Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Yu Fei's direct request for a trade over the phone took Arne Trem by surprise. He knew that Yu Fei didn't get along with Jordan in D.C., but he hadn't realized the conflict had escalated to such an extent.

It was already late, so Trem told Yu Fei to cool off and they would talk again tomorrow.

The next day, Trem flew to D.C. and arranged to have lunch with Yu Fei.

After a night's time, Yu Fei had indeed calmed down, but his mind hadn't changed.

After toughing it out in 11 NBA games, Yu Fei was convinced that he could make a name for himself in the NBA.

Despite playing for the Wizards Team, which didn't favor his development, he averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists with limited playing time.

You should know, he was even being discussed for the NBA All-Rookie First Team, despite only playing 18 minutes per game.

All the teams that had played against the Wizards expressed confusion about his lack of playing time.

It was certain that if Yu Fei joined their teams, he would get more than just those minutes on the court.

Yu Fei didn't see any reason to stay in D.C.

It was a toxic environment, where Jordan now acted like those saintly characters corrupted by evil powers in various fantasy novels, a mere facade. Regrettably, such an unworthy person held the power of life and death over the team. The owner didn't dare cross him, the management followed his orders, and the head coach was his servant. For Yu Fei to get more playing time, he had not only to submit but also to change his playing style—to accommodate the dog's preference for slow-paced half-court games preferred by the old man. Yu Fei really didn't understand. Even though he was universally considered dog-like, why was his basketball IQ so low? At his age, if he wanted to make his stats look good, it would be simple: just shoot more threes, skip defense, save energy for fast breaks. With his current skill level, it would be easy to score 25 points a game. But he stubbornly refused to do so, far behind in basketball intelligence compared to that person decades later who would crown himself inappropriately at every opportunity.

Now that Yu Fei felt he had proven his worth, he didn't want to bow down to Jordan. But without bowing, his playing time wouldn't increase. So what could he do? Request a trade, of course. Please have the Wizards exchange his proven value for a player ready to be Jordan's lapdog. That way, both sides would have a bright future.

Trem understood Yu Fei's situation and his thoughts.

However, this idea was a bit naive. After all, he was only 18 years old. It was impossible to expect him to think things through like a 30-year-old adult.

After Yu Fei laid out his situation and thoughts, he found his agent wearing a mocking smile.

"What's up?" Yu Fei asked.

"Frye, do you know Latrell Sprewell?" Trem asked.

"Didn't you watch our season opener? Our first game was against the Knicks."

"Is that so?" Trem revealed he hadn't watched the Wizards' season opener, "Do you know that Latrell once choked his coach during practice?"

Yu Fei nodded, of course, who didn't know that?

"Even though Latrell rebuilt his career in New York, the aftermath of the choking incident cost him several seasons, and that was irrecoverable," Trem said. "That's what we need to learn from this: don't do something that can't be taken back."

Is requesting a trade something that can't be taken back?

That's just fine, since Yu Fei had no desire to take it back.

Then, Trem continued, "If we go through with this, you'll face a very unfavorable situation. First, the public's good opinion that you have painstakingly accumulated will be utterly depleted. No matter what reasons you have, fans won't look kindly upon someone who has played only 11 games for their home team and requests a trade due to insufficient playing time."

"Second, those teams that might engage in a trade. Even though you've performed well in games, you might not have noticed that there's a power in the outside world hyping up your youthful arrogance, unwillingness to accept guidance and discipline."

"That might be a fact," Yu Fei said with self-deprecating laughter, "but that's not entirely accurate, because in D.C., all I've gotten is 'discipline,' with no 'guidance'."

As for such "discipline," Yu Fei could only say whoever wanted it could have it.

"But who knows the truth?" Trem pointed out the crux of the matter, "Neither you nor I can control public opinion. But Michael can."

Yu Fei had already seen Jordan's power over public opinion.

The recent high-profile mistress incident had already been quieted down.

"If Michael is willing, he could use his media connections to make all the teams believe that you are a capable but uncontrollable thorn. Then, even if we request a trade, no team will be willing to give a price that the Wizards will accept," Trem said, "The scariest outcome would be if we request a trade and nobody shows interest."

Trem successfully dissuaded Yu Fei from his "I want to leave D.C. right now" idea, "What should I do now?"

"If you ask me, your current situation is actually quite good. The ones under pressure are Doug and Michael," Trem said. "The better you play in the limited minutes you have, the louder the calls from the outside world for more playing time will be. Right now, after eight consecutive losses, you are the only one on the team who hasn't started a game yet. And last night, you scored 25 points off the bench... All we need to do is gently push with a few media friends..."

Yu Fei really didn't believe that relying on media pressure could solve his problems.

But Trem hadn't finished yet.

"I'll call Doug," he said, "I'll demand an explanation, I'll force him to increase your playing time, and if he doesn't give me a clear answer, I'll threaten him, I will make him realize that if this continues, you might request a trade."

Trem's words reminded Yu Fei of something he had seen online before.

The nuclear button is most threatening before it is pressed.

If he directly requested a trade, the Wizards would immediately seek strategies for their own various needs, but if he played the card, "If you keep this up I can only request a trade," Collins and Jordan would have to think about the possibility of losing Yu Fei if this continued.

"Then, during practice, you can also show a bit of aggression," Trem asked, "Who among the fixed starters has the worst relationship with you?"

Yu Fei wanted to say Jordan, but he changed his words as he spoke: "Christian Laettner."

"Teach him a lesson, humiliate him, trample over him, and let everyone know deeply and unmistakably one thing—that you deserve the starting spot more than he does."

This lunch wasn't a waste—Yu Fei found that his agent was indeed a crafty strategist, coming up with one sly idea after another, all of which sounded feasible, especially the last one.

That afternoon, half an hour before practice, the Wizards Team held an internal meeting.

Doug Collins wanted the players to speak their minds and identify the reasons behind the team's eight-game losing streak.

"I did my best" was a phrase that came up frequently during the meeting.

Christian Laettner subtly pointed the finger at Yu Fei: "If someone leaves the court before the last two minutes of the game, as if he was the only one who didn't lose, I don't think that's helpful to us."

Yu Fei didn't wait for others to speak up and immediately retorted: "Right, a person who only made three out of ten shots is blaming someone who scored the team's highest points in 19 minutes for not being helpful to the game—that's why we're on an eight-game losing streak. I admit it, not scoring 100 points in 19 minutes is my fault!"

"Calm down, rookie!" Whitney said, "You played well yesterday, but leaving early was indeed not right."

Yu Fei snorted lightly, "What's wrong with that? Clearly, I was the only one who wanted to win yesterday."

"You think I didn't want to win?"

Jordan stared at Yu Fei, his large brown eyes tinged with red, looking as if they might at any moment launch a snake to swallow Yu Fei whole.

Jordan's silence was fine, but as soon as he spoke, Yu Fei reacted.

Last night's game was Jordan's ugliest since his comeback.

You, an old has-been making only six out of 25 shots, how dare you put on a serious face saying you wanted to win yesterday?

Just as Yu Fei was about to say this in response, Collins interrupted what could have been an awful scene. "Okay, we're here to learn from our failures, not to blame and shirk responsibility on each other."

Keep on playing the plasterer, I'll see what you can make out of it.

However, Jordan couldn't take it anymore.

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There were too many young teammates here who had already been crushed by mediocrity before Jordan's arrival, losing their youthful spirit. Although the eight-game losing streak was unfortunate for them, it wasn't shameful—they displayed perfectly the nonchalant and affable demeanor of athletes who are trampled upon. Despite constant failures, they had done their best, and that was the team's strength.

For Jordan, this was a jarring reminder.

It made him think of his own unsuccessful baseball career after his first retirement.

That mediocre baseball life taught Jordan a lesson: how easy it is for humans to fail, to stay at the bottom, to derive self-satisfaction and consolation from the clichéd struggles of a failing team that tries hard but unfortunately fails.

The only one who didn't say such things was that damn Yu Fei!

And that made Jordan even angrier!

"I don't want to listen to this crap from you dogs anymore!" Jordan shouted, "You think you've given your all and that feels good, but what's the use if you can't win? If your best isn't enough, try harder, drain every last bit of energy, I don't ever want to hear the word 'best' again, damn it, now go train!"

Cheer for a dog, applaud for a dog—never was there such a splendid players' meeting!