When pride still matters

Chapter 54 That man is back again

Before the special training began, one suggestion given by Aidan Strong, the trainer hired by Yu Fei, was to pay attention to a healthy diet.

"If you want to be a great athlete, you should say no to all carbonated drinks, fried foods, and red meat."

Yu Fei's question is: "What will happen if I don't refuse?"

"It will be difficult to build a perfect physique through training, and after reaching a certain age, you will show a more obvious decline than your peers."

"How old are you?"

"Around 30 years old." Slunt said, "Except for Karl Malone, no one in NBA history can still maintain the top level after reaching the age of 35. This is closely related to Karl's ascetic life."

In this case, Yu Fei decided to be obedient and try to avoid these things as much as possible, but it was impossible to completely cut them off. He was not a self-disciplined person like Ma Long.

From late July to early September, Yu Fei stayed in the comprehensive gymnasium in a wealthy community in DC. There were other athletes here, but no one practiced as hard as him.

Yu Fei trains three times a day.

Do 3 hours of ball training in the morning, 2 hours of strength training in the afternoon, and continue ball training in the evening.

Even the much-criticized three-conformity-one approach in Chinese sports is no more than that.

As for the team, the management fell into calm after the draft.

Last season, Jordan made a fierce move and sent away the highly paid and incompetent Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland. As a result, the Wizards still fell into the lottery and received the No. [-] pick.

Currently, the most powerful player on the team is Richard Hamilton, followed by Christian Laettner, who was acquired in the trade of Juwan Howard.

However, no matter how bad Juwan Howard is, he can't compare to Laettner now.

The existing lineup is not competitive. Do you expect two high school rookies to realize their talents as soon as they enter the league?

Or is Jordan confident in his performance after his comeback?
No one knows the reason. After the draft, the Wizards only did one thing - signed Tyronn Lue with a minimum salary.

Jordan disappeared after the draft.

The outside world doesn't know what he is doing, whether he will come back, and whether the two ribs broken by Artest changed his comeback plan?
The answer is no.

Having two broken ribs will not extinguish Jordan's desire to come back, but will instead give him a sense of urgency that time and time cannot wait.

Before being injured by Artest, Jordan had been secretly training for three months. This collision forced him to rest for a month.

For a person with a three-year window, the result of three months of special training and one month of rest is that the three months of special training have become invalid.

Just because Mitsui Hisako turned back and became the top shooter in the country after two years of high school neglect does not mean that Jordan, who is about to turn 38, can return to his former glory in just three months after three years of retirement.

After recovering from his rib injury, Jordan increased his training volume.

Tim Grover, Jordan's long-time veteran trainer, realizes that training with such intensity comes with many risks.

"Mike, I know you are anxious, but now is not the time to be anxious. The more you act like this, the more your body will be unable to endure it. If you suffer from tenosynovitis,"

Jordan didn't want to follow the advice, "Leave that alone."

Grover and Jordan have been working together for 12 years, and their relationship has long transcended the ordinary employer-employee relationship.When Jordan was frustrated by the Bad Boys, Grover came up with his famous "Breakfast Club" program to help him build muscle.On the way to helping Jordan end the Bad Boys, Grover was the person who indirectly contributed the most.Their relationship was so close that Grover could even criticize Jordan to his face - and believe me, there aren't more than a handful of people in the world who have that right.

Now Grover found himself in the awkward position of not knowing how to persuade Icarus not to fly too high.

Time came to September. More than two months of hard training allowed Jordan to regain some of the strength and physical fitness he had as a player, but his health risks were unfortunately revealed by Grover.

Around mid-August, Jordan developed tenosynovitis in his knee.

So Grover revealed a little news to the outside world and expressed his own opinion: "I don't think Mike will return next season."

This made reporters think that Jordan's comeback plan was ruined.

This made Jordan furious and let his mouthpiece say that he had encountered a problem with his knee. Although it was uncertain whether he would come back, if he came back, it would be entirely out of his love for basketball.There were rare moments when Grover didn't understand Jordan at all.

In his view, tenosynovitis has blocked Jordan's return. This is an injury that requires rest, and this is Jordan's current difficulty.If you rest, more than two months of hard training will be in vain. If you don't rest, the tenosynovitis will become more and more serious, and sooner or later it will lead to greater injuries.

Even if Jordan was destined to play through tenosynovitis for a season without serious injury, you are almost 40 years old after all. Can you play well with knee discomfort?

Reporters who like to lick Jordan's ass have cited mouthpieces to promote Jordan's love for basketball, as if fans don't know that this is a man who left basketball twice in his prime.

He doesn't love basketball that much, at least not as much as he says.

What does he love?It’s the lofty status of being the only god in American sports.He once thought that what he pursued was to sit firmly in the office and guide the country after retirement, but now he discovered that the control and satisfaction of sitting in the office could not be compared with that of Michael Jordan running on the field.

It's the difference between longing for someone and coming back to someone, and for Jordan, being president of the Wizards isn't half as enjoyable as it was as a player.

Jordan's assistant Rod Higgins comforted Grover: "As long as Mike overcomes this difficulty, everything will be fine. There is nothing better than having him back on the court."

Grover smiled bitterly, and he felt a sense of loss, like watching the Titanic set off to sea.

Lost is a bad word in Jordan's camp; lost carries an image of emptiness, connoting a certain despair.Instead, Jordan and his publicity team talked about his passion—“the love of basketball,” which sounded more cheerful, as if he was answering a calling rather than escaping the emptiness of the office.Love lends his return an aura of professionalism, with just a hint of addiction—a craving that needs to be satisfied, he calls it.

The pain of tenosynovitis gradually exceeded the limit that the player could reach, and Jordan half-heartedly accepted Grover's suggestion and slightly reduced the intensity of training.

Then, in late September, Jordan's agent, David Falk, announced to the world with a simple press release: That man, he's back!

Think about what kind of earthquake happened in the e-sports circle when UZI came back in EDG, and this is Jordan. As a genuine YYDS, his second return is given a lofty value - in order to give Americans who have experienced the 911 incident Regain the confidence to face life.

This is God.

He still stands at the highest place and overlooks all living beings. Whatever he does makes people think wildly. As long as you don't accidentally think that he is almost 40 years old, you will be full of expectations for this matter.

On September 9, Jordan sold his shares in the Wizards, stepped down as president, and signed a contract with the Wizards.

At this time, the Wizards' front office and coaching staff are preparing for the upcoming preseason training camp in Wilmington, North Carolina.

When the news of Jordan's comeback came out, Susan O'Mary, who was in charge of the team's marketing and commercial cooperation, immediately flew back to DC. At that time, Jordan was training at the Verizon Center in training clothes.

O'Mary said to Jordan, who had just stepped down as president, in a tone that left no room for doubt: "Michael, we need to hold a large press conference with many activities. The 'Jordan Returns' stunt will definitely happen."

"I can hold the press conference myself, so I don't need you to worry about it." Jordan said in an indifferent tone, "As for promoting the team, no, I have done enough."

Omari frowned and did not intend to give in. "Every player has the responsibility to promote the team."

Jordan let the Wizards use his name and image for marketing without charging a penny. He felt that this was enough and the Wizards should not expect more, but O'Mary didn't think so.

That's right, this 40-year-old blond white woman who is still single only cares about making money for the dwarf Pauline, and she doesn't care about anything else.

"Listen, let me say it for the last time, I don't want to do that shit!" Jordan raised his voice. "I'm coming back. This is the best advertisement. You just have to grasp this, other than that. I'm not going to do anything. I'm not going to be like a liar and make promises to the people in Washington under your arrangement to make a big difference in the new season. You know how bad we were last season. If we make the publicity , and then we failed miserably in the new season, what will those people who listened to the propaganda and came to watch the game think? They will think I am a liar! I tell you, as long as we start winning, there will be people who will buy your useless games without publicity. Ornamental peripheral products, as long as we start winning games, every home court will be filled with spectators!”

At this moment, Susan O'Mary recognized the reality.

Jordan is not an employee in her knowledge, and even in Jordan's view, he is not an employee, he is Pauline's partner.

Pauline hopes that O'Mary will use her work ability to force Jordan to do some extra work to help the team. However, Jordan will define what work his partner has to do, and he will not do anything beyond that scope. Won't do it.

Omari walked out of the court with a gloomy face. When she came to the corridor, she violently pushed down the trash can on the side.

Then, the assistant quickly followed up without saying anything, and just said for the record: "Maybe you can let someone else do today's activities."

"Who?"

"Fry Yu," the assistant said, "he is unexpectedly popular in DC."

⑴Icarus is the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology. When he and Daedalus escaped from Crete using wings made of wax and feathers, Icarus flew too high and the wax on his wings melted by the sun and fell into the water and died. Buried on an island.

(End of this chapter)