Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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Since 1983, Gary Smith had been working for Sports Illustrated, arguably one of the magazine's most important writers.

Over 17 years, Smith averaged at least four feature profile articles for the magazine every year.

He had 14 articles selected for Sports Illustrated's Best of the Century, the most of any writer, including his 1996 piece on Tiger Woods, which was named the best sports article of the 20th century.

All this time, Smith had been one of the most influential writers in the world of sports.

Had he not coincidentally come to Seattle for vacation, he might never have heard of Yu Fei's name, let alone felt the urge to watch him play in person.

The experience vastly exceeded Smith's expectations.

Strictly speaking, Yu Fei's competition today was hardly worth mentioning, but having seen countless stars, Smith was convinced Yu Fei was a star of the future.

He decided to keep a comprehensive and ongoing observation of the young man.

Coincidentally, he still had to write an article for Sports Illustrated this year, and the editors had given him free rein; he had been worried about finding a good subject.

Then Yu Fei appeared.

Talented and improving rapidly;

Emerging out of nowhere, shining like a star;

Being an Asian-American might be the most unique label on Yu Fei, giving him a Woods-like special tag.

At the same time, he, like those superstars who dominate the sports world, had the ability to command a room.

That day, Smith did not approach Yu Fei to introduce himself.

Rather than making close contact with Yu Fei, he preferred to observe how the kid performed under the pressure of fame.

This was also a standard to measure a star.

About four years ago, a basketball prodigy named Richie Parker appeared in the New York high school basketball scene. He had a bright future but engaged in reckless behavior after becoming famous and ultimately committed an unforgivable crime, which led to his downfall and ruined prospects.

What Smith hadn't expected was that, after playing a beautiful game, Yu Fei didn't rush to chat with the college coaches who had come from far away.

He even left without greeting anyone.

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As if none of these people mattered to him at all.

"Hello, Coach, I'm a reporter from The Seattle Times, may I interview Frye?"

The Seattle Times? That was the most influential newspaper near Kent City.

The person dealing with the reporter was Kent Meridian High School's assistant coach, Quentin DiMio.

DiMio told the reporter, "Sorry, Frye won't be doing interviews today, he's in a hurry to go home for pork chop rice."

No high school star would refuse the chance of being featured in a major newspaper.

Yet, compared to increasing his own exposure, Yu Fei was more anxious to get back to eat pork chop rice, the taste of which Smith could not fathom.

Given the urgency displayed by Yu Fei, as well as the opportunity he had forsaken, one could imagine how much he valued pork chop rice.

However, DiMio didn't close the conversation there; he was a smart man. "However, if you are free tomorrow, you can come to K-M, maybe Frye will agree to do a special interview with you."

Smart, a special interview was more formal and serious than a post-game interview.

The reporter from The Seattle Times agreed.

Gary Smith didn't show himself, sticking to his original plan of watching silently from the side before exchanging words with that reporter from The Times.

Smith believed the local reporter surely knew more about Yu Fei than he did.

Smith wanted to know what other special things there were about Yu Fei.

The Times reporter smiled and said, "The most special thing about this kid is... it's like he has been chosen by God."

It was like being chosen by heaven itself...

That phrase plucked at Gary Smith's heartstrings, and the face of Tiger Woods flashed through his mind.

"Why do you say that?" asked Smith.

The reporter said, "Frye used to play volleyball until his junior year."

This revelation surprised Smith.

Then the reporter added, "One day early this year, he found that basketball was more fun, so he quit the volleyball team to join the basketball team. For a teenager his age, considering a professional future, starting basketball now is already too late. However, it's as if basketball chose him rather than vice versa, and in just a few months he has become one of the top 40 high school players in the nation. After watching his game today, I believe he absolutely has the talent of a national top 10."

"Now, think about this—he only started playing basketball in a systematic way from the beginning of this year," the reporter exclaimed. "I think that's more astonishing than Hakeem Olajuwon's legendary story."

Gary Smith was even more convinced that his choice was correct.

He stayed in Kent City, attending every basketball game of Kent Meridian High School.

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He witnessed the dramatic changes in the sports world.

Jerry West left the Lakers Team.

Dan Marino's jersey was retired.

Bob Knight was almost forcibly driven out of Indiana University.

Vince Carter soared over a seven-foot center from France to complete the first dunk in history.

Any of these events could make a compelling feature article and be highly attractive to the public.

But Smith was not interested in these occurrences, as too many were already focused on those celebrities who had achieved fame and success.

It was prodigies with genetic mutations like Yu Fei who were Smith's favorite subjects to observe.

After entering the city championship from the Kent School District, the Royal Team kept on winning.

Indeed, the competition in the city championship was far more intense than in the small pond of the Kent School District, but for Fei, it still wasn't a challenge.

Because Kent Meridian High School was a 4A school.

The 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A classification denoted the size of the schools, not their level, but in fact, basketball competitiveness at schools with a larger student body, like those that are 4A, tends to be much weaker than at 3A schools.

Therefore, although the Royal Team faced some challenges in the city championship, Yu Fei had enough energy to break through the strong adversaries in front of him.

During November and December of 2000, the Royal Team achieved an 18-game winning streak, advancing to the State of Washington's 4A basketball championship as the top seed.

Yu Fei's fame grew louder and louder as his stats and game highlights spread.

Gradually, he became not just a basketball star in Washington, but a notable figure nationwide.

Two months of matches elevated Yu Fei's high school ranking from the top 40 in the United States to the top 20.

His exposure to lower-level competition was the outside world's biggest concern about Fei.

The issue wasn't that the competition in Yu Fei's district was weak.

In terms of weak competition, Kwame Brown's district takes the cake, where even the 3A schools are like small ponds within small ponds, and except for Brown himself, you can't find a second player among the top 100 in the country.

As the state championship approached, Yu Fei's average playing time per game shot up dramatically.

If the Royal Team wanted to win the championship, they would need to win six games in the tournament.

During the series, the Royal Team faced two close calls, with both matches coming down to the wire.

However, Yu Fei's crucial offensive rebound for a put-back The Shot and his pump-fake three-pointer for another The Shot sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Yu Fei became more and more formidable, advancing to the final with an average of 36 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, and 8 blocks per game in the state championship.

Their finals opponent would be Long Beach High School from Washington, which boasted two top-100 nationally ranked players.

The finals venue for Kent Meridian High School versus Long Beach High School was set to be at the Seattle SuperSonics' home court, Key Arena.

At the same time, Seattle's most popular sports channel Q13 FOX would broadcast the match live.

On the day of the match, there wasn't a single empty seat to be seen, encompassing fans from both teams and coaches, scouts, and recruiters from top high schools across the country.

From a comparison of strengths, Long Beach High School had an overwhelming advantage on paper.

The only chance for Kent Meridian High School to win rested with Yu Fei.

According to the logic of team sports, Long Beach High School had a 100% chance of victory, but basketball is a sport where a superstar can level disparities between teams.

The cheers from the crowd made it clear who the main character was.

When Yu Fei ran onto the court, 2/3 of the audience stood up, cheering and applauding.

No matter who won the championship, Yu Fei had already earned the reputation of being Seattle's son, even though he was a Kentite.

Yu Fei and Anthony Lawson walked to center court, and across from them, the core players of Long Beach High School approached.

Larry Turner, the center ranked 71st in the nation, provocatively said, "Big Fei, do you believe that even if you score 100 points tonight, the winner will still be us?"

Yu Fei calmly shook Turner's hand and said coldly, "Put away that smug face, unless you want me to drop 100 points on your heads."

Hearing this, Long Beach High School's key guard, Errol Knight, ranked 80th in the nation, said, "Hey Big Fei, even if you get 100 points, what does it matter? We just need to score 101 points to win the game."

Yu Fei wanted to argue back but found himself at a loss for words, realizing that his own strong-willed captain, Anthony Lawson, had been completely overpowered by the opposition, unable to speak.

Just when Yu Fei felt that tonight might be a disaster, Lawson suddenly called out to Turner and Knight, shouting, "If you can score 101 points, I'll help Frye score those winning 2 points, because it's us from K-M who will take the overall championship. You two bastards better remember what I said!"

At least we haven't lost in terms of momentum," Yu Fei thought, feeling optimistic.

Lawson said with a stern face, "We can't lose the match either."

As much as he talked, Lawson knew all too well that everything depended on Yu Fei.