Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Afterward, just as Yu Fei was about to call for the ball, Tyronn Lue surprisingly made the first move on Shaquille O'Neal.

Coach Lu didn't go directly against Shaq, but it was almost the same. He called for a pick and roll with Popeye Jones, and Horry's defensive stance was almost similar to O'Neal's; neither of them liked to defend the pick and roll.

That's exactly what Coach Lu wanted—to create an open shot through the pick and roll, then shoot immediately.

Given his decisiveness in jump shooting, if Jordan hadn't been ruled out, he would have definitely appreciated it.

"Bang!"

Although it didn't go in, the courage was commendable.

Moreover, Yu Fei grabbed the long rebound, steadied himself, raised his left hand, and said, "Take it slow, let's take it slow!"

Some people say "take it slow," but even before they finish speaking, they are already motioning Cassidy White to come out for the pick and roll.

There couldn't be a more obvious offensive inclination.

Yu Fei was aiming for O'Neal; he wanted to devour his rival.

As the league's top player, being targeted on defense as a weak spot by an opponent was an insult to O'Neal. Less than three minutes into the game, the Big Shark's disdain for Yu Fei had already surpassed that for Kobe, surpassed David Robinson (who vied for the scoring title), surpassed everyone who had ever left an unpleasant mark in his life.

Anger swept through Shaq's brain, and he followed out. It was like going from one dead-end to another.

Shaq's judgment of himself on the defensive end had always been accurate.

Not defending the pick and roll might give away opportunities, but wanting to defend it... he also needed to have the ability to do so.

Yu Fei moved past the screen from the perimeter, and upon seeing O'Neal in front of him, he became more eager than Yoshimura Taku finding a desirable collaborator, directly accelerating past him.

O'Neal wanted to do something to stop him, but Yu Fei was too fast. Shaq lost his defensive position before he could do anything.

Without O'Neal, the Lakers' paint was left vacant. No one would expect Robert Horry to protect the basket.

This chapter upload first at NovelUsb.Com

BOOM!

Yu Fei completed a highlight-worthy breakthrough dunk.

7 to 8

"Why do some people love to play defense with their eyes so much? No wonder the little guys don't respect him as their leader," Yu Fei ran slowly past O'Neal, his biting sarcasm sending chills down many spines.

Jahidi White was the first to feel the chill; he was in for a hard time.

Indeed, O'Neal made an aggressive effort to position himself.

To avoid being double-teamed, he chose to position himself as deep as possible, ensuring that once his teammate passed the ball, he could initiate the offense.

In terms of body size and strength, White was no match for O'Neal. As long as Shaq wanted to do this, White was pretty much helpless.

"Whistle!"

White was quickly called for a defensive foul.

Then, White was forced to lower his level of physicality, but this made him even less capable of stopping O'Neal from positioning himself.

Just as White thought his nightmare was about to begin, his savior—Kobe Bryant's patience reached its limit. He decided to initiate the offense, which naturally negated O'Neal's efforts, but who cared? He didn't!

Kobe dribbled effortlessly, cutting directly near the paint, stopping abruptly, rising for a fadeaway jump shot—a sequence of movements as beautiful as a painting.

"Swish!"

The worst part was that he made the shot, complicating any impulse to get angry at him.

Phil Jackson's gaze was icy as he knew it was another instance of Kobe letting out his dark side.

"Hey, Kobe, I was positioning myself," Shaq said angrily. "You should have passed the damn ball to me!"

Kobe retorted sharply, "You already wasted ten seconds!"

Then Yu Fei came.

Yu Fei respected White's attempt to hold his ground against O'Neal—although he didn't hold up much, but the point was whether he resisted at all; to have resisted made him brave.

For these unsung heroes who silently contributed, Yu Fei's philosophy was always to offer them some sweet rewards.

For instance, in this play, Yu Fei suddenly didn't call for White to set a screen, but instead had Jones set it, then he drove into the lane, drew Shaq's help defense, and lobbed an alley-oop to White.

White leaped up to complete the alley-oop, successfully gobbling up the 'pie.'

"You're truly awesome, Cassidy, a man who can go toe to toe with Big Fatty!" Yu Fei continued to cheer for White as he ran back on defense.

This scene caught Phil Jackson's eye.

He found it so ironic that, although both high schoolers, Yu Fei had a more mature mind than Kobe and was more humane, even though he didn't get along with MJ, his choices on the court were always the right ones.

Kobe was always strict with himself and others, especially with team leaders like Shaquille O'Neal.

He expected Shaq to treat practice with the same standard as himself.

Shaq claimed he couldn't do it, saying he needed to "maintain" his body, otherwise he would get injured.

Jackson always condoned Shaq's laziness, but when Kobe faced issues, his criticism was unsparing. This double standard worsened the relationship between Kobe and Jackson.

Now, a selfish Kobe returned to the game, ignoring Shaq's positioning, and went back to playing one-on-one.

This time, Kobe failed to dominate Bobby Simmons and missed the shot.

Coach Lu, harboring resentment towards the Lakers, rushed forward as if his feet were on wheels, scoring on the fast break.

9 to 12

The Wizards' lead had suddenly grown to 3 points.

It was time, Jackson did not want to let Kobe continue to tear this team apart.

Just as a desperate Kobe was waving his arms to clear his teammates out of the way, Shaq stayed under the basket.

Shaq acted as if he knew Jackson was going to call a timeout.

He stood directly under the basket for five seconds, and even if the referee wanted to turn a blind eye to his violation, the Wizards team would no longer allow it.

Doug Collins roared at the referee: "How long are you gonna let him camp in the paint?!!"

"Whistle!"

The whistle blew, and the referee Jess Kersey, reluctantly called a three-second violation on Shaq, turning the ball over to the Wizards, while the Lakers called a timeout at that moment.

This scene was shocking for some people.

Yu Fei thought his feud with Jordan this season was stimulating enough that, decades later, if they both ended up not doing well, they could still make money by co-producing a documentary about this season.

But with the Lakers...

Yu Fei would not, because of a rivalry with Jordan, act against his team's interests on the court.

Like deliberately staying under the basket to get called for a three-second violation.

But Shaq did!

Even if Jordan was upset with Yu Fei, if Yu Fei got a chance for The Shot, Jordan would still pass it up to him.

Whereas Kobe was the type who would turn on you on the spot if you tried to take the key shot away from him.

At the same time, the Lakers' head coach was not a puppet-like figure like Collins; he was aligned with the boss's daughter, overcame the franchise's veteran LOGO man in office battles, had his own way of dominating the team, indulging and pampering Shaq while being harsh and oppressive towards Kobe.

Shaq deliberately delayed his toe surgery until just before training camp.

Jackson said, without him, we still push for a three-peat.

Kobe missed the preseason training camp because of his grandfather's death.

Jackson said, some people are very selfish, we are in a difficult moment, all eyes are on us, we should sprint for a higher goal rather than personal affairs.

Yu Fei finally realized that there was a reason OK was called "King of Drama."

The Wizards might have enough show quality, but the drama was all on Yu Fei and Jordan, whereas with the Lakers, it was different, every level had its tricks, and just any move made the NBA headlines their story.

Shaq's weak defense against the pick-and-roll, the Lakers' continuous internal strife, and some inevitable weaknesses that had yet to be discovered by Yu Fei were the Wizards' chance to take down the defending champions tonight.

Before stepping off the court, Yu Fei glanced again at Kobe, who had just had a sudden outburst, thinking, keep going, don't get along with The Big Shark, I, as a lifelong Kobe fan, will always stand by your side!