Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 911 911 551 Dynasty Complications

?Chapter 911: Chapter 551: Dynasty Complications Chapter 911: Chapter 551: Dynasty Complications After the Christmas showdown, the SuperSonics embarked on an away game trip.

This also meant they would spend New Year’s away from home.

Having defeated the Brooklyn Nets, the surging SuperSonics hit a wall in Houston.

The Rockets, bereft of Yao Ming, were considered a lottery team before the season started, but unwilling to tank, they believed Harden was the man to inherit Yao’s mantle. They fought hard and now sat at eighth in the Western Conference, barely squeaking into the playoff picture.

Against the SuperSonics, no one thought the Rockets stood a chance.

But not long after the game started, the SuperSonics’ starting center Chris Bosh had to leave the game due to a back muscle strain.

This was likely the curse of those barely forcing themselves into a higher playing position.

A basic indicator of basketball talent is whether a player can smoothly change positions, and there’s a difference between moving up or down.

The gifted can play up in position, the technically skilled can play down.

Bosh, acting as a center having the power forward’s drive, relied on talent but was never fully prepared for the role.

With no mental preparation, physical preparation became negligible.

Therefore, the frequency of injuries increased.

Even with full preparation, the increased physical confrontations from playing up inevitably raised the risk of injuries.

Bosh’s injury was foreseeable, and what worried the SuperSonics’ coaching staff was Yu Fei, the GOAT who also played up. Could he get injured as well?

Such worries did not materialize.

Yu Fei seemed effortlessly superior no matter whom he faced.

However, Bosh’s injury did bring some misfortune to the SuperSonics.

They had a rough night, unable to sink threes or complete layups, relying solely on their stars for one mid-range solo play after another.

Meanwhile, the Rockets had Harden creating endless opportunities with pick and rolls, a simple and direct approach, and somehow their outside shooting was on fire. They also had a talent like Omer Asik—after setting a screen at the three-point line, he could snag an offensive rebound, then hustle from the top of the key back to the paint for a block. Every second on the court he was making an impact.

Despite having average physical abilities, general skills, and a rough shooting touch, setting these aside, his style fit the current Rockets perfectly.

Houston did everything right, while Seattle ended its winning streak amid a slump.

It was certainly a strange game.

Yu Fei made 12 out of 22 shots, scoring 36 points with 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Durant put up 26 points from 9 out of 20, and Roy scored 22 from 8 out of 18. The Big Three totaled an impressive 88 points, and although the stars performed, no other SuperSonics player scored in double digits.

As a result, social media started joking that Bosh was the real star.

On the Chinese intranet, memes of Coach Lu, Yu Fei, Roy, Durant, and Bosh proliferated, with a new version of a popular formula meme appearing after every game. The content was roughly as follows: Coach Lu discusses the game’s ups and downs, Yu Fei showboats, Roy echoes, Durant is distracted, followed by Bosh talking smack, only to be thrown out the window.

After this game, Bosh’s title as the “real star” became even louder.

But for Bosh himself, this injury was poorly timed.

He needed a week off due to the muscle strain.

This was a critical time for him.

This year was his contract year. Although he was eager to become a free agent next summer, he also hoped the SuperSonics would offer him a respectable max contract extension in recognition of his performance over the past three years.

His thought was this, whether I sign is my business, but you must make the offer.

Bosh believed he had sacrificed a lot for Yu Fei’s empire and that he deserved it.

At this juncture, SuperSonics executives like Sam Presti were in a tough spot.

Was giving Bosh a max contract even a question?

If they let Bosh go after the season, there was no way they could find a suitable replacement in the free agent market.

The issue was, the SuperSonics already had three max contracts on the team.

Carrying four max contracts this season in a quest for a four-peat was the limit of what Clay Bennett was willing to endure, especially with the league’s new revenue-sharing system, which all but guaranteed the team would see little profit this season.

How could Bennett, used to counting cash on financial statements, tolerate this?

So, maintaining a healthy salary cap space became Presti’s main job.

Maintaining cap health with three max contracts meant not holding onto any more significant contracts.

Therefore, the management was conflicted about Bosh’s extension.

They knew Bosh’s heart was no longer in Seattle. Making him an offer would certainly be rejected, but what if he accepted?

Moreover, it wasn’t just Bosh, DeAndre Jordan and Anthony Morrow, both in their contract years as well, were seeking extensions.

These impressive rookies, once considered achievements of Presti’s work, now hung over their heads like a sword of Damocles.

After consulting, Presti offered DeAndre Jordan a 4-year, 50 million US Dollar contract, and then proposed a 2-year, 10 million US Dollar contract to Morrow.

Seeing two rookies get their extension offers before him, Bosh truly felt what disrespect was.

December 31, 2011
Today was Yu Fei’s 29th birthday, and he proposed to Elizabeth Olsen at his birthday party.

Yet, his biggest surprise came from outside the celebration.