Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 387 - 250 Malice in the Palace

As last year’s Eastern Conference runner-up, the Detroit Pistons had not been performing well since the season began.

Larry Brown seemed still to be haunted by the nightmare of Athens, with Billups and Hamilton’s shooting off the mark and the Wallace Brothers not exerting enough influence on the game.

They needed an outlet to let themselves explode.

The Bucks were just such an opponent.

From the moment the Bucks stepped into The Palace of Auburn Hills, they could feel the malice within its walls.

During warmups, Yu Fei saw a Pistons fan unfurl a poster caricaturing him with the words "The NBA doesn’t need obstructions."

Upon seeing this, Yu Fei simply thought, aside from not playing for Team USA, his haters could find no other point to nitpick.

In Yu Fei’s view, the poster was less hurtful than some nasty haters writing online about him and Paris Hilton being royal uncles.

It was the other Bucks players who received harsher taunts and attacks.

When Sprewell was shooting, a bunch of Pistons fans shouted, "Old garbage that nobody wants, not worth re-signing!"

And when Ray Allen got the ball, they had a new twist, "Pretty boy, Frye wants to trade you!"

The Bucks could feel that their opponents were in a foul mood.

Not just the fans in the stands, the Pistons’ players also came with a bone-deep hatred for the game.

Hamilton did not dare to provoke Yu Fei, but he was bold enough to bully Ray Allen.

At the end of the first quarter, when Ray Allen was driving with the ball, Hamilton elbowed him hard in the stomach.

It made him furious, and he loudly complained to the referee but was ignored.

"This is our turf, what were you expecting?" Hamilton taunted.

Ray Allen did not retaliate physically, but Sprewell did.

Sprewell forcefully pushed Hamilton away, and players from both sides converged, almost breaking out into a brawl.

Ironically, the one who normally caused trouble on the court was now the most active in breaking it up.

On the Pistons side, Rasheed Wallace held onto Hamilton.

And Yu Fei held back Sprewell.

The Pistons wanted to boil the frog in warm water; after all, there was plenty of game time to go slow, while Yu Fei didn’t let Sprewell get physical considering he hadn’t yet negotiated his new contract.

Before signing, Sprewell couldn’t afford any scandals, otherwise, it would just give the management a reason to lowball him.

However, although Yu Fei managed to restrain Sprewell, he could also feel the tension of the game escalating.

At that time, the score was still very tight, and Yu Fei decided to quickly establish an advantage.

If the Pistons fell significantly behind, they probably wouldn’t have the temper to cause trouble anymore.

Yu Fei was the kind of person who did what he thought; from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the next, he repeatedly controlled the ball at the top of the arc, breaking through the Iron Bucket Formation with his individual ability, either shooting high or splitting defenses to assist teammates for three-pointers, or challenging Ben Wallace alone, slamming into the basket for a dunk.

Yu Fei’s dazzling display reminded the Detroit people of the fear of being dominated in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

That’s the way!

During last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, that’s how Yu Fei played.

This made the audience in the Palace even more irritable as they cursed the Bucks players and mixed profanities in encouragement to the Pistons players.

Such an unhealthy atmosphere can influence others.

Sprewell was the one affected by it.

Pistons fans had a big score to settle with him; it was he who had given Hamilton a hard time in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and always rushed to the front during confrontations.

Now, they had a legitimate reason to attack Sprewell.

The fact that the Bucks refused to give Sprewell a big contract was already known nationwide.

So, every time Sprewell got the ball, the boos in the arena grew louder, and the fans in the front row would use the Bucks’ refusal to renew his contract as fodder for all sorts of mockery.

When Sprewell missed a shot, he heard, "That’s why you’re not worth 10 million!"

When Sprewell made a mistake, he heard, "The Bucks would never renew with an old waste like you!"

Then, when he missed the open shot Yu Fei had created with his break, the fans’ sarcasm drove him mad.

"Frye doesn’t need trash like you!"

Fury was nearly consuming Sprewell’s reason; he turned and cursed the fans, which immediately got him a technical foul.

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"!!**"

"Look at me!" Yu Fei grabbed Sprewell by the shoulders and shook him hard, "Don’t let them get to you! Just do your thing!"

What really threw Sprewell into disarray wasn’t the away fans’ scheming or insults, but the fact that what they said pointed towards the truth.

Even Sprewell himself admitted that his performance had significantly declined.

Last season he was still averaging 15 points per game, but this season, he’s currently averaging only 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Whether it’s the basic stats or shooting percentages, everything shows a downward trend.

This undoubtedly gave the Bucks’ management more confidence to push for a lower price.

At the same time, the public attitude towards Sprewell, who would rather sleep at home than earn less than a ten million salary, shifted from understanding and support to skepticism and mockery.

This is the very real sentiment of the people.

Just like how Warriors fans would have knelt and sung praises for Klay Thompson’s amazing performance before his major injury in the 2019 finals. But when his performance severely declined in 2023, past love also faded.

Fei managed to stabilize Sprewell for the moment.

After that, he also got somewhat angry. The Pistons’ various actions were clearly looking to start a fight, not play a good game of basketball.

This made Fei determined to crush the Pistons on their home court.

In the latter part of the second quarter, Fei took multiple shots from the outside, hitting an average shooting percentage, while the Pistons used too much energy in physical confrontations and couldn’t find the basket in the set offense game.

Shouts and taunts erupted back and forth between the sides; there were shoves in every play, but the referees turned a blind eye to those excessive actions, as if they too wanted to see how long these players could endure before a fight broke out.

At half-time, 54 to 39, the Bucks led the Pistons by 15 points on the road.

For the Pistons, with their offensive capability, a 15-point gap was an insurmountable distance.

Karl sensed something off with the atmosphere on the court. In the locker room, he advocated for controlling the pace in the second half, "You see, Detroit is a mess right now. We can’t let them get what they want. Just get out there, play ball, take them down, and walk off. Do not get into a fight! Absolutely no fighting!"

Although Karl repeatedly said not to fight, the players he put on weren’t exactly pacifists.

Karl started Devil King-like Robert Horry and Mason’s heir Udonis Haslem in the second half.

Haslem was not as rough as Mason, but if the Pistons tried something, he wasn’t going to just let himself be bullied.

Horry was the epitome of "If you don’t mess with me, I’ll mess with you." The only reason he didn’t have a bad reputation like Bruce Bowen was because of his dazzling performance at key playoff moments, which made people forget that he was actually a jerk.

From the start of the second half, the Pistons almost always received a response to their little tricks.

But not everyone responded.

Take Ray Allen, for example, he was the type to play silently and not cause trouble.

He was like a dog among wolves—if the opponent realized you were weak and can be bullied, they would concentrate their fire on you.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Fei shook off Prince and made a strong drive to the basket, jumping forcefully and dunking the ball after knocking down Big Ben.

Upon landing, Fei ignored the jeers from the entire stadium and stepped over Big Ben’s body.

This incited rage in the entire Pistons team; Big Ben lay on the ground, furiously swinging his fists, and although he hit nothing but air, the conflict was on the verge of exploding.

"100 to 77," Fei sarcastically announced the current score. "If your skills were half as big as your tempers, this game might still be competitive."

On the other side, Karl was already preparing to substitute Fei out.

But he was a step too late.

15 seconds later, Fei blocked Billups’ layup with an authoritative block, and as the Pistons quickly got back on defense, Fei passed the ball from the backcourt to Sprewell in the frontcourt.

Sprewell, after drawing the defense, passed the ball to Ray Allen.

However, Allen, ready to dunk, was forcefully knocked down before he could take off.

Seeing that it was Big Ben, Sprewell, remembering everything from the start of the game, was overcome with anger and went up to grab his collar and started cursing—this was the Bucks’ last attempt to use "gentle means" to defuse the conflict—tonight’s Big Ben was different; it wasn’t just his loathing for the Bucks, but also the sorrow of his big brother’s passing. All he wanted was to pick a fight, and since Sprewell was coming at him, he didn’t hesitate to strike.

Big Ben landed a punch on Sprewell’s head, which immediately caused the situation to spiral out of control.

Hamilton was running ambiguously from behind Sprewell, but upon seeing this, Horry fully charged and slammed him into the courtside advertisements.

Fei rushed to the frontcourt intending to separate the fight, but was unexpectedly shoved by a hand from somewhere, which also ignited his temper, pulling him into the melee.

"This is like the Third World War!"

"Everyone is fighting! Both coaches are trying to play peacemakers, but they are too weak!"

The distinctive voice of Mike Breen erupted with intensity.

No one wanted to see this, but once it happened, everyone except the participants found pleasure in it.

The brawl lasted for almost half a minute until the substitute players entered the court and finally separated the fighting players.

Both sides backed off, with Karl and Brown accusing each other of failing to control their players, and the brotherly love they once had was now worthless.

Big Ben and Sprewell were both bruised, Hamilton was hurting all over after being knocked down and had to be carried away on a stretcher, Fei first joined Sprewell in beating up Big Ben, and then got into it with Prince.

The referees were discussing how to penalize the players; while the fight seemed to have subsided, Sprewell was sitting by the court with his mind blank, unaware of what was to come.

A few seconds later, fans in the back rows identified Sprewell and threw a cup of cola accurately at his head.

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With a splat, the cola exploded on Sprewell’s head, and the rush of the carbonated drink left the madman feeling ice cold. An indescribable thirst for vengeance erupted from within him, unleashing like a wild beast breaking free from restraints, charging into the crowd undiscerning of who was the instigator. It was as if he was back in his younger days, a man who couldn’t bear any humiliation and would explode uncontrollably when pushed too far.

Sprewell grabbed a fan by the throat, and malice erupted in The Palace of Auburn Hills, beyond any containment.