basketball Issues Chapter 880: 541 Basketball Issues The offseason has always been a battleground between stars and management.

Choices for starting players like Nene and David West are often limited.

They command high salaries, but teams primarily pursue stars, and once a star is signed, there usually isn’t much salary space left for a starting player.

Thus, unless these starting level players have a clear destination from the start, most of them end up re-signing with their original teams.

Nene chose to renew with his old club, while West moved to Indiana.

Other starters, such as former Houston Rockets player Carl Landry, former Bulls player Marcus Thornton, and scoring sensation from the bench Jamal Crawford, all made their own decisions.

These were the last few significant items on the free market, but due to the level of talent, they did not cause much of a stir.

The SuperSonics, Yu Fei’s team, maintained a steady operational stance.

When the lockout ended, outsiders believed that Clay Bennett might dismantle the team to reduce payroll. However, Bennett said in an interview that he would pay a hefty luxury tax to achieve four consecutive championships.

“The Chicago Bulls didn’t accomplish this, the Lakers Team didn’t accomplish this,” Bennett stated, “If the SuperSonics accomplish it, we will become the greatest team in history.”

At that moment, inevitably, someone like Bill Simmons, a Celtics fan, reminded him that the Celtics had already achieved eight straight championships half a century ago.

However, generations have passed since then.

Basketball fans living in 2011 don’t care about how the Celtics achieved eight straight championships back in 1966.

What do people care about? People care more about the personal lives of contemporary GOATs than basketball.

Since the lockout began, Yu Fei has tried to keep a low profile, but his career in Hollywood is flourishing, and the paparazzi are ubiquitous.

As long as he makes a public appearance, there is no privacy.

As a recognized current best in action, Yu Fei is a living deity, unlike those who encountered major scandals, suffered severe reputational damage, had blemished comebacks like Jordan, or were eventually surpassed by “stain itself” failures.

He is the ultimate deity of the sports world.

Among active athletes across all sports, only Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps in their respective fields can rival his dominance.

But swimming is always a major event sport, with public interest peaking only during world competitions.

And Bolt is not an American.

Thus, even if there are athletes in the world whose capability matches Yu Fei, they cannot compare with him in terms of media promotion and visibility.

Yu Fei has dominated his sport, ruled media narratives, and utilized social media’s tailwind to exponentially increase his personal influence.

Now, some people are trying by all means to bring him down.

But upon searching, they find that apart from his relationships, Yu Fei can be said to be flawless in other respects.

Even in relationships, he has never been known to “betray” anyone.

Hence, the tabloids start to fabricate rumors of a love triangle between Yu Fei, Elizabeth Olsen, and Scarlett.

Especially since Scarlett announced her divorce last year, Yu Fei has become the person in the gossip media accused of ruining other people’s marriages.

This makes Yu Fei eager to return to basketball.

He is somewhat fed up with the life of a big Hollywood star.

In late September, Yu Fei returned to Seattle.

He showed up a few days before the Supersonic’s training camp opened.

He missed the Furtado Center, as it had been over a year since he last visited.

Being away from the court for over a year, although maintaining training, meant no formal competitions.

This can have a significant impact on a player’s form, so Yu Fei wanted to start training as soon as possible.

The staff on site, seeing him, said they loved his new movie.

Yu Fei just smiled, not wanting to discuss the movie as he had talked enough about it.

Apart from Yu Fei, a few others also reported early. They were mostly those who were most anxious about their future, such as Anthony Morrow, DeAndre Jordan, Patrick Beverley, and Alonzo Gee.

They each had their own reasons for diligence. Moro and DeAndre Jordan’s reasons were straightforward; they were rookies in 2008, and the upcoming season would be their fourth, as well as the final year of their rookie contracts. In other words, it was their contract year.

As players who had grown up in a dynasty team and proven their ability to play on a championship-caliber team, they were almost certain to receive sizable contracts.

But their future might not be in Seattle.

The reason was obvious, the League had introduced a super luxury tax policy to combat monopolies, making every team more careful in allocating salary space.

Next season, the SuperSonics would have four max salaries.

Bennett said he could withstand the hefty bills that came with the super luxury tax for the sake of a fourth championship.

But how long can this endurance last?

One piece of good news for this nouveau riche, the SuperSonics can ease up slightly after next season ends.

At that time, Chris Bosh’s three-year contract will expire.

Then, the SuperSonics will return to having three max salaries.

Given DeAndre Jordan’s defensive prowess and rebounding capabilities displayed in the Western finals before the lockout, even if his style of play is outdated, he still would likely gain recognition for his super blue-collar value in the market. That means he may very well receive a max contract. But would Bennett accept it? He might be willing now, but once he truly starts paying huge sums in luxury tax, his thinning pockets might speak for themselves.