When pride still matters

Chapter 385: Those who reject me will encounter misfortune
With four and a half minutes left in the game, they were 17 points behind. In the big ball era, this point difference basically sentenced the Celtics to death.

However, the Celtics did not give up.

Their tenacity and will to resist were equally impressive.

They stayed in the game until the last second.

So they narrowed the point difference to 9 points.

Judging from the results, their efforts are meaningless, but for the fans, this game that should have failed by a big score turned into a routine failure with a 9-point gap through the efforts of the players.

Disappointing, but acceptable.

Yu Fei played the most iconic game of the season, scoring 54 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. He basically single-handedly defeated the first team in the league that was in full swing.

"If Frye is still in the East, will the Celtics still be the No. 1 seed in the East? Once upon a time, this was a question, but tonight's game gave us the answer." Doug Collins, as a well-known fan, said Without any psychological burden, he gave Yu Fei a mouthful of milk, "If Frye is still in Milwaukee, Boston has no chance at all."

Moreover, because this game is related to the signing of PJ Brown, it adds extra drama.

The SuperSonics' victory over the Celtics on the road can be said to be an upset.

"It's just a joke, PJ will make the best choice for him." Yu Fei was not naive enough to think that as long as he defeated the Celtics, he could get PJ Brown to join him.

After all, this old immortal no longer wanted to play football anymore. Now that the season is halfway through, the reason why he wants to come back is to retire with a championship.

The general meeting of shareholders generally summarizes the gains and losses of the year and introduces the future development direction of the alliance. The boss can also put forward opinions.

This allowed Sonics news to quickly occupy the pages of major media.

Yu Fei tried his best to defeat the Celtics, but in the eyes of Old Brown, this was an unsustainable performance.

Therefore, Yu Fei did not want to hype this matter seriously, so he classified it as a joke and let Old Brown decide by himself.

There are many signs that the Sonics' relocation plans have slowed down - or even stalled - but in April, Yu Fei, who has made it his mission to keep the Sonics in Seattle, still had a hurdle to overcome.

Every April, the NBA holds a shareholder meeting, and usually the owners will be present.

This is a very strange psychology.

If he comes to Seattle, of course Yu Fei will welcome him. If he still chooses the Celtics after watching the game, then Yu Fei also expresses his understanding. But showing understanding doesn't mean he can accept it.

For Brown, his only pursuit is to win the championship. If the Celtics are the closer choice to this goal, why would he sacrifice the near and seek the far?
A reporter at the scene also mentioned PJ Brown’s bet to Yu Fei.

Human beings are creatures that are quite flexible in their own words and deeds.

But for Old Brown himself, even if Yu Fei wins, he still prefers the Celtics.

Yu Fei didn't know how this incident spread, but in the Internet era, the NBA is like a show, so it doesn't matter who the source of the news is.

Because the Celtics have an extremely high winning rate at home this season and have been on a winning streak recently, but the SuperSonics are mired in a weak inside line. Against the Celtics, who have an absolute inside advantage, there is a high probability of losing. .

He can't score 50 points every time against the Celtics.

Compared to the Celtics, the SuperSonics are no closer to a championship.

Old Brown's choice of the Celtics will give him one more reason to crush the Celtics' championship dream this season.

In addition to asking about Yu Fei's game, reporters at the scene also inevitably brought up the issue of the Sonics' relocation.

Unexpectedly, Yu Fei suddenly exerted his strength.

If the Sonics want to relocate, Clay Bennett can propose relocation at the shareholders' meeting. At that time, the shareholders' meeting will start voting. As long as there are more votes to agree to the Sonics' relocation, the alliance will approve the Sonics' relocation proposal.

Then, the relocation of the Sonics is an established fact within the league, and all that remains is the contract issue between the Sonics and Key Arena.

According to most experts' speculation, as long as Bennett proposes to move at the shareholders' meeting, the vote at the meeting will definitely pass.

This is no longer a question of whether to buy the big market of Seattle, but a choice made by the boss based on his own interests.

The Sonics were unable to obtain a better arena because they lacked support from the local government. Sooner or later, the same problem will fall on other NBA teams. This group of bosses who usually do nothing are the biggest force supporting Bennett's move. They hope to shape Seattle into a typical case to threaten other NBA cities.

Hearing such questions, the good mood of defeating the Celtics naturally disappeared. Yu Fei said: "I don't know if I should be worried. Moreover, the Sonics are developing in a good direction. If we give up now, all our efforts will be in vain."

After the press conference, Yu Fei walked down the aisle.

He was flanked only by the Sonics' press officer and Kwame Brown.

They met two of Celtic's giants in the aisles.

Garnett and Pierce looked like they had been waiting for a long time.

It's not a surprise that Garnett is here, and Yu Fei's personal relationship with him is okay. Pierce was surprising. Yu Fei beat him up on the spot tonight and tortured him both physically and mentally with trash talk.

"Frye, you played well tonight, but next time we must win." Garnett said, "We will collect this debt at your home court."

Yu Fei asked: "You specially waited for me here just to talk about this?"

"We have no problem, right?" Pierce wanted to know if Yu Fei was so strong against him on the court because of personal grudges.

Yu Fei asked back: "No problem."

"I will still bother you like that next time." Pierce said with a smile.

Yu Fei also smiled, but his smile easily reminded Pierce of tonight's game: "I will shut you up."

Then they each said goodbye.

After walking away, Brown said to Fei: "You are probably the only person who scares Paul Pierce."

"Do you really think he's afraid of me?" Why does Yu Fei look at Pierce like a cheap guy who doesn't know the pain no matter how hard he hits him?

Brown said with certainty: "If he wasn't afraid of you, he wouldn't have bothered with it. He came to chat with you tonight just to confirm whether you thought he was LeBron."

Yu Fei didn't think too much about it. Tonight was a preliminary understanding of the Celtics.

His answer is that the Celtics' overall strength is better than the SuperSonics, but the Celtics' problem is that they lack the final say.

Pierce has a big heart, and Reid had a surprise performance against the Spurs in the 2003 Finals, but both of their explosions have Klay Thompson-style colored memory bonuses? What does that mean? When you see Thompson's big C and special C in G6 in various series, you often forget his mediocrity in other games in the series, because the subjective stimulation will overwhelm everything.

The explosion of key scenes can bring the most extreme experience to the audience, so this impression is infinitely deepened.

This happens to almost all role players or grassroots superstars who are not famous but have a reputation for big hearts.

The manifestation of this kind of colored memory is basically that when you play a good game, you are praised all over the screen, but when you perform poorly, you are ignored.

Garnett, the only one who might change the Celtics' grassroots temperament, is a notoriously unreliable player at critical moments. That's the problem. The most valuable star on the team can change the team's temperament, can bring defense, and can provide intensity, but when it comes to life and death, you don't want to see him get the ball because he will tend to use jump shots to solve the problem. Rather than betting on him making the shot, it's better to let guys like Pierce and Redd who have had big moments take care of it.

Therefore, the Celtics have the strongest overall strength, but they also have the least adaptable coaching staff and the most unstable offensive ability. These characteristics prevent them from winning those games on the road. They must use the so-called courage, trust, dedication, teamwork, Celtic glory and other factors that cannot be reflected in the data to amplify and win through home court advantage. Kill your opponent.

That night, the SuperSonics coaching staff contacted PJ Brown and the two parties negotiated the signing.

As Yu Fei expected, they did not sign PJ Brown.

After careful consideration, Old Brown called Yu Fei.

He said on the phone that he had to make a decision that would most likely result in him retiring with a championship ring.

Yu Fei suddenly "appreciated" Old Brown a little bit. He was not emotional at all. Even if he scored 50 points and was close to a triple-double, it did not shake his judgment. He is not the kind of person who would be shocked and dizzy by subjective stimulation.

However, being sensible does not mean being right.

"You know, PJ, I recruited Gary Payton to join my team in the summer of 2003, but he felt the Lakers were better. Because they had OK and Karl Malone there, they had a better chance of winning the championship." Yu Fei said gently, "Do you know what happened next? Kobe raped the hotel waiter in Eagle County, Karl Malone was plagued by injuries that season, and Payton played a Finals performance that tarnished his historical status. Since then, Running around like a stray dog ​​and ultimately getting nothing.”

Yu Fei's tone sounded so calm, and there was nothing uncomfortable about it, but PJ Brown felt like there was cold air rising from his back.

"Fry, what do you want to say?"

"I just want to give you a piece of advice." Yu Fei said, "Those who reject me will suffer misfortune."

(End of this chapter)