Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This is the biggest news of the off-season.

The Clippers can rest assured now.

Yu Fei is going to play for another season.

Although the news of Yu Fei's retirement after the next season is sad, the extra year is enough for Antetokounmpo and Jokić to gradually mature.

By then, if the Clippers can complete a four-peat, it will be a perfect passing of the baton.

Yu Fei's decision to fight another year will have a profound impact on this off-season.

But this is not the only major event.

In early July, after much deliberation, superstar Kevin Durant, heavily promoted by Nike using countless resources, decided to change flags and sign with Reebok.

Even though an ESPN reporter only used a brief line to break this news, the impact on the industry was extremely terrifying.

Durant's departure means Nike has lost a major figure in the basketball arena.

Moreover, this is the biggest figure since Kobe's retirement and under the circumstances where James in Miami was consistently overshadowed by Curry.

Anthony Davis, stuck in New Orleans, although a major figure, his position as an inner-line player not selling shoes, falls short of a true superstar's status.

Reebok acquiring Durant won't change much, but Nike losing Durant could face a complete failure in the basketball realm.

The chain reaction of Durant signing with Reebok followed swiftly.

The Supersonics' star guard, Kyrie Irving, had enough of standing alone; in the final year of his contract, he opted for a self-destructing trade.

His conditions were clear: either move him to the Knicks or he would not extend his contract with any other team.

Thus, Irving scorched his reputation, leaving his team no choice but to negotiate with the Knicks.

Under Durant's sway, the Knicks also began to make moves actively.

Finally, the Knicks exchanged Andre Iguodala and three first- and second-round picks to acquire Irving from Seattle, thus finally securing another top star.

Just as New York was stirring up the free agent market, the Lakers announced that Kobe would fight another year.

Similarly, Kobe's camp also declared the 2017-18 season as Kobe's final season.

Although Kobe's influence is nowhere near Yu Fei's, his 22 years in basketball laid a profound foundation that fans will reminisce about his 20 years of achievements on the court.

The new season will mark the final year of these two heavyweight players' careers, and the League naturally wants to capitalize on this hype.

At the end of August, after the new season's schedule was released, people found out that the Clippers and Lakers' final game of the season will coincide.

This is the interesting part of the schedule.

Besides creating rival clashes and bitter bloodbath battles, it also brings some nostalgia.

When the preseason training camps began, someone got in touch with Adam Silver, wanting to know if the League would organize a series of events for Yu Fei and Kobe's retirement seasons.

Adam Silver, however, did not reveal the slightest bit of information.

Inside the Clippers, the goal for the new season was made clear on the first day of training camp.

Before Yu Fei became the Greatest of All Time, Jordan's indisputable stance as GOAT was because he led his team to two three-peats in the 90s.

Yu Fei surpassed him with four championships in five years during the Bucks era and a four-peat with Supersonics.

Now, another four-peat opportunity was in front of them.

Completing the four-peat would not only transform the Clippers from a dynasty into an "empire" but also would allow Yu Fei to surpass Bill Russell becoming the only person in the Twelve Crowns Club.

For an already unshakeable GOAT, what could be a grander finale?

After the goal was set, Antetokounmpo led the increase in the intensity of training camp confrontations.

The Greek couldn't hold back any longer.

He had once thought of the day he would take over; now, the opportunity had come.

His goal was to win the acknowledgment of GOAT this season and then take over the dominion of the team from Yu Fei.

37-year-old Yao Ming is the only one in the Clippers who could publicly tank.

Being older and highly respected, and with the honorable notion of yielding to the worthy, it could be said that, as long as he himself doesn't indulge in errors against the political correctness of American society, he could play in the Clippers as long as he wanted.

However, he had never thought that Yu Fei would retire before him.

"I thought you would play till 40," Yao Ming said, "It seems I was wrong."

Yu Fei replied, "Because you are not me."

"Of course I'm not you," Yao Ming said mysteriously, smiling. "But I know the taste of holding great power; do you really bear to let go of it?"

Yu Fei didn't say much, just answered him with two words: "Willing to."

Most things in life can't escape this word.

Because Yu Fei had already received enough, he was willing to leave.

But in a few years, might his thoughts change?

No one can say for certain.

Jordan was also convinced in 1998 that he wouldn't return, yet didn't he come out of retirement again in D.C.?

Perhaps in a few years, the 38-year-old Yu Fei might oppose the 35-year-old Yu Fei, but that isn't now.

Now, he only wants to enjoy his last season.

Enjoy the nourishment brought by the reputation he accumulated over these many years.

Undoubtedly, once the new season starts, every time he unlocks the "last time to play in XX," he will receive blessings and gifts from the locals.

It's a treatment befitting a superstar with generational influence.

In the Clippers' training camp, there's no sign of the twilight of a dynasty on them.

Because most of these players are under 25, and the slightly older Klay Thompson is only 27, in the prime of a basketball player's career. They've been playing under GOAT's wings, now about to welcome GOAT's retirement season, hoping to give GOAT a perfect ending with their own strength.