When pride still matters

Chapter 456 The Biggest Loser

The popularity of Youmamen first soared on the Internet.

As a representative of the new era of social media, Twitter showed the sports world its influence in public opinion for the first time.

For a time, Delonte West and Gloria James became hot topics on Twitter.

Then, Kwame Brown, who followed Yu Fei to join Twitter last year and became the Twitter king of the Sonics, was on the front line.

The man who calls himself the NBA's No. 1 big man tweeted: "I heard an incredible rumor, Delonte, I hope it's not true!"

A day later, the Seattle Times reported on Youmamen.

This is the beginning of mainstream media jumping on the bandwagon.

Since then, Youmamen has gone from a rumor on a gossip website without any solid source of information to a "scandal" sweeping the world.

It spread from the United States across the Pacific to China, and then spread around the world, thus laying the foundation for future self-media to try to use outrageous news such as "Vanessa married Jordan and is pregnant" to create program effects.

But if James doesn't exert his strength, O'Neal cannot become the winner.

The Bucks fans at the scene reflected the malicious nature of the Internet into reality.

Especially the impact on James himself.

This came as a surprise to their core player Danny Granger.

The Bucks unexpectedly defeated the Cavaliers at home.

"It's not hard to understand," Granger said, trying to be nice. "If my life were to change like this, I wouldn't want to play."

For tonight, 37-year-old Shaquille O'Neal was more of a king, scoring 11 points on 7-for-22 shooting.

But at the moment, this rumor has a shocking blow to James' camp.

"GO! GO! GO! LeBron West!"

The damage was done, the impact continued to spread, and the Cavaliers lost the most demanding game of the year.

James's slump was quickly linked to the Friendship Gate.

It's too late.

Now they are back home with a 2-3 deficit. James has cheered up, but his teammates have lost their nerve.

这场事关赛季走向的决战，詹姆斯全场14投3中，拿到15分6篮板7助攻。

What matters is that James was affected, which exacerbated the spread of the incident.

James immediately contacted his attorney Fred Nance. But Nance believes that this rumor has no truth and is not worth responding to.

From this moment on, the authenticity of Youmamen no longer matters.

James accepted his professional opinion.

James' lawyer finally realized the seriousness of the problem. He sent a warning letter to the website where the rumor came from the day before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals: "I am the lawyer for Gloria and LeBron James and I write The letter asks you to stop spreading rumors about Gloria James, which are outright slander."

Before this, James had never considered the influence of social media, and he was unwilling to open his own Twitter account like Yu Fei did. But when he saw people on the Internet and Twitter weaponizing rumors. As he humiliated his mother with countless tweets, he broke down.

Then, during the Battle of Kings Mountain in Milwaukee, Bucks fans pulled out a poster of Delonte West wearing a crown while James knelt in front of him.

Delonte West disappeared.

The Cavaliers players are all in danger. They don't know the truth, and it is impossible for James to put this matter on the table.

Therefore, the sixth game became a stage for one person.

James scored 34 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists against the Bucks. He completely defeated Granger, but it was useless because the Bucks also had Kevin Martin and Dajia teamed up with Aldridge inside.

Tonight, O'Neal lost his prestige and was targeted to death by shots. James's one-man superpower resulted in a glorious ending despite defeat.

But does this ending really make people think he is glorious?

"LeBron James failed to lead the Cavaliers out of the quagmire." Bill Simmons wrote acerbically after this game. "Before we write an elegy for LeBron's last Cavaliers game, let's pretend we didn't. Let's get one thing right first of all, if this is LeBron's last game as a Cavaliers player, his record is six consecutive losses to Frye. Yu, who was eliminated from the playoffs by the Bucks four years in a row, especially this year and last year, was undoubtedly the best player in the series, but we never saw him turn the tide. This is the sixth consecutive year he lost. The epitome of Frye. We thought he could do it, but he just failed with dignity."

Nowadays, the friendship between friends is no longer important.

What matters is where James will go in the summer.

Buzz Bissinger, a writer for The New Yorker who previously co-authored an autobiography with James, actually chose to "criticize" James in his column after James lost again.

Bissinger believes that James has done nothing for Cleveland to be proud of. If he leaves this year, it will not be a "retirement after success", but a "fleeing in embarrassment."

He believes that James's heart has never really matured. Only by being tempered in a difficult team can a person's heart be strengthened, but the King seems to refuse to accept the test.

Bissinger's backstabbing epitomized the world of public opinion. With yet another defeat, James was universally criticized.

ESPN's famous troll Skip Bayless said directly on the show: "LBJ is a regular season superstar. He is suitable to appear on our "SportsCenter Nights" because he is always on He was great in the regular season and suddenly lost his energy in the playoffs. He is the most overrated, overhyped superstar I have ever seen in this industry."

As a public relations person responsible for maintaining James' media image and external public opinion, Maverick Carter is powerless.

The writers he invited to help James write his autobiography were openly backstabbing. ESPN, which was friendly with them, allowed their trolls to troll James on the show to gain traffic. Articles in major media were filled with the words "James is overrated." No one can tolerate anyone comparing James and Yu Fei together anymore.

To put it in words: "This is the biggest insult to Frye."

Because James once again became a loser, even despicable rumors with no credibility such as Youmamen have become weapons of public opinion.

Why were you so incompetent and acted like shit during the Battle of Tianwang Mountain? Because of rumors? If the rumors are false, what do you care about him? If an irrelevant rumor can make you lose motivation to play, does that mean the rumor itself is true?
The media network Nike had built for its stars for years suddenly failed.

In these days, no one spoke for James.

Not only has he become basketball's biggest loser, he's also the most overrated athlete in the world.

So, what about Yu Fei? Will he last a last hit on this weak enemy?
He didn't do that, firstly because there was no need, and secondly, because he didn't have time.

At this stage of the season, all major awards for the regular season have been announced.

Not surprisingly, Yu Fei, who led the team to create the best record in history, broke the filter of "aesthetic fatigue" and was elected the most valuable player of the regular season with a high vote.

This is his fifth MVP trophy.

From now on, his MVP numbers are tied with Jordan's.

In addition, Yu Fei was once again selected for the double first team.

At the same time, Durant and Roy were selected to the third team.

Marion was once again selected for the second defense.

DeAndre Jordan was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team with some controversy, averaging 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block per game.

It's been a great year for the Sonics, they've got everything they can get, and now they only have one goal left.

Afterwards, Yu Fei held a symbolic press conference.

He answered some questions, but mostly irrelevant and formulaic questions.

It wasn't until James' name appeared that his mood fluctuated a little.

"LeBron is the biggest loser in sports, what do you think of his six years in Cleveland?"

Yu Fei couldn't help but said: "Did I hear you right? You said he is the biggest loser in sports? I mean, do you think a person who has never played in the finals is the biggest loser in sports?"

"Thank you on behalf of the teams that finished second."

After that, no one talked about James anymore.

Because there is no competition between Yu Zhan and mentioning the latter is just to let Yu Fei make a last hit, but since the chosen one doesn't bother to do this, why bother?

"Stephen Curry, the favorite for the No. 2009 pick in the class, said that the team he most wants to play for is the SuperSonics. Does this have anything to do with your experience on the Dream Team?"

"You know," Yu Fei smiled casually, "Stephen is an outstanding young man, and we are a great team. Excellent individuals and great collectives always attract each other."

"You now have the same number of MVPs as MJ. Does this mean anything special to you?"

Yu Fei gave the other party a flat look and said, "Oh, Jim (Gray/ESPN well-known reporter), the meaning of this is that I have to accept the award (Kobe) in front of the person who was voted second in the MVP vote again."

"I don't think Kobe would mind."

"I think so." Yu Fei smiled, "What were you talking about earlier?"

"Your number of MVPs equals MJ's"

"is it?"

"Yes, what do you think?"

"No idea." Yu Fei stood up and greeted everyone, "But thank you for voting for me."

Just like that, he left. It was obviously a rude exit, but no one felt that anything was wrong.

He comes when he wants and leaves when he wants.

Those who voted for him in the MVP selection did not even have a chance to ask questions, but when they heard him say thank you to everyone, some people felt that their choice was worthwhile.

Fry thanked me. What else could I ask for?

(End of this chapter)