Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters Chapter 613 445 The GOAT Controversy

The Supersonics stord on unchallenged, and after the Hornets broke their undefeated streak, they surged into December with an eight-ga winning streak, only to suffer their second defeat of the season when they went to Orlando to challenge the Magic.

That night, Howard harshly schooled Kwa Brown in the paint, furiously scoring 25 points and grabbing 22 rebounds, with Carter providing support from the periter with 34 points. The Magic's dazzling small-ball tactics stymied the Supersonics.

But that loss did not warrant much contemplation for the Supersonics.

The opponent was at ho and on a hot streak.

It was a ga they were ant to lose.

However, their next opponents were in for trouble.

Tasting defeat once again, the Supersonics arrived at the second away ga of their Eastern Conference trip, facing the Charlotte Bobcats.

That evening, the team's minority owner and de facto controller of the managent, Michael Jordan, made an appearance at the ho court dressed in a beige suit.

"Doesn't Michael know that his presence will only make things worse?"

The experts at ESPN deliberately steered the discussion toward Jordan.

Because of Jordan's connection, Yu Fei was likely to take a hard stance against the Bobcats.

And as it turned out, the experts' speculation was justified.

If one were to say that Yu Fei's response to the Hornets breaking the Supersonics' undefeated season was to score 55 points with a 95% shooting percentage, then at the Bobcats' ho court, with Jordan sitting courtside, he felt a surge of a killing instinct.

That night, Fei took 29 shots, including 12 out of 15 from beyond the arc, tying the NBA record for individual three-point field goals in a single ga, and racked up 60 points and 12 rebounds with stunning efficiency.

Victory, of course, belonged to the Supersonics, but what was important was how Fei secured that victory.

"Which is more impressive, scoring 55 points with a 95% shooting percentage or scoring 60 points with an 80% shooting percentage?" Ernie Johnson from TNT asked Barkley, "Chuck, what do you think?"

As Jordan's close friend, Barkley was, of course, inclined to give his brother a little face.

"Both are impressive, but I think Frye took the ga against the Bobcats personally; he scored half of his points when the ga was already out of reach," Barkley reasoned, "I believe there are a few others in the league who could do this. Compared to tonight, I prefer his 55-point ga against the Hornets. That was a Greatest of All-Ti performance."

"GOAT?" Kenny Smith noticed sothing amiss, "AYO! Chuck, are you saying Frye is the GOAT?"

Barkley's eyes darted around: "I didn't say that, what I an is, he can play like the Greatest of All Ti."

"OK, since the subject has co up, maybe we should seriously discuss who the real GOAT is between Frye and Michael."

Then Barkley started, "The answer to this question is always Michael. Let tell you, Michael is an Alien. During his pri…"

Fei's fifth championship pushed the Greatest of All Ti debate beyond where Jordan was at the ti of his first retirent.

Now, Fei stood where Jordan did in 1993.

When Jordan completed his first three-peat, sothing neither the legends of Black and White had achieved, the GOAT topic first linked with him. As an exceptional ga star, "Jordan equals GOAT" was the prevailing view at the ti, though not without controversy, as his championship count was not the most dominant.

However, as Jordan began his second three-peat, the league, dia, and sponsors, with a narrative of "rging eras", undervalued all history prior to 1977, bringing the GOAT status within Jordan's grasp.

When he achieved his second back-to-back, there was no one left to match him. By 1998, when he retired perfectly, he was recognized as the best in history.

Now, Fei was in Jordan's 1997 position.

He was close but not there yet.

Yet, so discussions could already start.

Since Jordan's honors were fixed, while Fei still had ample ti.

As the Supersonics showed signs of a champion early in the season, the sixth championship seed to beckon to Fei.

One could foresee that once Fei retained the championship, his GOAT debate with Jordan would beco the biggest topic in basketball history.

Because it was 2008.

Only a decade had passed since Jordan last played like the GOAT, and his fans were still in their pri, their supporting force still formidable.

If another decade passed, perhaps Fei wouldn't need to win six championships to stand side by side with Jordan. Because ti spares no one, those willing to defend Jordan would eventually lose their vigor, and for the new generation, theories of player evolution in the left hand and ga evolution in the right could devalue twenty-year-old gas to insignificance.

It's just like how Jordan's team introduced the "rging eras" argunt to rightfully crown him, the era of small-ball and big-ball would soon beco the dividing line between modern basketball and the ancient ga.

The proximity to Jordan's era was a disadvantage for Yu Fei.

When an era is too close, the resistance to reaching the top seems infinitely magnified.

When Yu Fei entered the dia room,

a mber of the New York dia asked, "What do you think about the escalating GOAT debate?"

"I don't care about it," Yu Fei said, "because whatever is happening now has happened before, and we all live within the prophecy of history."

The dia found it strange because Yu Fei's words were not easy to understand.

"Before 1980, Bill Russell might have been acknowledged as the GOAT; before the new century, number 23 was the acknowledged GOAT. I think, since every 20 years gives rise to intense GOAT debates, why are we still so obsessed with it?" Yu Fei said with a smile, "You know, I don't know if I am the best ever, but I am definitely going to be the most enticing. Decades later, if people look back on this period, they will find nobody else worth ntioning besides ."

Those who try to beco the best are arrogant fools.

They are confident they can defeat ti.

But as long as humanity does not master the technology of immortality, ti is unbeatable.

This was understood by the 1996 Jordan, and by the 2008 Yu Fei.

So Jordan told the dia that he felt embarrassed when he heard others call him the GOAT because he never competed against pioneers like Jerry West.

Yu Fei's understanding went a step further.

From his perspective, if each ultimate winner has an expiration date of about 20 years—a generation's ti—then any claim to being the best beyond that period is just self-delusion. What matters is not exceeding a generation in greatness, but dominating the records for a generation.

December 13

The Supersonics visited San Antonio.

The Spurs were still a 50-win team, but no longer the top-tier title-contending team they were at the beginning of the century.

The Supersonics made significant lineup changes, and it seed that the Spurs reaped so benefits from this.

They had two top-tier wings: Luol Deng and Caron Butler.

Popovich tried having Deng play the four and Butler the three, but it wasn't working out. Butler seed out of sync on the court with the Spurs, and off the court, he was the antithesis of the Spurs' extensive requirents for players' behavior.

But it was unfair to bla Butler; expecting soone who would be dealing drugs if not playing ball to act like the perfect child was asking too much.

Nevertheless, the Spurs' defense against Yu Fei was spot-on.

Perhaps it was too spot-on, and it inadvertently created opportunities for Durant.

With Yu Fei being heavily targeted, Durant caused trouble for the Spurs from the periter, the mid-range, and even under the basket.

Seeing Durant, Popovich seed to be reminded of the 2003 Yu Fei.

Perhaps because he hadn't revisited the painful mory for too long, Popovich thought Durant now seed stronger than Yu Fei had been.

He had forgotten how Yu Fei defeated Duncan in 2003.

"Is Michael Jordan the greatest? I don't know. But if Michael is the greatest, then Scottie Pippen, who grew strong by his side, is a strong argunt for that," Popovich told reporters, "If you want to know if Frye has surpassed Michael, just look at Kevin Durant. The greatest one always elevates those around them, so if KD surpasses Scottie in ten years, then Frye has surpassed Michael."

By the end of 2008, the League seed poised for a change of eras.

The GOAT debate was becoming more fierce, with not just dia and fans, but even those in the league who had competed against Jordan starting to weigh in.

Yu Fei's views on GOAT did not gain support, because every generation believes that what they witness is the best.

Therefore, whenever Yu Fei attended an away ga, there would be fans with unknown motives provoking him with Jordan's GOAT poster.

Then, their opponents would comnt on the GOAT issue after the ga.

At the sa ti, Kobe was recovering from finger surgery, Jas's carried dribbles were under intense scrutiny, Howard's Magic were quietly becoming the best team in the Eastern Conference, while the Bucks were disheartened by Kevin Martin's injury. anwhile, Wade and Anthony were filled with grievances, both believing they deserved better teams. Iverson had been traded, unhappy in Denver, and McGrady was criticized for not training hard enough. Duncan and Nowitzki were ignored, as they had fallen out of the top competitive circle.

A golden era belonging to the past was drawing to a close.

But at least one-third of this golden era was dominated by Yu Fei's na, and yet in many people's eyes, he should belong to the next era.