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They started to believe it.
So, when Jordan retired in 1998, he was convinced that people would remember him forever. If he had died at that moment, his epitaph would have read, "Here lies the greatest basketball player of all time."
However, just a few years later, fans began to compare Kobe with him; Carter's dunks seemed more spectacular than Jordan's; the immensely talented McGrady was seen as having the potential to surpass him. Jordan's ineffectiveness as a team executive and his desire to prove that these successors were not on his level led him to make that decision—he was coming out of retirement. He believed his resilient will was a shield against aging.
Then, he met the young Yu Fei.
That arrogant Yu Fei, that fearless Yu Fei, that Yu Fei who didn't take him seriously at all. They might have become close friends in a fairy tale, but in reality, two equally powerful forces could only have one reaching the summit.