Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 592 426 The Final Step

That night, Supersonics fans sang joyfully, as if their team had already clinched the trophy.

"I'm so happy, because I know my team is about to win the championship!" an elderly fan told reporters excitedly, "because we have Frye!"

Clay Bennett, the owner of the Supersonics, also came forward for an interview.

"You can see the soul of Northwest basketball in Frye," Bennett said, "He was born for this."

After that night, Seattle began to ramp up its marketing efforts for Fei.

Unlike the secluded Milwaukee, a metropolis like Seattle, once set on elevating someone, the power and resources they can mobilize belong to another level.

The Celtics, leaving the playoffs with a record of complete defeats on the road, have made themselves a shamed team.

Even if they managed two consecutive home wins to take the championship, the twelve straight losses away were enough to turn them into the most questioned champions in history.

And this might be the relatively best of many possible outcomes, at least they won the championship.

But what worried the Celtics supporters was whether the team would be unable to recover from this blow.

Although Rivers praised his players endlessly like a force-feeding duck in the post-game, his motivational talk could always calm the most ferocious players, but this time it seemed different.

Michael Redd's controversial shot in the fourth quarter attracted criticism, and it was as if he knew it was coming, even complaining about not getting enough support at the post-game press conference.

He had no good screens, no one setting up plays, so he had to rely on his own strength to save the team, but it failed in the end, falling short of success.

He believed that even if he wasn't the Celtics' savior, he was still a tragically fallen hero.

Reality was starkly different from what he thought.

No one saw him as a hero, and the media biased towards the Celtics scrutinized his errors during the game with a magnifying glass.

Those biased towards the Supersonics were very direct.

Denigrating Redd was second nature to them.

It's well known that when Redd followed Fei into the 2003 Finals, he had an outstanding performance and was a surprise weapon, delivering a heavy blow to the Spurs in critical moments.

The biggest difference between him and the other two giants of the Celtics was his experience of winning in the playoffs all the way to the end.

However, his years in New York seemed to have reset his experience to zero.

Last night's fourth-quarter performance gave the media fond of criticizing him a new opportunity.

Thus, in the world of public opinion about Redd, criticisms rained down: "Without Frye, Michael Redd is just a regular player," "The essence of a loser, Michael Redd has never been a winner," "Don't be surprised by Redd's failure, this is his performance in New York." Even Roy was inadvertently harmed. Roy has been a main pawn for the media to attack Redd.

Their point was that a technically mature yet inexperienced player like Roy grew rapidly into an All-Star under Fei's guidance, much like the Michael Redd of yesteryear.

The media's total dismissal of Redd was one thing; another was the chain reaction Redd's post-game comments caused within the Celtics.

Blaming a lack of assistance from his teammates equated to blaming Rivers for his poor tactical planning; blaming a lack of good screens meant blaming Eastern Conference's top screener Garnett for not blocking the defense; and no one setting up plays translated to blaming Rondo, who was often left open, for lacking the personal ability to attract defense, forcing him to desperately find space while defended by 1-2 players.

When Redd forced that controversial three-point shot, the Celtics still had ten seconds left on the offense, and they could have reorganized the attack.

It was Redd who acted willfully, breaking the tacit understanding of the team.

However, at the end of the game, no one blamed him.

Pierce was crushed by Fei to the point of incontinence and only returned at the final moment, which was frustrating in itself. If Redd had kept quiet and accepted mockery, then everyone would just regret Pierce's inability to fight until the very end.

Because Pierce was the Celtics' best-performing player that night; without him, Fei would have killed the game much earlier.

But now, Redd's comments shifted the responsibility to his teammates and coaching staff, inevitably inciting discontent from others.

Garnett, who had been engaging with the media enthusiastically since being traded to Boston, had to spend a lot of time dealing with the media wherever he went.

On the day he returned to Boston, Garnett expressed disappointment about Redd's post-game comments: "Whether it was me, Doug, or someone else, we all gave our best and should not be blamed."

Pierce, interviewed as well, said, "I'm glad Michael didn't blame me for leaving the game midway."

The most serious about this was Rivers.

He knew Redd's words were tearing apart the Celtics' intact chemistry.

It was something they had built over a season with the league's best record.

When the trio of the Celtics was first established, Danny Ainge had concerns. He worried that Redd might not integrate into the collective and become part of the team.

Because he was different from the other two giants.

Garnett had toiled in Minnesota for twelve years, breaking past the first round only once, and his edge had worn off—he just wanted to succeed.

Pierce had waited nine years, with a similar experience to Garnett's.

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They had all endured a long wait, faced prolonged failures, all over the age of 30.

Thirty is an important turning point for athletes, not as leisurely as the "age of independence" mentioned in ancient Chinese phrases. For athletes, turning 30 signifies a decline in physical fitness, reduced stamina, and weakened recovery ability—tasks once easily accomplished in youth gradually become difficult.

Therefore, they're called veterans.

Because at this age, they truly take on an elderly mindset.

Red? He was not yet 30, and had been selected for Team USA last summer. In his early years in Milwaukee, he had achieved success alongside Yu Fei, but later, dissatisfied with his status on the team, he requested a trade.

Given Red's track record, he had never provided a convincing answer to make one believe he could sacrifice himself for the team.

During the regular season, Ainge once trusted him because, although Red lacked the "one for all" mentality, he was fiercely determined to prove he could succeed without Yu Fei.

Perhaps this is fate.

Or rather, the curse of The Chosen One.

They met unexpectedly in the Finals, and Red's resolve was shattered by The Chosen One.

He either had to accept the reality that without The Chosen One, he was a loser, or he had to ignore reality and switch into Makoto Ito mode.

I cannot be wrong, if there is a mistake, it's the world's fault.

Thus, Ainge's initial opinion was confirmed.

Red is not now, nor will he ever be, a player content with mediocrity, selflessness, and willing to accept failure.

He would only become a viper, spewing venom and blaming the world.

If the world continued to oppose him, he would blame his teammates and coaches.

Now, The Celtics had come this far.

The internal turmoil of The Celtics overshadowed what Yu Fei said yesterday.

Normally, "I haven't lost; the game just ended" would have sparked enjoyable controversy, but now, the sports writers and journalists of the basketball world were all focused on Boston.

Bill Simmons, who had been complaining about The Supersonics securing a three-game winning streak with the help of referees just yesterday, came to his senses and joined the chorus of criticism against the team.

As someone familiar with NBA history, he certainly knew what a disgrace it was to suffer twelve consecutive away losses in the playoffs.

What was frightening is that the players were not aware of it – and Red, the main culprit, was even blaming his teammates?

Red's words invited greater public scrutiny upon himself and caused rifts within the team.

This storm let those with keen eyes realize that The Supersonics were closer to their second championship in franchise history.

In the few days leading up to Game 6, Seattle's media offered all kinds of advice, and fans spontaneously took to the streets, virtually transforming the Emerald City into Basketball City.

Key Arena announced that Game 6 would be broadcast live on the arena's big screens. Season ticket holders could watch for free, while fans without season tickets could enter for just 50 US Dollars.

This was fundraising taken to the extreme.

Even a game not hosted by The Supersonics could be streamed live and charge for admission, and indeed countless fans were willing to go to Key Arena to watch a game that resembled a big-screen movie.

Afterward, Mayor Greg Nichols joined in the fanfare, declaring that the day The Supersonics won the championship would be named "Supersonics Day."

Even this sort of "nothing but verbal support to offer" stance increased his approval ratings by a few percentage points.

Without question, Seattle was the undisputed Basketball City in recent times.

True fans might only account for a third or even a quarter, but no one dislikes winning, and no one hates champions. Now, with The Supersonics just one step away from the championship, the fans' enthusiasm was thoroughly roused.

June 18

On Game 6 of the Finals, as The Supersonics headed to the airport, thousands of fans saw them off outside the airport.

Their chant was unchanging.

Yu Fei had heard it when he first returned to Seattle last year, but listening now felt completely different.

"Save our Supersonics!"

"Save our Supersonics!!"

"Save our Supersonics!!!"

Yu Fei halted, and as a representative of the team, he pledged, "Tomorrow morning, we will return with the O'Brien Trophy and celebrate the final victory with you all."

"!#￥￥!"