Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Yu Fei returned to the locker room, which was quiet, and he saw satisfaction on some of his teammates' faces.

Why not? They were leading the defending champions by 2 points at halftime.

They had every right to be proud.

Was that enough for them?

For a team called "trash," that really was enough.

It could even be said that being 2 points behind at halftime was a disgrace for the Lakers and an honor for the Wizards.

Then Collins walked in, his face flushed with excitement as he congratulated the players, "That was spectacular! That was the best first half of our season! But it's not over. This marathon is only half done, we've got to keep running!"

Everyone agreed, but Yu Fei couldn't help but throw cold water on them.

"Funny, we're the ones ahead, but as I walked off the court, Lakers fans called us trash."

As soon as Yu Fei's words fell, the atmosphere in the locker room became solemn.

"What a joke, we're the ones ahead!" Jahidi White shouted, "They have to respect us!"

"Right, they should respect us," Yu Fei said, "but they can also disrespect us, because they have Shaq, with a team that's set to win the championship this year. And what about us? We don't have Jordan, we don't have Richard Hamilton, we're a team struggling for playoffs. I'm an arrogant rookie, Tyronn is LA's castoff, Cassidy, you're the jester from MCI. Christian? Your screens stink worse than shit. Bobby, Kwame..."

"Look at this bunch, why should they respect us?" Yu Fei said mockingly, "We're satisfied with just leading by 2 points at halftime, not daring to hope for what comes after, yet Lakers fans believe they can win because we're trash, and they're the champions."

The room fell silent.

Collins didn't understand why Yu Fei was saying this when things were going well, until—

"The only way to get respect is by winning games, not by being 2 points ahead at the end of the first half," Yu Fei said to White, "Do you want to win?"
Discover stories at empire

"Or do you want to keep being treated like trash?"

"Do you want to continue to be called a burden by those around Jordan?"

"Do you want to make Richard Hamilton regret he left our 'trash' team midway?"

"Do you want to shut up those bastards who say we're nothing without Jordan and Hamilton?"

Finally, someone couldn't hold it in any longer, it was still Jahidi White, the bold one, "Yes! I think about it every day!"

"Then give it your damn all in the second half against Shaq!" Yu Fei turned to everyone, "Whoever backs down tonight is the eternal trash! This is our chance to prove ourselves, once it's gone, it will never come back! No one is going to save us, except ourselves! Only ourselves!"

Suddenly, everyone was making their stand.

The players cursed, ready to fight the Lakers to the death.

The locker room suddenly turned into a furnace; even those who didn't need to play were lit with passion.

The team reporter from The Washington Post, Steve Wyche, hoped that Jordan knew what was happening here, he wanted Jordan to know how influential Yu Fei was now.

But he didn't want to ruin the moment.

Thinking about what Yu Fei had done since coming to D.C., Wyche inexplicably believed that this 19-year-old might indeed lead this "trash" team to some achievement.

"We might be driven to madness by life, but some are mad to begin with."

Wyche wrote in his game notes tonight.

As soon as the second half began, the Wizards showed a completely different attitude.

Yu Fei's pump fake jump shot missed, then Jahidi White and Popeye Jones, like fierce tigers, crashed into the Lakers' frontcourt.

They didn't grab the offensive rebounds, but they made their determination clear with an unwavering attitude.

The Lakers' play also changed; Shaquille O'Neal stopped pursuing low-post domination, increasingly boxing out inside and then suddenly sprinting to the basket.

This kind of sporadic offense made it difficult to sustain momentum, and thus, Kobe became the Lakers' main offensive focus.

Since Kobe's three-point percentage wasn't high this season, the Wizards had a strategy in defending Kobe's ball-handling attacks.

So, although the Lakers shifted their offensive focus from the interior to the perimeter, they still lacked continuity in their attacks, and the problem of tactical constipation remained unresolved.

Zone defense, three-second defensive violations, and Kobe's three-point shooting percentage were all problems the Lakers couldn't solve at the moment.

But what really kept the Wizards in the game was the relentless effort of the entire team.

Jahidi White got knocked down by O'Neal several times.

He stopped fouling blindly.

But eventually, in the last four minutes before the fourth quarter ended, he committed his sixth foul on O'Neal.

He didn't make it easy for O'Neal.

O'Neal's body bore his claw marks and hand prints; he had given everything he had, just as Yu Fei had said, to fight for a victory over the Lakers rather than just leading by 2 points at halftime.

Popeye Jones, as a helper on defense, also put all his energy on display, blocking 3 shots and bringing scarce firepower support to the Wizards with mid-range shots and second-chance points.

Tyronn Lue attacked the Lakers' inside lines even more desperately, seizing every opportunity for a fast break. No one had more reason to prove himself against the Lakers.