Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Richard Hamilton was more amiable than expected.

In their brief conversation, Yu Fei discovered an innocent side to Hamilton's personality: he was quite gullible.

And, he viewed the world through a rather superficial lens.

For example, coming from Philadelphia, he claimed that Philadelphia lacked any unique features, saying that all the talk about its distinctiveness was just slander by mean outsiders.

He based this on the fact that none of his friends had anything particularly unique, so he concluded that Philadelphia must not have anything either.

Yu Fei almost doubted whether Hamilton was playing dumb with him, but after giving it some thought, was there any need for that?

Regardless, Hamilton earned a favorable impression from Yu Fei.

At yesterday's media event, Yu Fei met the other players from the Wizards, but they barely interacted beyond exchanging names.

Today could be considered the first day of the training camp, and after completing the morning training and eating lunch with a brief rest, Yu Fei arrived punctually in the afternoon at the Wilmington Branch gym.

Nearly all the listed Wizards players had arrived at the scene except for Jordan and Kwame Brown.

Jordan was known to be missing the first few days of training camp due to tendonitis, which was common knowledge.

Where was Brown?

Yu Fei was wondering when Wizards Head Coach Doug Collins addressed everyone's confusion, "Kwame is not participating in training today due to back spasms."

With Jordan and Brown absent, the only person in the team who could give Yu Fei a sense of familiarity was Tyronn Lue, who had just transferred from the Lakers to the Wizards earlier that summer.

It couldn't be helped; Coach Lu's image was deeply ingrained, with the meme "you actually know quite a bit about basketball.JPG" also once popular on sports forums in his home country. If during his Cavaliers days Coach Lu was merely an accessory to James, then coaching the Clippers to the Western finals even without Kawhi Leonard due to season-ending injury, thereby setting a team record, had won him respect in the NBA.

Because the team's mainstay, Jordan, and the keenly nurtured Brown were absent, Collins didn't follow the usual routine of having the players scrimmage.

Today's training focused on tactical positioning.

"I hope the veteran players can help the newcomers, and even though today is our first group practice, I want to see a team with unity and solidarity before me," Collins said.

Perhaps it was because Collins had just transitioned from commentator back to coach, his briefing still felt like he was providing commentary on a game.

During training, Yu Fei exchanged a few words with the others here and there.

Almost every person left a different impression.

The veteran Chris Whitney, who had played for the team for six years, was warm-hearted, playing a leadership and exemplary role.

Another veteran, Hubert Davis, was harsh and strict, not allowing anyone to lag behind.

Tyronn Lue was like a headless fly, bumping into obstacles everywhere.

As the only acquisition by the Wizards after the draft, his performance made Collins frown.

Next came one of the ugliest people Yu Fei had ever seen—Popeye Jones.

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In terms of ugliness alone, he surpassed Yu Fei's buddy Anthony Lawson.

Lawson, apart from having somewhat large nostrils, had no significant flaws in his facial features, while Jones was different—he had a pair of intimidating, bulging eyes, and when he stared at someone, they looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, quite fearsome.

Fortunately, despite his appearance, Jones had a decent disposition. When Yu Fei collided with him during a drill, knocked to the ground by Jones, the latter opened his eyes wide as though angry, extended his hand, and said, "Sorry, my bad."

"It's alright, I forgive you." In reality, Yu Fei was still dazed and didn't quite know who had made the mistake.

The veteran who left the worst impression on Yu Fei was Christian Laettner. He looked fair and gentlemanly but turned out to be a bully who liked to pick on others.

When Tyronn Lue's positioning conflicted with him, he used the word "blockhead."

Coach Lu, insignificant as he was, could only swallow the insult.

Yu Fei became more cautious with his positioning; he certainly didn't want to get bitten by a dog.

However, dogs are dogs not only because they enjoy being mean but also because they like to attack proactively.

At the end of the first day of training, Yu Fei returned to the locker room to change, and to his face, Laettner stripped off his clothes and threw them on the ground, "Rookie, take these clothes and get them washed for me."

Bullying, a common trope in Korean dramas, was something Yu Fei had seen a lot but had never personally experienced. Now, faced with it, how could he submit?

"What if I refuse?" Yu Fei asked.

Laettner confidently replied, "You'd better do this for me; it's a rookie's responsibility."

"I refuse," Yu Fei said, "I can do chores for Rip and Chris, but I won't help you. I do not want to be associated with a sick person like you."

At that moment, Laettner's face turned extremely dark, "It seems no one has ever taught you rookie etiquette."

"If you think you're qualified to teach me, don't blame me for refusing you again." Yu Fei was ready for a fight with Laettner, ready to kick that little bird and end its reproductive capabilities.

It's bad enough that your 'little bird' is invisible, and now you like taking it all off for others to see?

With sarcasm, Yu Fei countered, "How could somebody like you, who enjoys trampling on opponents, a despicable person, possibly teach me manners? Don't forget, you were a thief long before you were even a rookie, and the only reason the Dream Team isn't considered the best team in history is that it included a person like you."

Fury written all over his face, Laettner exploded, "I'm gonna teach you a hard lesson, motherfucker!"

The two did not come to blows; after all, there were still plenty of nice guys around.

Chris Whitney held back Laettner, and as the second-in-command, Hamilton spoke up, "Christian, why are you getting into it with a kid?"

As he spoke, he signaled to Coach Lu with his eyes to take Yu Fei out of the locker room.

As a player who had Iverson's body but neither his talent nor his skill, and yet possessed Iverson's efficiency, Coach Lu knew quite a bit about defending against Iverson, but in many ways, fell below the NBA's benchmarks.

The reason he lasted nearly a decade in the NBA was not just his diligence and willingness to learn but also his high EQ and social skills.

After Hamilton signaled, Coach Lu immediately took Yu Fei away.

"Frye, you were too impulsive today."

Coach Lu was experienced; he had been bullied by all kinds of old gangsters when he was with the Lakers and didn't take such things to heart. In his view, someone like Laettner—smelling so foul—asking Yu Fei to wash his clothes was already kind, considering Jordan's influence.

Who would have thought this kid had such a strong personality? To refuse was one thing, but to mock Laettner to his face? Did he no longer want to play together happily?

"I've tolerated him for two hours," Yu Fei said, "and just now I took the opportunity to express myself."

Coach Lu was taken aback. Was this kid a troublemaker?

Veterans picking on rookies is an unwritten NBA rule. As long as it's not over the top, even someone as strong as Anthony Davis was stripped naked by a bunch of old hooligans in the locker room and had videos taken during his rookie year.

That wasn't even the most outrageous; the most outrageous story came from one Coach Lu heard during his time with the Lakers, dating back to the Showtime era. On a road trip, Jabbar opened a rookie player's luggage and found a pair of women's panties belonging to the rookie's fiancée. He put the underwear on his head, running around shouting, "Your wife is on top of me! Your wife is on top of me⑴!"

Can you picture that?

"Christian is a valued player on the team, and you're a rookie the team will definitely cultivate—ideally... you should get along," Coach Lu tried one last time.

Yu Fei dismissed the idea with a cold laugh, "That idiot has gone through five teams in the past seven years. How long do you think he can stay in D.C.?"

Coach Lu didn't waste any more words. Yu Fei had the capital to be at odds with Laettner. He was a lottery pick, and as he said, Laettner was just a consolation prize obtained in the Juwan Howard trade. If he could adapt to Jordan's era of the Wizards, maybe he could play in D.C. for a few years; if not, he might be traded before the season even ended.

Looking at it this way, Yu Fei had no reason to fear.

Coach Lu had to regard Yu Fei highly.

Is this what a high school draftee looks like? If a number eight pick is like this, one can only imagine how much arrogance a number one pick would have.

⑴The source is Jeff Pearlman's "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s." PS: Why mention the author and the book in English? Because this book has not been translated in China. If you're interested, just copy what I've written, and you'll find it.

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