Chapter 311 Life is bigger than basketball
Yu Fei's 70-point night quickly created a circle-breaking effect.
In the past few years, even people who don’t watch basketball games know that the NBA has produced two amazing newcomers in recent years. One of them dared to go against Jordan when he debuted with the title of the Chosen One, and he succeeded again after being traded to the Bucks. Revenge against Jordan, lead the team to win the championship, and become a representative of the new generation.
And James is the one who arrives before others arrive.
Just like the famous words spoken by Arthas's father - "The day you were born, all the forests of Lordaeron whispered this name" - from the moment James became famous, he has been locked in He became the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. When he was selected by the Cavaliers with the first overall pick, he was charged with the mission of surpassing Jordan.
That's right, when he first entered the industry, Yu Fei was not even his goal to surpass.
But as Yu Fei led the team to defend the title in 2004, as the leader of the new generation, he was inevitably compared with James.
In comparison, those who regard James as the savior of the NBA discovered that James is inferior to others in everything.
The first people to create a gap and criticize James were precisely those who thought he could surpass Jordan.
Now, everyone has been waiting for three years and finally waited for this duel between the two heroes.
But what was shown was a one-sided massacre.
James scored 39 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in a single game. Of course, the future is promising.
But Yu Fei's ancient beast statistics of 70 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists made all comparisons lose their original meaning.
This makes it difficult for those who firmly believe that James is not inferior to Yu Fei. Some people are still stubborn, while others are counterattacking James in public opinion.
"The New York Times" wrote: "From today on, no one can say that LeBron can match Frye, and you can't say the same thing after Frye scored 70 points against LeBron. The two heroes are no longer a topic. ”
The New York Times fired the first shot from the mainstream media in attacking James.
Then there is the Seattle Times, which is never absent when Yu Fei is involved in public opinion: "LeBron is just the king of Akron, but Frye is the man chosen by the world. Only by figuring this out can we understand those who take What a ridiculous comparison between LeBron and Frye.”
Faced with a tsunami of bad reviews, even Nike's media machine failed at this moment.
The proximate effect brought about by the 70-minute night is devastating.
Only some media people who are close to James dare to speak out despite the public disapproval.
But what can be said?
The game was lost by 50 points and the data was crushed.
The only thing that can be criticized is Yu Fei's sportsmanship and competitive spirit.
Not to mention how damaging this attack angle is to a person who claims to have none of these things, even if it breaks the sky, Yu Fei only scored 1 point and 2 rebounds in garbage time, and the rest of the data was obtained when James was on the court. of.
No matter how things develop, one thing is certain, the relationship between Yu Fei and James can no longer go back.
After the game last night, James did not speak to Yu Fei, nor did he call to apologize afterwards.
Yu Fei also had no reason to call James, and the two remained silent about it. The overwhelming anti-James public opinion from the outside world will undoubtedly increase the trauma of the 70-point night.
"Fu Lai, as long as you are still competing, this day will come sooner or later."
Lin Kaiwen said to Fei privately.
"Do you think this is my problem or his?" Yu Fei asked.
"Of course it's LeBron's problem." Kevin Lin said, "He overreacted."
It was because it was so intense that Yu Fei felt that this reaction could not be treated with common sense.
Rather than saying that James became angry, it is better to say that it was a full-scale explosion after the resentment was too deep.
However, it is not difficult to understand.
Yu Fei can really take on James' perspective, because he has played next to Jordan and he knows what "Jordan Hell" is.
The problem is that Yu Fei has never tied James to promote, but James' camp insists on doing so. Therefore, he opened the door to "Fry Hell" by himself.
These grudges brought about by Fei are not so much that Yu Fei did things that made James intolerable, but rather that there was a gap between reality and the plan, which caused the two to drift apart. Yu Fei got better and better, and James became more sad. Yu Fei faced each other face to face. The better the performance, the greater the pressure on James.
This already tight string broke the moment Yu Fei scored 60 points.
Yu Fei quickly put the matter down.
From now on, he doesn't mind whether he is a rival, an enemy, or even an enemy, because from the beginning to the end, he doesn't feel that he has done anything wrong.
One day later, the second game of the series between the Bucks and Cavaliers began.
Yu Fei and James greeted each other in a routine manner, but they no longer seemed intimate.
The first game already showed that the Cavaliers could not compete at the same level as the Bucks, so in the second game, in order to restore the impression points, James was extremely eager for data.
Even if he can't score, he still wants to surpass Yu Fei in rebounds and assists.
But it's a pity that the Cavaliers' version is too backward.
James had a good idea, but the Cavaliers didn't have an inside line to help him get stuck, leaving him with no rebounds.
As for the Bucks, it has become part of the system to let Yu Fei pick up defensive rebounds and push for fast breaks.
Although Kwame Brown and others did not grab many rebounds, Yu Fei's cake was delicious, and Yu Fei led the team in offensive rebounds.
A person who only picks up defensive rebounds has nothing to say even if he averages 10 rebounds per game. But if a person who averages 10 rebounds per game grabs 2-3 offensive rebounds per game, that is amazing.
Yu Fei did not deliberately want to surround James in terms of data.
After the 70-point night, James' camp was languishing, completely defeated in public opinion, and could not turn around within a few months, so he just wanted to send the Cavaliers home quickly.
However, the Cavaliers' backward defensive system allowed Yu Fei to score as he pleased. In order to prevent Yu Fei from scoring high points again, Mike Brown resorted to double-teaming without thinking. This made Yu Fei feed the cake like crazy.
With 36 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, Yu Fei had a big triple-double, which just covered James' 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Moreover, the Cavaliers lost again by a huge margin of 30 points.
Then, the media, keen to stir up trouble, began to publicize Yu Fei's average data in the past two games.
53 points, 14.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists.
Even though he lost a lot of points in the second game, Yu Fei still averaged 53 points per game.
In the face of this kind of monster data, James' outstanding 30-point plus triple-double data seems to have no power at all.
Although they were only behind by a score of 0 to 2, anyone with a discerning eye knew that the Cavaliers were done for the year.
Both James and the Cavaliers' systems need to be upgraded.
For the Cavaliers, they need to match the system the Bucks built for Yu Fei to serve James.
James needs to bring his skills up to par with Yu Fei.
"What I want to say is, it's not over yet." James said after the game, "We are not out yet. As long as we are alive, there is hope."
"Do you think you still have a chance of advancing?"
"Of course." James asked, "Don't you think so?"
Reporters do not speak their minds, but their expressions reflect their thoughts.
James suppressed his anger and walked into the locker room and said: "We are going to beat them at home!"
Not many people responded to James, but as the young master, he still has confidence in the series, which cheered up many people.
However, when the Cavaliers returned to Cleveland, a devastating piece of bad news came for them.
The younger brother of Cavaliers No. 2 player Larry Hughes has died of heart failure in St. Louis.
Hughes doted on his younger brother, who was born with heart failure and underwent a heart transplant, and the two were very close. The death of his younger brother caused Hughes to collapse. He wanted to leave the team to deal with the aftermath, but the Cavaliers were in the midst of the playoffs.
Hughes remembered what LeBron said last night, that he wanted to beat the Bucks.
Without him, the Cavaliers, who already have a slim chance of winning, would have even less hope of winning.
Despite the public-private dilemma, Hughes wanted to leave.
He went to the coaching staff, who told him to ask his boss for advice.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert told Hughes who had the power to make the decision: "You'd better ask LeBron what he thinks."
Hughes went.
James expressed regret for Hughes' experience, but he also knew that if the team lost Hughes now, they would lose their ability to resist the Bucks, and they would not be able to find any big lock who can match up with Yu Fei on the outside.
James definitely doesn't want Hughes to leave now, but "good guy LeBron" takes over his thoughts.
He told Hughes: "Family is more important than basketball."
Larry Hughes was so grateful for James' understanding that he left. And, what is certain is that he will not come back until the end of the semi-finals.
This is the "good guy" side of James, but there's another side to him.
Just after Hughes left, James called his good brother Maverick Carter, who worked in Nike's publicity department: "Larry Hughes's brother is dead."
"I'm sorry."
"He will leave the team to deal with his funeral affairs. Our lineup is not complete." James said tepidly, "I know you have been under a lot of pressure at work recently."
Carter doesn't think Hughes' departure will reverse the current public opinion, but it is a breakthrough. No matter how ugly the Cavaliers play in the next two games, they will have an excuse.
"LeBron, the people at headquarters hope you don't lose heart. This is just a temporary victory or defeat."
"Discouraged?" "Aggressive LeBron" took over his body again, "I can never be discouraged."
After a while, Gilbert came, "I'm sorry about Larry Hughes."
"It is indeed regrettable. I hope he leaves, but everyone has to do what they should do." James said, "Life is bigger than basketball."
Yes, Gilbert nodded.
For someone like Hughes, life is definitely bigger than basketball.
But for James now, basketball is his life.
That's why those around him were eager to comfort LeBron after Frye ruined his life. But in Gilbert's view, LeBron does not need comfort. He has a strong vitality that is enough to resist all blows.
The more ferocious Frye's offense is, the more intense his rebound will be, even if it is not now, it is expected in the future.
Especially after LeBron allowed Hughes to leave the team, Gilbert felt that this young man's character was really unparalleled, much better than Frye Yu, a thug who lacked sportsmanship.
Fortunately, God bless Cleveland!
(End of chapter)