Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 514 - 354: LeBron Is Probably Dead
Chapter 514: Chapter 354: LeBron Is Probably Dead
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That was the final score, with Yu Fei leading the White Team to victory over the Red Team with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
But what was impressive wasn’t this red, white, and blue mixed force’s upset over the star-studded Red Team, but Yu Fei’s continuous domination throughout the 20-minute game.
He destroyed Coach K’s preferred choice for the starting small forward in this game.
James was humiliated by Yu Fei in the most terrible way, just like Cersei being paraded through the streets in Season 5 of “Game of Thrones,” but there was no way he could respond by blowing up a cathedral.
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At the end of the game, James didn’t speak to anyone and went straight to the locker room.
For the Emperor, who had been living in praise and flattery since he was 15, it was his most disastrous defeat.
Even the night when Yu Fei scored 70 points over him didn’t have as big an impact as today.
Because the current Dream Team was assembled with all the stars that could be gathered, including established superstars like Kidd and Kobe, mid-generation stars from the same or a few drafts before James, and highly anticipated newcomers like Durant and Greg Oden.
Not to mention the media gathered at the scene.
All the major media had representatives there.
So, losing face here wasn’t just a simple embarrassment – soon, what happened today would spread across the country.
After winning the scrimmage, Yu Fei walked off the court and said to Chris Bosh, “How did I play?”
Bosh said with a smile, “I think LeBron’s reaction says it all.”
“His reaction?” Yu Fei didn’t care about James’s reaction. “Did he look like a lost dog?”
Bosh didn’t want to describe James’s defeat with insulting words. In the competitive world, emotional intelligence matters most, especially for a star like him who is neither top nor bottom. It’s best not to get caught up in a godly battle between Yu and James.
Yet, having just triumphantly defeated James, he couldn’t help but make a choice between the two.
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“Well, pretty much,” Bosh cautiously replied, “not too far off.”
Yu Fei went aside to rest, and the discussion about the game continued at the scene.
As the head coach, even Coach K, who admired James, had already decided to let Yu Fei take the starting small forward position for Team USA after watching the game.
He knew that a lineup with Yu Fei and Carmelo Anthony on the wings would sweep the world.
Coach K’s lead assistant for the national team was Jim Boeheim from Syracuse, hailed as the only person who could unlock Carmelo Anthony’s inner world on Team USA.
As Anthony’s college coach, Boeheim naturally hoped Anthony would start for Team USA, so he was thrilled when Yu Fei refused to play power forward and compete with James for the starting small forward spot instead.
Especially after seeing James get completely crushed by Yu Fei, humiliated in front of most of the elite in American basketball, he knew Yu Fei had won what he wanted.
Now, Boeheim wanted to know Coach K’s next plan for James.
“If Frye is our first choice for small forward, what about LeBron?” Boeheim thought of James’s ordeal today and sighed with relief that it wasn’t his beloved Melo with a positional conflict with Fei.
Although Melo is very social, Big Fei’s approach is too intimidating.
“I don’t know, Jim,” Coach K said helplessly. “The biggest problem is, I don’t know if LeBron is willing to accept a backup role.”
Backup? Boeheim asked, “Does that mean he will take Tayshaun’s place?”
The consecutive three world championship losses made the Americans realize that the days of assembling a bunch of stars to sweep the world were over.
Especially after last year’s World Championship loss to Greece, Team USA realized even more deeply that it was not enough for the stars to have chemistry with each other. The play style needed to fit FIBA, the roster had to be reasonable, and it had to look like a team.
So, if you have to choose between Yu and James for the number three spot, then the backup small forward definitely needs to be a versatile defensive player to enrich the personnel structure and optimize the tactical play style.
But now Coach K was considering James as a backup?
Boeheim wondered, is that reasonable?
But what Coach K pondered was whether James would be willing.
Thanks to his outstanding performance in the scrimmage, Durant, who had already booked his flight home, successfully advanced to the Scramble Team.
However, Durant didn’t think he had any standout performance today. He just played pick-and-rolls and shot threes, hitting 2 out of 4 shots. Aside from that, there was nothing remarkable, even less so than Kwame Brown’s defiance against Howard, scoring 6 points with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks while being outplayed the whole game.
The most praise Durant received today was for his defense, as he “firmly defended” Carlos Boozer.
Yet, Durant knew the truth.
Boozer hadn’t played seriously at all, loafing on defense, and moving out to the three-point line after setting screens – but he didn’t have the range, so what was the use in spreading out?
So Boozer had an unremarkable performance throughout the game and played a negative role, constantly complaining about not getting the ball, but even when he got it, he didn’t play.
Boozer’s tanking unexpectedly contributed to Durant’s reputation for being strong on offense and defense, but Durant also knew that being moved to the Scramble Team was mainly because those in charge had manipulated things in favor of Fei.
Durant believed that Fei could influence the rosters of all three teams, given that even Kwame Brown was rumored to be moved up to the Senior Team.
So, as soon as training was over, Durant followed Brown to find Yu Fei.
Then, they found that Yu Fei was playing cards with Bosh and the others.
Unfortunately, this superstar, who was on fire during the day and hardly missed any shots, was not very good at playing cards, and after losing a few games, he quietly dropped out.
“What brings you guys here?” Yu Fei asked, “Here to play cards?”
Brown then said, “The rookie wants to thank you for helping him get onto the White Team.”
“What’s there to thank me for?” Yu Fei said with a light smile, “You don’t think the White Team is some great place, do you? The guys in that team are basically just sparring partners for the Red Team, with a slim chance of being called up to the Red Team.”
Durant was well aware of this, but he was still grateful to Yu Fei because the Potential Team was about to be disbanded.
This group was mainly formed for training in preparation for the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics, and this assembly was to let Team USA get a head start on their assessment.
Apart from Durant, only Aldridge from the Potential Team was called up to the White Team, everyone else was preparing to book their tickets home.
But if they left, the only competition they could take part in would be the Summer League, which was worlds apart from Team USA’s training camp in terms of intensity. Every young player who wanted to improve themselves would look for a way to stay.
Afterward, more and more people came to play cards.
With the increase in people, chatter was inevitable, and invariably, they would talk about the day’s events.
“If I were LeBron, I’d have just walked away,” Anthony said cheerfully while playing cards, “Big Fei was just too much.”
Opposite Anthony, Deron asked, “Why didn’t you say that when Big Fei was still here?”
“Because…” Anthony thought for a moment, “Even if I had said it, Big Fei wouldn’t have changed.”
“So, where did LeBron go? I haven’t seen him for half the day.”
“I don’t know.”
“He might be dead for all we know.”
Laughter filled the card room, signifying a simple truth: everyone loves to kick someone when they’re down and find joy in others’ misery, even if it is LeBron James. In a world where he no longer carried the mantle of the chosen one, the moment he was struck down, many were willing to trample over him.
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LeBron James possessed an extraordinary memory.
Sports Illustrated once wrote a feature article about him, in which he recalled specific actions from a game that took place years ago during an interview.
But sports reporting had long been accustomed to turning stars into gods – even those who hadn’t graduated high school could speak like philosophers, and even if they couldn’t finish a single book, they could still be believed to have the exceptional memory that many geniuses from top universities didn’t possess.
LeBron might not be someone with an eidetic memory, but he certainly didn’t forget certain things.
Inside the hotel room, several key figures from LeBron’s camp were present.
Their expressions were as ugly as LeBron’s.
When Yu Fei had cut ties with LeBron after getting the latter’s signature, they were all excited, because from that moment on, Bron didn’t need to worry about brotherhood anymore. But they had never considered what would happen if Yu Fei himself stopped considering the brotherhood.
“Those damn fair-weather friends!” Maverick Carter, the CEO of LeBron’s media company, was raging at the series of articles belittling LeBron. “We did so many favors for them, made so many concessions, only to be betrayed! Damn it, from today onwards, we will refuse interviews with these people!”
The only one who could still think calmly was Rich Paul, and he was also the person who accepted the “LeBron is inferior to Frye” fact the quickest.
“LeBron, I think maybe you should let go of the national team matters,” he said.
LeBron looked at him impassively, “Go on.”
“No. 44 has been undergoing special training for the past few years. If he joins the national team camp, he won’t have time to develop his personal skills. LeBron, this is our problem,” Paul said, “You need more time to hone your skills, but currently, you’re stuck with national team duties. We waste two to three months every year on this. If you, like Frye, spent a few years improving yourself, I believe…”
From on the court to off the court, LeBron sought every possible way to find some tricky angles to surpass Yu Fei.
However, Yu Fei’s on-court success quickly swept through the public opinion battleground.
In the end, the only thing LeBron had left to talk about more than Yu Fei was his patriotism.
But once he gave up playing for the national team, he’d be left with nothing.
Yet, what if this was the only path to catching up to Yu Fei?
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“In his second day in Las Vegas, Frye mercilessly tore up LeBron James with a real game.” — USA Today
“Frye proved with a dominant performance that the wait for the Dream Team was worth it.” — The New York Times
“Jerry Colangelo thinks that Frye Yu will lead Team USA to restored glory. Does this prove that we are about to witness the first Asian-American captain in history?” — The Seattle Times
“On his third day of training camp, Frye officially became the starting small forward for the Red Team, and his performance remained spectacular. It’s worth mentioning that LeBron James missed today’s practice due to injury. Coach K is unsure when LeBron will return but is optimistic about his comeback.” — ESPN: Chris Sheridan column
