When pride still matters

Chapter 552 Hell is a Playground
The 2012 All-Star Weekend was held in Orlando.

If Dwight Howard hadn't left, this would have been a carnival for them, but the giant baby who kept talking about loyalty and love decisively left his home team last summer.

On the surface, Orlando is not competitive, but in fact, Howard just wants to go to a bigger city.

As the league's top center and the second generation of Superman, he can completely control the league's situation. Why should he endure the humiliation of staying in Orlando and continuing to struggle?
Look at what LeBron did. Even though he failed, he gambled on his reputation and paved the way for everyone else.

After him, other superstars will not be criticized so much when doing similar things.

So in the end, the only one who was hurt was the city of Orlando.

After Howard left, they still had two veterans, Ray Allen and Vince Carter, but they were both past their prime and had lost their ability to lead a team. Naturally, the Magic dived toward the lottery zone and are currently ranked third from the bottom in the Eastern Conference.

Naturally, as the host nation, they did not have any players selected for the All-Star Weekend roster.

This made Yu Fei couldn't help but propose an initiative that the league should consider giving convenience to those cities that host the All-Star Weekend. For example, if no one from the Magic team is selected for the All-Stars this year, they should choose a player from their team as a representative to participate in the All-Star Weekend.

It’s not that GOAT suddenly cares about the weak teams, it’s just that he couldn’t bear to see two old friends suffer in Orlando.

His friendship with Ray Allen ended in 2005, after which they could only meet during the regular season and All-Star Weekend.

The camaraderie built by winning two consecutive championships together did not enter their lives.

They wouldn't greet each other during the holidays, but when Yu Fei announced his engagement to Elizabeth Olsen, Ray Allen called him and said congratulations.

This made Yu Fei realize that the person was still the same as before.

As for Carter, he and Yu Fei have similar tastes and playing styles, and they have been flirting with each other for many years but have never had the chance to join forces.

Now Yu Fei is the GOAT, Carter is old, and the half-human, half-god UFO doesn’t dunk much anymore, but has instead reaped the benefits of the era of space basketball.

He is the best three-point shooter among the four shooting guards. Not only does he have a high output and a long range, he has also been prepared for the transition early on.

Yu Fei went to meet Carter as soon as he arrived in Orlando.

"Frye, you know this is my contract year, right?" Carter said at the dinner table.

Yu Fei raised his eyebrows, "Why, you want to come to Seattle?"

"I had that in mind before," Carter said. "But after seeing what happened to Chris Bosh, I don't know if I want to play for a boss like that."

"It's not just you"

That’s all Yu Fei has to say.

The way the Sonics treated Bosh left a very negative impression on the players.

The impact is wide-ranging and far-reaching. Even someone like Carter, who is no longer a star, has to consider whether trying to win a championship would degrade himself.

The longer the time went on, the more Yu Fei hated Bennett.

To this day, Bennett has not given him an explanation.

In fact, everyone knows the reason, which is the money issue. But after making this decision, Bennett did not communicate with Yu Fei at all, as if this matter would not harm the interests of GOAT.

After all, it was Bennett's profits that were lost. As for where the profits came from, don't ask.

Yu Fei just signed a three-year contract with the Supersonics last summer, but he can opt out in the second summer, which is next year.

Seattle is where he wants to spend his last years. From a perfect career point of view, he lost the qualification of one man, one city when he was traded to Milwaukee after his rookie season. Even if we put aside his rookie year, the moment he left Milwaukee, he was no longer the spokesperson of one man, one city.

He came to Seattle as a savior.

Although he was only half Seattle at best, he undoubtedly saved the SuperSonics, not only keeping the team in the Emerald City, promoting the construction of a new arena, but also bringing the hottest basketball market in a few years.

It can be said that his mission as a half-Seattle man has been completed, the stage of building an empire has ended, and now he has to defend it.

But the changing times and the existence of people like Bennett who are essentially short-sighted and profit-seeking are bound to conflict with Yu Fei's ideas.

If he stays here, Yu Fei will always be the king of Seattle, and the defeat in DC and his departure from Milwaukee will become his footnotes.

If he leaves here, Yu Fei's career will be forced to be divided into four stages.

DC's defeat would make Milwaukee's rise more exciting, and leaving Milwaukee during his heyday and returning to his hometown as a savior would have brought his reputation to its peak. Once he leaves, at his age, it is certain that the next stop will be his final stop. If he doesn't want to end his myth in disgrace like Jordan did in DC, he must succeed a third time.

But where to go? No matter where he goes, he will have a boss above him.

Are the other bosses any different from Clay Bennett?

This question lingered in Fei's mind until a bold idea came to his mind.

After the All-Star Weekend activities began, Yu Fei became a busy man.

He is not only the face of the league, but also the spokesperson for many sponsors. He also has to lead his younger brothers to participate in activities as Reebok's top star.

When Reebok’s campaign began, some veteran media professionals couldn’t help but marvel at the GOAT’s continued influence on the brand.

Back then, very few players wore Reebok shoes during the All-Star Weekend.

What now?
Not to mention the GOAT, after the GOAT, there are popular new stars like Westbrook and Curry.

On the other hand, Nike's two top brands, Kobe and James, were completely suppressed by the GOAT.

They lost a series they absolutely couldn't lose before the suspension.

Bill Simmons likened the Evil Empire's defeat in the 2010 Western Conference Finals to this: "As a sports fan, you know that not all defeats sting the same. The Lakers' defeat in 2010 was like someone beating you up, then seducing your wife and posting a video of them having sex on Pornhub."

Such a failure is enough to destroy the fans' confidence in them.

Especially for young people, wearing Kobe and James' sneakers and jerseys has become something that will be ridiculed.

Reebok is like a big-mouthed monster, relying on its great victories on the front battlefield to madly erode Nike's market share.

In the past, when young stars entered the league, other sneaker manufacturers either engaged in price wars or could only pick up what Nike had left over. However, the situation has changed in recent years.

Reebok gets first dibs, and Nike picks the rest.

These changes all prove the prosperity of Reebok and the decline of Nike in the market.

And the person who caused all this is standing here.

Yu Fei sat in the C position and talked about the playing style of the young players.

"You know, I hate seeing Steph take 10 LOGO shots in a game," Yu Fei said with disdain. "This isn't basketball at all."

Reebok's new star Curry defended himself: "Not that many. I take at most five LOGO shots in a game."

The atmosphere on the scene was harmonious and friendly, which made Reebok legend Allen Iverson, who was invited to participate in the event, sigh: "This is why I chose Reebok back then. I firmly believed that their products are better than Nike. Time has proved that I was right."

Iverson has retired and was reported to be bankrupt not long ago. Now that he has stepped out to show his presence, no one will be unhappy.

After all, before Yu Fei, Iverson was indeed the flag bearer of Reebok.

The event went on until late at night, and Iverson organized a second party at a nightclub.

Yu Fei did not attend because he had a lot of things to do.

After that, the All-Star Weekend officially begins.

Yu Fei was indifferent to the individual events and the rookie challenge because they were indeed not worth watching.

The activities, the endless activities, made Yu Fei's brain blank.

Until Magic vice president Pat Williams showed up.

Williams is an old man in the league and has been involved in management for decades, but he is best known outside of work as a father of 19 children.

This is certainly not because he and his wife are powerful, 19 of their 14 children are adopted.

Yu Fei, who is about to become a father, talked to the other party about the topic of children.

This may be the most relaxing time Yu Fei has had in recent days.

Then, the All-Star Game arrived.

If we compare the strength on paper, the Western Conference All-Stars will undoubtedly win. The only question is whether the Western Conference All-Stars can unite.

This can be seen in the locker room.

Tyronn Lue kept wiping his sweat. Although he was used to being a coach in Seattle, he seriously lacked charisma when he came to the All-Star Weekend and coached a group of stars who had to bow and fawn on him when he was playing.

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Yu Fei saw Coach Lu's anxiety, "These people are all our defeated opponents."

Yu Fei's voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

After hearing this, Lu became even more panicked.

GOAT doesn't seem to understand the principle of "don't say anything that is not conducive to unity."

However, even though these words were not conducive to unity, no one could refute them.

"Let me make it clear first." Roy directly distanced himself from the matter. "I came to Orlando with the idea of ​​'love and peace'."

Yu Fei glared at him, then saw Durant typing quickly on his tablet.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Durant’s internet addiction has been getting worse recently.

However, the number of posts on his main account did not increase significantly, so it was certain that he had started using his secondary account to attack again.

Yu Fei could probably understand the pleasure of using a secondary account to express all kinds of outrageous opinions without scruples, but indulging in such pleasure was not healthy.

Did anything happen to Adu?

Yu Fei's concern for Adu came to an abrupt end. After all, he was not his father.

But Durant does have a reason to use the trumpet frequently.

Because he found that he had more and more black fans on the Internet. They often liked to seize one or two fragments and make endless associations to distort his motives, thereby achieving the purpose of vilifying him.

Some media were also affected and started the "Search for the Real Kevin Durant" project.

He was very angry and gradually could not control his nature. His attitude towards the media became much worse than before and he was no longer as gentle and warm to the fans. Many people said that he had changed. Who was responsible for this?
Durant didn't want to explore the causes and effects, he just wanted to vent all his anger.

When the All-Star Game begins, Durant, who was selected as an All-Star starter for the first time, has only one goal, which is to win the AMVP.

Yu Fei saw what he was thinking and wanted to help him.

The two Lakers players didn't seem to be in the mood to compete, and everyone maintained a seemingly peaceful situation.

This was a great opportunity to win glory. With the help of Yu Fei, Durant scored 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the first half.

Then the organizers began to show their sense of humor.

Two NBA legends took the stage to deliver speeches.

One is "Magic" Johnson and the other is Dr. J.

What’s funny is the reason why the magician came to give a speech on the spot.

They paid tribute to Magic Johnson, who announced in November 1991 that he was HIV positive, and used a video to commemorate his comeback at that year's All-Star Game in Orlando a few months later.

Is this kind of thing worthy of respect? Yu Fei doesn't know.

But he feels that the female reporter who had been providing Clinton-level presidential services to Dr. J for a long time chose to comfort Dr. J in a different way because she was wearing braces at the time, and it ended up being a hit, so isn't it more worthy of tribute to create a legendary story of the illegitimate daughter who became a tennis player?
In any case, when the magician came on stage, the audience stood up and applauded.

Twenty years later, the magician looks as bloated as a black version of Patrick, but he is still addicted to the lights, applause, and cheers from the crowd.

Some people are destined to live in this real cyberspace.

Only here can he be himself.

"I don't understand." Durant looked at the scene on the court coldly, "What is there to pay tribute to about being infected with HIV? What is there to pay tribute to?"

Yu Fei joked: "He has used the sexual happiness he has given himself for half his life to remind us to take safety measures before doing bad things. Isn't it worthy of respect?"

Durant was not tactful. He did not laugh at Yu Fei's joke. He just said indifferently: "If it were me, I would find a place to bury myself."

"How bizarre." Yu Fei laughed, "Kevin Durant just said something that Kevin Durant would do."

"Do you know Kevin Durant better than Kevin Durant?"

"Maybe."

In the second half, Yu Fei continued to pass the ball to Durant.

When a guy is in good shape, he can make any shot.

After the third quarter, Durant had scored 40 points.

In the end, he didn't reach the 50-point mark.

Because the Eastern Conference All-Stars were already far behind, Durant had already secured the AMVP and there was no need for him to continue scoring.

Coach Lu knows very well that NBA stars are all arrogant lunatics. They are willing to help Durant, but they will also be uncomfortable if Durant asks for too much.

Therefore, Coach Lu decided to quit while he was ahead.

Durant was replaced after only a few minutes of the fourth quarter and replaced by other players who had not had many opportunities before.

The rest of the time was pure show.

Yu Fei performed some streetball moves, Curry made a LOGO three-pointer, Westbrook performed a tomahawk slam dunk, and the Reebok stars seized the last moment and made the garbage time that had already lost its meaning become interesting.

In the end, the Western All-Stars defeated the Eastern All-Stars by 22 points.

Durant scored 45 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and won the AMVP trophy without any suspense.

"Some people say that this year's KD has the strength to be in the top ten of the league, I disagree." Yu Fei said, "He is at least in the top five of the league."

Yu Fei's compliment to Durant was originally just an assist to add icing on the cake, and Nike will regard tonight's game as a small victory.

After years of waiting, Durant is finally taking the lead.

However, seeing Durant helping Yu Fei achieve success, every Nike executive had a strong desire to change the status quo.

This desire was transformed into concrete action with Reebok's counterattack.

Reebok legend Allen Iverson said arrogantly: "I believe this is a good thing for KD, but you can see that the highlights after the game are basically related to Frye and Stephen. KD is like Nike now, without creativity, he is just a scoring machine. I'm serious, this guy needs to change himself, otherwise, sooner or later, he will become a product that no one cares about, just like Nike."

Just as Nike wants to use all its strength to stifle Reebok's growth, Reebok will also use all means to belittle Nike.

Initially, Reebok wanted to use some condescending words through Yu Fei to express that Durant won the AMVP only because he didn't want to.

However, Yu Fei is a person who doesn't like to be taught by others.

The Sonics already have enough internal problems; he won't create another one out of thin air.

So he did the opposite.

Reebok will not blame Yu Fei for this. After all, the two parties are already tied together. Yu Fei is Reebok and Reebok is Yu Fei. However, in the face of the company's collective interests, Reebok will not give up its attack on Nike just because of the competitiveness of the Supersonics.

Durant is Nike's hope in the 2010s, so they should focus on him.

So, Iverson, a famous player with a bad financial situation, stepped forward when he was promised huge profits.

Is there anything wrong with criticizing a junior who has no connection with him? No, Durant has to thank him.

Nike is a piece of shit, isn't it?
The fire started, and Reebok came to Nike's former position with an offensive posture.

A large part of the public opinion attacking Nike was directed at Durant.

Social media’s penetration into the real world is pervasive, and no public figure is immune.

Orlando's playground has turned into hell.

Perhaps, hell is originally a playground.

(End of this chapter)