Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Bucks and the 76ers' third game was about to start, when Reebok arranged for Yu Fei and Allen Iverson to take part in an event together.

Moreover, the event was personally organized by the company's CEO Paul Farman, with the purpose of reducing the hostility between Yu Fei and Iverson.

In fact, they were worrying too much; Yu Fei and Iverson's conflicts were limited to the basketball court, and both knew how to separate their personal and professional lives.

Even if Yu Fei looked down on Iverson's personal morals, the care Iverson had shown him in various activities and public appearances over the past two years was something he kept in mind.

Yu Fei had to admit that Iverson was the kind of friend everyone wanted.

Whenever someone around him faced troubles, he was always ready to help, whether with effort or money.

But he never considered that one day, the leeches clinging to him would bleed him dry.

Yu Fei had heard from his agent, Arne Trem, that Iverson owned fourteen cars, only four of which were his; the rest had been given to relatives and friends.

Iverson had to pay for these cars' insurance every year, a bill that might seem astronomical to the lowest-paid NBA players, but which he could settle without furrowing his brow.

Because compared to that, the other bills that the vampires kept bringing back were the real burden.

Trem often used Iverson's situation as an example to impress upon Yu Fei the importance of financial management.

Yu Fei felt it unnecessary, as there were no leeches around him, and even Lawson and Clark were only getting regular pay; they wouldn't bring him extra bills.

Since entering the NBA, aside from allocating part of his salary to support his mother's shop in D.C., Yu Fei had no major expenditures.

He had no bad habits, didn't spend money frivolously, and certainly didn't blow hundreds of thousands of US Dollars in a nightclub just to prove he was "rich and daring to play" like Iverson did.

At the end of the event, Farman told Yu Fei and Iverson that he would be at the venue tonight to support them.

Yu Fei asked, "Paul, who do you hope wins?"

Iverson also looked at Farman with interest.

For a while now, the rumors that Yu Fei would replace Iverson's position within Reebok had never stopped. Even if Iverson wasn't concerned, the people around him would remind him of its importance.

Therefore, every word Farman said could be misunderstood.

Farman was well aware of this, so he merely smiled and said, "For the company, the best outcome would be like the first game. Frye has the better team, so the Bucks wins the game, and although AI, lacking support, loses, he gets terrific stats."

"That might be best for the company, but not necessarily for me." Yu Fei looked at Iverson, "AI, if Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci both invited you to spend the night with them on the same evening, which one would you choose?"

Iverson humorously replied, "You know, bro, I'm married, so that's not a good question. Moreover, these two aren't on my 'Freebie List', if you swapped those names for Mariah Carey and Halle Berry, I'd consider it."

"OK..." Yu Fei didn't want to argue about tastes with Iverson; he had already tried to name two people who fit the general aesthetic, but the point was... "If it were up to me, I wouldn't refuse either of them. I'd take them both, that's my choice, and that's what I'm going to do tonight, too."

It was a very straightforward answer.

Yu Fei would take both the game and the stats.

Iverson said with a smile, "It won't be that easy."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Indeed," Yu Fei, jokingly said, "doing that is definitely much harder than sweeping you guys 4-0 and sending you home to fish."

That night's game unfolded just as George Karl had predicted before.

Dick Bavetta came with an agenda, blowing four fouls on the Bucks in less than three minutes since the start.

Iverson was practically untouchable; any contact with him was a foul.

Despite the difficulty on the defensive end, the Bucks weren't taken apart by their opponents right from the start.

This was mainly thanks to the performance of two people.

One was Yu Fei, and the other was Ray Allen.

As the apparent team leader, Ray Allen was incredibly valiant away from home, basically catching every pass that Yu Fei dished out from his breaks and also had his own drives to the basket ending in a slam dunk that resulted in a 2+1.

For the first quarter, Ray Allen was more dazzling than Yu Fei.

With his shooting and drives both on point, Ray Allen could briefly reach the level of the top four shooting guards.

Explore more at empire

"Are you extra excited tonight?" Yu Fei asked Allen at the end of the first quarter.

Allen simply stated seriously, "I wouldn't miss any chance to sweep the 76ers."

"Why, do you hate Philadelphia?"

"Not hate."

"Then what about them do you dislike?"

Ray Allen did not say, but Yu Fei noticed that his gaze toward Iverson carried an intense hostility.

Although it was not known what the story behind it was, it was certain that Ray Allen disliked Iverson; whether their conflicts were from the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 or even earlier was anyone's guess.

As the second quarter began, Yu Fei put some intensity on Iverson.

Bavita blew the whistle nonetheless.

That indicated "Iverson can't be touched" was the measure for tonight.

"Dick, you don't want last year's Western Conference Finals to happen again, do you?" Yu Fei calmly communicated with him, "You've got to give us some room to defend."

Bavita, impervious to persuasion, said, "Don't talk to me."

"OK, no more talk."