Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Then, Yu Fei mentioned something interesting, The Celtics promised to pick him with the No. 10 draft pick.

"The No. 10 pick?"

Trem slightly furrowed his brows.

"What do you think?" Trem asked.

Yu Fei said, "I think it's a bit low."

"Indeed," Trem said, "With several workouts behind you, your reputation has greatly improved, and in the latest draft predictions from some of the mainstream newspapers, a few have placed you within the top seven."

This should have been good news, but the aftermath of the fight with Griffin still needed to be observed.

But the fact that The Celtics dared to make such a promise with their No. 10 pick allowed Trem to conclude that the hype behind the fight had The Celtics' people contributing to it.

"Are mock drafts accurate?" Yu Fei didn't really believe in them, "Should I still go to Memphis the day after tomorrow as usual?"

"Memphis? No, the workout in Memphis is canceled for now," Trem said, "You head back to Seattle to get ready. I'll set up an exclusive interview for you to talk about the fight with Eddie Griffin."

"Then... how should I respond to Boston?"

Trem was becoming more certain that The Celtics were meddling in making the matter so big; thus, he was very reluctant to let Yu Fei go to Boston.

"I'll respond to them. Don't worry about this; I'm 90% sure you won't be going to The Celtics. No way they'll get you with the No. 10 pick."

"Of course, you can see their promise as a safety net — it means you're guaranteed to be at least the No. 10 pick in this draft conference."

After hanging up the phone, DiMio asked, "What did Arne say?"

"The workout in Memphis is canceled; we're heading back to Seattle to rest," Yu Fei said.

DiMio wasn't surprised by the news; what he cared about was the media reports, "Do you think The Celtics can be absolved of involvement in this?"

"If they don't want to pay the price for a higher draft position and still want to pick me during the draft, lowering my draft prospects is the best approach," Yu Fei said openly, "Long live understanding."

DiMio really didn't know whether Yu Fei was broad-minded or narrow-minded now.

But it was good that he was taking it well.

As Yu Fei and his party returned to Seattle, Brandon Roy also made a decision.

He decided to give up his plan to become a professional player right now.

After the workout in Boston, he saw the gap between himself and the prospective NBA players, and if he didn't improve himself in a stable environment, he wouldn't be able to play in the NBA, let alone have a professional future overseas.

If one day, he couldn't even play in a minor league in Asia, then his life would be over.

Therefore, Roy fired his agent, thanked Yu Fei over the phone, and then headed home to settle down in a community college.

Yu Fei finally felt at ease; Roy had returned to the right track.

It might be fun to change someone's life, but if you cannot be responsible, it's best to leave things as they are.

Yu Fei had planned to go home, but Trem had arranged everything too perfectly: a five-star hotel, a nutritionist, training team, and sparring partners, everything one could need.

Staying here to train while waiting for Trem's arrangements was a very easy decision to make.

Then, Yu Fei found out that these amenities weren't specifically prepared for him; strictly speaking, he was benefitting from someone else.

Benefiting from whom?

The light of the presumptive No. 1 draft pick Kwame Brown, known as Little Webber.

Since the lottery draw had ended, NBA teams had started their workouts, but Kwame hadn't had a single workout yet.

This was part of Trem's strategy.

Brown would only work out for the Wizards, both maintaining a sense of mystery and indirectly showing absolute confidence in being the No. 1 pick.

Brown had been specially training here for some time, and as soon as the Wizards' workout began, he would be able to go in front of management bursting with energy and crush anyone who dared to compete with him for the No. 1 spot.

On the first day Yu Fei joined the training, Brown deliberately walked over to him.

Yu Fei had always known about this infamous bust of a new-century No. 1 pick but had never known what he looked like.

It's not hard to understand, just like how you don't need to watch "The Incredibles" to know it's a pile of crap. The so-called "no right to speak without watching" doesn't apply to crappy works. Crap is crap, and those who've clicked on that pile of crap have already tasted it for you. If you're still tempted to try it out against all advice, it's a betrayal of those brave enough to taste the crap in the first place.

Similarly, a draft bust is the same; Yu Fei doesn't need to know what he looks like. He just needs to know he's a bust, the guy who kicked off his ghostly draft career with the Wizards.

"Are you the one who gave Eddie Griffin a good beating?" Brown scrutinized Yu Fei carefully.

"Just threw a few punches, hardly a beating..."

What is a beating? Like in "Detective Chinatown 3," where the nurse gets beaten up blindfolded—that's a beating.

The couple of punches he gave to Griffin? Merely a splash of water.

"Well done, your punches ruined that bastard's draft prospects. Such cowards have no right to be number one!" Brown slapped Yu Fei's back like a boss, "Just for those punches, once you're in the league, I've got your back!"

Yu Fei, aware of Kwame Brown's career trajectory, replied with a forced smile, "Thank you, I'm grateful."

That is, assuming you survive under Jordan's whip and catch a breath from the disdain of the league's shooting guards, then we can talk about having my back.

After a day of high-quality training, Arne Trem also arrived in Seattle.

Trem is undoubtedly the busiest agent in the sports world recently.

With over a dozen rookies about to attend the draft, he needs to cover for them, organize practice tryouts, and for a hot draft pick like Brown, he has to set up a complete training system.

Now, Trem had a moment to breathe, as the expected draft positions of his rookies, except for Kwame Brown and Yu Fei, were basically settled.

On this trip, besides arranging Brown's tryout with the Wizards, Trem also lined up a media interview for Yu Fei.

It was to address the controversy from the Boston brawl.

The interviewer was no small name, Phil Taylor from Sports Illustrated. As a faithful reader, Yu Fei certainly recognized the name.

"Why not Gary Smith? He's my friend," Yu Fei asked.

Trem gave a wry smile, "Gary is the chief writer at the magazine, he won't do this sort of thing. Trust me, Phil is the best choice for you."

Once the interview started, Taylor used a few jokes to put Yu Fei at ease.

Yu Fei was even more talkative than Taylor had imagined.

And quite humorous too.

When Taylor asked Yu Fei, "At which pick would you be satisfied being selected?" Yu Fei answered very seriously, "I'd be surprised if I'm not the first."

Taylor asked with a smile, "What if you 'accidentally' drop to second pick?"

"I assure you, I'd be as angry as when I fought with Eddie Griffin."

Taylor did not expect Yu Fei to be so impatient before even getting to the main topic.

So, he could only continue, "As far as I know, you've never had a record of fighting on the court before."

"If high school basketball needed a well-mannered, exemplary player, that was me. I didn't talk trash, didn't disrespect my opponents, and certainly didn't fight."

Taylor asked, "What made you give up on being an exemplary player and fight Eddie?"

"I need to clarify one thing, it wasn't me who started it," said Yu Fei, perhaps the only truth in his recounting of the incident, "he struck me first because I blocked his shot in front of everyone, maybe he felt humiliated. After the block, he swung at me. If I hadn't dodged, I probably couldn't sit here defending myself."

Could I believe this kid?

Taylor looked at Yu Fei, his eyes earnest, his tone sincere, and seemingly genuine. Considering the reputation, Eddie Griffin indeed seemed more like the kind of person who would resort to violence to express his dissatisfaction.

Therefore, Taylor felt he could trust Yu Fei.

"What happened then?"

"I hit him back twice, and then we were separated."

"Eddie said there was someone at your signal who grabbed him from behind."

Yu Fei recalled Brandon's posturing and couldn't help but smile, "Indeed, there was someone kind enough to do that, but only to prevent Eddie from continuing his assault on me. Unfortunately, he failed, and Eddie claimed he wanted to kill me at the time. My punches were more of a rightful defense than a response."

With that, an outline of an interview, intended to clear Yu Fei's name but based largely on his own perspective, was taking shape, independent of Taylor's input.

Finally, Taylor asked, "Given another chance, would you find a better solution than punching?"

"Why should I?" Yu Fei grinned devilishly, "The feeling of those two punches was fantastic."

PS: I've been liking to compare Jordan's comeback with the Wizards to UZI's with Team EDG. Do you think that's an affront to Michael Jordan?