Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This was not the first time Abe Pollin had seen a deity in distress during twilight.

He still remembered Old Joe Louis being cornered by Rocky Marciano unable to move, Joe DiMaggio hobbling after the ball, and an overweight Babe Ruth struggling in a semi-professional team's touring performance.

⑴The aforementioned three are sports megastars who met with ill fortune in their later years.

For Pollin, Jordan's plight tonight was more miserable than any of the three.

Yu Fei had left him no dignity.

Was Pollin surprised? Of course he wasn't surprised. What surprised him wasn't Jordan's humiliation on the court, but the disappearance of His Airness's charm.

Apart from tonight's game against the Bucks, since the start of the season, most of the Wizards' games had seen plenty of empty seats. Especially in the expensive season ticket areas, where wealthy people who had purchased season tickets weren't showing up. The swathes of empty seats indicated that the affluent middle class thought there were more important things to do than watch Jordan play.

This further undermined the economic effect brought by Jordan.

In Wizards Dan's first season, Pollin made a killing, and every game night was a carnival for the team and scalpers alike; ordinary people were willing to spend four or five hundred US dollars to buy a scalped ticket just to get a glimpse of Jordan from afar, and the wealthy would snap up all of Jordan's merchandise after the game. For Jordan, they were willing to pay everything. This allowed Pollin to make up for the past five years of deficits.

However, since Wizards Dan's second season, market demand was visibly dwindling.

On most nights, the occupancy rate at MCI did not exceed seventy percent.

No matter how many seats were empty, the Wizards would announce that their home games were sold out. Because most of the tickets were sold before the season started. This was a half-true, half-false figure that did not reflect the decline in Jordan's appeal, but the empty seats at home games indicated that Jordan was no longer a draw that made people actively come to watch the games.

Pollin and Omari's situation reverted to the time before the Jordan era, and they needed to create new gimmicks to attract fans.

No matter how Jordan's injury was, there were only five games left in the season.

Omari wanted to squeeze the last bit of value out of Jordan, her plan was to market a "The Last Dance of His Airness" package, urging fans to come and watch Jordan's final games—even though they couldn't guarantee Jordan would play in the subsequent games—and, moreover, those who bought the package would get a discount when purchasing season tickets for the 2003-04 season.

"I have no objections," Pollin said indifferently.

With these words, Omari set out to take care of it.

Afterward, Pollin and Ansel headed to the Wizards' locker room together.

Despite the team facing a disheartening defeat that ruined their playoff prospects due to Yu Fei, he still had to go to the locker room to boost the players' morale.

When Pollin entered the locker room, it was filled with the smell of sweat, and the atmosphere was as cold as a crime scene.

Jordan was receiving treatment from Tim Grover, and none of the players welcomed Pollin's arrival.

Ansel stepped forward and said, "Mr. Pollin would like to say a few words to everyone."

Pollin approached Jordan and observed his current state—with a bandaid on his forehead and his sprained knee under an ice pack, the reality of being thrashed by Yu Fei plagued him, and the questioning of trading Yu Fei would follow like a shadow.

Pollin stared at Jordan, and Jordan looked back at him, both frozen like strangers for a few seconds.

"I am proud of you," Pollin said in a gentle tone.

"Abe, spare me, this team isn't worth your pride," Jordan said with a sneer.

Whether in public or private, Ansel would refer to Pollin as "Mr.," while Jordan would simply call him "Abe." This reflects the difference between a person who has long served as an executive and still sees himself as an employee, and a superstar who has big ambitions and has established his own status.

Pollin, infuriated by Jordan's disrespect, showed no hint of it on his face but relayed Omari's plan to him.

Jordan, surprised at Pollin's eagerness to exploit his name for money, fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "My injury's condition is unclear, and in any case, I won't end my career like a clown in a circus. I don't need to 'say goodbye' to anyone."

When Jordan showed a stronger personality in front of the boss, the players present only lost respect for Pollin.

Pollin suppressed his anger and did not continue the topic, exchanged a few polite words with Jordan, then looked at Collins, reiterating his pride in the team.

The problem was, after a loss with no dignity, "I am proud of you" sounded particularly grating.

The dominance Jordan displayed over Pollin generally caused the players to lack respect for Pollin.

When the Wizards won, Pollin never entered the locker room to say that phrase.

Now, after the team suffered the most painful defeat of the season, Pollin claimed he was proud of them?

Everyone acted indifferent, and no one was inspired.

These reactions indicated a reality: the players did not see themselves as part of the same team as the owner, nor did they consider Pollin the leader or patriarch of the team. Pollin was simply the man who paid them to wear the jersey and play the game.

This was also the point Jordan hoped to make the players realize, they run and sweat on the court, striving to win, while Pollin was just an irrelevant onlooker; it was his team, yet it wasn't just his team. Now here he was, saying "my team," as if to assert his ultimate authority over the team.

However, Jordan's confrontational stance clearly proved that as long as Jordan was there, he didn't have that power.

This was something Pollin could not tolerate.

He owned the team, yet he couldn't be welcomed when entering the locker room? The jerseys, big-screen TVs, medicines, trainers, club attendants, players, and coaches were all paid for with his money; why couldn't he get respect upon entering the locker room?

Pollin stormed out of the locker room with uncontrollable rage. When he left the room, his anger erupted uncontrollably: "Enough! I've had enough! I don't care who he is; he can't take away my power!"

"No matter who he is!" Pollin hissed at Ansel like a vile vampire, "Some things are about to end!"

Anxiously, Ansel followed Pollin out of the MCI.

A tabloid reporter recognized them and approached with a question, "Mr. Pollin, how do you think Michael performed tonight?"

The Pollin, who would have torn Jordan to pieces if he could, responded with a smile: "Michael performed very well, exceptionally so, and I am proud of him."

"And what about Frye? He scored 60 points at the MCI, that kind of Frye could have led us into the playoffs, would the team still trade him if it were to happen again?"

Pollin's expression seemed unchanged, but his eyes became extremely sharp for a moment.

"Perhaps we made a trade that was minimally effective," his tone darkened, "which is regrettable."

So, who would be held accountable then?

Pollin looked back at MCI and then left.

The next day, the media and public opinion's response was explosive.

The New York Times ran this headline: "Frye scores 60 points in three quarters at MCI last night, the first since Wilt Chamberlain to achieve such a feat!"

The Washington Post tried to take a fair stance, producing the headline: "Frye's great night ends D.C.'s playoff hopes."

The Washington Times, never kind to Jordan, did not miss this opportunity: "In just one year, Frye proved that last year's trade was the most terrible thing to happen in the history of the Washington Wizards!"

Anything pertaining to Yu Fei, The Seattle Times always had to get involved: "If winning back-to-back three-peats in the 90s is the reason MJ is called the best, then the trade of Frye is the reason he should not be called the best."

Due to favorable comparison, even if the influential newspapers reported with a neutral stance, they would seem biased towards Jordan. Discover hidden content at empire

Once reality is stated with emotional coloring, Jordan's image would take a significant hit.

This time, Jordan's media power failed.

Because the big newspaper's reporters could not alter reality.

Then, Reebok sped full power ahead in the public opinion arena.

Yu Fei's friends in the media at ESPN also lent a hand.

For a time, Jordan's reputation plummeted to rock bottom.

The afternoon following the game, Jordan's agent, David Falk, announced to the public that due to a knee injury, Jordan was very likely to miss the Wizards' final few regular-season games.

In other words, the previous night's game against the Bucks might very well have been Jordan's last dance as a professional basketball player.

The news broke, and even "Sports Guy" Bill Simmons, who always liked to oppose Yu Fei and kowtowed to Jordan, couldn't hold back: "If I were MJ, even if my leg were broken, I would play the last few games. Otherwise, the world will remember his helpless demeanour in the face of Frye last night. Michael's legacy has already been gravely tarnished due to this comeback, if he now quits, we'll forget what he did in the 1998 Finals. When we see his name again, we will only remember Frye scoring 60 points over him! Michael, you really can't do this!"

Almost every Jordan supporter hoped he would play out the last few games.

But what they didn't know was that Jordan's knee injury was very serious. When Falk said "very likely to miss," he was choosing his words after weighing the pros and cons. If there were even a 1% chance, Jordan would play, but he couldn't. Because he couldn't possibly crawl around on the court.

Regardless, he was finished.

Yu Fei's curse had become reality.

In the end, he organized a retirement ceremony for Jordan at MCI.