Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 998 998 580 Just Like in the Legends_3

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The on-the-spot sensory perception combined with a reliable shooting percentage made Yu Fei firmly believe that in his previous life, Antetokounmpo had focused on becoming stronger to the point where strength training completely eclipsed practicing with the ball.

If that were the case, a single summer could disrupt muscle memory, and it would be enough time for him to lose the ball sense he once had over several years.

Rebuilding muscle memory is like opening a mystery box, no one can guarantee that the muscle memory they rebuild will be superior to the original.

Limited weight gain rate and strength training for Antetokounmpo, ensuring he gradually increases power while retaining his shooting touch, will be a key focus for the Clippers’ coaching team in the coming years.

Once the Greek Freak’s three-point touch was on, the Knicks found it difficult to continue their double teaming strategy on Fei.

In the first half, Durant, who was hot shooting, saw his percentage plummet when faced with Fei’s tough defense and Antetokounmpo’s help defense. DeAndre Jordan was still the same DeAndre Jordan, and Rondo couldn’t breach the defense. In the vast New York City, celebrity fans like Spike Lee were infuriated: “FUCK!!! When the hell are we going to get KD a reliable sidekick!!!”

Durant would not easily give up, he continued to challenge Fei one-on-one. The game might be lost, but he absolutely could not lose the duel with Fei. That’s what he thought, but Fei had no intention of serving as a stepping stone for Durant like James did during the regular season on the main timeline.

Fei would turn 31 in a month. At his age, Jordan was chasing a three-peat, while he had already secured eight championships. Logically, even a monster who holds honor dear should feel weary by now.

At one point, Fei indeed showed signs of lacking motivation, because there was no one ahead to surpass, leaving him without a target to chase.

But the harsh reality of professional sports is “there can only be one.”

Fei had held the position of the league’s number one for a decade, during which time he virtually monopolized the championship, hence no one dared to question his status. However, in the past two years, his dominance had slipped slightly, leading players like Wade, after getting a taste of the championship, to start questioning him, and Durant, going solo, also sought to challenge him.

Fei believed there were many others who harbored such thoughts.

These external stimuli instead charged Fei with energy.

Durant played a high post one-on-one, with Fei’s presence before him like a daunting specter, his center of gravity subtly lowering, as if he could predict Durant’s every intent.

Durant’s continuous fake moves failed to shake off the defense and only added pressure on himself. Eager to score and confident in his height advantage, after multiple failed attempts to get past, he forced a pull-up shot.

Fei didn’t jump because he knew Durant would trust his talent in desperation.

If Durant were to actually leap and raise the ball over his head, then almost no one could block his shot. Fei had no intention of giving Durant the chance to take a gamble, his right hand becoming a blade, accurately slicing away Durant’s ball.

The loss of possession left Durant like a navigator who had lost direction; his limbs involuntarily twitched before watching Fei pick up his ball and rush to the frontcourt.

Fei’s retreating figure seemed to tell him, it was still a bit early to challenge the league’s number one.

When Fei reached the frontcourt, he performed a gliding slam dunk just one step inside the free-throw line.

The audience at Madison Square Garden was stunned; this was the first time they had seen Durant so suppressed in a one-on-one situation.

“You’re improving faster than I imagined,” Fei said to Durant, “But to become the number one in the league, wait another five years.”

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Five years? Durant didn’t want to wait that long.

But Fei simply stated matter-of-factly, “I’ll probably have retired by then.”

In Durant’s view, Fei’s words oozed with arrogance and dominance. His message was clear: as long as he was playing, the spot for the league’s top player wouldn’t waver, whether he was 30 or 35.

However, tonight, Durant couldn’t muster a rebuttal, because he had lost to Fei once again in their matchup.

Durant accepted defeat in his heart, and thus the Knicks lost any hope of a comeback.

The remaining quarter of the game turned into a show for the Clippers, as they seized various opportunities to dunk, giving the discerning Knicks fans a taste of the “Los Angeles spectacle.”

The final score locked in at 114-101. The Clippers defeated the Knicks, sweeping their five-game road trip in the Eastern Conference. At the start of this road trip, it was widely believed they could win at most three games, but in the end, they played each game more spectacularly than the last, coming home with a clean sweep.

“18 wins and 5 losses,” Marc Stein of ESPN wrote in his column, “Can you believe it? The Clippers are now ranked second in the Western Conference and fourth in the league. Frye is dispelling their bad luck!”

Meanwhile, the SuperSonics without Fei, led by Irving, had fallen into the lottery zone. Roy had been injured during training camp and had yet to return, and in the absence of a second scoring option, the post-Fei era SuperSonics were experiencing growing pains.

Fei, leading the Clippers to fourth in the league, reentered the MVP discussion.

As the Christmas showdown approached, the public was already looking forward to the year-end showdown between Fei’s Clippers and James’ Knights.

However, just as the league was heating up for the Christmas battle, the New Jersey Nets unexpectedly jumped into the media spotlight, becoming the top news story.

The cause was quite simple: Chris Paul was dissatisfied with certain people’s professional attitudes within the team.

After that, Anthony got injured.

Dwight Howard openly stated he was unhappy playing in New Jersey.

Just when the outside world thought it was merely Howard’s complaint, he suddenly requested a trade.

This caused Shaquille O’Neal of TNT to lose his patience. O’Neal had always longed for a point guard like Chris Paul as a teammate, yet Howard didn’t appreciate it at all.

“When they formed The Big Three, Dwight said he would bring a championship to New Jersey,” Shaquille O’Neal stated bluntly, “Now he hasn’t achieved anything and wants to leave, claiming New Jersey doesn’t make him happy? Seriously, stop letting this guy call himself ‘Superman.’ He doesn’t deserve the title!”

Fei, who was casually browsing videos, came across the video of Shaquille O’Neal criticizing Howard, shared it, and commented: “Said by an openly racist.”

Subsequently, the old story of O’Neal launching racial attacks against Yao Ming after losing the All-Star starting spot to him was dug up once more.

Fei’s casual action made the public’s impression of him even stronger: he truly was as the legends say, forever despising those who must be despised.