When pride still matters

Chapter 481 The Fall of the Hero (Unity)

Chapter 481 The downfall of the hero
Before Christmas, the SuperSonics solemnly announced that they had reached a multi-year contract extension with Kevin Durant.

The world's reaction to this was: Huh? ? ?

The 2005+2 short-term contract Yu Fei signed with the Bucks in 1 set a precedent.

Since then, the time it takes for a supernova to build a championship-worthy team for his parent team has been shortened from eight years to six years.

This is definitely a case that will be written into basketball history.

You know, it took the great No. 23 seven years in Chicago to reach the top of the world.

Yu Fei's influence is almost subversive.

Starting from him, James and Wade of the 03 generation also signed short-term contracts, followed by Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Of course, it is not ruled out that international players like Yao Wei are willing to sign long-term contracts with their home teams, nor is it ruled out that people with injury risks like Stoudemire want long-term security more than glory, and there are also players like Anthony This kind of person who lacks planning for the future signed a long-term contract and now regrets it. Looking at James's "decision" and Yu Fei's increasingly respected status, it is difficult for him not to be concerned.

Durant's contract extension relieved many people.

Therefore, wouldn't it be a good idea to go against the trend and sign a long-term contract with the team to firmly lock his connection with Seattle until the summer of 2016?

However, whether it is Durant, his agent, or Nike's thoughts on the matter, they all want a long-term contract.

They are the second and third players in the world, but apart from the best lineup, nothing can prove that they are the second and third players.

A reporter took the initiative to mention Woods and his income to Yu Fei.

In the field of sneakers, Nike has been unable to find a suitable candidate to compete with Yu Fei.

They have no MVP and have not led the team to the finals alone. Under such circumstances, how much charm and appeal do Kobe and James have left in the eyes of fans?

Now, the dust has settled on Durant's future.

Whether it is Kobe or James, their legends have been weakened by the appearance of Yu Fei.

Durant's contract extension is the last big news in the NBA before the foreseeable Christmas game.

The money Yu Fei has earned from his off-field investments far exceeds the money he has earned as a player on and off the court, but this amount of money is vague. He has not made it public, and the outside world cannot know the exact number. They only know that Yu Fei has made money since 2001. Since the beginning of this year, he has made almost 5 million US dollars as a player on and off the court.

Prior to this, Woods had earned US$8.9 million as a golfer. After this campaign, he became the first athlete in human history to earn US$9 million through bonuses, endorsements, and advertising revenue.

Following him are Michael Schumacher and Michael Jordan, who earned $7 million and $8 million respectively as athletes.

As the team's general manager, Sam Presti certainly wants to secure Durant with a long-term contract.

In retrospect, the answer lies with Durant.

Their complete defeat in the sports brand market has become inevitable.

While Reebok was promoting the ninth generation of the Chosen One, Nike focused on promoting Woods as the first-generation Chosen One.

Haters summed up James's knighthood in one sentence: "A life of hypocritical kings abused by the chosen one."

This is simply sensational.

He will stay in Seattle at least until 2016, when Yu Fei will be 34 years old and Durant is just 28 years old. It is a good time for the replacement of old and new generations.

But that wouldn't be the last big news in sports until then.

A person who just wants to play basketball certainly wants a stable life.

However, Durant did not have any controversy with the team.

Counting Durant's contract, the Sonics currently have four large contracts. However, since Durant's large contract will not take effect until the 2011-12 season, the salary pressure is not particularly great in the short term.

A year later, Kobe's average of 36 points per game was an awe-inspiring performance. His performance of 81 points in a single game and scoring more points in three quarters than the entire Mavericks team were both classics. However, with Yu Feizhuyu in front, this was no longer able to set off the cultural craze that should have occurred.

But what about Durant? According to outside expectations, he will also sign a 2+1 short-term contract.

What is Kobe’s legend? He fought alone after 2004, and then averaged 36 points per game in the first year of the NBA's ban, and led a Lakers team that was not worthy of the playoffs into the playoffs. This should have been the best villain-hero Nirvana story in the first decade of the new century. However, the year before Kobe accomplished this feat, Yu Fei averaged 36 points per game during the era when he was allowed to play despite the chaos of the Palace Brawl at Auburn Hills. He single-handedly defeated the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals and refreshed the epic story of the lone hero. To a higher dimension.

Although Jianko can't compare to Fei Fei, Nike still has the king: Tiger Woods.

James was suppressed even more completely.

No one asked Durant if he was willing to wait that long, and no one knew whether Yu Fei would give up his position at that time.

Until then, the Sonics have a few good years left.

However, by 2012, if the current roster is to be retained, the luxury tax will become a terrifying monster.

He is a rare NBA star in modern times who is famous for being "friendly, approachable, approachable, and completely unpretentious". How can such a person consider those complicated futures?
He just plays ball.

Nike, which insisted on using its income to make sense, once had the upper hand. They were very willing to promote Woods as the first contemporary sports star in the United States in this season that was troubled by Reebok.

Since Durant was selected to the third team last season, the Yufei clause was triggered, and there was a 5% increase in salary. Therefore, he signed a five-year, $5 million contract with the SuperSonics.

A few days later, the Sonics defeated the visiting Clippers at home.

But he also understands that short-term contracts are the current trend. If Durant insists on a short-term contract, he can only give in.

Reebok is hyping up Yu Fei’s Chosen ninth-generation boots. This shoe is co-branded with "Empire". It is the result of Reebok using the latest sports technology and the highest creativity. It plans to release multiple versions and various combinations, hoping to sweep the global basketball shoe market at the beginning of the new decade. .

Some basketball experts believe that Nike will find ways to take Durant away from Seattle, because Durant will not be able to have an effective impact on Reebok's market here, and will also form reverse marketing. After all, he is playing in a market dominated by Reebok. No matter how well he plays, he will ultimately bring goods to Reebok.

And Woods won another $10 million after winning the FedEx Cup last month.

Everyone feels that the Sonics have a bright future because they control both the present and the future of the NBA.

Yu Fei asked jokingly: "He made 900 million U.S. dollars? Oh my god, what sport is he engaged in?"

It's like asking Tyson if he can box.

"Fry, are you serious?"

"Of course, I know what Tiger does, and I respect his achievements very much, but what do you want to explain?"

“Do you think an athlete’s status is tied to career earnings?”

"I'm not sure." Yu Fei smiled, "I only know that there was a great golfer who won another world championship at the age of 46 with a big belly, but on the basketball court, this can't happen. If you don't believe it, , you can see how No. 23 was defeated by me at the age of 40.”

“You want to say basketball is a more important sport than golf?”

"I didn't say that, I mean, basketball is more interesting to me. And, I really respect Tiger, but I worry about him, him getting too close to No. 23, you know, doing No. 23’s enemies are dangerous, but his friends are deadly. Antoine Walker is an example of this.”

Yu Fei knew that Walker and Jordan had a close relationship when he was a rookie.

Walker regarded Jordan as a mentor. He dreamed of having Jordan's status and life. Therefore, he spent as much as Jordan in private.

However, he doesn't seem to understand that Jordan is Jordan and he is him. Jordan is still receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends from Nike every year, and he has no income other than the $100 million he earned during his playing career.

The price for maintaining that kind of life was being forced by the court last summer to use the property in his name to pay the gambling debts he owed at the casino.

If Jordan falls to this level one day, Yu Fei will laugh to death.

Yu Fei didn't care about the inexplicable comparison between him and Woods.

It can be said with certainty that Woods is one of the current giants in the American sports world, but their projects do not conflict, and even their sports brands do not conflict. How can a person who sells golf equipment conflict with someone who sells basketball equipment?

The only explanation is that Nike wants to use Woods to suppress his limelight.

Yu Fei’s idea is, whatever you want, although Woods also has influence beyond his own sport, he has been influenced by Jordan for a long time and has completely closed himself off. Except during games, people rarely hear news about him.

Yu Fei told the media that something bad would happen if Woods and Jordan got too close. He was also mocking the fact that the other party overturned his car some time ago and was also exposed by tabloids as having an extramarital affair.

But Yu Fei wasn't laughing at Woods' driving skills. He meant that Comrade Woods was a good person, and it was purely because Danzi, a bad guy, led Woods to bad things.

Just when Nike started to build momentum to criticize Yu Fei, who had no empathy and actually acted strangely towards a person who had been in a car accident, a heavy blow to the Nike sports empire was dealt within the Woods Group.

On this day, the local Florida tabloid "Us Weekly" reported a report about someone who claimed to be Woods' mistress, and subsequently released an ambiguous voice message that Woods allegedly left for the woman.

To Nike's surprise, Woods' team did not even resist or quibble. They directly publicly admitted that "I made some mistakes" and apologized to "the people who have supported him over the years" and reiterated their request for everyone to respect him and his family. privacy rights.

In the days that followed, more than a dozen women claimed to have had an affair with Woods in various media outlets. Woods once again issued a statement admitting that he had been unfaithful and that he would suspend golf indefinitely in order to save his marriage.

This was the Woods bomb of the late 2000s.

For the sports world, it was the biggest sports scandal of the 2000s, surpassing Tim Donaghy, Eagle County, Barry Bonds' admission of steroids, Michael Vick's involvement in dog fighting, Andre A. Gacy admits he lost Wimbledon because he feared his wig would fall off A dominant athlete in a relatively small niche has to achieve something unprecedented to become a national hero, and Woods did it. Nike followed Jordan's template and built him into the Jordan of golf.

Suddenly, Woods' "curse" during Yu Fei's interview became a headline scandal that attracted worldwide attention in less than a week.

This has led some to wonder: “Is Frye a medieval witch disguised as a basketball player?”

Someone began to analyze Yu Fei's words word for word.

Everyone believed that Yu Fei knew something beforehand.

This made it difficult for Yu Fei to argue.

He just wanted to shame Jordan while disgusting Nike. Who would have thought that Woods would directly confirm what he said?
This incident has stolen a lot of news attention to a certain extent, including the Christmas game that the NBA has been preparing for for a long time.

12 April

The Sonics arrive in Los Angeles.

At this point, Woods has issued his fourth statement.

The incident is continuing to amplify, and the gold content of Yu Fei's "curse" is also increasing.

When the SuperSonics players walked out of the airport, a group of reporters outside surrounded Yu Fei, who had rarely appeared in public outside the stadium recently. "Fry, what else do you know about tigers?"

"Fry, do you have any news for us?"

"Fry.!!!"

Seeing Yu Fei's expression of being speechless, Roy said with a smile: "Are you so rude? People are asking you questions!"

"Get out of here and leave me alone!"

At this time, Xiao Ao also came to join in the fun: "Da Fei, did you really not know the inside story beforehand?"

"How could I know?" Yu Fei rolled his eyes, "Like you, I thought Tiger was a perfect husband, father and son before this happened."

"Damn it!" Brown shouted, "This is obviously a publicity stunt. Have you watched the news? Tiger has dozens of mistresses, where does he get so much time!"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but pay tribute to this American time management master who dominated the golf course.

The reporter followed them all the way to the bus.

Yu Fei decided to reply to them.

"Okay, don't follow us anymore!" Yu Fei said, "Before Tiger plays the 'sex addiction card', I have nothing to say."

As everyone knows, this is exactly what the reporters want.

Soon, Yu Fei's second "prophecy" about tigers became big news.

The whole thing was a farce for Fei. His prediction brought him a lot of traffic and attention, but he didn't want it.

At the same time, Reebok's top executives knelt down in the office building to celebrate.

what is this?
Are all the big names under Nike so fond of self-destruction?

Kobe felt that his reputation was too good, so he forced a hotel waiter to mediate it; James felt that his reputation was not bad enough, so the live broadcast decided to go to Los Angeles to hug Kobe's stinky feet; Woods, the only one who can compete with Yu Fei, was just promoted I set myself on fire when I got to the stage.

Is there any public relations solution to this matter? From a business perspective, Woods is dead.

After the incident, many companies, including Gatorade, terminated their contracts with him. Those companies that refused to give up Woods had to bear the market value evaporation caused by the Woods scandal.

A scandal, although it did not seek wealth or harm, nor was it a heinous crime, but it shattered the statue of the god of golf created by Nike and turned Woods from a perfect god into an ordinary person who is good at playing golf. He wiped out more than $120 billion in market value in a matter of days from sponsors who wouldn't give up on him.

Nike, which is deeply tied to Woods, has suffered an unprecedented blow.

Especially at this juncture, they just wanted to emphasize the identity of Woods, the first-generation Chosen One, and let the world know that Yu Fei is not the only Chosen One.

Well now, Woods no longer deserves this title.

From now on, Yu Fei is the unique chosen one.

Until he, like Woods, was saddled with a scandal that overturned people's impressions⑴.

This is a troubled time for Nike, and their executives are vaguely aware that the company has reached a crossroads, just like Converse and Reebok in the 1980s.

Is Yu Fei really the Jordan of this era?
Does this mean Reebok will take the sports industry by storm like Nike did in the 90s?
Nike executives turned their attention to Staples Center in panic.

Woods fell, but the grand strategy to contain Yu Fei was still in progress.

The success or failure of the Lakers will determine everything.

As the architect of the two-in-one plan, Nike brought Lynn Memet to the scene.

Staples that night was like a Reebok showcase party.

Ten years ago, Memet could not have imagined seeing so many Reebok logos at a place like Staples.

Not only are some fans wearing Reeboks, but so are the celebrities in the front row.

These appearances illustrate many deep-seated market laws.

That's Reebok taking over from Nike in the eyes of the world.

Especially the "Empire" brand under Yu Fei's name, they are Reebok's most popular products right now.

Found all over the world.

They are no longer just a sports product, but also a trendy brand welcomed by all ages and classes.

Then, Yu Fei came to the scene.

Even in LA, his audience is unimaginably large.

One of his shots was met with cheers and then someone said, "Fry, show off!"

Yu Fei shook his head at the man and threw the ball into the air.

Durant jumped up, caught the ball, and completed a beautiful alley-oop dunk.

Yu Fei nodded and smiled, and the scene was boiling.

What just happened is Nike's biggest concern for Durant.

For Nike, having Durant drafted by the Sonics was an expected outcome. Whether he plays in Seattle or Oklahoma, he can be a superstar. However, Yu Fei's arrival changed Nike's plans.

Especially when Yu Fei returned with the aura of a savior, Durant's position became awkward.

They once hoped that Yu Fei would ask the Sonics to trade Durant for immediate competitiveness.

But Yu Fei showed unexpected patience. Not only did he accept Durant, he didn't care that he was a rising star promoted by Nike. This led Nike to formulate another plan - Durant is 6 years younger than Yu Fei. When Yu Fei is 30 years old, Durant is only 24 years old, which is when he is young and strong.

They can expect Durant to take over from Yu Fei.

If Durant improves fast enough, it could even turn the Sonics from a situation dominated by superstars to a blatant confrontation between the two camps like OK.

However, the reality did not go according to their plans.

Durant did become a supernova, and his boy-next-door image earned him a lot of goodwill. However, he did not share Yu Fei's cake. In Seattle, his commercial value cannot even compare with Roy.

Durant has truly become a beloved boy next door.

That's right, boy.

Who cares about the boy next to the master of the empire?
When the master is willing, he will throw him an alley-oop as he did just now to put on a good show. The audience is delighted, the boy gets a chance to perform, and everyone is happy.

Before the game started, Durant ran up to Memet and said, "Good evening, Uncle Lynn."

"Kevin, this may be the most watched Christmas fight in history, why don't you look excited at all?" Memet asked.

Durant's expression remained unchanged: "Actually, I'm very excited."

"That's good." Memet encouraged, "Everyone only knows that this is the game between No. 44 and No. 23 and No. 24. You have to let them know that No. 35 should not be underestimated."

Reebok takes tonight's game more seriously than Nike does.

CEO Paul Arrington was present in person.

"Fry, it's my birthday in a few days," Arrington said. "I hope you give tonight's game ball as my birthday present."

Yu Feixiao asked: "Do you want a winning game ball or a losing game ball?"

"It's better to win." Arrington joked, "As the first wizard in history, you don't want your winning streak against LeBron to be ruined tonight, right?"

Yu Fei waved his hand, unable to accept the nickname wizard.

Then he came on.

Because Yu Fei was indirectly involved in Woods' scandal before the game, it attracted a lot of traffic to himself. Many people who had not planned to watch the game also made reservations for tonight's game.

The NBA officially announced that more than 1500 million Americans will watch tonight's game.

This means that tonight's game ratings exceed most of the finals in NBA history.

Considering that the league is about to renegotiate with major TV stations, the emergence of such a hot social game means that the NBA is returning to the popularity of the Jordan era.

The alliance is also the current winner.

Then, the starting players of both sides came on the stage. Just by looking at their names, you can see the gold content of the two teams.

The starting lineup for the Lakers is: Kobe Bryant, Richard Hamilton, LeBron James, Ron Artest and Marc Gasol.

The SuperSonics' starters are: Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Yu Fei, Jermaine O'Neal (Bosh has not returned), and Kwame Brown.

"A team of losers set out to cause the biggest failure in history?"

After the players from both sides stood still, Yu Fei said to Kobe.

Kobe, however, learned wisely and turned to the rest of the Sonics: "You guys play hard every night. In the end, all the glory belongs to him alone. I really don't know how hard you work."

"Is it really okay to change the subject like this?" Yu Fei was full of fire, "Is this how you defended yourself at the Eagle County Sheriff's Department?"

The game hasn't even started yet, but the smell of gunpowder on both sides is already strong.

Yu Fei's aggression towards Kobe was only superficial. When No. 24 chose to join forces with No. 23, his old Kobe career came to an end.

What followed was the birth of One Day Old Cohei.

⑾It suddenly occurred to me that China also has its own Woods. That is my fellow countryman Lin Dan. He is also a national hero whose influence transcends his industry. After the collapse of his house, it will be difficult to view him with reverence.

(End of this chapter)