Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Phil Taylor, however, had a different opinion.

"This might not necessarily be a bad thing," Taylor said.

Trem looked at Taylor, eager to understand the reasoning behind his assertion.

"To the public, Eddie Griffin has always been a problematic figure with countless incidents of violence, so no one really believes his accusations against Frye. As long as what Frye said appears in the next issue of Sports Illustrated, Eddie's lies will crumble," Taylor explained with a hint of savor. "As for that last comment, it might just create a Charles Barkley effect."

Trem knew what Taylor meant.

In 1997, in Orlando, Barkley got into an altercation with a man at a bar. The man threw a drink in Barkley's face, and in response, Barkley threw the man out of the window onto the street below. Subsequently, Barkley was taken to court for this incident. When the judge asked, "Do you regret it?" Barkley responded, "Yes, I do have regrets, I regret that we were on the first floor."

The public's understanding of Barkley surpassed the criticism after learning the full story.

That's what Phil was hinting at.

Trem figured that was indeed the case and thought no further.

That evening, Trem invited Taylor, Yu Fei, Kwame, and others to dine at a Michelin three-star restaurant.

Taylor stayed only for a short while before leaving.

Brown naively said, "Phil really is a good guy, he's even willing to defend Frye."

"Ha, a good guy?" Trem scoffed, "That bastard hasn't been short of favors from me, he's indeed willing to help, but it's not without reason, Kwame, remember this, no one helps you for no reason."

Yu Fei quietly ate his dinner.

He didn't like any Michelin-starred places because they were not suitable for filling the stomach.

Yu Fei quickly finished the food before him and was about to order more dishes when Trem's words shifted his attention, "Frye, you and Kwame prepare well for the next two days, we're heading to Washington for a tryout the day after tomorrow."

Washington? Tryout?

Yu Fei didn't have any special feelings for D.C., but what did a tryout with the Wizards mean? Could the Wizards be considering him for their number one draft pick?

As a pragmatic person, Yu Fei had not yet become so conceited to think that way.

"I know they only have one lottery pick," Yu Fei said tactfully.

Trem saw what Yu Fei was thinking, "Do you remember what I told you a few days ago? Michael has taken an interest in you."

Yu Fei's heart almost roared in unison: Don't come over here!

"Is his interest great enough to choose me with the number one pick?"

If not, what was he going to do in Washington?

Trem said, "The Wizards' scouts have been describing you as a taller version of Scottie Pippen. You should know what that name means to Michael."

Yeah, meaning that Jordan would tear into him in a lengthy and stinky version of The Last Dance, leading to Pippen churning out a 300-page autobiography within a year to throw shade at him.

"How did I become Scottie Pippen?"

Yu Fei asked, puzzled.

For the past year, the templates attached to him had been ever-changing.

From Lamar Odom to Darius Miles, there was a recent craze comparing him to Eddie Griffin, and now it's Scottie Pippen.

"This is not important. Anyway, you need to prepare well, and maybe you will play on the same team as Kwame in the future." Trem's words were like a prophecy.

Yu Fei and Kwame looked at each other.

Kwame immediately took on the attitude of an elder brother, "That's great, if we play on the same team, I can directly protect you under my wing!"

The aspiring, likely top draft pick didn't know what Washington had in store for him, and to be honest, Yu Fei didn't know either.

As a post-00s kid, Yu Fei's understanding of Jordan was based mainly on "The Last Dance" and Pi Lao Er's critical comments and autobiography.

Even though "The Last Dance" only lightly grazed over Jordan's tyrannical leadership, one could still imagine the treatment Kwame would endure by Jordan's side.

Kwame didn't understand; he was living in a world of his own fantasies, not reality.

For the next two days, Yu Fei trained mostly with Kwame.

Two days weren't long, but they were enough for Yu Fei to understand Kwame's playing style.

In terms of physical talent and style, Kwame Brown had many similarities with Harry Giles III, the top high school player in the nation in 2016, both respected for their precocious physical development and top-tier techniques in high school basketball.

If Giles's career was ruined by injuries, then what about Brown?

To Yu Fei's senses, Brown had at least a few major flaws: a long neck, leading to a less effective height, even shorter wingspan than Yu Fei, therefore certainly not reaching the standards of a top-class power forward just based on reach, followed by a budding display of butterfingers.

During training, Kwame often failed to catch high-speed direct passes.

As for technique, there wasn't much to say. For a high school player, Brown was great, but once he entered the next level of competition, his current techniques would seem inadequate, and if he went straight into the NBA, the pinnacle of basketball, his high school techniques would likely become disadvantages.

This was actually also Yu Fei's biggest selling point, and equally his most significant risk.

Most scouts were optimistic about Yu Fei bringing his current technical reserves into the NBA successfully, but if he couldn't leverage his techniques there, he'd have to rely on physical talent to play as a power forward. And if he couldn't survive in the NBA's power forward position, he'd be out of the game.

Strangely enough, all scouts were optimistic about Kwame's performance in the NBA, seeing him as a high school player with both growth potential and readiness to compete.

Yu Fei didn't see it that way, but he couldn't do anything about Kwame.

During these two days, Yu Fei focused on individual training, while Kwame was obsessed with beating the trainers in one-on-one.

Every time he completed an impressive offensive move, he would shout, "How about that shot?!"

Then, the sycophants in the training team would loudly echo, "Superb! Absolutely NBA top five material!"

Yu Fei turned a deaf ear, asking only for DiMio to pass the ball and Lawson to symbolically interfere as a defender.

He had to make 500 shots a day with interference from three-point range and another 500 shots from open three-point range, dedicating all his remaining time to basic training for the inside.

His training was dull and repetitive, and Kwame's several invitations to play one-on-one were declined.

"Frye, don't you know that apart from us, there will be other players participating in the tryouts tomorrow?" Kwame said, "There might be one-on-one rounds, are you sure you don't want to practice?"

"No, the gap between your ability and mine is too great, it's not worth it or meaningful to practice."

"Hehe, don't sell yourself short like that. Besides, I'll have your back when the time comes."

Hehe, you'd better.

⑴ In "The Last Dance," an entire episode is devoted to recounting Pi Lao Er's notorious 1.8-second incident during the 1993 semi-final and his surgery and public trade request during the 1997-98 season, with our faithful Trem expressing his righteousness, "We were chasing a three-peat then; Scottie was being somewhat selfish."

Pi Lao Er responded in his autobiography, "Want to know what being selfish is? Selfish is retiring right before training camp starts, preventing the team from signing free agents."

This statement is found in the foreword of the autobiography and Pi Lao Er maintains this aggressive tone throughout the following seventeen chapters.

If someone were to argue why Jordan wasn't like Trem, Pi Lao Er's irreverence would have to be a strong argument.