Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This scene also made Collins' eyelids twitch violently, the pace was too fast.

With such back and forth, how could an old man in his forties endure it with his old arms and legs?

Yu Fei completely ignored Jordan's presence, surveyed the whole court, drove to the opponent's basket, and slammed the ball in for a score.

"Less than 5 minutes have passed in the first quarter, and Frye has already scored 7 points!"

"He is the most surprising rookie of the season!"

Many people did not anticipate Grant Hill's inability to cope with Yu Fei's energetic performance.

Hill was frustrated but couldn't complain; aside from that one isolation play, the points Yu Fei scored were basically easy ones.

Even if he wanted to respond, it was difficult because he could clearly feel discomfort in his ankle.

However, he had already spent a season on the injury list, and if he had to return to being an invalid after just a few games, he might permanently earn the reputation of being a "soft egg" in Detroit.

"Grant, show that rookie some color!"

McGrady saw the situation clearly in his mind and did not blame Hill but simply asked him to make a response.

Hill agreed verbally but felt unsure inside.

The discomfort in his ankle – was it a new injury from the game or...

Hill's concern for his body was evident; he did not initiate an attack with the ball as McGrady had hoped, but instead called for McGrady's pick and roll and made a gesture that only Magic players could understand.

McGrady was surprised but complied anyway.

Their cooperation was smooth, Yu Fei and Jordan switched defense, but Hill's call for the pick and roll was not to complete his own offense. The moment McGrady set the pick, he cut straight to the basket, shaking off Jordan with greater speed.

All Hill had to do was to toss the ball in the air, and McGrady would finish the job.

An effortless alley-oop layup was completed just like that.

McGrady scored 8 points in a row and remained the only player scoring for the Magic Team.

11 to 8

The difference was just 3 points.

"Hey, buddy, you really need to teach that rookie a lesson!" McGrady did not know about Hill's condition and simply wanted to help his older teammate regain confidence.

Subsequently, both teams fell into a scoring drought.

On the Wizards' side, Ratner was fully aware of who had the hot hand but deliberately ignored Yu Fei while initiating tactics.

The Wizards naturally kept missing.

Luckily, the Wizards weren't the only ones with a fool; the Magic also had one, starting point guard Darrell Armstrong being the lousiest point guard Yu Fei had seen so far.

His lousiness did not lie in his ability but in failing to understand his role.

With McGrady and Hill on the court, Armstrong still liked to call for pick and rolls and then presumptuously take advantage of the gaps the Wizards intentionally gave him to shoot.

A standard Darrell Armstrong play went like this: call for a high pick and roll, stop abruptly between two defenders for a jump shot, and miss.

After the same scenario occurred three times, Doc Rivers finally substituted him off.

Rivers decided to start experimenting with tactics, and the Magic suddenly played without a traditional point guard: McGrady took over as point guard, the second-year star Mike Miller played shooting guard, and Hill stayed as a small forward.

On the Wizards' side, Collins substituted Jordan and Ratner out for a rest, with Richard Hamilton and Kwame Brown replacing them on the court.

"Michael, are you feeling okay?"

Collins really felt like Jordan's knee was on fire.

Jordan frowned, "I'm fine."

"Really?" Collins forgot that Jordan didn't like to be questioned.

"I said I'm fine!" Jordan's tone became harsher.

Collins asked no further; as long as Jordan said he was fine, then he was fine, his knee forever healthy.

The score of 11 to 8 had lasted for over three minutes; now it was the Magic's ball. McGrady directly started dribbling from the backcourt, his intent very clear: since he had already taken care of all 8 points for the Magic since the opening, what was 2 more points?

Even though Yu Fei was fully prepared, McGrady played so effortlessly that it seemed as if he wasn't taking his opponent seriously at all—dribbling, starting, pulling up quickly, and then a step-back jump shot.

Yu Fei was certain that his blocking range had reached its limit, but then...

"Swoosh!"

McGrady wasn't one for trash talk, he just scored and ran back.

Yu Fei could distinguish between reality and dreams. He knew he still had a long way to go compared to a top-five League player like McGrady, but he definitely had the strength to respond since McGrady wasn't known for his defense.

"I want to be like 'Mike,'" but the only stars of the "Be Like Mike" generation who had both offensive and defensive skills were Kobe, Wade, and James (as long as he wanted to defend).

When Yu Fei ran to the frontcourt, he unexpectedly discovered that the Magic weren't putting Hill or McGrady on him, but had assigned Miller to guard him instead.

It wasn't that Yu Fei looked down on Miller, he just felt there was no value in the matchup.

Therefore, Yu Fei said "politely," "Get T-MAC here, I'm not interested in you."

"Rookie, I was last year's Rookie of the Year, show some respect!" Miller responded dissatisfied.

Rookie of the Year? Who cared about that?

"Chris!"

Yu Fei once again broke off the play, forcefully demanding the ball.

"Damn it, what about our strategy?" Ratner complained from the sidelines, "Why does Chris trust that rookie so much?"

Then, Yu Fei experimented with the face-up footwork he had pilfered from McGrady during the game on Miller's defense. Although it was still clumsy, Miller's defense wasn't good enough, and combined with the 7 points Yu Fei had already scored in the first quarter, the intimidation factor was there. The step that seemed full of flaws to McGrady and Jordan was ugly, but effective. Miller was thrown off by a probing step to the left, followed by a drive forward and a big step into the paint to hand Mr. Brown an easy basket.

"Big Fei, you've changed. You don't even call me out for the pick and roll anymore!" Brown followed and said to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei asked with a smile, "Do you like my assist?"

"I like it."

"Then why the hell are you complaining?"

McGrady was back, condemning Yu Fei for treating Miller like a practice dummy, "Rookie, your imitation is pathetically bad!"

After speaking, McGrady was ready to use his most famous skill—the NBA's most beautiful calf-awarded pull-up three-pointer from beyond the arc.

McGrady underestimated Yu Fei, treating him like an inexperienced rookie, thereby foregoing even the basic ball-protecting motion, trying to resolve the defense with just a pull-up shot.

Stealing the ball was one of Yu Fei's special talents, and when McGrady suddenly presented the opportunity, there was no reason for him to pass it up. With a snap, the atmosphere at MCI Center turned electric.

"Frye has just stolen the ball from T-MAC in a one-on-one!"

The city's broadcaster in D.C. excitedly exclaimed in that moment.

Yu Fei dashed forward at full speed.

McGrady made a slight effort to chase, but seeing he couldn't catch up, he gave up.

He wasn't the type of person who fought for every ball, so he'd never chase down 28 meters after a turnover to block a shot like Kobe would chase after Andre Miller.

Yu Fei had no risk of being blocked because McGrady had stopped his steps early.

If the opponent had conceded the stage, there was no reason to not put on a good show.

Yu Fei received the ball at the free-throw line, took a couple of steps to build up power, and leapt up to unleash a windmill dunk, igniting the MCI Center crowd.

"This is what we've been talking about. Frye can bring a powerful energy to D.C., and for the past several games, he's been doing the same thing off the bench. We're glad he made it to the starting lineup," the NBC commentator joked, "Maybe we should ask, why didn't he make it to the starting lineup sooner?"

Two minutes later, Yu Fei, who had played 8 minutes in the first quarter, was substituted out.

9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists—that was what Yu Fei had accomplished in 8 minutes, and it was also the reason the Wizards hadn't been crushed by McGrady's fierce solo offensive.

As Yu Fei walked off the court, Collins had mixed feelings, knowing that he and Jordan no longer had any reason to keep the most deserving starter on the bench.

"Good playing, get some rest. We need you to play like this in the second quarter!"

Collins looked at Yu Fei and insincerely said.

Yu Fei didn't even bother to engage with Collins and just gave a "Hmm" before sitting down on the sidelines.