Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Bucks gathered their emotions and headed for the away game.

The destination was quite special this time; it was nearly the largest market in the whole league—New York.

However, the Knicks were no longer the gangster team that once bitterly battled against the Bulls' first dynasty, narrowly lost to the '94 Houston Rockets, and engaged in years of skirmish with their clone team, the Miami Heat.

Trading Patrick Ewing was their watershed moment.

Now, New Yorkers had to watch Antonio McDyess limping on the court, endure Glenn Robinson's "scoring 15 points a game is enough for me" Zen attitude, witness Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley debating who was the worse player, see Kurt Thomas looking a bit manic and lost, Alan Houston resembling a zebra that had lost its way, while the general manager Scott Layden could only hide in the VIP box pretending none of it was his fault.

New Yorkers hoped their team leader would be Michael Corleone ("The Godfather" protagonist); however, the combination of James Dolan and Scott Layden seemed like a supercharged version of Sonny and Fredo Corleone.

Note for those who haven't seen "The Godfather": Sonny is the hot-tempered elder brother who acts without thinking and ends up dead. Fredo is the worthless and bungling brother, who in the second part betrays the family and is eventually executed by the protagonist.

At one point, Yu Fei felt powerless due to the chaos within the team, but looking at the Knicks' situation, what more could he ask for?

Although the Bucks had their own problems, none came close to the deep-rooted issues of the Knicks.

"Trevor, if it were you, how would you save the Knicks?"

On the plane, Yu Fei inquired of Trevor White, a reporter from "Milwaukee Sentinel."

White, holding a cup of coffee, said nonchalantly, "My choice is the same as the New Yorkers."

Yu Fei understood.

What White meant was that he shared the same thought with those fans at Madison Square Garden who excitedly yelled "Fire Scott Layden!" when the Knicks lost a home game during the draft.

It seemed the New Yorkers' version hadn't evolved to the point of demanding James Dolan to sell the team.

But that was exactly the most despairing part because no matter how much they cried out, Dolan would never sell the team.

Afterward, there was silence all the way.

For some of the Bucks, tonight's game against the Knicks was special.

Such as Latrell Sprewell.

Perhaps because of the large New York market, the locals' love and hate for players had strong realistic factors.

When you're in your prime, at the peak of your career, they love you, even if you almost strangled your own coach.

Once you begin to decline, become unstable, and can no longer lead the team back to glory, they turn mean and mercenary; you might want a bit of love and understanding from them, but all you get is more criticism.

It took only a few years for Sprewell to go from a reformed hero to being discarded by New York.
Explore more adventures at empire

This made him feel it was necessary to do something tonight to take revenge on those ungrateful fans.

NBA's new cable TV partner ABC smartly broadcast this game nationwide live.

Even without considering the New York market, the gimmick of Sprewell and Robinson facing their former team was enough.

Before the opening tip-off, Yu Fei went to the broadcast booth for a pre-game interview.

An ABC reporter asked Yu Fei a sensitive question, "Does George Karl's statement bother you?"

Yu Fei thought this must refer to Karl's comment after playing against Magic that the starters weren't taking responsibility.

There was no change in Yu Fei's expression, "I asked George about it, and he wasn't talking about me, so I have no problem with it."

It seemed the ABC reporter was eager for a big story: "Who do you think Coach Karl was referring to?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know, as long as it's not me."

Yu Fei deftly dodged the question in the simplest way.

Then, he returned to the locker room to get ready for tonight's game.

Shortly after, the game began.

Yu Fei had no special emotions towards the Knicks, so his motivation was very pure—just to win the game.

But for someone like Sprewell, who had personal feelings, his desire to perform was much higher.

So far this season in two games, Sprewell could be described as playing terribly, going 7 for 26 from the field, averaging only 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.

On the Bucks, Sprewell didn't have the offensive status he enjoyed during his time with the Knicks, or to put it another way, no one had the current superstar privileges in George Karl's near-egalitarian offense.

Karl needed Sprewell for his defense.

Sprewell always considered himself as both an offensive and defensive player, and it was only when he was particularly off that he would focus solely on defense.

Today, Sprewell broke Karl's rule.

The ball would not leave his hands once it reached him.

This enraged Karl.

But what restrained Karl's temper was Sprewell's efficient offense.

Yu Fei had always considered Sprewell an early proponent of the "Moneyball" approach, and tonight, his performance confirmed Yu Fei's guess.

Sprewell never took mid-range shots; for him, offense was either threes or drives to the basket.

When he was hitting threes, he played like a scoring guard of the small-ball era.

Once Spreweill got hot, Yu Fei's role in the half-court set decreased, knowing how much this game meant to The Madman, so he let him play however he wanted.