Chapter 552 Hell is a playground
The 2012 All-Star Weekend was held in Orlando.
If Dwight Howard had not left, this would have been their carnival, but the giant baby who talked about loyalty and love decisively left his parent team last summer.
On the surface, Orlando is not competitive. In fact, it's just that Howard wants to go to a bigger city.
As the league's number one center, the second generation of Superman, he can completely influence the league's structure. Why bother to stay in Orlando and continue to struggle?
Look at what LeBron did. Although he failed, he risked his reputation to open a way for everyone.
Since him, other superstars will not receive so much criticism if they do similar things.
So in the end, it was only the city of Orlando that was hurt.
After Howard left, they still had two veterans in the lineup, Ray Allen and Vince Carter, but they had passed their prime and lost their ability to lead the team. The Magic naturally dived towards the lottery area. , currently ranked third from last in the Eastern Conference.
Naturally, they, as hosts, also did not have any players selected for the All-Star Weekend roster.
This made Yu Fei couldn't help but put forward an initiative. The league should consider giving convenience to cities that host All-Star Weekend. For example, this year's Magic team should choose a player from their team if no one is selected for the All-Stars. Participate in All-Star Weekend as a representative.
This isn't that GOAT suddenly cares about weak teams, it's just that it's a bit unbearable to see two old friends suffering in Orlando.
His friendship with Ray Allen was fixed in 2005. After that, they could only meet during the regular season and All-Star weekend.
The camaraderie forged by winning two consecutive championships together has not entered their lives.
They would not say hello to each other during holidays, but when Yu Fei announced his engagement to Elizabeth Olsen, Ray Allen called him and said congratulations.
This made Yu Fei know that that person was still the same as before.
As for Carter, he and Yu Fei have similar personalities and matching styles of play. They have been flirting with each other for many years but never had the chance to join forces.
Now Yu Fei is the GOAT, Carter is also old, and the half-human and half-god UFO no longer dunks very much, but has reaped the dividends of the era of space basketball.
He is the one with the best three-point shooting skills from outside among the four major shooting guards. Not only is he highly productive, but he also has a long shooting range. He is also ready for transformation early.
Yu Fei went to see Carter as soon as he arrived in Orlando.
"Fry, you know this is my contract year, right?" Carter said at the dinner table.
Yu Fei raised his eyebrows, "What, you want to come to Seattle?"
"I had this intention before." Carter said, "But I saw what happened to Chris Bosh, and I don't know if I want to play for such an owner."
"It's not just you"
This is all Yu Fei said.
The way the Sonics treated Bosh left an extremely negative impression on the players.
This kind of influence is so widespread and far-reaching that even people like Carter who are no longer stars have to consider whether they will demean themselves by trying to win the championship.
The longer time goes by, the deeper Yu Fei's disgust towards Bennett becomes.
To this day, Bennett has not given him an explanation.
In fact, everyone knows the reason, it is a matter of money. But after Bennett made this decision, he did not have any communication with Yu Fei, as if this matter would not harm GOAT's interests.
After all, it was Bennett's profits that were lost. As for the source of profits, don’t ask.
Yu Fei just signed a three-year contract with the SuperSonics last summer, but he can jump out of the second summer, that is, next year.
Seattle is where he will die. From a perfect career perspective, he lost his one-man, one-city qualification when he was traded to Milwaukee after his rookie season. Even putting aside his rookie year, from the moment he left Milwaukee, he was no longer the voice of one man, one city.
He came to Seattle as a savior.
Although he is only half-Seattle at best, he undoubtedly saved the Sonics, not only keeping the team in the Emerald City, promoting the construction of a new arena, and in a few years bringing the most successful franchise to the world. Hot basketball market.
It can be said that his mission as a half-Seattle man has been completed, the stage of conquering the country is over, and now he has to defend the country.
However, changes in the current situation, as well as beings like Bennett who are essentially short-sighted and profit-seeking, are destined to conflict with Yu Fei's ideas.
If he stays here, Yu Fei will always be the king of Seattle, and D.C.'s loss and departure from Milwaukee will become a footnote for him.
And if he leaves here, Yu Fei's career will be forced to be divided into four stages.
D.C.'s loss would have made Milwaukee's rise all the more exciting, and leaving Milwaukee in its prime to return to his hometown as a reliever was the height of his popularity. Once he leaves, given his age, it is certain that the next stop will be his final stop. If he doesn't want to end his legend in disgrace like Jordan did in D.C., he has to succeed a third time.
But where to go? No matter where he goes, there will always be a boss over his head.
Is there any difference between the other owners and Clay Bennett?
This question swirled in Yu Fei's mind until a bold idea came to his mind.
After the All-Star Weekend activities began, Yu Fei became a busy man with no time to spare.
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 brand.
When Reebok's event began, some old media people couldn't help but lament how much influence GOAT has on the brand.
Back then, very few players wore Reebok during the All-Star weekend.
What now?
Not to mention GOAT, after GOAT, there are also popular new stars like Westbrook and Curry.
On the other hand, Nike, Kobe and James, the two top players, are outnumbered by GOAT.
They lost a must-lose series before the lockout.
Bill Simmons compared the Evil Empire's failure in the 2010 Western Conference Finals this way: "As a sports fan, you know that not all losses hurt the same. The Lakers' failure in 2010 was like someone's pain. I beat you up, then seduced your wife and posted their XXOO video on Station P.”
Such a failure is enough to destroy the fans' confidence in them.
Especially for teenagers, wearing the shoes and jerseys of Kobe and James has become something that will be ridiculed.
Reebok is like a behemoth with a big mouth, relying on its victory on the frontal battlefield to crazily encroach on Nike's market share.
In the past, when young stars entered the league, other sneaker manufacturers either engaged in price wars or had to pick up what was left from Nike. However, in the past few years, the situation has changed.
Reebok got first dibs on the pairing, while Nike picked the rest.
These changes all prove the heyday of Reebok and the decline of Nike in the market.
And the person who caused all this is standing here.
Yu Fei was sitting in seat C, talking about the playing style of young players.
"You know, I hate seeing Stephen take 10 LOGO shots in a game." Yu Fei said with disgust, "This is not basketball at all."
Reebok's super star Curry defended: "Not that many, I take at most 5 LOGO shots in a game."
The atmosphere at the scene was harmonious and friendly, which made Reebok star Allen Iverson, who was invited to the event, sigh: "This is the reason why I chose Reebok back then. I firmly believe that their products are better than Nike. Time has passed." Proved me right.”
Iverson has retired, and there was news of bankruptcy not long ago. Now that he stands up and shows his presence, no one will be unhappy.
After all, before Yu Fei, Iverson was indeed Reebok's flag-bearer.
The event lasted until late at night, and Iverson organized a second party at a nightclub.
Yu Fei did not participate because he still had many things to be busy with.
After that, the All-Star Weekend officially begins.
Yu Fei was indifferent to individual competitions and rookie challenges because they were really not worth watching.
Activities, never-ending activities, made Yu Fei's mind go blank.
Until Magic Vice President Pat Williams showed up.
Williams is a veteran of the league and has been involved in the front office 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. 14 of the 19 children are adopted.
Yu Fei, who is about to become a father, chatted with the other party about children.
This may be the most relaxed Yu Fei has been in the past few days.
Then, the day of the All-Star Game arrived.
If compared according to the book strength, the Western Stars will undoubtedly win. The only question is whether the Western Conference stars stick together.
This can be seen in the locker room.
Tyronn Lue kept wiping his sweat. Although he was used to being a coach in Seattle, when it came to the All-Star weekend and coached a large group of stars who had to nod and flatter him when they played, his aura was seriously lacking.
"There's nothing to be nervous about." Yu Fei saw Director Lu's anxiety, "These people are all our losers."
Yu Fei's voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone to hear.
Lu became even more panicked after hearing this.
GOAT seems not to understand the principle of "don't say anything that is not conducive to unity."
However, even if it is so detrimental to unity, no one can refute it.
"Let me make it clear first." Roy directly clarified the relationship, "I came to Orlando with the idea of 'love and peace'."
Yu Fei glared at him, and then saw Durant typing quickly on his tablet.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Durant’s Internet addiction has become more and more serious recently.
However, the number of his large posts did not increase significantly. So, it’s safe to assume that he’s back to smacking around with his trumpet.
Yu Fei can probably understand the pleasure of using a trumpet to express all kinds of violent comments without any scruples, but it is not healthy to indulge in such fun.
What happened to Adu?
Yu Fei's concern for Adu stopped abruptly, 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 unscrupulous people on the Internet. They often like to grab one or two clips and make endless associations to distort their own motives, thereby achieving the purpose of vilifying themselves.
Some media were also affected and started the "Looking for the Real Kevin Durant" project.
He was very angry and gradually lost control of his nature. His attitude towards the media was much worse than before, and he was no longer as gentle and gentle towards the fans. Many people said that he had changed. So who caused it?
Durant didn't want to explore these causes and effects, he just wanted to vent all his anger.
When the All-Star Game begins, Durant, who was elected as the All-Star starter for the first time, has only one goal, and that is to win AMVP.
Yu Fei saw his thoughts and intended to fulfill him.
The two Lakers didn't seem to be in a competitive mood, and everyone maintained a seemingly peaceful situation.
This is a great opportunity to win glory. Durant scored 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the second half with the help of Yu Fei.
Then the organizers began to show their sense of humor.
Two NBA legends came on 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 deliver a speech.
They paid tribute to Magic, who announced he was HIV-positive in November 1991, and commemorated his comeback a few months later at that year's All-Star Game in Orlando with a video.
Is this worthy of tribute? Yu Fei doesn't know.
But he felt that Dr. J chose another way to comfort Dr. J because the female reporter who had provided Clinton-level presidential services to Dr. J for a long time was wearing braces at the time. The result was an illegitimate daughter who became a tennis player. The legendary story is more worthy of tribute, right?
Regardless, when the magician came on the stage, the entire audience stood up and applauded.
Twenty years later, the magician looked as bloated as a black version of Patrick Star, but he was still obsessed with the lights, applause, and cheers of the crowd.
Some people are destined to live in this realistic cyberspace.
Only here can he become himself.
"I don't understand." Durant looked at the scene on the court coldly, "What is there to pay tribute to being infected with the HIV virus? What to pay tribute to?"
Yu Fei joked: "He used the sexual blessings he gave him for half his life to remind us to take safety measures before doing bad things. Isn't it worthy of tribute?"
Durant was not funny. He did not enjoy Yu Fei's joke. He just said indifferently: "If it were me, I would find a place to bury myself."
"That's strange." Yu Fei laughed, "Kevin Durant just said something that seemed like something Kevin Durant would do."
"Do you know Kevin Durant better than Kevin Durant?"
"Maybe."
In the second half, Yu Fei continued to pass to Durant.
When a person is in good condition, he can make any shot he wants.
After the third quarter, Durant had scored 40 points.
In the end, he did not reach the 50-point mark.
Because the Eastern Stars were already behind by a big score, Durant locked in the AMVP in advance and there was no need to continue scoring.
Director Lu knows that NBA stars are all arrogant madmen. They are willing to fulfill Durant's needs, but they will also be uncomfortable if Durant asks for too much.
Therefore, Director Lu stopped when he was ready.
Durant was replaced after only a few minutes in the fourth quarter and replaced with other players who had not had many opportunities before.
The rest of the time was pure show.
Yu Fei played some street ball moves, Curry scored a three-pointer with LOGO, Westbrook performed a tomahawk dunk, and the stars of Reebok seized the last moment to make the meaningless garbage time more enjoyable. taste.
In the end, the Western Stars defeated the Eastern Stars by 22 points.
Durant scored 45 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, winning the AMVP trophy without any suspense.
"Some people say that this year's KD has the strength of the top ten in the league, but I disagree." Yu Fei said, "He is at least the top five in the league."
Yu Fei's compliment to Durant was originally just the icing on the cake, an assist, and Nike will regard tonight's game as a small victory.
After waiting for many years, Durant is finally going to carry the banner.
However, seeing Durant helping Yu Fei to build a career, every Nike executive has a strong desire to change the status quo.
This desire was transformed into practical actions under 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 now Like Nike, there is no creativity, he is just a scoring machine. I seriously say that this guy needs to change himself, otherwise, sooner or later, he will become a product that no one cares about.”
Just as Nike wants to use all its power to stifle Reebok's growth, Reebok will use all means to belittle Nike.
At first, Reebok wanted to use some condescending words from Yu Fei to express that Durant could only win the AMVP because he didn't want to win it.
However, Yu Fei is a person who doesn't like to let others teach him how to do things.
The Sonics have enough internal problems, and they're not going to 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 have been bound. Yu Fei is Reebok and Reebok is Yu Fei. However, in the face of the company's collective interests, Reebok will not give up on the competition just because of the competitiveness of Supersonics. Nike attack.
Durant is Nike's hope in the 2010s, so let's focus on him.
As a result, Iverson, a famous player with a poor financial situation, stepped forward despite being promised huge profits.
Is there anything wrong with criticizing a junior with whom you have no connection? No, Durant still has to thank him.
Nike is a piece of shit, isn't it?
The fire was burning, and Reebok went on the offensive to where Nike once was.
A large part of this public opinion attacking Nike has been transferred to Durant.
The penetration of social media into the real world is pervasive, and no public figure is immune.
Orlando’s playgrounds turned into hell.
Maybe hell is a playground.
(End of chapter)