Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 480 - 330: This is an Illegal Recruitment

Chapter 480: Chapter 330: This is an Illegal Recruitment

When the draft ended, Brandon Roy was saddled with many missions and tasks.

Yu Fei had planned to leave directly, but Roy called him aside to talk for a while.

“Do you want me to congratulate you once more?” Yu Fei asked, “How does it feel to play for your hometown?”

Roy replied, “Next year, you can become a free agent, right? Then you can come back and see for yourself.”

Yu Fei had met many who wanted to recruit him, but this was the first time someone had done so without following the proper procedures.

“Brandon, you’re tampering,” Yu Fei said, “I’m still under contract.”

Roy gave a dismissive look, “Come on, you care about that?”

“Why should I come back?” said Yu Fei, insincerely, “Milwaukee is quite good.”

But Roy countered, “Milwaukee doesn’t have an owner who plans to sell the team to outsiders.”

It seemed that Roy wasn’t just a pretty face; he knew his situation.

Yu Fei asked, “What do you think I can change?”

“I don’t know,” Roy admitted, “but I’m sure I can’t do it alone.”

Yu Fei remained noncommittal.

Expecting Roy to keep the Supersonics in Seattle was unrealistic; in terms of influence, he and Yu Fei were not in the same league.

Yu Fei didn’t give Roy an immediate answer.

He simply said, “Let’s wait and see.”

Afterward, as this year’s number five pick, Roy was going to represent the Supersonics at various events, while Yu Fei left the venue.

The day after the draft, the League announced news that insiders had known for some time.

The Milwaukee Bucks traded Trevor Ariza, Zaza Pachulia, Anfernee Hardaway, and a 2007 first-round draft pick (from the Knicks) to Chicago for the signing rights to LaMarcus Aldridge.

With Aldridge on board, the Bucks changed their draft strategy and selected P.J. Tucker with their own number thirty pick in the first round.

For Ariza, a simple start to his career suddenly spiraled into unpredictability.

The Bulls were touted as the most promising young team in the League, but youth teams are known for their uncertainty and instability.

The former can lead to dashed hopes, while the latter means they could make the playoffs one season and flounder the next.

Ariza had never considered he would be traded.

Because, as everyone said, he was “Frye’s guy.”

If he was traded, it could mean only one thing: the trade had Frye’s approval.

So when Yu Fei called, Ariza had already accepted the reality: “Frye, you don’t have to say anything, I know it’s all business.”

“It’s not just business, Trevor,” Yu Fei said, “You made significant progress last season, but if you stay in Milwaukee, you might have reached your ceiling because it would be hard for you to move up the ranks.”

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Ariza accepted that this was true.

With Yu Fei and Martin securing the starting lineup, Ariza was actually competing with Bell, Granger, and Sprewell for another starting position.

But no matter how hard he competed, his 3D qualities couldn’t surpass Bell’s, nor could he rotate to the power forward spot or shoot as well as Granger; the only one he could realistically compete with was a rusty Sprewell.

“So you’re saying, the trade might be a good thing for me,” Ariza said, somewhat self-deprecatingly.

“Not necessarily, because we don’t know the situation in Chicago,” Yu Fei said, “But I can assure you, Chicago is a far better basketball city than Milwaukee.”

Finally, Ariza found his hook, “That’s for sure! You know, Big Fei, I love Michael Jordan!”

Yu Fei: “…”

“What’s wrong, Big Fei?”

“I should have had them trade you to the Clippers,” he said.

Although Ariza and others had been traded, they still participated in the Bucks’ championship celebration.

Anfernee Hardaway announced his retirement at the celebration, which meant he wouldn’t be reporting to Chicago.

The Bulls didn’t mind.

After all, Anfernee was just a sweetener in the trade.

On the day of the celebration, the basketball atmosphere in Milwaukee surpassed that of football for once.

The Bucks logo was everywhere.

Players and coaches of the Bucks gave speeches.

When Yu Fei promised they would bring back a fourth championship next year, the crowd erupted.

Yet, beneath the festive atmosphere were many uncertainties.

Yu Fei skirted the topic of contract renewal, offering no guarantees that he would “stay in Milwaukee.”

Instead of no guarantees, his promise of championship victory next year seemed more like a hint of “this is the last thing I’ll do for you.”

But whether or not he could bring a fourth championship, he had already surpassed Lou Alcindor and others to become the top player in Bucks history.

Perhaps that was Milwaukee’s tragedy—both their previous and current best players were ambiguous about staying in Milwaukee.

In the end, Alcindor requested a trade because “it wasn’t green enough here,” and what about Yu Fei? It seemed players of his caliber were simply not meant for Milwaukee.

He would leave sooner or later.

That was the consensus.

Yu Fei completely disregarded how the outside world viewed his remarks.

After the celebration ended, Yu Fei signed up for Olajuwon’s “Dream Factory” low-post training class.

There, he encountered Howard and a bunch of rugged guys.

Yu Fei doubted that he was supposed to train here at all.

Because Olajuwon didn’t teach any insights; he just demonstrated once the classic footwork he used to make David Robinson look like a monkey in the highlights and then had the students recreate it on the spot.

Howard confidently replicated Olajuwon’s moves.

Olajuwon said, “Very good, you have found the feel.”

Yu Fei questioned, “What’s the point of practicing these steps? If the interaction is regular, how could the opponent be fooled?”

A gleam shone in Olajuwon’s eyes, surprised that someone dared to question him.

Didn’t these people who didn’t even understand low-post footwork come here specifically to learn the legendary steps?

Olajuwon didn’t hold back; he taught everything, then waited for these folks to imitate him on the court and realize that compared to the original, making defenders look foolish, their poor imitations just looked sillier.

In response to Yu Fei’s skepticism, Olajuwon said, “Footwork has universality.”

Although Yu Fei didn’t understand low-post offense, he did not believe that by learning a few moves from these Jordan supporters, he could improve.

“If that’s the case, then we don’t need to practice the basics anymore. To beat opponents, just copy the moves from the highlights. Hakeem, don’t take me for a fool… I am…”

Olajuwon knew very well that allowing Yu Fei to go out and speak ill of him would bring negative publicity to his Dream Workshop.

This was his retirement insurance; he could not afford to be careless.

So, he decided to dish out some real tricks.

“Alright, Frye, you might have some misunderstanding, I can clarify it for you, let’s switch places.”

Olajuwon started to train Yu Fei one-on-one.

Moreover, his training method was unique.

He didn’t make Yu Fei replicate his own moves anymore, but allowed Yu Fei to play defense against his low-post offense.

After Olajuwon easily scored over Yu Fei’s defense, he said, “Now, it’s your turn to attack.”

Yu Fei asked, “Should I imitate you?”

Olajuwon replied, “As you wish.”

Yu Fei recalled Olajuwon’s previous offense, which wasn’t complicated – just a backdown turn and hook shot.

Yu Fei could do it too, but his hook shot lacked stability.

Moreover, Olajuwon’s low-post one-on-one was the type used by big men. Usual wing players wouldn’t use hook shots to finish because they didn’t have the height advantage.

Yu Fei was different.

A 206+220 cm body allowed him to lean more towards an inside game in his playing style.

Now, Yu Fei finally understood why his low-post backdowns had always felt awkward throughout the season.

At least in the low post, Yu Fei began to see himself as an inside player.

From that day on, Yu Fei hardly trained with those rugged guys who only learned the steps but were not willing to put in the hard work for the fundamentals.

Yu Fei focused on hook shot training, from close-range hooks to large hooks in the paint, followed by turns, step backs, and fadeaway jump shots from various angles.

At the same time, Olajuwon played dozens of one-on-one games with him every day.

Through these one-on-ones, Yu Fei understood why Olajuwon’s low-post footwork was unstoppable.

It was simple; his offensive skills were too comprehensive.

Even though Duncan was known for his fundamentals, his left-handed offense was awkward, while Olajuwon was proficient with either hand, as long as he was within the range of the inside offense.

Olajuwon’s comprehensive offensive skills meant that any move he made put great pressure on the defender, and after a series of moves, the defender, under the high pressure of numerous offensive threats, naturally became confused.

After a few days of special training at the Dream Workshop, Yu Fei’s low-post offense didn’t improve substantively, but Olajuwon’s special attention indeed awakened Yu Fei.

This would be the direction of his efforts for the coming years.

“I’ll keep an eye on you,” Olajuwon said on the closing day. “Call me anytime if you have any questions.”

Yu Fei asked, “Why are you taking such care of me?”

“Now everyone knows you signed up with me. If your low-post offense doesn’t improve, it would reflect poorly on me.”

Yu Fei had thought it was because Olajuwon found him to be quick-witted, but he was overthinking it. The man was simply worried about Yu Fei tarnishing the reputation of his Dream Workshop.

Afterward, Yu Fei started a series of off-season activities.

In addition to public commercial activities, Yu Fei also found time for his radio show.

Recently, the radio show had received many calls from Seattle.

The demands of these calls could be summed up in one sentence: “Frye, please keep the Supersonics in Seattle.”

Yu Fei thought to himself, if his words had power, Jordan would have been dead a million times by now.

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