Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Allen Iverson faced a barrage of criticism after the third game.

Critics failed to understand his excessive reaction.

In terms of the scale of the officiating, Iverson had benefited most of the time; how could he not bear it when the referees suddenly relaxed their calls a little?

The 76ers were behind 0-3, and no team believed they could chase down three games like the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference.

After all, the depth of the Trail Blazers' roster meant that falling to eighth place was entirely due to the coaching staff's inability to coordinate players' needs.

The potential of a team with amazing depth yet internal conflict was truly frightening.

The Mavericks inadvertently unleashed the potential of the Trail Blazers, whereas the 76ers had no potential to tap into.

Years had passed, and they remained the same as in their runner-up season, relying on Iverson to single-handedly batter the opposition.

The strong teams from the same period as the original 76ers had either fallen or strengthened themselves; none had stayed the same like them.

Two days later, the Bucks and the 76ers' semifinal came to its fourth game.

The third game's defeat sent Philadelphia's morale into a freefall.

No longer did anyone believe they could win against the Bucks.

Questions surrounding Philadelphia and their season's prospects ceased to be of interest.

What people were more curious about was what the future held for Iverson, much like whether Larry Brown, with his expiring contract, would return to Philadelphia.

The dispirited 76ers gave up fighting amid Brown's screaming.

In his last game of the season, Iverson scored 30 points, which seemed decent, but a 12-of-32 shooting performance was unsatisfactory by any standard.

Opposite Iverson, Yu Fei seemed like a product of another era.

With less than 20 shots in the game, he unleashed the highest score of the night, 33 points, through numerous defensive counterattacks and outside shooting, leading his team to a 4-0 sweep over the 76ers.

After the game, no one asked Yu Fei how it felt to sweep Iverson.

The media's focus was on the last drama before the Eastern Conference finals, "Frye, according to the final MVP simulation by all parties, half the media believe you will be elected this season's MVP. What's your take on that?"

Yu Fei was well aware that the media's simulation choices were like the guild awards before the Oscars, an important weathervane for the final MVP vote.

In those seasons with a dominant candidate, the media's simulation choices might not matter, but in a competitive season, the media's preferences would decide who gets the MVP.

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The most typical case was the 1989-90 season, where the three top MVP contenders had vote percentages of 26% (Magic Johnson), 25% (Barkley), and 23% (Jordan).

Whether considering the ability to make stars or the degree to which the '84 greats lifted their teams, both were more deserving of the MVP than Magic Johnson.

Yet, in the end, the better-liked Magic Johnson won that year's MVP by a slim margin.

This year was also quite competitive, with the main contenders being Duncan, Kidd, and Yu Fei.

There was Duncan's one-man show, Kidd's continual enhancements over two seasons, and Yu Fei's astonishing progress (leading the Bucks to the league's top record).

In terms of popularity, Kidd was destined to be a runner-up, and Duncan, as the universally acknowledged best active player, seemed entitled to win MVP.

However, out of the East came Yu Fei.

With impeccable personal stats that led to the Bucks winning a third more games than the previous season, he was the much-hyped superstar-in-the-making—highlighting Duncan's greatest disadvantage. Everyone liked him, acknowledged his skills, but when it came to awards, people would prefer others first.

After the Bucks swept the 76ers in the semifinals, Reebok unleashed all of its media firepower for a full-scale promotion of Yu Fei, in hopes that their brand could boast a second MVP player.

Meanwhile, Duncan's Spurs were locked in a tough battle with the Lakers, aiming for a four-peat.

The Spurs really had no time to promote how much Duncan deserved the MVP. To these people who believed in the spirit of the stonemasonry, wasn't it only natural for Duncan to receive the MVP?

Popovich believed that swapping the teams of Yu Fei and Duncan, the Bucks would be stronger, while the Spurs wouldn't stand a chance to contend for the championship.

In his view, that was the true standard for an MVP.

If someone in the league could replace you and do better, then what made you worthy of the MVP?

But this impossible hypothetical was ultimately just wishful thinking. Yu Fei didn't dwell on it as he had already been burned once by the "seniority issue."

He could have unlocked the "All-Star" achievement in his rookie season were it not for bad reputation and insufficient seniority, which allowed a veteran to take his spot.

If the league really thought that giving Duncan a second MVP was more important than creating the youngest MVP in history, then there was nothing more to say.

This was no longer an issue of "who's more deserving." Yu Fei believed his credentials and appeal surpassed those of Duncan. If the outcome was otherwise, it would mean there was a problem with the league.

So, he no longer cared about the MVP.

It didn't matter that Yu Fei didn't care; what mattered was whether those behind him did.

Reebok mobilized their media power, and agent Trem did everything in his power to ensure that Yu Fei would get enough votes for MVP.

Then, the Bucks began preparing for the Eastern Conference Finals.

Because their Eastern Conference opponent had been decided.

It was none other than the New Jersey Nets, who Yu Fei and Karl had been eagerly thinking about.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

If the Bucks were the kings of the Eastern Conference, then the Nets were undoubtedly the princes.

In the first round of the playoffs, they eliminated The Celtics with a 4-1 series win, and then, in the semi-finals, they faced the second-seeded Detroit Pistons and swept them with a decisive 4-0.

The ambitious Pistons, who were looking to achieve great success, were doused with a bucket of cold water as they ran out of patience and fired Rick Carlisle.

And almost on the same day Carlisle was dismissed, the Pistons announced their new coach: Larry Brown.

This was nothing short of seismic news.

The general misunderstanding about Carlisle's sacking - despite the blowout by the Nets - was that if anyone was to blame, it was Chauncey Billups who had the biggest problem.

Not only did he clash with Carlisle during the playoffs, but as the best player of the Pistons in the first round, he was utterly dominated by Jason Kidd in the semi-finals.

As the team's leader, with an average of 9.8 points and 6 assists per game and a 27% shooting percentage, Kidd dominated with averages of 23.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists on a 42% shooting percentage.

It was clear that Billups was the problem, but since it was only his first year in Detroit and he had also had conflict with the coach, Pistons general manager Joe Dumars was very clear that they could not get a better point guard in exchange for Billups. If Carlisle couldn't resolve his conflict with players, then the team had to optimize the coaching staff.

And so, Carlisle, who had one year left on his contract, was out, and Larry Brown was rapidly re-employed following his dismissal from Philadelphia.

Nobody would believe it wasn't a master plan.

Although the Pistons were eliminated, they became the league's joke, a team shaky and lacking patience, now welcoming a similarly impatient control freak.

Unlike the consecutive sweeps in the Eastern Conference, the Western playoff battles were as brutal as a gladiatorial arena.

The first round witnessed one game seven and two game sixes, but the semi-finals were even more astonishing, with the defending champion Lakers and the Spurs going through a bloody six-game battle, inevitably heading towards the collapse of a dynasty.

The Lakers' 2002-03 season was special, with Kobe officially claiming power. Leaving aside his wild shooting during the regular season, in the playoffs, he averaged nearly 10 more shots per game than Shaquille O'Neal. If the Lakers could win a fourth consecutive championship under his leadership, then the transfer of power and throne would be undeniable.

However, Duncan's Silver-Black Legion stopped Kobe's ambition.

That's why Kobe was in tears at the end of the sixth game.

The night the OK Dynasty collapsed, many found it incredible.

The collaboration between the league's top center and a top ten superstar should have dominated for five or six years, barring major injuries.

Yet, Duncan, seemingly with little help, managed to eliminate them in the playoffs?

The discussions about Duncan's MVP reached their peak at this moment.

After the game, ESPN reporter David Aldridge asked Duncan, "Despite Frye having louder MVP calls, your playoff performance has been universally recognized. Do you think this will help you get more votes?"

"I hope so, but it shouldn't happen," Duncan said confidently, "MVP depends on regular-season performance, and I think I've done enough, of course, Frye has too, so this isn't a problem for me."

Aldridge couldn't help but ask, "Then what is the problem?"

"If I can't win a real ring, people will keep saying the 1999 championship was just child's play during a carnival," Duncan said seriously, "That is the real problem."

Aldridge had once described Duncan as "Giant God of Abstinence" in his 1999 column because it seemed like Duncan never publicly promoted his preferences or desires, even though he led his team to a championship in his second season, just like Jabbar. That was still a trivial matter.

For the first time, Aldridge saw a clear demand on Duncan's face.

He was desperate to win another championship.

Because his first championship was wantonly desecrated by those led by Phil Jackson, who claimed that the title was worthless and needed an asterisk.

When the OK Dynasty won three consecutive titles in the new century, this view became the mainstream as the Lakers rose to power.

"Lucky Spurs" was an extremely harsh assessment for Duncan.

In comparison, who won the MVP seemed truly unimportant to Duncan.

Nobody cares that during the three-peat of the OK Dynasty, the invincible duo only won one MVP award, but everyone who cares about basketball will remember their three championships.

Aldridge realized Duncan's attitude was almost synonymous with that of the Spurs.

Everyone in the Spurs Team felt that Duncan was the MVP, but not many media outlets would promote this view. This was very different from Yu Fei and the forces behind him.

Even though the conference finals had not yet started, Aldridge was already looking forward to a face-off between the two teams in the NBA Finals.

Since 1999, the NBA Finals had not seen such an intriguing matchup.