Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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June 10, 2003, in the morning

Today is the day of Game 6 of the Finals, and Yu Fei got up early as usual, eating the nutritious meal prepared for him by his personal chef—a suggestion made by Tim Grover. Grover wanted Yu Fei to hire a chef with knowledge of sports recovery to prepare four meals a day according to his needs.

The taste was not delicious, but that was the price of greatness.

Pork chop rice was not an "exquisite delicacy" one could enjoy every day.

Yu Fei ate his breakfast while watching the game advertisement on his laptop.

The world's most arrogant basketball player was boasting again; it had been going on for nearly ten minutes, as if it would never end.

"Do you need a big man in the paint?" he said. He frowned and pushed the basketball to the front of the camera. "Then I am your man."

For the past ten minutes, Tim Duncan had tirelessly "emphasized" to Yu Fei how great, important, and unstoppable he was on television.

"Do you need a guy who can score in the paint?"

As he spoke, an incredulous anger appeared on his face—could you actually be considering someone else?

"Perimeter? Free-throw line? Anywhere on the court? Do you need a shot-blocking master?" He spun the ball on his finger and stared straight at Yu Fei through the screen. "Do you need an MVP to play for you? Then I am your man."

"To dominate any part of the court? Hey," he said sharply, "Then I am your man."

The video ended.

Yu Fei shook his head with a smile.

"You've been watching it for ten minutes," Lawson said curiously, "but the ad is less than a minute long."

Your journey continues with empire

The video Yu Fei was watching was an advertisement Duncan shot last year for "Backyard Basketball," a game he always felt he had played on some small gaming website in his past life. But that wasn't the point; the point was that Duncan had shown a different side of himself.

The soul of the San Antonio Spurs had always been a model of lack of public appeal in the professional basketball world, despite being the most dominant inside player after Shaquille O'Neal. He wasn't brutally cool like Jordan, nor was he as witty as Ali, and he definitely didn't have the strong personality like Tyson or other sports gods.

He faced the world with a polite monotone, symbolized his game with an unfathomably dull style, and never made himself look ridiculous, let alone like most NBA players, keen to tell the whole world "I'm the second only to heaven." He wouldn't pound his chest like Garnett, nor would he choke someone like Miller, and it was even less likely for him to play with the murderous gaze like Jordan. He was uninterested in all the things the public found interesting.

After the game ended, he would narrate the same tired cliches like a professional PR person, then flee the media room as if escaping a fire scene.

That was why Yu Fei watched the advertisement with great interest ten times over.

He didn't know how much "Backyard Basketball" paid Duncan, nor why Duncan accepted the invitation for the advertisement, but hearing these words from him was as surprising as hearing a mime star sing.

Yu Fei closed his laptop.

Though he had already played five games in a row against Duncan, he still knew little about this formidable opponent.

However, after watching the advertisement, Yu Fei couldn't help but remember what Duncan had said upon arriving in Milwaukee.

"We'll find a way to drag the series to Game 7, and then find a way to win the championship."

It sounds modest, doesn't it? The number one player in the League has to "find a way" to do certain things, and then "find a way" to do other things.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

But Yu Fei believed that Duncan would go full-force Buddha-mode from the very first second of the game tonight.

"I'm starting to worry about our frontcourt."

Facing The Stone Buddha raging with real fire, what would become of the Bucks' fragile frontcourt?

Without a care in the world, Lawson said, "Don't worry, we've got Mason to hold the fort. If all else fails, let Ratner sacrifice himself to the heavens."

St. Francis Training Center

Yu Fei had only one thing to say about tonight's game on the training court: "We must win, dragging it to Game 7 is too dangerous!"

"TD will definitely attack the paint with all his might tonight, you guys are in big trouble."

"Trouble my ass! Didn't you see the previous games?" Mason said, feeling good about himself, "He's just okay!"

Keep in mind, across the first five games of the Finals, Duncan averaged 24 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks.

The only thing to criticize was his lack of explosive scoring power, which was exactly what the Bucks were worried about; if Duncan truly unleashed himself and attacked the paint, he might just deliver a "tonight God is wearing No. 23" type of century-class solo performance.

"Exactly." Yu Fei agreed with Mason, "All he can do is score some points, grab some boards, dish out some assists, block some shots, not all-around at all, not comparable to the old man!"

Mason laughed out loud: "I love hearing that."

"So can you stop Duncan tonight?"

"I can give it a try. What if I do stop him?"

"You'll get your first championship ring of your career."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Mason shouted excitedly, "Shut down TD, smash the Spurs' frontcourt, I'm your man!"

Yu Fei was tempted to ask if he had also seen Duncan's advertisement.

But in the end, he didn't ask because it didn't matter.

Later, Yu Fei wandered around the training court.

He checked on Ray Allen's training condition, teased Devean George for wanting to shake off Allen yet being unable to, and then asked Michael Redd if he had any suitable Bible verses to deal with an honest person like David Robinson.

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