Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 957 957 567 Conclusion

?Chapter 957: Chapter 567 Conclusion Chapter 957: Chapter 567 Conclusion April, Brandon Roy passed the inspection and was formally allowed to participate in training.

This was a big deal for the SuperSonics.

Under Yu Fei’s leadership, although the team still had hopes of contending for the top three spots in the League, if Roy couldn’t come back, then the five consecutive championships would be nothing more than a catchy slogan.

No matter how impressive Irving was, he was just a rookie fresh out of the gate, and playoff intensity is completely different from the regular season.

Once in the playoffs, how much ability could Irving display? Therefore, the SuperSonics needed a second star.

As a result, great expectations were placed on Roy.

However, the harsh reality quickly sobered the Seattleites up.

“The part where a Savior descends from the heavens only happens once!”

Roy’s comeback game was against the Golden State Warriors.

Roy played for 29 minutes, making 6 of 15 shots, which could be said to be in a slump.

It was obvious that Roy was hesitant in making moves, and he lacked strength in his steps, far from how he was before the injury.

This was a critical match for the third place, but for the SuperSonics, more important than taking the third spot was to get Roy back in shape.

Therefore, they spared no expense in giving him a significant amount of ball control upon his return. However, this rushed choice also cost them a tough loss.

The Warriors’ rising star, Kawhi Leonard, shone brightly tonight. He was widely regarded as the next Ron Artest, but Warriors’ head coach Mark Jackson believed Leonard’s defensive potential surpassed Artest’s, and his offensive versatility was also far greater.

The reason? Leonard had successfully improved his shooting form under the guidance of the coaching team, and as per Jackson’s request, reviewed Michael Jordan’s game footage daily. For a diligent and highly perceptive genius, as long as someone showed him the right path, he would make rapid strides.

Tonight, Leonard scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. To perform like this against the Greatest of All Time was indeed a signature performance of his career.

When asked about his feelings on his impressive performance after the game, Leonard simply said, “It’s just one game, we have bigger goals.”

Leonard’s performance plunged Yu Fei into some reflection.

How much of a star player is cultivated, and how much is “naturally born”? Or to put it another way, is there any star player who wouldn’t be able to perform well after being removed from the same nurturing environment and placed somewhere else? Did such examples exist?

Before tonight, Yu Fei had racked his brains and thought the players who might struggle to perform well in a different environment were Leonard and Giannis.

But now, it seemed like this idea was overly reliant on the Spurs’ nurturing team and Jason Kidd.

Stars become stars not only because they mostly possess exceptional talent, but also because of a very important factor: their learning ability and the capacity to utilize their strengths far exceed that of role players.

The rise of Leonard and Giannis demonstrated one of the most notable aspects of their development: their learning abilities were strong enough.

If this viewpoint holds, theoretically, these two could succeed anywhere.

Because every NBA team has theorists who can design a rigorous future blueprint for each young player. Yet, most players can only complete a small portion of the blueprint.

Only players like Leonard, who make significant improvements each year, can turn the blueprint into reality.

At the post-game press conference, a Golden State reporter asked Yu Fei for his evaluation of Leonard.

Yu Fei succinctly said, “He will definitely become a superstar.”

This was a startling prophecy.

If saying Leonard would become an All-Star wouldn’t be surprising, since he was already near that level.

But a superstar is a completely different tier.

Yu Fei’s endorsement of Leonard got the media from Indianapolis very excited.

However, if they were counting on Leonard to lead the cornfields back to the pinnacle, that was impossible.

Once Leonard became a star, he would represent not just himself but the interests of an entire team. Every decision he made would have to consider the team’s perspective, and this team by its very nature opposes the basketball team.

This, Yu Fei knew all too well.

He returned to the locker room and saw the dejected Roy.

“Are you sure you’ve recovered?” Yu Fei asked, “if not, continue to rest.”

Roy was certain he was completely healthy before making a comeback, but the decline in form due to months of absence was not something short-term recovery training could compensate for.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to rely on you then.” Roy said with a hint of playfulness, “I’m like Amar’e now.”

Well, a star player in name only.

Yu Fei fully understood what Roy meant, but still couldn’t resist teasing: “Nonsense, Amar’e couldn’t hit 6 out of 15 shots.”

Roy couldn’t refute this because his current condition was indeed rotten.

His reaction left Yu Fei feeling bored. Being a smart-mouth, much like certain activities that require a safe word to proceed smoothly, the more reactive the passive party, the more fun the active one finds.

Now that Roy seemed resigned, Yu Fei found it uninteresting and dropped the thought of teasing him further, saying earnestly, “Alright, from today on, just be invisible on the court.”

“Invisible? Do nothing?”

“Not exactly.” Yu Fei said, self-assuredly, “You can hysterically cheer me on, which might be the one thing you won’t screw up right now.”