When pride still matters

Chapter 9 You know, Brandon Roy is my good brother
Yu Fei spent his last night in Seattle at Brandon Roy's house.

Roy was originally invited because he is a native of Seattle, and this Nike Regional Invitational is held in northwest Seattle, just around the corner from his home.

After Yu Fei talked to Hank Selvan, he went home with Roy.

There are three main reasons why Yu Fei accepted Roy's invitation.The main reason is that he and Roy get along well.Roy doesn't fit Yu Fei's stereotype of black people. He is humble, polite, and considerate of the people around him. He is not full of regional slang and catchphrases such as "ouch" and "what's up".

From this point of view, Roy's behavior is close to that of white people.

Because he had seen too much negative news about black people in China in his previous life, Yu Fei had a bit of stereotyped discrimination against black people. Even though he was friends with a pure black man like Anthony Lawson, this impression did not disappear.

This is the valuable thing about Roy. He is in tune with Yu Fei's personality, and he doesn't have the black qualities that Yu Fei doesn't like.

Then there are two secondary reasons. Roy is the only one in the training camp who has confirmed that Yu Fei will play in the NBA in the future. He wants to know what kind of life a future NBA All-Star leads before he becomes famous.

The result surprised Yu Fei.

Unlike the Hollywood-style clown duck-turned-phoenix storyline that is common in the NBA, Roy's life is normal.His father, Tony, was a bus driver outside a Seattle subway station. He often left for work at 5 a.m. and came home at 7 p.m.Roy's mother, Gina, worked in the cafeteria and often gave free lunches to children who couldn't afford them.

At this point, compared to most black people, Roy has won too much. At least he has a father.

At this point, even Yu Fei lost.

The Roy family's life was not rich, but they were never poor.During the most difficult times, the family of six would squeeze into a two-bedroom apartment or stay at their grandmother's house in Seattle's Beacon Hill.But Roy never felt that his life was lacking.

When Roy asked Yu Fei about his family, Yu Fei simply replied: "I live with my mother. Well, I don't have any shortcomings."

Roy didn't ask about Yu Fei's father because Yu Fei didn't mention it.

Normally, there are only a few situations where dad would be absent from this situation.

A. Whatever the reason, he died.

B. Divorced his wife and is indifferent to his family.

C. He is an irresponsible scumbag.

Roy avoided topics that would make both him and Yu Fei feel embarrassed. After dinner, the two stayed in the room and made critical comments about GOAT.

As a native of Seattle, Roy has been a SuperSonics fan since he was a child. He doesn't like Jordan.

Therefore, he directly released a curse on Jordan's Wizards GM career: "I can definitely say that half of MJ's tenure in Washington has failed!"

Yu Fei ate the snacks sent by Roy's mother and asked with a smile: "Why do you see it?"

At this time, Roy's face showed one of the most complex expressions Yu Fei had ever seen. There was gloating about Jordan's impending defeat, a momentary review of the painful memories of the past, and a look at Jordan's dominance. of fear.

All kinds of emotions were mixed into Roy's expression at this moment. He wanted to laugh but didn't laugh. He wanted to make a bold prediction but didn't have enough confidence.

"Because he has never lost!" Roy's words were closer to philosophy than prophecy.

Yu Fei didn't want to be a prophet, so he said: "But he is the biggest bastard in history. You can't underestimate him."

"Yes, he is the most hateful bastard in history!" Roy's words and expressions were filled with the fear of being dominated by Jordan. "Whenever you think he can only reach this level, he It will rise to a more asshole realm!”

Yes, but there is a saying. Although the 96 SuperSonics had no hope of winning the series against the Bulls, they successfully defended Jordan against Kobe through the "restricted defense" in Ron Harper's words.That was the one in which Jordan relied most on his teammates among the six championships. The Bulls, who had grasped the match point early, were defeated by the SuperSonics twice in a row, but it resulted in Jordan's story-telling Father's Day championship.

In later generations, the media tended to praise Jordan from the narrative perspective of "Jordan deliberately missed two games to win the championship on Father's Day". At that time, SuperSonics fans were already numb and their mood did not fluctuate, because their team had lost the championship after 2008. It was stolen.

The team is gone, so what's the point of looking back on the past?
This is what Roy hates most about Jordan.Jordan's team hyped up the Father's Day championship so much that the poster photo of Jordan lying in the locker room with a basketball in his arms to mourn his late father became very popular for a while.

"Have you seen that poster? That's the most shameful hype I've ever seen! Everyone with any insight can see that Michael's shoes are brand new and he's totally selling his shoes!"

Well. Yu Fei admired Roy's insight, just as he also admired those who discovered that James was reading the title page every time he read a book.

However, this doesn’t prove that GOAT uses his late biological father to promote his shoes, right?Unless something as crude as James’s review of the autobiography of Malcolm X happens⑴.

After criticizing Jordan, Roy talked about his future plans.

He is preparing to take the Fab Five to continue participating in AAU competition.

Moreover, Roy also invited Yu Fei to join the Five Tigers.

It can be seen that this was Roy's original plan.In terms of strength, Roy is definitely among the top players in high school, but their inside line lacks dominance.If Yu Fei can join, the strength of the Five Tigers will change qualitatively. Even if they go to California to participate in those fiercely competitive AAU games, they will still be able to compete.

"Thank you for the invitation, Brandon, but I have to solemnly refuse you." Yu Fei finished the snack made by Roy's mother alone, "because I have other plans later."

Roy further persuaded and said: "Fu Lai, you have just made a name for yourself, and you need to continue to consolidate it through AAU competitions. Otherwise, I can guarantee that others will forget you within half a month."

Yu Fei believes in the power of AAU's hype, but he doesn't need the hype now.

The purpose of participating in the Nike Regional Invitational Tournament has been achieved. Through this competition, Yu Fei has at least established his status as the top high school student in Washington State.

In the following months, although there were AAU competitions in various places, those competitions did not help except increasing Yu Fei's college offers and improving his high school rankings.

Going to college has always been Yu Fei's alternate choice.

His goal is to go straight from high school to the NBA.

The aura of "Washington State's top high school student" was just the ticket for him.

A ticket to the top high school students in the country.

If he can become the top high school student in the country next year, he will have the qualifications to skip college, sign up for the 2001 draft, and be selected by an NBA team in the first round in the draft.

Before that, Yu Fei needs to continue to practice his internal skills.

His physical problems have not been completely resolved, and his inside foundation needs to be further consolidated, while shooting is a weakness that needs to be developed during his senior season.

There are so many shortcomings that need to be made up, and a large number of games are not beneficial to Yu Fei at this moment.

Roy, who failed to convince Yu Fei, sighed and couldn't help but feel regretful.

But this ultimately depends on personal wishes and cannot be forced.

Then, Roy mentioned another thing, "Fu Lai, have you heard of the ABCD training camp?"

Yu Fei looked confused.

"That was the best training camp in the country." Roy said, "KG, Kobe, and T-MAC all became famous there."

Yu Fei asked: "Have you ever participated?"

"I got an invitation this year, but I didn't dare to go." Roy said with regret. "I was not in good condition at the time. However, I must go to participate next year. If I perform well in the ABCD training camp then, maybe I will Will enter the NBA draft directly after graduating from high school."

I didn't expect Roy to have this plan.

Yu Fei always thought that Roy was the kind of person who would go to college obediently, but he actually thought about skipping college?
Is this something you should be thinking about?

"You don't want to go to college?"

Yu Fei asked.

"Yes I do."

Roy replied.

"Then you still want to skip college and go directly to the NBA draft?"

"The prerequisite for going to college is that there is a college to go to." Roy turned into a pessimist. "If I have a 10% chance of entering the NBA directly from high school, then my chance of going to college is 0."

Although there are differences between Chinese and American courses, Yu Fei quickly adapted to high school courses after crossing over. It can be said that training and learning are both balanced. He couldn't believe that the reason why Roy couldn't go to college was because of insufficient grades.

Although he wanted to laugh, Yu Fei held it back for the sake of Roy's mother's snack, and said, "Well Brandon, I'm sorry to hear this."

⑴"Well, I started reading it almost a few days ago. I have read a lot of books in the past few years. This is the first time I have read this book from beginning to end. Well, Mark is a very... very smart person, very A very, very smart man. In fact, what he said and did in the 60s, what happened in that era, is also happening now. He also let me know how powerful black people are and how powerful we are. Strong, but we must unite and present a united front, because there will always be difficulties, and difficulties will weaken us and make us feel that black people are not kings and queens. He is a man with a strong mind." - LeBron James' Malcolm Thoughts after reading X’s autobiography⑵.

⑵A podcaster asked Richard Jefferson: "Richard, does LeBron really like reading in the locker room?"

Jefferson: "To be honest, he just likes to doodle on it."

⑶I think this is the only reason that can explain his incoherent thoughts after reading a book.

(End of this chapter)