Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1078 - 607 I Like Being Alone_2

Chapter 1078: Chapter 607 I Like Being Alone_2 Chapter 1078: Chapter 607 I Like Being Alone_2 Yu Fei gave his answer: “We will win the championship.”

“I think so too,” Rivers said, wiping his face, “but none of that matters now, I’m already a freaking world champion!”

Perhaps this is the beauty of being a coach. As long as you stay in this industry long enough, there will always be opportunities to contend for the championship.

Subsequently, the Clippers returned to the locker room.

They didn’t have much time. Although young players like Antetokounmpo were eager to join in the champagne celebration, they still had to return to the venue for the award ceremony.

In less than ten minutes, the Clippers came back to the venue wearing neat championship t-shirts.

Adam Silver prepared a lengthy award speech for the Clippers, focusing mainly on the sorrowful history of the team.

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Silver unusually used phrases like “a difficult long journey” and “incredible great achievement” to describe the Clippers’ championship. This might be an accolade that his predecessor never gave to a team in his thirty-year career.

If Stern were to give out the award, he might have been even more thrilled than Silver. For Stern, the Clippers had long been like a rat in the gutter, seemingly with no chance of ever turning around. Who would have believed they could win a championship?

Eventually, the trophy that many teams had striven for decades was transferred from Silver’s hands to Ballmer.

“Not just this one!” Ballmer shouted into the microphone, “Baby, we’re going to win lots more championships!”

Then came the uncontroversial selection of the Finals MVP.

Yu Fei winning the award was unquestionable, not only did he perform brilliantly in the finals, but starting from the playoffs and even from the regular season in March, he had displayed unstoppable form and maintained it well throughout the season.

Just in this year’s playoffs, his The Shot against the Lakers, his dominant individual performance in the fourth game against the Warriors, and in the finals stepping up as the center in Yao Ming’s place and replicating Magic Johnson’s classic story—all these impressive scenes solidified his legend.

The Finals MVP was just proof of these performances.

Yu Fei stood in front of Bill Russell, receiving the ninth Finals MVP trophy of his career.

Fans were not unfamiliar with seeing Fei alongside Russell, as this scene had occurred many times before. What was different this time, is that people started to realize that Yu Fei had now won nine championships.

What does this mean? He was nearing one of the most untouchable records in NBA history—the number of championships won by Russell.

Even the former GOAT, Jordan, could not compare to Russell in terms of championship tally. Russell won 11 championships in 13 years, and players who wanted to prove themselves as the GOAT needed to play down the achievements of their predecessors.

This was what Jordan’s camp did.

However, Yu Fei found a clever way of avoiding such debates—back then, during the intense GOAT debate with Jordan, Yu Fei had shared his views on the GOAT. He redefined the GOAT. While the outside world saw the GOAT as the greatest of all time, Yu Fei believed the GOAT represented the best of an era, roughly a 20-year period.

20 years later, a generation of players retires, a generation of fans grows old, new players and fans enter the scene, and a new GOAT arises in the public discourse.

This definition certainly avoided controversy, but it wasn’t what the media hoped for. To garner traffic, the media needed something eye-catching. If you stay impartial here, where’s our traffic going to come from? Who would care about the GOAT if it continues like this? Isn’t the most contentious point of the GOAT because it encompasses every practitioner in the history of this sport? Moreover, unlike the 100-meter dash, it can’t be proved who is the best directly by competition records.

Different eras, different competitiveness, different social atmospheres, different benchmarks, all these differences mean that fans can never reach a consensus.

Yu Fei’s GOAT is the consensus of the contemporary era, the consensus of young fans, but what about the older generation? Bill Russell is their main tool to deny Yu Fei.

So today, as Yu Fei won his ninth championship, an astonishing question arose: Could Frye achieve as many championships as Bill Russell?

Back when Yu Fei won his seventh championship and established his position as the GOAT, no one talked about this question.

Because winning eleven championships in modern basketball seemed almost impossible.

Too difficult!

Yet now, Yu Fei was only two championships away, and moreover, the Clippers had clearly not yet reached their peak.

On the award stage, Russell said to Yu Fei, “I’ve been waiting in the Twelve Crowns Club for 46 years; I hope you are the next one to come in.”

“I might disappoint you, Bill,” Russell thought Yu Fei would be modest, but he was wrong.

Yu Fei said, “On this matter, I enjoy solitude, so I might opt for the Twelve Crowns Club.”

Even the great Russell was startled upon hearing this, and then, he let out a very personal reggae laughter at the venue.

Afterward, the real celebration began.

The Clippers joyously sprayed champagne in the guest team’s locker room.

Antetokounmpo aimed the champagne at everyone he saw, and then, his childish action incited “public outrage,” and his teammates attacked him.

However, it is mainly the young ones who enjoy this kind of celebration.

Representing the veterans, Yu Fei and Yao Ming just symbolically sprayed champagne a few times and then sat aside to savor the fruits of victory.

Yao Ming took a sip of champagne and contently said, “It would be a nice life to earn a top salary while sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates win championships.”

Yu Fei replied, “Having only won three championships, you seem to have lost your edge.”

“I’m not you, I don’t have a historical status to defend,” Yao Ming chuckled, “I’m just a 35-year-old man, planning for the future at 35.”

Yu Fei asked, “What future are you planning?”

“At the age of 39, I will represent the national team at the World Cup in China, then retire!” Yao Ming mentioned, his enthusiasm boundless. “With that, my career would be complete. How many players get to participate in both the Olympics and the World Cup on home soil?”

“Play until you’re 39? Really?”

As a transmigrator, Yu Fei imagined many things, but Yao Ming playing in the 2019 China Men’s Basketball World Cup was not something he had considered.

Playing until 39? Is that really feasible?

Yu Fei looked at him teasingly, “Are you sure you can last until then? I mean, can you handle it?”

In recent years, Yao Ming has been playing for championship teams, which meant playing from November through to June each year, followed by a short break before joining the national team for training camps.

Ever since the national team’s disappointment at the local Championship Tournament in 2009, as long as Yao Ming was fit, the Basketball Association would certainly call him up.

Thus, since 2010, Yao Ming had little time to rest during the summers.

Especially in recent years with the NBA’s increasingly crowded schedule and the national team participating in various warm-up and intercontinental competitions.

This kind of physical toll, it wouldn’t be surprising if one day his body couldn’t take it anymore.

Yao Ming knew what Yu Fei was referring to; he was well aware of his own condition.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

“I just need to persevere through this year,” Yao Ming said lightly, “starting next year, it’ll be much easier.”

Yu Fei pondered for a moment, then said, “If you really want to make it to the World Cup in 2019, I do have an idea.”

Yao Ming’s eyes sparkled, “What idea? Tell me quick!”

“Let’s not talk about it now, wait until you get through this summer.”

“Damn it! You always keep me in suspense!”

That night, Yu Fei and Yao Ming drank champagne in the visiting team’s locker room and later went back to the hotel to continue partying with a few veterans.

Kwame Brown quickly passed out on the sofa.

Then there was Danny Granger; he never imagined he would win a championship with the Clippers lying down, and overwhelmed with emotions, tears streamed down involuntarily as he recalled the days he followed Yu Fei in Milwaukee.

Followed by Zaza Pachulia, he was touched as well.

But the last men standing were still Yu Fei and Yao Ming.

They drank until late into the night until finally, Yao Ming couldn’t take it anymore.

The next day, Antetokounmpo had a hard time opening Yu Fei’s hotel room, seeing the room full of the smell of alcohol and several veterans looking worn out, he shouted, “Ubuntu! We need to go home today, get up quick! GOAT, what’s wrong with you GOAT?!”

“Leave me alone!” Yu Fei shouted.

“GOAT, we need to go home!” the Greek added, “Everyone is waiting, Los Angeles has a lot of people waiting!”

“What are you excited about? Did we win the championship or did you make a billion?”

GOAT seemed to have a blackout.

The naïve Greek said, “I didn’t make a billion, but didn’t we win the championship last night?”

Yu Fei then got up and looked around, slowly recalling last night’s events.

“Yeah, we won the championship.”

After a while, Yu Fei still couldn’t understand why his ninth championship felt as surreal as his first.