Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 958 958 567 The End_2

?Chapter 958: Chapter 567: The End_2 Chapter 958: Chapter 567: The End_2 Roy was the only one in the SuperSonics who could make fun of Yu Fei so freely.

In the entire League, only one or two players enjoyed such special treatment.

The reason was simple, their relationship was close enough that teasing did not damage their friendship.

As for others, if they were not hostile, they were friends, but lacked the strength compared to Roy to reach such an understanding. With these people, Yu Fei always maintained a certain distance, appearing somewhat aloof.

Kwame Brown’s relationship with Yu Fei was strong, but the direct consequence of clinging to a friend’s coattails for years was the loss of independent self-respect and dignity in front of the other person.

No matter what Yu Fei wished him to do, Brown would not respond with irony like Roy; at most, he would just make a joke at Yu Fei’s expense.

Roy was happy to have someone out in front when he was not up to the task.

Yet, his current condition also meant that the SuperSonics’ chances of defending their title had dropped to their lowest.

By mid-April, the regular season came to an end.

The SuperSonics finished second in the Western Conference with a record of 58 wins and 24 losses, smoothly advancing to the playoffs.

In this challenging season, Yu Fei again played in every game, averaging 36 minutes, contributing 33 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, emerging as the season’s scoring champion and almost securing a spot on the first team. However, aside from making the first team, he probably wouldn’t receive any other honors. Wade’s back-to-back MVP calls were very high, and aside from MVP, the only thing left was the championship, but given the current state of the SuperSonics, no one but themselves believed they could defend their title.

The Spurs were the only team ahead of them.

In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat led the entire League with a 70-12 record, followed by the Brooklyn Nets with 62-20, the Bucks ranked third with 55-27, then came the Knight with 52 victories and the Knicks with 50.

Since the new century, the League had appeared to be “strong West, weak East.” The Eastern Conference usually only had a few teams contending for the finals, but now, with the emergence of four or five top teams, this was a rare scenario. In contrast, the Western situation was more volatile.

Following the SuperSonics, only the Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors won more than 50 games, with other teams failing to reach 50 victories.

The second-ranked SuperSonics in the West would face the seventh-ranked Lakers in the first round.

It was indeed a narrow path for adversaries.

The dismantled Lakers relied on Kobe and Pau Gasol to support the inside and outside lines, barely managing a record of 45 wins and 37 losses. This was enough to secure a playoff spot but talking about contending for the championship was mere lip service for the Lakers.

However, to some comfort for Lakers fans, that once-stopping SuperSonics dynasty seemed to be ending this year.

As Durant was traded away, Chris Bosh and DeAndre Jordan left, and with Roy’s injury recovery, the SuperSonics had lost their competitive edge for the championship.

As long as they could witness the SuperSonics fail in the end, this prospect alone was enough to make the Los Angeles People rejoice.

Whether it was the Lakers Team that defeated the SuperSonics didn’t matter, what mattered was the era of the SuperSonics appeared to be coming to an end.

Yu Fei, however, was delighted to encounter the Lakers in the first round. Four years ago, in his first playoff appearance representing the SuperSonics, he eliminated the Lakers, and in subsequent seasons, they often clashed, with him always emerging as the winner.

If this really was his last season in Seattle, then starting the playoffs against the Lakers would be a fitting end.

In the first game of the first round, Kobe returned to Key Arena once again.

He hated it here.

Perhaps what he truly despised was the owner of this arena.

The Greatest of All Time had arrived.

“How many more seasons do you need to break Jabbar’s scoring record?” Yu Fei laughed and asked.

By the end of this season, Kobe’s total score was 29,484 points. Because the “transmigrator” butterfly had flapped its wings, Kobe did not, as in the original timeline, tear his Achilles tendon in an effort to lead the Lakers to the playoffs. Although the Lakers were no longer contenders, he did not need to exhaust himself, so he remained healthy. This season, he averaged 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, with no apparent signs of decline.

At an average of 25 points per game, Kobe needed only another four and a half seasons to break Jabbar’s scoring record.

With the Lakers lacking big ambitions, perhaps for the next few years, their theme would be to let Kobe go all out in scoring, reaching the playoffs only to make a quick exit.

But neither Kobe nor the Lakers would admit it.

So, Kobe did not take the bait from Yu Fei, “I heard your new arena is almost ready, but it seems you may not get the chance to play there as a member of the SuperSonics.”

The new arena located in downtown Seattle was set to open as early as the 2014-15 season.

Kobe had indeed hit Yu Fei’s sore spot. It was indeed a possibility that could become his biggest regret.

What else could Yu Fei say? He could only send Kobe home as soon as possible, that old guy’s words were too hurtful.

In the Lakers’ dual-core match-up against the SuperSonics, only Kobe still managed to maintain some advantage. However, given his age, even though he could physically compete to the end, his personal advantage was unlikely to impact the overall situation, because Yu Fei’s pressure on the wing was even more formidable.

In the four games against the Lakers, the process was almost identical, the Lakers started with full force, managed to maintain a deadlock in the second quarter, but were swept away by the SuperSonics’ momentum in the second half.

The Lakers Team’s fighting spirit couldn’t last until the end of the game, reflecting the gap in real strength between the two teams.