Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 452 - : 306

Chapter 452: 306

The 2006 NBA playoffs’ first round was as intense as the previous year, with the battle between the Lakers and the Suns being a classic series for the hall of fame.

This was because both sides brought five games full of entertainment and two games that would definitely enter ESPN’s “NBA Classic Games” channel. This was created by two extraordinary players (Kobe/Nash), and three impressive heroics (Kobe’s double The Shot in G4, Tim Thomas’s clutch three-pointer in G6) that made it one of the most watchable first-round series in recent times.

However, Yu Fei and the Bucks didn’t care how the Suns and Lakers clashed like fire meeting ice in the first round; they only cared about the result of the game between the Knight, ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, and the Wizards, ranked fifth.

Although the Cavaliers had the higher ranking, before the game, the outside world believed that the Wizards were more likely to advance to the semifinals, as James was too young.

Even Yu Fei, in his rookie season, had stopped at the first round; could LeBron James go further?

This was a marketing spiel from the LeBron James camp, who naturally knew that, at the same time, Yu Fei was chasing his second championship, but a clever marketing team always finds an opportunity.

If they couldn’t beat him at the same level, they’d simply change the conditions – “comparing the achievements of their first playoff appearances.” And so, the two were back on an equal starting line, weren’t they?

The first-round showdown between the Cavaliers and the Wizards lacked one thing – defense.

Remember, this is the Eastern Conference; as middle-tier teams in the playoffs, if they didn’t focus on defense, they would have no advantage when facing equal Western Conference opponents.

But neither side was keen on defense, especially the Wizards, who thought they could win with experience. This precisely gave LeBron James, who lacked defensive experience and skill, an opportunity to explode.

The drama of the series began in Game 3.

The Cavaliers and the Wizards were neck-and-neck at the final moment. LeBron James descended like a deity, driving the ball to the basket. After receiving the ball, he took four steps, completing a layup The Shot.

The Wizards players were stunned, gesturing loudly to the referees that James had committed a walking violation, but no whistle blew – it was a good basket. The Cavaliers won the third game.

It could be said that this was the first major blemish James had created for himself since entering the league, and it remains popular even a decade and a half later.

As for Yu Fei, he just laughed without saying anything. What was the big deal about a walking The Shot? If LeBron James were deified, even a walking The Shot could be marketed as the “Foot of God,” just as Jordan’s century shot included a push, and didn’t Maradona’s “Hand of God” boil down to a handball?

As long as you have a loud enough voice, even bad deeds can be spun as good ones.

This was what Yu Fei wanted to tell the little brother, but there are always some villains who like to make a fuss.

Especially those who, in their hearts, don’t want James to come even close to Yu Fei’s achievements. They are a community with shared interests; as soon as they saw the league create a scandal to promote their golden boy, they couldn’t restrain themselves.

For pity’s sake, D.C was Big Fei’s old stomping ground. Not to respect Yu Fei would be disrespectful to the Buddha himself; even if Big Fei could bear it, they couldn’t.

Some well-known Reebok-affiliated media began putting pressure on the league and on James, spreading word of that walking The Shot.

The most influential article still came from the victims’ own D.C.

The Washington Post didn’t say anything outright, but ended their battle report with this sentence: “If LeBron James, such a player, can legally take four steps to score, what can you do to stop him? Is this proof that the NBA is becoming fully WWE?”

The previously focused James suddenly found himself under tremendous pressure.

His entourage saw it with their eyes, worried in their hearts.

“These damn media!” Randy Mims cursed, “They flatter Bron like a refuge in ordinary times, but now they’re clinging to that minor incident like dogs! Do they really care about the legality of that The Shot? They just want to attract eyeballs with this story!”

Rich Paul said to James, “I checked the background of those media, and nine out of ten have ties to Reebok.”

“You mean…” Mims had developed an instinct.

If anything bad happened to LeBron James, it must have something to do with Big Fei.

“It’s not necessarily Big Fei,” Paul said, “Reebok has been throwing dirt on LeBron for more than a day or two.”

Once Mims knew Reebok was behind it, he immediately red-flagged Yu Fei: “Whether it’s Big Fei or not, he cannot be uninvolved!”

LeBron James, like Paul, didn’t think in binary terms.

He wouldn’t equate Reebok and Yu Fei just because the attacks were coming from Reebok.

“Randy, you’re overreacting,” James said rationally, “If anything happened to Frye, Nike would add fuel to the fire in the same way. This has happened more than once; do you think Frye blames me for it? When it comes down to it, it’s all business.”

Mims couldn’t think from another person’s perspective like James; he was centered on LeBron’s interests, wanting to respond to anything not in LeBron’s favor. Hearing this, he didn’t think “That makes sense,” but instead, latching onto “it’s all business,” he continued, “Since it’s business, why is it always Frye who wins? Bron, have you ever thought that in Frye’s eyes, you’re also just part of the business?”

Why is it always Frye who wins?

Doesn’t everyone know the answer to that?

LeBron James silently looked at Mims. He knew it was true, but he didn’t want to think about it because he was still catching up. He was just behind, not inferior – that’s how he saw it.

But Mims’s words forced him to confront the issue head-on.

“Because Frye entered the league two years before LeBron, he has a better team, so he always wins,” Paul said smartly, “Randy, what don’t you understand about this by now?”

Mims didn’t delve deep; twisted by Paul in this way, he was back on track: “Right, he has an unfair competitive advantage, that’s why he always wins.”

James stopped responding.

A day later, Yu Fei’s Bucks swept the Pacers, who had eliminated them last year, while James tasted the bitterness of The Shot, which was a game-winner against the Wizards on the road.

The issue blew up, and the League naturally had to offer some compensation to the Wizards.

That night, the Wizards took 40 free throws at home, eventually defeating the Cavaliers 106 to 96.

Then, the passionately inflamed Washington media seized the opportunity for a counterattack, bombarding James with questions about the controversial game-winning Shot in game three.

“LeBron, about the four-step layup at the end of the third game that won it, what do you have to say?”

“That wasn’t a travel,” James explained. “I’ve been making layups like that all the time, ever since I was a kid.”

“But that was a violation.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Perhaps pushed to the edge, or perhaps prepared with an argument in advance, James’s response was eternal and classic. “I performed a crab dribble, which is a combination of a hesitation dribble and a two-step move.”

Huh?

Huh??

Huh???

Even if you weren’t there, you could feel the shock of basketball senses getting shattered.

James further stated, “It’s a move that’s not common in this league, but I use it often. Everyone has their own signature moves, and that’s one of mine. It looks like traveling because it’s slow and kind of goes against common sense, but it’s legal, as fluid as any other layup in this league. I don’t know why it has caused such a big controversy, but I think they need to take a close look and understand that it wasn’t a travel.”

Eventually, he emphasized, “It’s a completely legal move that I’ve been doing all along.”

“‘Crab dribble’ is when you, um, take a few extra steps…” Arenas commented. “It’s the hottest topic right now… I couldn’t do it in AAU or college, and obviously, I can’t do it now.”

When Yu Fei heard about LeBron saying this, he couldn’t help but suspect that some malicious people were tarnishing his little brother’s reputation.

But after he watched the interview, he fell silent.

This was just… magical, you know?

Just like when Ji Xianlin’s diary that circulated online was confirmed to have actually been written by Ji Xianlin himself.

Anyway, James got through this incident with showmanship.

Then, the Cavaliers won game five and came to the do-or-die game six.

In the last few seconds, the Wizards were leading by one point, and Arenas had the opportunity for two free throws.

Everyone knew Arenas was an excellent free throw shooter, and if he was allowed to take his free throws without distraction, the Cavaliers would have to go home and prepare for game seven. At that moment, James showed his extraordinary side, knowing how to distract Arenas.

James approached Arenas and said, “If you miss these, you know who’s going to make the last shot.”

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Few people knew that Arenas and James were on good terms. James often played cards with Damon Jones and Arenas, with Jones owing Arenas a lot of money. At that moment, James’s threat of “Damon Jones might make the last shot” reminded Arenas of the card games, the debt Jones owed him…

Then, unusually, he missed the first free throw, followed by the second, and suddenly, Arenas remembered that Damon Jones hadn’t played at all that night—how could he possibly make the winning shot?

Unease began to surface on the court.

After the timeout, the Wizards team discovered that Damon Jones had been put on the court by the Cavaliers. Then, James got the ball, was double-teamed, passed to a teammate, who then passed to Jones, who made a jump shot.

“Damon Jones!” Breen exclaimed, as the ball flew through the air. “He hits it!”

An anxious Arenas quickly moved the ball up the court, passing it to a teammate who, in the final second, desperately shot a game-winning three-pointer, but it didn’t go in. As the buzzer sounded, the game was over.

That was the end of the Wizards’ season. As stepping stones to the King’s greater quest, they provided James with both a stain and a highlight in his professional career’s first playoff series.

Until the end, Arenas was still thinking about his gambling debt.

In amazement, Mike Breen said, “Damon Jones, who hadn’t played the entire game, scores the game-winning shot in the last ten seconds, it’s unbelievable!”

The Cavaliers broke through the first round and arrived at the much-anticipated second round.

There, the Bucks had been waiting for a while.

The first playoff showdown between Yu Fei and James, the new generation’s twin stars.

Highly anticipated, with the world watching.

Just as James began to savor the taste of victory, without having the chance to relish it, a piece of news that had been forecasted for months stole all the spotlight.

“Frye wins his third career MVP trophy by an overwhelming margin.” — ESPN NBA front-page headline

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