Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Yu Fei's "humiliation" of Shaquille O'Neal was a novel experience for Kobe.

It wasn't right to find amusement in an opponent insulting one's teammate, but if the target was Shaquille O'Neal, then it was okay.

Complaining about the lack of foul calls was something Shaq did every game; he even did it during intra-squad scrimmages. Back in the day, Kobe responded to Shaq with an attitude similar to Yu Fei's, and what did he get for it?

A slap in the face.

Now, seeing Shaq provoked to boiling point by a rookie, Kobe felt an unusual sense of exhilaration.

Then, Robert Horry reduced Shaq's offensive pressure with a three-pointer.

On the Wizards' offensive turn, Popeye Jones, responsible for the high post transition ball, made a passing error that Kobe intercepted, immediately launching a defensive counterattack and scoring with a dunk in the frontcourt.

5 to 4

The Wizards continued to exploit the high post.

Since Shaq generally didn't defend pick-and-rolls and was too lazy to step out to guard the shot, Popeye Jones, with his mid-range ability, rolled out after setting a screen.

Coach Lu passed the ball to him.

Horry couldn't be bothered to move, and Shaq indeed didn't leave the basket area. Jones took the mid-range shot.

Unfortunately, he wasn't a consistent mid-range shooter.

"Bang!"

The Lakers launched another counterattack.

They were moving too fast, too quick for the big men to keep up. This was a game for the forwards.

To be exact, it was dominated by the guards.

Brian Shaw ran at full speed, passing the ball to Rick Fox in stride, who caught it and went up, aiming to attack the basket directly, while Yu Fei, who had caught up quickly, applied a chase-down block from behind.

"Frye's chase-down block is a highlight in the Wizards' games!"

NBC's commentator Bob Costas said with a laugh after the play.

If the Lakers wanted to play fast, Yu Fei didn't mind keeping up the pace with them.

After all, none of the Wizards on the court disliked a fast-paced game, but it was a different story for the Lakers.

After the block, Yu Fei regained control of the ball and dribbled to the frontcourt himself. Meeting Shaq's eyes, which only a true adversary would understand, he gestured for Cassidy White to come set a screen.

Shaq reacted just as Yu Fei had anticipated: he moved, but not fully.

First off, Shaq couldn't possibly be indifferent to the pick Cassidy White was setting. But asking him to leave the paint to defend the high screen was much to ask.

Because he knew the moment he stepped out, Yu Fei would easily blow by him.

Plus, frequently leaving the paint to defend would also have a significant impact on his stamina.

Essentially, Shaq had many excuses, and the combination of these excuses led to a weak defense against pick-and-roll offenses.

Yu Fei easily shook off the defense using the pick, dribbled to the free-throw line, and since Shaq didn't come out to meet him, he saw no need to go in, making a quick jump shot instead.

5 to 6

The Wizards led by one point.

"Surely, no one expects a teammate to guard two players," Yu Fei trash-talked Fox, but the one hurt wasn't Fox, "Where's your boss? Why doesn't he come out to guard me?"

The mature and composed Fox rolled his eyes: "You don't actually think that will work, do you?"

If it had no effect, why say it? If Shaq felt even the slightest bit of disgust or anger, Yu Fei's trash talk was valuable.

Seeing Shaq's attitude toward defending the pick-and-roll, Yu Fei gradually understood why fans of the small-ball era thought that Shaq, if placed twenty years later, would be annihilated by threes and pick-and-rolls.

It was an intriguing debate that pitted two entirely different basketball philosophies against each other. Old-school fans often scoffed at the idea, arguing that Shaq in the small-ball era would still shoot at a 75% success rate, if not 100%. To completely neutralize Shaq, a small-ball team would need to hit more than 50% of their threes. But small-ball fans also had something to say: why must they be limited to shooting threes? If you don't defend the pick-and-roll, why not just exploit it and wear you down?

It was a topic with no definitive answer, but when traditional big men like Shaq became extinct in the small-ball era, the era had seemingly given an answer.

Everything, everyone, has to move forward.

Ironically, Yu Fei was a man from the future. He knew the power of the pick-and-roll and understood that Shaq's negligent attitude on defense could create numerous opportunities for the Wizards.

So... just as Yu Fei decided to ruthlessly target Shaq, Shaq sealed off a dangerous position.

All it took was a lob pass from Brian Shaw.

Shaq caught the ball, turned, and shoved Cassidy White violently, then suddenly, like a rocket engine had been strapped onto the hulking body that seemed out of place on an athlete, he blasted off, delivering a visually spectacular dunk directly over White's head.

7 to 6

Isn't that cheating?

Even though he had known beforehand, Yu Fei still found it hard to believe that a body of that build could have such explosive power and velocity.

"Cassidy, Are you okay?" Yu Fei approached with the caring demeanor of a CEO at Xiaomi.

It wasn't White's first tangle with Shaq, and he just wished Yu Fei would bother the beast less: "You know, Frye, every time you piss off Shaq, I'm the one who pays the price."

"Don't be afraid of him, Cassidy. You can totally take him on," Yu Fei said, not simply fibbing but outright ignoring the scene of Shaq overpowering White and trying to brainwash his teammate against his better judgment.