Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Before the championship finals began, the League's marketing engine was running at full power.

The media, which loves to create hype, was also heavily inflating the value.

As the top sports brand at the moment, Reebok internally viewed the championship finals as the company's victory.

Putting aside James from Nike who mixed up the game, Miami Heat was still Curry's team.

As long as no surprises occurred, Miami Heat would continue to build around Curry as the core.

Curry, younger and more popular than James and with a style that perfectly fits the trend of the times, was undoubtedly going to become the iconic figure for Reebok in the 2010s, succeeding Yu Fei as the new flagship.

If Curry won the championship finals, it would signify the official rise of this "son of small-ball."

As for James? Unless he outperformed Curry drastically in the championship finals, Reebok would do everything to suppress his market influence.

The situation for the Clippers was clearer.

As a "direct lineage" team of Reebok, the Clippers assembled stars like Yu Fei, Jokić, and Antetokounmpo from Reebok.

Yu Fei had completely overturned Nike's dominion built by Jordan, reshaping the sports brand landscape in just over a decade.

Narratives and promotion around Yu Fei were much more extensive than those around Miami Heat.

The media wanted to see him win.

The fans also wanted him to win.

The League similarly looked forward to his victory.

Because he is a legend undefeated in the finals.

Before, Yu Fei entered the finals ten times, won the championship each time, and never reached a seventh game.

His finals record left Jordan's supporters with no ground for argument.

Whether it was the span of achievements, the number of championships, or consecutive titles, he firmly outpaced Jordan.

These are solid honors. To discuss historical status, one must bring such top achievements to have convincing power.

As Yu Fei had already become a legendary figure, losing in the finals was both unreachable and unacceptable for him.

He had to win till the end.

"If Stephen wins the championship, it would undoubtedly start a new era," Marc Stein wrote on Twitter. "But what if the Clippers achieve a three-peat? What does that mean? It means the Clippers have established their own dynasty in professional basketball. It also means that the Lakers are no longer the sole powerhouse in Los Angeles. More importantly, 35-year-old Frye has matched Bill Russell's number of championships. You must understand, Frye's league is highly commercialized, globalized, with unprecedented anti-monopoly efforts, thirty teams, and none of the championship teams could maintain a peak period for over four years... In such a context, what does it mean if Frye matches Bill Russell's championship count?"

Yu Fei's staunch supporters on Twitter unapologetically replied: "It means the statue outside of United Center should be taken down."

"Yes, this is truly unprecedented," Stein affirmed, "I would bet everything I have, we won't see another player winning ten championships again."

As long as Yu Fei was playing, the outside world would always have expectations of him.

Can't be helped, Americans really love their sports heroes, they hope their heroes never fade.

Yu Fei was unsure at which point in his career the expectations were the greatest, but it certainly wasn't now.

Chasing Bill Russell's championship count?

Only one step away?

That might be a motivating factor, but certainly not everything.

The Clippers had to head to Miami to challenge the top seed of the playoffs.

The lack of home court advantage brings a sense of insecurity, a feeling only settled by stealing the opponent's home court advantage.

Interestingly, ESPN invited Dwyane Wade as a guest commentator for the first game of the finals.

Considering Wade's status in Miami and the manner he left the city, this arrangement would definitely spark widespread discussion.

But Wade didn't take it personally, and didn't badmouth the Miami Heat on TV.

He analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of both teams quite rationally.

Perhaps it was this rationality that let people sense the unrest hidden beneath his exterior.

This season, Wade was mired in controversy in Chicago.

First, there was a conflict over tactical positioning with the older team members, then a clash of ideas with the newcomers.

Maybe only after leaving a good team can one truly appreciate the value of a great team.

Before the game started, ESPN connected live with the front court.

Yu Fei and Wade exchanged a few inaudible whispers.

After listening, Wade looked helpless, as if he had anticipated the GOAT's response.

Then, the game started as usual.

Miami Heat was undeniably the strongest opponent the Clippers faced in their pursuit of a three-peat.

The reason is simple, Curry and James were essentially the second and third in the League for this season.

This league resembled the time when James and Kobe teamed up.

Also, the union of the second and third best.

However, James's disastrous performance in critical games led to the Lakers losing the division finals, whereas Yu Fei seized this opportunity to crush the "Evil Empire" and established an unmatched reputation.

But at that time, Yu Fei was still young.

Now, he was already 34 and a half.

Fortunately, he no longer had to shoulder most of the responsibility as he once did; he had sufficiently excellent teammates to share the pressure.

In the first game of the finals, the Clippers made their intention clear to shut down Curry.

Klay Thompson was responsible for the initial matchup, and the player matching up with Curry fully navigated around screens to drain Curry's stamina. As soon as Curry got the ball for a pick-and-roll, they didn't hesitate to double-team him directly.