Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

This was Yu Fei's first time coming to Cleveland, and it felt just like Kent City to him.

His generation couldn't imagine that, half a century ago, Cleveland was one of the most important cities in the United States.

As Yu Fei and DiMio traveled through the city by taxi, the old stores along the streets would always play Ian Hunter's "Cleveland Rocks."

This was a song written in the 70s, a golden era for rock music.

But to Fei, the song was no different from noise; neither the melody nor the tune was pleasant to listen to, and the lyrics were quite strange.

"Mom knows but doesn't care,

She's got her own worries,

Seven kids and a phony affair,

And the rent is due.

All the little girls with deep red lipstick are growing up,

Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks."

The perplexing lyrics, coupled with the demonic chorus—the line "Cleveland rocks" must have been repeated fifty-eight times if not a hundred.

Trying out for the Cavaliers was decided long ago, but neither Yu Fei's agent nor Yu Fei himself held any expectations for the trip to the Cavaliers.

Though the Cavaliers did have this year's number eight draft pick.

Is the number eight pick special? To Fei, it was quite special.

In the recent mock drafts by major newspapers, Yu Fei was basically selected by the Cavaliers at the eighth spot.

But the current stage of mock drafts could be essentially called a player prospect ranking; it doesn't take into account the actual needs of the team, but ranks players based on their potential for development.

As a high school player who gained fame quickly, with shaky foundations and a huge disparity between his upper and lower limits, the eighth spot was where experts saw as the most suitable for Yu Fei.

Yet, the Cavaliers were not so eager for a player of Fei's type.

Yu Fei had the potential to become a tall point guard, but the Cavaliers didn't need a point guard; they had a player named Andre Miller in their ranks, whose playmaking skills were as steady as an old dog.

Fei could play in the post, but since his tryouts began, he had been playing the small forward position because he would not be able to play center in the NBA, and power forward was currently the NBA position with the most talent. With his level of physical maturity, entering the league, he definitely had to start off as a small forward.

As it happened, the Cavaliers needed a small forward, which was the reason they were trying out Fei.

However, what the Cavaliers needed was a small forward who could score.

Fei was quite a scorer in high school, averaging 20 points per game as easily as drinking water, but high school stats were just eye-catching decorations to NBA teams, with no reference value whatsoever.

So, how could Yu Fei prove that he was the kind of player the Cavaliers needed?

Yu Fei didn't know, because the Cavaliers had arranged a solo tryout for him.

Yu Fei met the Cavaliers' head coach Randy Wittman at the team's training facility.

Wittman didn't show any particular enthusiasm for Yu Fei; for him, this tryout was just one of the many tedious official tasks during the offseason.

The Cavaliers didn't expect the eighth pick to change their current plight.

It was more believable that they would select a true savior with the eighth pick rather than hope LeBron James would qualify for the 2002 NBA Draft, after which the Cavaliers could indulge in being awful just for the chance at a once-in-a-decade superstar talent like him.

The Cavaliers' tryout was interesting, starting with physical testing.

Although Yu Fei had already brought his previous test results, the Cavaliers insisted on retesting him.

Fei had no choice but to comply.

After the physical tests were over came the technical tests. Today, Yu Fei didn't feel good about his shooting, but his ball-handling skills raised his impression score.

Finally, there was the interview.

The part Yu Fei hated the most: the interview.

Yu Fei thought the Cavaliers' interview questions would be as brainless as the Rockets' team, but their focus was mostly on game-related issues.

In front of Yu Fei, Wittman would use a tactical board to draw up a scenario, then ask Fei to make decisions as if he were the player with the ball.

This type of interview smacked of armchair strategizing, but it was better than the Rockets' vague and generic questions.

Yu Fei considered himself a player with decent basketball IQ and though Wittman's questions were brain-consuming, they were not hard to answer.

Putting himself mentally in that scenario, finding the best solution wasn't difficult.

Therefore, Yu Fei scored highly in the interview.

Wittman thought he was an extremely intelligent player who could make the right spur-of-the-moment decisions for any situation on court.

But, he was a tall small forward.

Even, he was aiming to play point guard in the NBA.

If NBA scouts believed that Yu Fei's talent was sufficient to play point guard in the NBA, then his draft prospects would surpass everyone else in the same draft class, making him an easy first overall pick.

The problem was, scouts weren't so confident in Yu Fei.

He rose to fame too quickly, like rocketing to stardom.

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Last year at this time, he was an unknown junior at Kent Meridian High School, just a kid who happened to be taller than the average person. Now, he is the fifth-ranked high school player in the United States for the class of 2001.

NBA scouts had only heard of his performance at the ABCD Camp last month.

There were many people present at the time, but few NBA scouts actually witnessed Yu Fei's performance.

Therefore, although Yu Fei emerged as the nation's fifth-best player, NBA scouts didn't understand him. They hadn't consistently observed and tracked his games, and they were unsure whether Yu Fei was another DeAngelo Collins. These doubts directly affected his prospects.

The Cavaliers, eager for a scorer, were quite satisfied with Yu Fei's tryout.

But Yu Fei wasn't a scorer.

He was too young and needed time to grow.

By the time he bulked up enough muscle, would he still be able to play as a small forward in the NBA? And if not, could he switch to playing power forward?

The Cavaliers didn't know any of this.

Thus, they preferred the safest option, to go for a scorer, or, failing that, pick a center.

After all, no one in that era would complain about having too many big men on their roster.

At the end of the tryout that day, Wittman gave Yu Fei a special promise.

"Frye, you're the best rookie I've seen in tryouts for a while, and I really like your style," he said.

Yu Fei could almost guess what would come next.

"But you're not the type we need most," Wittman said.

Wasn't that too direct? You're great, we want you, but let's think this through and please wait for our call. Wouldn't that be better?

"I understand,"

Yu Fei looked at Wittman puzzled. He didn't understand why Wittman said these things.

Wittman hesitated, as if unsure whether to continue.

Soon, he decided to spill it: "If you're willing to stop trying out, I can promise you that we'll acquire an extra lottery pick in a trade and draft you with it."

Yu Fei had heard such a story.

It was about Austin Rivers, the Lakers' biggest surprise of 2023, who after establishing himself on the team proudly claimed on someone's blog that he had a second-round promise. But he wanted to play for the Lakers so badly that he was willing to sign a two-way contract rather than being selected with flash in the second round.

Alright, let's assume that Rivers really was born to be a Laker, even if it meant losing out on a few million dollars in his early career.

But why should Yu Fei do the same?

Wittman wanted him to stop trying out simply to draft him with a later lottery pick, but he already had draft promises from the Rockets and the Celtics.

He didn't lack for promises of late lottery selections.

Wittman's suggestion essentially reflected the Cavaliers' reluctance to use their eighth pick on him.

Yu Fei turned down Wittman's offer and decided to continue with the tryouts.

He wasn't Kwame Brown or Tyson Chandler, who had been nationally known prodigies since tenth grade and who professional scouts fully believed could carve out a place in the NBA. Yu Fei had to fight for a higher draft spot. After all, he had already stolen LeBron's nickname, and it would be quite rude to take his spot, wouldn't it?

In mid-June, Arne Trem personally took Yu Fei to Detroit and New Jersey (for the second time) to complete the final two tryouts.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Detroit Pistons held the seventh and ninth picks of the first round, respectively.

Yu Fei had already tried out for the Nets once before, and their head coach Byron Scott was very impressed, expressing on the spot his desire to invite Yu Fei for a private workout. However, the tryout was put on hold following the fighting incident with Eddie Griffin until now.

The Nets were equally pleased with Yu Fei's second tryout performance, but they were skeptical about using their seventh pick to draft him. Thus, they did not extend a draft promise to Yu Fei.

However, Yu Fei's agent, Arne Trem, said, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Nets picked you with the seventh pick at the end."

The Pistons were astounded by Yu Fei's tryout performance.

It could be said that Yu Fei fulfilled all their needs.

They wanted a tall two-way forward who could handle the ball, shoot, defend, and possibly swing to the four-spot after bulking up.

Rodney White was their original lock, but Yu Fei's emergence allowed them to easily abandon White.

At the conclusion of his last tryout in Detroit, Yu Fei secured a promise for the ninth pick, the highest he had received so far.

Since teams with the top six picks had already extended invites, and having tried out for all the teams he could, Yu Fei wrapped up his tryouts.

What lay ahead for him, apart from the eager anticipation of draft day, were some business engagements.

All things being equal, he would become a Detroit Piston.

However, there is no stage more unpredictable in the world of professional basketball than the draft day.

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"Indications suggest that the Wizards will use the first pick to select Kwame Brown." — The Washington Post

"Detroit is ecstatic about Frye Yu's performance in the tryouts." — The Seattle Times

"The Golden Club case trial reaches a climax as multiple NBA players, including Patrick Ewing, admit to having received 'special treatment.'" — The New York Times

"A survey shows Frye Yu has become one of the favorite sports stars among Asian Americans." — Associated Press

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