Chapter 185 When Mason is the Matchmaker
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Five: When Mason Played Matchmaker
Although the Bucks had not yet won the championship, a 3-2 lead with the advantage of two home games was enough to pop the champagne in advance for them.
The Spurs were not only facing a stronger team with a more advanced style of play, but also a piece of NBA history that had never been broken—no team had ever lost a Game 7 at home.
Besides, winning two out of three games at the SBC Center had already proved that the Bucks were stronger than the Spurs in terms of sheer power.
As per usual, after the post-game press conference, Yu Fei would still accept individual interviews.
Yu Fei's old friend Bill Walton, being close to the water tower as a commentator on site and able to contact players immediately after the game, naturally sought out Yu Fei for an exclusive interview.
Yu Fei did not refuse.
He had two closely related writers at ESPN, one was the flood king, Marc Stein, and the other was the multi-talented Bill Walton.
Yu Fei and Walton went to a café at the SBC Center for a casual chat.
Walton asked many questions.
One of the questions was, "How did you prepare for this game?"
"To be honest, I was very nervous before the game started, and then George made me enjoy the moment in time."
"How did you do that?"
"I drove to a small town near St. Francis and had a pork chop meal."
Walton laughed with delight as if he had heard Yu Fei's secret to winning.
The interview lasted for less than half an hour before coming to an end.
Afterward, Yu Fei returned to the hotel to rest.
The next day, the entire Bucks team took a charter flight back to Milwaukee.
The first day back from an away game, the Bucks cut their 150-minute training session down to 100 minutes.
Essentially, apart from the 40-minute tactical class, the rest of the time was left to the players to arrange themselves.
Such a loose training schedule was undoubtedly relaxed and was George Karl's habit.
The closer to the end of the season it got, the more necessary it was to reduce the risk of injury.
Acts like Pat Riley's, who out of concern that the players would not enter the finals in top form, suddenly called for a short-term high-intensity training camp that ended up injuring all the core players, were simply idiotic.
Karl believed that a well-trained team would not lose their form due to one lax training session.
Moreover, for some people, no matter how the coaching staff planned it, they would train according to their own rhythm.
No matter what others thought, Ray Allen completed his 800-shot training every day.
Devean George, who was forced to train with him, also had to put in the hard work for this reason.
A certain person did not have Ray Allen's mindset to practice to the death; he felt that Karl's relaxed training was just right.
Anthony Mason thought so too.
"This is the time I think George acts most human in a season," Mason, wearing a sexy tank top exposing muscles more pronounced than sandbags, mumbled to himself.
Yu Fei looked at the old guy with lackluster self-discipline with contempt and mocked, "That's the least human thing you've said all day."
Mason's eyebrows twitched as if he was about to argue with Yu Fei, "Are you saying you don't like this arrangement?"
"I hate this arrangement!" Yu Fei jumped up and said, "If we lose because of insufficient training and the Spurs drag us to a seventh game, it's all your fault!"
Mason was stunned, "It's not fuckin' my decision to arrange the training!"
"It's George's trick!" Yu Fei said as if he saw through everything, "He purposefully arranged this relaxed training to see if we would slack off, and look? You old bastard did exactly as he thought!"
Mason glanced over at Karl from a distance.
He did not believe Karl was so scheming, but why did the constantly unapproachable coach suddenly start acting human?
Mason stared at Karl's touching hairline for a long time.
Those with eyes but no pearls would only ridicule Karl's hairline, but Mason saw through the hairline the surging brain matter inside—probably black… No! The brain matter of this old bastard full of bad water must also be black!
After a while, Yu Fei's assistant Alex Clark came over and said, "Frye, Larry wants you to stop by his office."
Larry Harris (General Manager)?
Mason asked, "The season isn't over yet, what does that guy want with you?"
"He's probably talking to me about trading you," Yu Fei joked, "Do you like playing for the Clippers?"
"Don't fuckin' joke with me like that!"
"I'm a free agent after the season ends; can he trade a free agent? He can't trade shit!"
Whenever Mason screamed on the training ground, nobody was surprised, and they wouldn't even look curiously over.
Was there a need to look? Surely Young Master Yu had pissed someone off again.
What's miraculous is that the same raging Mason, who was the most terrifying creature within the Bucks a year ago, had turned into a piece of comedic scenery for everyone to lighten their mood a year later.
Yu Fei, although with the Bucks for less than a season, had become familiar with most of the people.
The only key executive he was not close to was the team's General Manager, Larry Harris
Harris belonged to the typical second-generation basketball elite, his father being Del Harris, well-known to Chinese fans. Little Harris, lacking the talent to play professional basketball, took part in back-office work through his father's connections.
Sitting in the seat of the Bucks' key backstage manager was also a way to vindicate old Harris.
However, Little Harris was not popular within the Bucks.
Yu Fei knew that he did not get along with George Karl, but also noticed that his connections with the players were quite superficial.
In the player camp, his closest contact was not the veteran Ray Allen, but with Yu Fei.
Yu Fei had no particular opinions about Little Harris, and since the latter had sought him out, it must be for important official business, so he didn't delay and went directly to the General Manager's office.
"Larry, you called for me?"
Little Harris dispensed with the small talk and placed a stack of files in front of Yu Fei before getting straight to the point, "Frye, although the season hasn't ended yet, the team's draft work has already started. Do you have any thoughts?"
Consulting the star player about the draft is a necessary procedure for the team.
However, if Yu Fei were to give his opinion, even using the eye of a transmigrator, he could only offer the following suggestion:
"I think LeBron James is pretty good."
Little Harris smiled, "Anything else?"
"Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are also not bad."
Little Harris would love to accommodate Yu Fei, but the Bucks wouldn't be able to get those guys.
If it weren't for Yu Fei, the Bucks would have had this year's number eight pick—which they got as a consolation prize from the Atlanta Hawks by trading Glenn Robinson. Unfortunately, the transmigrator had disrupted the timeline, and Big Dog had been sent to New York in exchange for Sprewell.
This year, the Bucks had only their own first-round and second-round picks, and because they ranked first in the league, both picks were the very last in their respective rounds.
Little Harris didn't actually expect to get useful advice from Yu Fei; it was just a formality and an opportunity to inform him of the team's draft direction.
"The team is currently lacking in inside depth, so our drafting focus is mainly on the inside positions. These are the interior players we've locked down; you can take a look."
Similarly, this was also just a formality.
Because Yu Fei was unlikely to pay attention to the draft, let alone pick out the best candidate from a bunch of unknown prospects.
Yu Fei glanced at the files and suddenly remembered the game the day after tomorrow.
Spurs...?
Why did he think of the Spurs?
The name Spurs brought to mind things from a more distant past—Kawhi Leonard, Uncle, "My injury is fifty times worse than his."
The source of the drama that ensued was the clumsy foot of a Golden State Warrior big man that sent Leonard off with a divine kick.
Who was he?
Suddenly, a name popped into his mind.
"Zaza Pachulia." Yu Fei asked, "Have you heard of this guy?"
Little Harris, as if listing an old family treasure, said, "Oh, I know him; he's a European. He has mediocre physical qualities but a decent technique, hard-working, and our scouts speak highly of his spirit."
Yu Fei put down the files and asked, "Can we pick him?"
Little Harris replied, "His draft stock is for the middle to later part of the second round, so we indeed have a chance to pick him."
"Then let's choose him."
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Having left that statement, Yu Fei walked away.
Larry Harris watched Yu Fei leave, pulled out Zaza Pachulia's scouting report from the files, and tried to figure out why Yu Fei took an interest in this Georgian.
He couldn't see anything noteworthy about Pachulia.
At the moment, the NBA was extremely enthusiastic about promising European big men, but Pachulia was the kind of big man who didn't draw attention.
He lacked any visible talent for running and jumping, his technique seemed average, he was steady in all aspects but with significant shortcomings, and his strengths weren't apparent.
However, if Yu Fei wanted him, then the team had to seriously consider it.
For the Bucks, Yu Fei was not just the team's new poster boy and the second MVP in team history, but also a magnet for money; every word he said carried weight.
Little Harris promptly called the scouts, requesting that they pay close attention to Pachulia and arrange for a tryout, then set the files aside.
Little Harris then took out another document labeled "Bucks Team Asset Assessment".
Soon after, the phone rang.
"Hello, it's me."
"Yes, Senator Kohl, the team is currently publicly valued at 230 million US Dollars. I believe you could get this figure through your own channels, but there are some values that can't be calculated externally; if you include those, the team is currently valued at 270 million US Dollars."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Before Yu Fei arrived, the Bucks' valuation was only 170 million US Dollars; in just one year, it had increased by 100 million US Dollars.
"Got it."
The call ended.
Little Harris resumed his routine work; even though not many inside the organization had a good relationship with him, his position was secure because he knew who he was working for.
On that basis, as long as he didn't make any major mistakes, nobody could unseat him from his position.
...
That evening, Yu Fei and a few teammates went to the Japanese restaurant that he greatly enjoyed.
Their arrival caused a small stir, but it soon calmed down.
Because Mason and his few bodyguards looked quite intimidating.
They entered the restaurant smoothly.
Yu Fei, as usual, ordered the pork cutlet rice and then kept his eyes on that waitress who had made a lasting impression on him.
Mason said teasingly, "You got a thing for this one?"
"A little bit."
"So what are you waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for a kind soul to get her contact information for me." Yu Fei said jokingly.
Upon hearing this, Mason immediately stood up and approached the waitress. Yu Fei had a bad feeling about this; with Mason looking like a terrifying murderer, he might scare her off.
To his surprise, Mason went up to the waitress and, going against his usual demeanor, said, "Hey, can I ask for your contact details for my friend?"
It was much later that Yu Fei found out Anthony Mason was famously known as a matchmaker in college, famous for his high success rate in getting women's phone numbers for his friends at various parties.