Chapter 454: Chapter 389: Defending the Title
June 12th, TD Waterhouse Center.
Game 5 of the Finals was about to begin.
Chen Yu and Brian Kolangelo stepped out of the elevator together.
They had just been in the top-floor suite talking with Stern and the others.
Magic owner Rich DeVos and Old Kolangelo had also come to witness what could be the second championship in the Suns’ history.
Leading the series 3-1, the Suns had a very good chance of lifting the trophy today.
"Chen, as long as you’re still in Phoenix, you’ll always be our team doctor. You don’t need to recommend anyone to us." Though the news of Chen Yu’s imminent departure from the Suns hadn’t been officially announced, Brian Kolangelo was still resentful after all this time.
His mood soured even more after Rich DeVos had tried to recruit Chen Yu right in front of him just moments ago.
Chen Yu didn’t answer. He stopped and his gaze fell on a figure in the hallway not far away.
"Charles?" Brian Kolangelo saw him too.
In the hallway, Charles Oakley was leaning against the wall, though it was unclear what he was doing.
Chen Yu walked straight toward him.
"What are you looking at?"
Oakley seemed a bit dazed. He turned to see Chen Yu and Brian Kolangelo, then grinned and pointed at the door in front of him. "In three hours, I’ll be able to lift the trophy in there. Chen, seriously, since ’94, I’ve never felt this close to this trophy."
"It’s like I can almost reach out and touch it."
He extended his hand, as if touching the trophy through the air.
Chen Yu glanced at the closed door.
The Finals trophy must be in that room; it had been delivered to the arena today.
Oakley’s reaction moved Chen Yu. He walked over, patted him on the back, and said, "Let’s go. Like you said, in three hours, you’ll be holding it in your own hands."
Oakley nodded forcefully, then suddenly grabbed Chen Yu’s arm and pulled him into a strong hug.
He didn’t say anything, yet it felt like he had said everything.
When Oakley let go, Chen Yu teased, "By the way, are you going to take a page from Patrick’s book? If you really win, you could hold the trophy and do a little dance in front of Michael."
Ewing had done just that last year.
And this year, as Oakley’s good friend, Jordan had made a special trip to Orlando to witness his friend win the championship.
Oakley raised an eyebrow, considered it seriously, then shook his head. "Nah, in front of all these people, I’m afraid he’d be too embarrassed. I’ll go dance at his house later."
He seemed to picture the scene and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Finally, he clenched his massive fist and said resolutely, "Chen, we have to win today."
At eight o’clock that night, the game officially began.
Chen Yu was in his usual seat. This would likely be the last time he watched a game from the sidelines as the Suns’ team doctor.
The Suns came out playing aggressively from the start.
O’Neal repeatedly called for the ball, attacking the paint.
However, as time went on, the Suns failed to build a lead.
On one hand, it was because the Magic refused to give up and were playing hard. On the other hand, Chen Yu felt that O’Neal was too impatient, forcing many plays that were overly simple and somewhat ill-advised.
It seemed as if O’Neal was desperate to put on a show.
Trapped in the Magic’s relentless double-teams in the paint, he struggled without the support of his teammates stretching the floor.
After a moment’s thought, Chen Yu guessed the reason.
’O’Neal probably wants the FMVP.’
Despite his carefree demeanor, he actually cared a great deal about accolades.
Or rather, he valued his status on the team. ’If I’m the team leader, then I should be the one to get the FMVP.’
Chen Yu’s gaze shifted to Hardaway.
Hardaway wasn’t particularly flashy in this game; he was simply focused on facilitating his teammates’ offense and playing hard on defense.
Even when O’Neal took multiple ill-advised shots, Hardaway kept feeding him the ball.
He was still honoring his promise, willingly playing a supporting role to O’Neal.
Moreover, Chen Yu truly felt that having already won a championship, Hardaway had become much more zen this season.
He still craved victory, but his mindset was completely different now.
At halftime, the Suns led 55 to 51, a lead of only 4 points.
O’Neal was 6 for 14 in the first half—a performance that, frankly, was a bit of a letdown.
After a moment of thought, Chen Yu deliberately lagged a step behind and walked over to O’Neal’s side.
Seeing Chen Yu, O’Neal’s expression changed slightly. He asked warily, "Chen, what are you up to?"
"Nothing."
"That’s not right."
O’Neal shook his head. Knowing Chen Yu, he was sure something was wrong with his own performance.
"Chen, what do you want to say?" Seeing Chen Yu just smiling without speaking, O’Neal grew even more nervous.
Chen Yu had been about to speak, but seeing O’Neal’s reaction, he decided against it. He just smiled and said, "You guess."
O’Neal nearly lost it. He retorted, "Chen, you’re not my grandma. How am I supposed to guess what you’re thinking?"
At the mention of his grandma, Chen Yu let out a laugh, patted him on the shoulder, and walked into the locker room first.
O’Neal scratched his head furiously, completely baffled.
Coming back for the second half, the Magic were the first to gain momentum.
It was McGrady and Hill again.
Hill constantly attacked the basket, and McGrady hit consecutive shots over Poseidon.
Just as the Magic took the lead and were about to extend it, Hardaway suddenly exploded. First, he used a crossover and step-back to sink a 3-pointer over Armstrong’s defense. Then, on the next play, he drove to the basket and drew a foul.
The Suns immediately tightened their defense, forcing the Magic into a 24-second violation.
As the reigning champions, the Suns’ ability to adapt and adjust had become exceptionally strong.
Once they had stabilized, Hardaway once again began feeding the ball into the paint. This time, O’Neal played much more rationally, gone were the mindless forced plays of the first half.
"Chen, what did you say to Shaq?" Nelson couldn’t help but ask.
During halftime, he had noticed Chen Yu catch up to O’Neal and exchange a few words.
And in the second half, O’Neal was playing much more sensibly.
"Nothing, I didn’t say anything."
Chen Yu smiled. He had actually wanted to tell O’Neal not to be so impatient. The FMVP isn’t decided by a single game’s performance; throughout the entire series, O’Neal was still the Suns’ strongest player.
Therefore, no one could take that FMVP from him.
’Looks like he’s figured that out himself now.’
’We’re really going to win,’ Chen Yu thought, glancing at the clock.
The Magic were strong, but they were still no match for the Suns.
As time ticked by, an atmosphere of despair gradually enveloped the entire TD Waterhouse Center.
Chen Yu even noticed the security and staff on the sidelines starting to make preparations.
Stern and the others also appeared by the court.
There was no last-minute struggle. The Magic were the first to break, watching helplessly as the point differential widened.
When McGrady committed his final foul by grabbing Hardaway, he fouled out with his sixth personal. With 6.7 seconds left in the game, he was sent off the court.
With six fouls, he had given it his all.
In that instant, Chen Yu clearly saw McGrady’s eyes suddenly redden, as if he had suffered an emotional collapse.
From the eighth-seed upset in ’01, to falling in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, then making it to the Finals for two consecutive years only to fall short—throughout this journey, the championship always felt so close, yet so far away.
On the court, Hardaway spun around and grabbed his young admirer.
He pulled McGrady into a hug and whispered something in his ear.
A few steps away, Hill stood with his hands on his hips, staring up at the arena ceiling, his face filled with resignation.
Not far away on the sideline, Jordan watched them with his chin in his hand, his gaze profound.
to 95.
As the clock hit zero, an ecstatic Marion threw the ball into the air, shouting as he leaped onto O’Neal’s back.
On the sidelines, Oakley had already jumped up, bouncing on the spot with excitement.
Old Curry and Mookie Blaylock were also hugging, as happy as children.
In that moment, Chen Yu suddenly felt surrounded by people, by hands. In just a short time, he had lost count of how many people he’d hugged and shaken hands with.
Brian Kolangelo, his face ecstatic, hugged Chen Yu and refused to let go for a long time. When he finally did, he said suddenly, "Chen, stay. Don’t go."
For a moment, tears nearly welled up in Chen Yu’s eyes as memories from the past two-plus years flooded his mind.
The reason he didn’t want to leave Phoenix was precisely because he couldn’t bear to part with this place.
"Don’t say any more. Today is a happy day."
Chen Yu turned his head to watch Oakley, who had rushed over to Jordan, grabbed his arm, and was insisting on dancing a tango with him.
Jordan’s movements were so comical that they sent Oakley into fits of laughter.
The smile on his face proved that his hard work this year had not been in vain.
Chen Yu looked up.
The spotlights overhead were a bit dazzling.
With a deep breath, Chen Yu let go of the last trace of conflict and reluctance in his heart.
The 2002-2003 season was officially over.
Chen Yu also gathered his emotions and threw himself into his new venture.
「One week later.」
Inside the sports laboratory.
"Yao, you were too slow!"
From the sidelines, Chen Yu blew his whistle without hesitation, then signaled for Yao Ming to come over and watch the video playback with him.
Chen Yu pointed to the screen and said, "From this point on, you should have noticed Kobe’s movement. The time between him drawing the defense and passing the ball back out to you is very short, leaving you little time to shake your defender and get an open shot."
"You have a weakness in your slow first step, so you need to be more focused. Anticipate Kobe’s move ahead of time. That anticipation is what will allow you to fully capitalize on Kobe’s strength of passing on the move and make your teamwork even better."
Watching the playback frame by frame, Yao Ming nodded thoughtfully.
Ewing patted Yao Ming on the shoulder, signaling for him to continue.
Kobe, after chugging some water, immediately walked back onto the court.
Chen Yu blew his whistle, signaling for them to begin, when suddenly his phone vibrated.
He pulled it out and saw a somewhat unexpected name.
John Paxson, the general manager of the Bulls.
"John," Chen Yu said as he answered the call, asking why he’d suddenly thought to call him.
Over the phone, Paxson let out a long sigh, his voice full of helplessness. "Chen, there’s been an accident. We need your help."
"An accident?"
Paxson said, "It’s Jay. Two hours ago, he got into an accident. He was on his motorcycle and hit a telephone pole on a turn, and the impact sent him flying."
Chen Yu gasped, startled.
Chen Yu wasn’t at the draft last year, so he hadn’t met this Jay Williams who had been clamoring that he should have been the number one pick. But during the subsequent World Championship, Williams was selected for the Dream Team, and Chen Yu had gotten to know him then.
’I can’t believe he got in a crash!’
"How is he? Is it serious?" Chen Yu asked hurriedly.
Paxson’s tone was filled with helplessness. "Very serious. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. He was thrown a long way and hit the ground hard. The initial examination shows his pelvis and left leg are fractured, and his knee suffered severe trauma. Chen, his condition is critical. He needs surgery. You’re the best orthopedic surgeon in the country. If you can, could you come to Chicago right now and help him?"
"Okay, I should be able to get to Chicago in about six hours," Chen Yu said, glancing at his watch.
There was a flight to Chicago in a little over an hour, and the flight itself was just over three hours long.
After he hung up, Nelson, who was beside him, asked urgently, "What is it, Chen? Who was that?"
Chen Yu sighed inwardly.
’He wasn’t even wearing a helmet... That’s just...’
It’s a known fact that many teams in the league include special clauses in player contracts prohibiting them from skydiving, participating in extreme sports, and riding motorcycles.
If the player violates these terms, the team can unilaterally terminate the contract.
This is precisely because these activities are so incredibly dangerous.
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