When pride still matters

Chapter 459 The stupidest plan

Chapter 459 The stupidest plan

Jim Gray has been a sports reporter for more than 30 years.

He has handled countless major sports news. He was the first reporter to report that Jordan was retiring in 1993, the first reporter to break the news that O'Neal was going to join the Lakers in 1996, and the first to make Rodman burst into tears with his invincible moral high ground on a national live broadcast. reporter.

With a resume spanning more than three decades, Gray has connections throughout the sports world.

He can get inside information about Jordan, he can visit O'Neal, he can have a private one-on-one interview with Kobe Bryant after his performance, and he can even conduct a more personal interview with Tom Brady across the border. His tentacles are pervasive.

However, over the years, Gray's network has never been able to penetrate into the Chosen Empire.

The end of the 2009 NBA Finals marked the end of an era for Gray.

The post-Jordan era, as well as the era of the Pan-96 golden generation who regard Jordan as their ultimate goal, is coming to an end.

Soon the 2010s will be written with Frye Yu’s name.

In fact, Gray was right.

Gray was rejected. It was impossible for him to get the opportunity to interview Yu Fei tonight.

Because Yu Fei is about to run out of the dressing room to receive the award, and then there will be interviews, and then more interviews. When the outside interviews are over, he will also hold a large party. All the Hollywood celebrities present tonight will participate. There he will conduct a "test the water temperature" negotiations with several sneaker manufacturers.

"Yes."

Gray started to warm up. He didn't believe that Lin Kaiwen would pass on his interview application to Yu Fei.

Mark Stein? That hydrology king on the ESPN news page?

"that's it?"

"But it was in the past."

"Hey Lin, I interviewed Frye before his first game, I interviewed him when he won his first championship, I've interviewed him many times in the past," Gray thought. Let Frye Yu's assistant Kevin Lin understand that he is not an idiot who wants to suck blood through the Chosen Son, he is a big-name media person, and the cooperation between them will be a win-win situation. "Fry never asked for an appointment."

Kevin Lin looked impatient: "Jim, this is not against you, and our rules are not static."

"How do I make an appointment?" Gray said. "I want to do a 30-minute interview with Frye."

Kevin Lin said: "I will tell him."

"The past was the past and the present is the present."

This is definitely an underrated night.

In other words, Yu Fei did not have any time to be interviewed by Gray these days.

Gray wanted to schedule an exclusive interview with Yu Fei, but was told: "Except for Matt Stein, everyone else needs to make an appointment in advance."

Also working at ESPN, Gray certainly knew Stein, but he didn't appreciate the latter's way of working. The practice of relying on gossip and a massive workload in exchange for performance is completely different from a media person like him who directly tortures the soul of the interviewee through exclusive interviews.

Lin Kaiwen will not tell Yu Fei about this.

However, Mark Stein, the hydrology king in his eyes, walked directly into the players' tunnel and turned back to give him a proud look.

However, lack of time is not the key.

Gray told himself to calm down, now was not the time to get angry.

The key is that people in the Chosen Empire think there is something wrong with Jim Gray's position.

In the "44 VS 23" debate, although Gray did not completely side with Jordan, his attitude was clear.

He believes that the impact that Jordan has had on turning the NBA from a regional major league for Americans to entertain themselves into an international super league cannot be surpassed by latecomers no matter how many championships they win.

Is it necessary for Da Fei to waste time with such a crooked media person?

Therefore, Kevin Lin dealt with Gray arrogantly.

As one of the most powerful media figures in the industry, Gray rarely suffers such snubs.

What made him angry was that even if Lin Kaiwen disrespected him so much, he still had to pay for his smile.

Because Lin Kaiwen, as Yu Fei's assistant, was the stepping stone for media people like him to meet Yu Fei.

This is a perverted hierarchical system unique to the sports world.

When a player's energy is greater than his industry, even his assistants become revered big names.

Afterwards, the Sonics returned to the scene wearing championship T-shirts.

Sonics owner Clay Bennett, wearing a comically ill-fitting souvenir jersey, yelled at Milwaukee fans: "Sorry, Milwaukee, I promise you, you are not the second victim and you will not be the last!" "

Subsequently, Yu Fei won his sixth FMVP trophy with averages of 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists per game.

Yu Fei began to deliver his victory speech.

Seeing his interviewee right there on the field, Gray was unable to pull him into his program for a one-on-one interview.

Gray felt so frustrated that as a media person, he had decided to devote his life to it. For this he made a dink. He doesn’t want children because that would distract him from his time and energy, and he wants to devote his life to a media career.

Just like his mentor David Halberstam.

There's no point in staying here if you can't get an interview. Gray prepares to leave.

Then he saw Maverick Carter, one of the "Four Horsemen," sitting with several Nike executives.

Gray knows Carter. He is the CEO of LRMR, a company owned by James, who is responsible for James' media work and external marketing. Carter is now in a tough spot thanks to a blatant backstabbing of the King by author Baz Bissinger, who co-wrote his autobiography with James. Because it was his idea to let Bissinger co-author the autobiography, and he also found the person. As a result, this person betrayed them.

The reason why Carter appears here is simply because people from the James camp want to follow up on the negotiations between Nike and Yu Fei in real time.

For the James camp, the scariest thing in the world is not the fact that Delonte West had an affair with James' mother, but Yu Fei's decision to switch from Reebok to Nike.

Just imagine, if Yu Fei said to the people at Nike, "I can sign with you, but LeBron must get out," what would Nike do?
It is true that LeBron is still Nike's signature star, but his brand value and commercial attributes, whether in the United States or around the world, cannot be compared with the current Yu Fei.

If things really come to this point, Nike will not hesitate to give up the part that should be given up.

This cannot happen.

That's why Maverick Carter is here, he needs a chance to redeem himself.

"Maverick," Gray greeted, "what do you think of the upcoming free market?"

Carter said something official: "It's great. There's a lot going on and I know a lot of people are paying attention."

After chatting for a while, Gray knew that there was a big difference in level between James and Yu Fei, but he couldn't be picky.

He asked pointedly: "Can I be the first to interview LeBron after he makes his decision?"

Carter's response made Gray's eyes darken: "I'll tell him."

Yes, Gray heard this not too long ago.

He didn't know if this was a coincidence.

He said instinctively: "I interviewed him when he was in high school, I interviewed him when he was drafted, I interviewed him in his first game against Frye. I've interviewed him many times. "

"I know, Jim," Carter said. "You don't have to explain this to me."

Gray suddenly realized that James' decision might be the biggest news of the upcoming summer.

Even though he is not a person of Yu Fei's level, he is still a recognized superstar and has the strength of the top five in the league. If he decides to leave Cleveland, it will definitely change the pattern of the league.

At this point, Gray knew that a simple interview invitation was unlikely to impress James' camp.

Suddenly, he thought of his colleague, ESPN's biggest internet celebrity - Bill Simmons.

At the beginning of the year, Simmons received an email from a fan, which read: "What would happen if LeBron announced his next team for the 2009-2010 season on ABC's live broadcast one day? How high would the ratings be? ?”

This whimsical idea struck Simmons. Since then, Simmons has been sharing the idea with his ESPN colleagues. ESPN has also discussed the feasibility of the plan internally, but it requires James' nod, so the project has not been approved.

Suddenly, Gray felt like this was his chance to grab the headlines of the summer.

So, he said to Carter: "LeBron is one of the best players in the league. People like him should not leave indifferently. Even if he does not shoulder the mission of saving a city like Frye, he should still let the whole world The world knows about it. We could do a TV show and have LeBron announce his decision."

This suggestion struck a chord with Maverick Carter.

He could almost imagine the scene when LeBron announced his decision on national live broadcast, which would surely become an eternal classic.

"We have to own the show," Carter said, "or LeBron won't say yes."

"Of course." Gray knew that the other party had taken the bait. "You produce this show, and of course you own this show, and I can provide the platform to broadcast the show on behalf of ESPN."

Carter said excitedly: "This will be the greatest offseason decision in NBA history!"

※※※

The celebrations continued in the visiting locker room at Bradley Center.

The Sonics opened their locker room to individual reporters.

Tyronn Lue held a cigar in his mouth and told reporters: "I am retiring. For me, there will be no better ending than this."

"What are your plans after retirement?"

"Yes." Coach Lu said humorously, "Da Fei can't live without me, so I reluctantly agreed to stay as an assistant coach."

Michael Finlay cried in the dressing room.

He lost tens of millions of dollars in income fighting for the championship.

But, he wiped away tears: "It's worth it."

Yu Fei didn't like smoking cigars or spraying champagne. After the carnival, he grabbed a bottle of champagne with half left in his hand and took a sip.

"Fry, do you have any plans for the summer?" Mark Stein asked.

Yu Feixiao said: "I plan to join Marvel and become Iron Man's justice partner."

"This is the stupidest plan I've ever heard of." Stein doesn't like superhero movies, so he thinks Yu Fei is joking.

"No, there is something more stupid than this." Yu Fei couldn't stop laughing.

Stein asked: "What is it?"

"For example, I was unhappy in Seattle, so I decided to leave, but I didn't want to give a simple press conference and just arrogantly wanted the world to know what I was doing and where I was going, so I decided "I will make a national live broadcast, and I will announce my decision on the live broadcast," Yu Fei said, "Although this will tear the hearts of millions of Seattleites, I can definitely use this to create explosive news, and history will remember it." this matter."

Stein felt that Yu Fei was really drunk.

"I take my words back, this is the stupidest plan I've ever heard of," Stein said. "It would never happen in a million years."

(End of this chapter)