Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

With a minute left in the first quarter, the Wizards Team substituted Kwame Brown for Yu Fei.

This introduction brought more fun to the game since Yu Fei had performed excellently as a substitute, scoring 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, and showed the fiery temperament consistent with the rumors.

Kwame Brown? Given his draft position, he should have been better than Yu Fei, but was that really the case?

The answer was disappointing.

He seemed out of place in the game and, as a power forward, did not meet Collins's expectations because he could not act as a pivot at the high post.

What about the so-called Webber II? Wouldn't Webber II make plays?

Was this some kind of joke?

The fact was Brown's skills honed in low-level high school games gave the illusion he was the next Webber, something the Wizards had seen through during training camp, and now it was just being confirmed in a real game.

As a power forward, Brown was unable to help the team, and if moved to center, his current strength for confrontation seemed lacking, and moreover, Collins doubted whether he had enough threat as a rim protector.

Additionally, Brown's defensive habits were very poor.

In one minute, Brown committed two fouls.

The most fatal issue was his butterfingers characteristic had been exposed in that same minute.

After Chris Whitney called for a pick and roll with Brown, he delivered a quite imaginative crossover pass.

However, Brown didn't secure the ball, effectively spitting out the 2 points fed into his mouth.

Yu Fei had once narrowed the gap to 6 points, but within three minutes, Brown let the Wizards fall behind by 14 points.

With 10 minutes left in the second quarter, Jordan stood up with a grim face and said, "I've seen enough."

Following Brown's third personal foul, he was substituted out.

"Unlike Frye Yu, Kwame seems to still be getting used to the intensity of professional basketball,"

"Although it may be a bit premature to say this, I really didn't see any... sparkle in him."

Brown walked off the court dejectedly, unwilling to talk to anyone.

Collins would normally "guide" a player who had been subbed off.

When Ratner was taken out, Collins "guided" him with language that would have been condemned by God; when Yu Fei was subbed off, Collins introduced him to a player named Darryl Dawkins, wanting Fei to understand that when a person has great talent but can't control their temper, it might derail their career.

What about Kwame Brown? He didn't have anything to say.

It was obvious that Collins was very disappointed in Brown, but his impatience was even less than Jordan's, which was puzzling.

Seeing Brown looking sullen, Yu Fei told him, "You've signed a four-year contract; a bad night won't change anything."

For Brown, Yu Fei truly lived up to "I can guard, and also warm hearts." Brown was grateful to Yu Fei; without the care from his peer, he didn't know how he would survive in this toxic environment.

"If I practiced three times a day like you... would I get better?" Brown wanted to change his situation.

Yu Fei didn't believe Brown could keep up three practices a day.

Moreover, the season had already started; was practicing three times a day an admission of being too soft on the court?

If he wore himself out on the practice court, what energy would he have left for the game?

Even for Yu Fei, the intensity of his current training had been greatly reduced. Apart from team practices, he only added 60 minutes of shooting and 30 minutes of strength training each day.

"I think, memorizing the tactical manual will be more helpful for you," Yu Fei cautiously suggested.

Brown had many issues; the most important thing right now was to not become disconnected from the team's play style, and the reason for this issue was mainly because he wasn't familiar with the team's tactics due to being mentally fogged up by the PUA tactics of Jordan and Collins in training.

In front of those two big shots, Brown could only say "Yes," but when actually playing, he needed to integrate into the system; there would not always be someone there to remind him of what to do at every moment.

On the court, Dogte, who went 1 for 5 in the first quarter, finally started to feel the game again.

On the defensive end, he matched up against Sprewell; while he couldn't keep up with the speed, his experience allowed him to successfully predict the opponent's power release timing, stealing the ball and scoring a fast-break dunk.

Then he responded with a mid-range jumper after Sprewell scored on a drive.

The Knicks missed their shot, and Jordan scored quickly on the fast break, hitting three shots in a row.

At his peak, once he got into his scoring rhythm, he could score until he didn't want to anymore.

But now, the more he ran, the more he started to gasp for air; once he gasped, the rhythm changed, and his shots started to veer off.

Jordan's fourth shot didn't even have a straight arc.

"Back in his younger days, he would've never missed that shot!"

Tim Grover shook his head regretfully.

Yu Fei glanced at him; when Jordan dunked fast break earlier, Grover jumped up as if it was a holiday celebration.

He didn't want to comment, because Grover was one of Jordan's most loyal fans, but he was only concerned about when he could get back on the court.

After playing for six minutes straight, Jordan moved to the backcourt and started to catch his breath with his hands on his knees.

Collins asked, "Michael, do you want to take a break?"

Do you want to take a break? Yu Fei glared in disbelief, are you kidding me? You're the coach; don't you have that authority? Useless!

Collins proved with his actions that in front of Jordan, he was indeed just a fart.

Jordan shook his head, "We've got a good momentum, and I'm fine, I can keep going."