Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Before the start of the 2002 NBA Draft, Yao Ming arrived in the United States and completed what could be called a perfect workout in front of executives and scouts from 28 NBA teams.

Subsequently, the draft officially began.

After witnessing Yao Ming's flawless workout, the Houston Rockets didn't hesitate to pick him first overall.

After that, from the second to the ninth pick, there were no changes.

Then, with the tenth pick, which the Bucks had traded to the Wizards in the Yu Fei deal, the Wizards chose Jared Jeffries, dubbed "Yu Fei the Second" (Jared Jeffries SF/PF/C).

"He's taller than Frye, more athletic, and a stronger shooter," Wizards' assistant GM Rod Higgins said, "I wouldn't be surprised if he performs better than Frye in the NBA."

Yu Fei wouldn't be angry about such comments.

In his view, Jeffries being selected was not only because of his size and versatile skills similar to his own, but also because Indiana University pulled off a major upset during March Madness this year by knocking out top-seeded Duke. Jeffries scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in that game, arguably the best performance on the court.

As a North Carolinian who considers Duke an enemy, Jordan had no reason not to like this Duke killer.

Of course, Jordan would soon have a reason.

For example, when Jeffries plays in the NBA and performs not as well as Yu Fei, or even far less impressively.

Then Jordan would have countless reasons to be violent towards him.

And nominally, it would still be about "shaping" him; whether he could withstand the pressure was not something that Yu Fei needed to care about.

Yu Fei's interest in the draft was mainly to see who the Bucks would select with their second-round pick.

This year, the Bucks had the 41st pick of the second round.

At this position, a team would typically select someone who could contribute right away.

On the eve of the draft, General Manager Larry Harris had called to inquire about Yu Fei's suggestions.

But Yu Fei genuinely didn't know who to pick at this position and gave a vague suggestion: "Someone who can shoot threes, play multiple positions."

This suggestion reminded Harris of Karl.

Karl's thoughts were similar to Yu Fei's.

However, Harris and Karl's relationship was not good.

Because Karl was the kind of person who liked to lay out problems, and if the higher-ups couldn't solve them, he would speak out. Ever since Harris became the GM of the Bucks, he had been forced to endure the coaching staff's pressure.

Over time, internal strife began between the Bucks' coaching staff and management.

So, if Karl wanted someone who could shoot threes and play multiple positions, Harris would select someone who couldn't do either.

The Bucks used the 41st pick of the second round to select Lonny Baxter (Lonny Baxter PF/C).

This selection reminded Yu Fei of his "pleasant" rookie times.

A 203 cm tall big man with sufficient weight, yet who could neither run fast nor jump high, which could severely limit his rebounding strength—considered an advantage in the NCAA—within the NBA.

Looking at his existing skills, the only abilities that could adapt to the NBA were those of boxing out and setting screens.

In fact, Yu Fei didn't care who the team picked; the 41st pick of the second round was a gamble, and anything good coming from it was a bonus.

Karl was focused on Dream Team training, which was why Harris had more freedom to make decisions during this draft.

If Karl were present, the situation would definitely be different.

However, some unexpected events occurred off the court, and these were related to Yao Ming.

Despite the NBA rolling out the red carpet for Yao Ming for three years, there always exist some "am I the only one who thinks this?" people in the world.

ESPN columnist Bill Simmons publicly doubted Yao Ming, writing in his annual NBA Draft Diary: "One day, we'll look back on Yao Ming the way we look back on Sam Bowie."

He also wrote, "In the best case, Yao Ming could become a bigger, stronger Rik Smits. Okay. But when you factor in Yao's adjustment problems (from China to the United States — two completely different cultures), his soft playing style (what happens when NBA players start bumping him, pushing him, intimidating him?), his inability to play in the low post in the NBA, his difficulty in adapting to the American way of playing, and our excessive expectations of him, as well as the inevitable issue of how to handle the highest level of competition, NBA players will dunk on him mercilessly (as they did with Shawn Bradley - they destroyed Shawn's confidence), Yao also needs to endure the loneliness of being in a foreign country, the barrier of not speaking the language, and political issues — I mean, is Houston ready?"

What made Yu Fei most angry was a passage where Simmons fancied himself to be humorous.

After Yao Ming was selected first overall by the Rockets, TNT quickly switched the screen back to a Chinese broadcast room, where Yao took a minute to express his thoughts, and then the interpreter simply translated it to: "I am confident in learning from the NBA and improving myself."

Simmons' translation was: "Thank God, we've succeeded. If not, you would've found a seven-foot-five corpse hanging from a bunk bed. Thank God. Thank God."

"You think you're funny? SHABI!"

Yu Fei sent an email to Simmons' public inbox.

Though it was just a short sentence, it was enough to express Yu Fei's fury.

Simmons, far from taking it seriously, published Yu Fei's letter in the distinctive "Mailbag" article in ESPN's special issue, writing: "A sense of humor is a great thing, I hope Frye has it. If he can't understand it, I can only say his incompatibility with MJ has its reasons." Find your next read at empire