"Patrick, calm down." Dan Majerle, who was sitting next to Ewing, was the first to get up and grab him.
But Ewing shoved him away and was in front of Olajuwon in two strides.
The two of them were like a pair of red-eyed bulls, locking horns.
"What the hell are you doing? It’s one thing that you can’t guard Duncan, but you’re letting a rookie make a fool of you and drive to the basket for a score! Are you blind? Don’t you know you’re supposed to help on defense?" Ewing yelled, spittle flying.
They were playing the Spurs at home today.
Facing Duncan, Olajuwon’s footwork was slow, and Duncan had scored on him repeatedly.
In between, the Spurs’ number 9 rookie, Tony Parker, had also repeatedly found openings to drive to the basket and score.
"And what the hell are you doing?" Facing the furious Ewing, Olajuwon wasn’t the least bit intimidated. He cursed back, "You’re slow as a fucking jalopy! David has been lighting you up."
"Fuck you!"
Ewing immediately balled his fists.
Seeing that fists were involved, the others around them finally rushed forward to pull the two apart.
"That’s enough!"
Skiles stepped forward and barked, "The game isn’t over. If you want to fight, you can fight all you want after the game. But right now, I need you to focus on playing."
Ewing was held back by several people, his jersey nearly getting ripped, as he relentlessly spewed trash talk at Olajuwon.
Fortunately, he showed some restraint and didn’t bring family into it.
These old-timers might trash-talk, but they never made it personal about family.
Olajuwon was no saint, either. He had a rather aloof personality and had always had a poor relationship with his teammates, often berating them. The famous line, "Your job is to dribble past half-court and then give me the damn ball," had come from him.
It was only now, late in his career, that his temper had mellowed slightly.
But now his anger flared, and he broke free from J Kidd and the others, swinging his fists as he charged at Ewing.
Just then, a loud CRASH drowned out the commotion.
Everyone turned their heads and saw Chen Yu standing next to an overturned metal trash can.
"Sorry, sorry, I accidentally kicked it. Please, continue," Chen Yu said with a grin as he went to pick up the trash can.
But the large dent in it made it clear it was more than just an accidental kick.
Olajuwon, clenching his fists, stopped in his tracks.
Ewing fell silent, merely glaring viciously at Olajuwon.
Chen Yu glanced at his watch, then said with a smile, "There are still six minutes left in halftime. If you want to fight, please hurry up."
Everyone stared at each other, nonplussed.
Olajuwon tightened his fists. ’If Skiles had said that, I might’ve gone over and punched him.’
But this was Chen Yu.
Olajuwon trusted Chen Yu implicitly, and it was about more than just him being the doctor who had healed him.
"Chen, you saw it. He started it," Olajuwon said, pointing at Ewing.
Ewing immediately retorted, "I’m just stating the facts. Chen, you were on the sidelines, you should have seen it clearly. He was playing like a pile of shit."
Olajuwon’s temper flared at that, and he started to charge again.
J Kidd desperately clung to his waist, nearly getting dragged along.
"Jason, let him go," Chen Yu said, pointing at J Kidd. "Let them fight. Don’t worry, even if they break a leg, I can fix them. It’s fine."
J Kidd looked at Chen Yu, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t dare let go.
Skiles also hurriedly shot Chen Yu a look. He knew the players on the team trusted Chen Yu far more than they trusted him, especially players like Hardaway who had been treated by Chen Yu. While they might not hang on his every word, it wasn’t far off.
’I was hoping Chen Yu would talk some sense into them,’ he thought. ’But instead, he’s just fanning the flames.’
Just then, Chen Yu turned, pulled over a whiteboard used for drawing up plays, picked up a marker, and quickly drew a silhouette on it.
"What’s this?" Chen Yu asked, turning his head.
Everyone stared at each other, nonplussed.
"Anfernee, what is this?" Chen Yu asked, tapping the whiteboard and looking at Hardaway.
"A trophy?"
Hardaway said tentatively. He could tell what it was, but he had to admit, Chen Yu’s drawing was truly awful.
Chen Yu nodded. "Correct. It’s a trophy. The O’Brien Champion Trophy. I want you all to take a look at it, to see what it looks like. And I hope you’ll think about why you are all here."
After speaking, he beckoned to Skiles and the others, signaling for them to leave the room.
Skiles hesitated for a moment before following.
The coaching staff, the medical team, the equipment manager, and other personnel all followed them out of the locker room.
As soon as the door closed, Skiles immediately asked, "Chen, they’re not actually going to fight, are they?"
If word got out, it wouldn’t be good.
"I don’t know." Chen Yu shook his head. ’The conflict has finally erupted. This is actually a good thing.’
Skiles sighed and said "thank you" to Chen Yu.
Normally, when a conflict arose between players, it was his responsibility as the head coach to mediate.
But the incident had happened so suddenly that Skiles hadn’t been able to think of how to handle it. Thankfully, Chen Yu had been there to prevent an immediate brawl.
"Chen, they trust you a lot. I hope you can have a good talk with them," Skiles added.
The players on the team generally had a great deal of trust in Chen Yu, and as a member of the front office staff, he also had a responsibility to help manage internal conflicts.
Chen Yu nodded, his gaze fixed on the locker room door.
’The soundproofing is too good. I can’t hear a thing from in there.’
’I hope they don’t actually fight.’
’But then again, they probably won’t. At the start of the season, they were able to resolve the issue of who would start on their own. That shows they’re willing to make any sacrifice for a championship.’
’As long as they’re reminded of their goal, two mature veterans should know what to do.’
’And thinking about it now, it’s much better for this problem to come to light now than during the playoffs.’
「A few minutes passed quickly.」
Just as halftime was ending and an anxious Skiles was about to open the door and call them out, the door suddenly swung open.
Ewing came out first.
The others followed behind him.
Olajuwon was with them, walking silently straight toward the court.
Chen Yu grabbed Hardaway.
"They didn’t fight. They just stared at each other the whole time. I have no idea what they were thinking," Hardaway said with a wry smile.
Chen Yu nodded and patted Hardaway on the back, signaling for him to focus on the game.
The players’ reactions made Skiles uneasy. He looked at Chen Yu and asked, "That’s it?"
’Aren’t we going to do or say anything?’
Chen Yu nodded. "Let’s finish the game first and talk later."
Skiles sighed and headed toward the court.
At the end of the first half, the Suns were trailing 49-42, down by seven points.
The problem was still in the paint.
Ewing and Olajuwon had almost no coordination. Across the court, the sly-as-a-fox Popovich had clearly caught wind of something, knowing there were issues with their teamwork. He had designed a specific game plan for tonight, constantly having his perimeter players look for opportunities to drive inside.
The number 9 rookie they had picked late in the first round this year was very fast and had a great sense for finding open lanes.
Chen Yu was still sitting with Nelson.
Nelson rested his chin in his hand, staring worriedly at Ewing and Olajuwon on the court. "Chen, are we really just going to leave it like this?"
For the first half of the season, Nelson had thought the Suns were in great shape.
The roster was well-constructed, the team atmosphere was harmonious, and their record was good. Everything was looking up and getting better.
But he never expected such a conflict to erupt from a minor positional adjustment.
After so many years in the NBA, Nelson knew full well that a team’s collapse often begins with internal conflict.
Chen Yu nodded. "I’ve thought about it, and the best way to handle this is to do nothing. They’re veterans with a clear goal. They know why they came to the Suns, and they’re even willing to make sacrifices."
Ewing was on a minimum salary, and Olajuwon had accepted the mid-level exception. For them to train so hard and execute so meticulously at their age was proof enough that they were willing to give everything for a championship.
"As long as they understand that, I believe any problem can be solved."
Moreover, in Chen Yu’s view, this was actually an opportunity. It would not only make Olajuwon and Ewing understand that they could sacrifice for each other and should help each other succeed for the sake of a championship, but it would also make the other veterans on the team realize that if stars of Olajuwon and Ewing’s caliber could sacrifice, then they too needed to put in the effort and make sacrifices for the title.
For the team, this really wasn’t a bad thing.
Just as he was speaking, Brian silently sat down next to Chen Yu.
Clearly, he had already gotten the news.
"I’ve contained the news, but those two... they’re not going to be a problem, are they?" Brian asked, his brow furrowed as he looked toward the court.
If the conflict couldn’t be resolved, the final result would be that one of them would have to go for the sake of peace in the locker room.
Chen Yu didn’t say anything, his eyes fixed on the court.
’It looks like there’s been a change.’
Both Olajuwon and Ewing were playing more aggressively.
Not long into the third quarter, Olajuwon made an anticipatory lateral move to block Parker, who had circled around to drive into the paint.
The savvy veteran planted himself firmly and sent Parker’s shot flying with a massive block.
"Pay attention!"
After blocking Parker, Olajuwon even yelled at Ewing and pointed to his own eyes.
Ewing’s face was dark as he remained silent.
On the next possession, however, he received the ball in the low post, lowered his center of gravity to back down David Robinson, and muscled his way up for a basket. After scoring, he also clenched his fist and roared at Olajuwon.
It left Robinson completely bewildered. ’You just scored on me, why are you yelling at your own teammate?’ he thought.
Olajuwon pursed his lips and ran back on defense.
"This isn’t working," Brian said, his eyebrows knitting together. "Those two are clearly trying to one-up each other."
Chen Yu shook his head. "No, I actually think this is good. When neither man is willing to back down, they’ll compete first. Then they’ll realize that competition alone isn’t enough—they also need to cooperate."
"Are you sure?" Brian asked, looking at Chen Yu skeptically.
Chen Yu shrugged. "Like I said, let’s just see how they play."
For the team, the worst-case scenario was simply choosing one over the other and benching one of them.
It wasn’t like the Gugliotta situation, where he had become too powerful to manage, leaving them completely helpless.
"Alright."
Brian sighed and said no more.
Fortunately, there were no problems on Hardaway and J Kidd’s end.
Compared to Olajuwon and Ewing, how far the Suns would go this year still depended on Hardaway and J Kidd.

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