Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

A hasty playoff journey with no championship, the parting was not pleasant either. Over the years, D.C. has always been a thorn in Yu Fei's side.

But how should I put it? Time dilutes all secondary hatred and beautifies all the memories of good old times.

The D.C. media said, "Washington witnessed Frye's rise, when we saw how a 19-year-old Frye confronted MJ, we should know he was extraordinary. As witnesses to that era, number 44 jersey should be retired in D.C.!"

During the period when the team closely associated with Yu Fei was eagerly discussing the retirement of his jersey, the Seattle SuperSonics remained embarrassingly silent.

They were unable to make a statement.

Of course, they wanted to retire the number 44 jersey too, but Yu Fei had already expressed two years earlier that he didn't want to retire his jersey with Clay Bennett's team.

So, as long as Bennett is still the owner, they cannot retire the number 44 jersey.

The wave of discussions about retiring the number 44 was a sign that the farewell tour had reached a climax.

Thereafter, at the 2018 All-Star Game, Yu Fei was the starting player for the Western Conference with a lead in votes by a landslide.

Kobe, who was also on his farewell tour, was selected for the All-Star game as well, yet the light of fireflies struggles to compete with the bright moon, Yu Fei was the protagonist of the All-Star Game.

From the beginning of the All-Star weekend, to the end.

He was the focus of the media.

During the All-Star Game itself, Kobe played for 16 minutes, scored 10 points, and then, his story ended.

Yu Fei accepted all the "tributes to his predecessors" games.

The rising stars took turns challenging him one-on-one.

Teammates from the Western All-Star Team passed him the ball one after another.

In the end, he led the Western All-Star Team to victory with the game-high 44 points and took home the All-Star Most Valuable Player (AMVP), insignificant but undoubtedly his.

Then, the farewell tour continued.

When Yu Fei returned to Seattle for the last time, he didn't receive an official tribute, but fans spontaneously came to the scene to pay their respects to him.

The Seattle Times specifically prepared a gift of an album capturing all the live posters from The Times since the year he transferred to Seattle.

When Yu Fei came to D.C. for the last time, the current great leader of the United States, King Chuan, attended and said, "Frye is not only a hero for Asian Americans but a hero for all Americans and the world. How can America be great again? When someone like Frye appears again!"

The D.C. farewell was touching. The GOAT, walking off the field, received cheers that brought back many memories, and he waved to the audience.

In addition to the touching farewells, there were also humorous farewells.

When Yu Fei came to Miami for the last time during the regular season, the Miami Heat gave him an air conditioner with the message: "Please cool down a bit during the finals."

Toronto gave Yu Fei a dinosaur fossil, because they heard from somewhere that the GOAT liked paleontology.

Eventually, time moved on to April.

The last game of the regular season, the Clippers faced the Lakers at Staples Center.

Yu Fei vs Kobe.

2001-2018, the last showdown in seventeen years.

From the outset, the Lakers were determined to let Kobe shoot at will, and as a result, Kobe scored 64 points with 26 out of 50 shots.

But Yu Fei's three-point rain dissolved Kobe's god-like farewell performance in the last few minutes.

Yu Fei first made a long 25-foot shot, it went in.

Then he made a 26-foot step-back jumper, continuing to score.

After missing a 27-foot shot, Yu Fei took another shot near half-court and scored again!

"GOAT!!!!"

The audience cheered in unison, stood up, and the noise level reached deafening heights.

"You'll never see such a performance again! You'll never see such a matchup again! This is the last time! Frye vs Kobe, this is the last time! Can we inscribe this game in history?"

The in-arena announcer shouted excitedly.

Suddenly, the divide between Clippers and Lakers fans disappeared.

They all wanted to keep the peace in this game.

In the end, Yu Fei walked away with the victory, Kobe with the stats.

"Mamba out!"

At the end of the game, that's what Kobe said in his farewell speech.

He really reached the end.

22 years of professional career, from 18 to 40 years old, Jabbar's record has been sealed, he has many regrets, but this is all he could do.

"I never liked Kobe, because he was so tricky," Yu Fei told reporters, "Having such an opponent is a fortune."

Kobe ended, Yu Fei has not.

He still has playoffs.

But is there really a team that can withstand the Clippers' pace?

They played 72 wins and 10 losses this season, showing no sign of the decline that a four-time championship-chasing team should.

On the contrary, the young players in the team are excited about taking over, while the veterans who are about to leave want to explode all their energy while they still can.

Yu Fei went full force in the first round, easily sweeping the Houston Rockets, and came to the semifinals to face the Spurs again, sparing no effort, averaging 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game with a super-high shooting percentage, and the Clippers easily reached the top of the West.

"He could play until he's 45, as long as he wants," Popovich commented on Yu Fei's competitive state, then added, "Thank God, he doesn't want to!"

At the pinnacle of the West, the Warriors Team is here.

They can't withstand the Clippers.

They have been defeated by the same opponent for four consecutive years, would this time be any different?

The Clippers fiercely crushed them, 4-0.

Such failure would make one despair, make one wonder if there's any point in keeping the status quo?

But there is one thought that can support the Warriors Team to persist.

"That man won't be here next year."

The final opponent is the same as last year.

The Warriors Team took down the Knicks in six games, but in the finals, the external expectation they faced was merely "win one game against the Clippers."

For the King of the East, this was a great insult.

In the end, they found it wasn't an insult, but reality.

The Miami Heat is the only team that could confront the Clippers with their talent.

But they would still lose due to not having enough talent.

Curry has the best skills, James possesses the greatest talent, but the former's skills are not enough to defeat the greatest talent, and the latter's great talent similarly cannot dominate against equally great talent.

When Miami Heat's sharpest twin stars couldn't unleash super-giant potential against the Clippers, it was just a matter of time before Miami's flame was extinguished.

1-0

2-0

3-0

The Clippers didn't want to lose a single game.

The greatest player deserves the greatest farewell.

In the fourth game of the finals, Yu Fei came to Miami for the last time as a player, scoring 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Although the Miami Heat continued to resist, they couldn't break through in such a deadlock.

And so it ended.

124-105

4-0

Yu Fei entered the ultimate hall.

This was his twelfth championship.

The league also awarded him the twelfth FMVP trophy.

Finally, the microphone was passed to him, the world awaited his final summation of 17 years of dominance.

"Michael Jordan ended in disgrace in D.C., OKC disintegrated like a falling meteor. Tim Duncan? Is anyone calling him the greatest power forward ever? Believe me, he is. Dirk Nowitzki? I remember that 'softie' NBA of the 21st century you talked about. Allen Iverson? Kevin Garnett? I liked their toughness. Dwyane Wade still surprisingly has more legacy today than LeBron James, which amazes me. And then..." Yu Fei suddenly fell silent, then said, "I don't need to summarize, my resume is cast by championships, and my championships are built on the failures of the aforementioned. I have unreservedly demolished them, and I have no regrets. If there's anything from these seventeen years that I still can't forget, it's still my rookie year in D.C."

"At least today, I can say that."

"If I'm leaving, it'll be for good."

"Let's leave it at that."

PS: I'll write a short epilogue about what happened a few years after Yu Fei's retirement, but I can be sure I won't be writing a hall of fame speech, I can't go on anymore.