With Yu Fei's connections, organizing a team to play a few warm-up games abroad was very easy.
Yu Fei first contacted Stephen Curry and Brandon Roy; if the plan went through, this would be the Reebok squad.
But Curry had sustained an injury during the playoffs and was now in recovery, and besides, he preferred training with a group called "Quickening" over joining Yu Fei's touring team to play in China.
Yu Fei did not insist.
Since Curry wasn't coming, he called up Roy.
The lockout was a disaster for most players, but it was definitely a blessing for Roy.
This was like how the NBA lockdown in 2020 due to the pandemic was a good thing for the Lakers Team.
Although the League had to settle for playing in a bubble after the resumption, which made the more successful teams lose their home-court advantage, the months-long hiatus allowed Anthony Davis to get ample rest and explode with enough energy in the bubble.
The same logic applied to the Supersonics.