Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 530 - 369: Prophecy

Chapter 530: Chapter 369: Prophecy

Artest was as arrogant as ever against Durant, yet he became restrained when facing Yu Fei.

Against Durant, he could defend aggressively without care, because Durant couldn’t handle him and the referees were on his side.

But against Fei, if he defended like he did against Durant, Fei could quickly break through with his swift footwork.

As for those moves that infuriated Durant…

They could be used, but Artest had already seen firsthand how Fei treated his enemies.

He felt that having LeBron on the Cavaliers to bear all the karma was enough; he didn’t need to provoke Fei.

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Thus, Artest brought preseason-level defensive intensity to Fei.

Fei almost suspected this man had some sort of plot against him.

But he quickly felt the same joy as Roy, seizing the opportunity to score decisively when he saw an obvious flaw in his opponent that came without any traps.

By the time James returned to the game, the Supersonics’ lead had already reached 17 points.

Fei was invigorated at the sight of James, eager to continue their confrontation.

But the referees’ calls suddenly disrupted Fei’s plans.

When Fei made an excessive move against James, the referee immediately called a foul for the slightest contact.

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If Fei tried trash talking, the referee would warn and then give a technical.

The targeted refereeing successfully curtailed Fei’s aggressive play, and eventually, the Cavaliers’ strategic positioning forced Fei to cease his attacks.

Mike Brown didn’t want LeBron to continue being entangled by Fei.

Nor did he want LeBron to be labeled a deserter.

What to do? First, make sure Artest was matched against Fei, and second, no matter how Fei called for pick and rolls, the Cavaliers’ principle was to squeeze through screens without switching.

With that, they had a semblance of an excuse to avoid the confrontation.

Under the pressure from the referees, Fei had no choice but to focus on the game.

He discovered their lead was already substantial enough that, unless the Cavaliers’ outside shooting caught fire, a loss was inevitable.

Though they could win comfortably, he felt some regret at not being able to fiercely contend with James.

However, there would be plenty of time in the future for that, and he could settle accounts slowly.

It was James, though, who needed to find an excuse for avoiding the fight.

Although it was tactically sound, it was utterly indefensible from a personal standpoint.

Facing someone who had humiliated you time and again, if you don’t fight back and instead rely on tactics, isn’t that cowardice?

Many in the audience were disappointed in James.

Especially those wealthy individuals sitting in the front rows.

They had witnessed the fiery clash between Yu and James and heard Fei’s claim to end James’s career.

Any normal man would have been unable to tolerate such words.

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Yet, James endured it.

He knew there was a gap between himself and Fei, and that a head-to-head battle would definitely not work in his favor.

This was a man with the courage of a pawn but without the rage of one.

He was too rational.

It was precisely this politician-like rational clarity that convinced people he would definitely make decisions about his future from a logical perspective.

Among these people was the Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert.

Before tonight, like other supporters of James, he was convinced that James’s absence during game four of the Eastern Conference Finals was a fluke, and with an opportunity, James would fight Fei to the end.

Now, they witnessed the answer with their own eyes.

Unless he was certain of victory, James would avoid all direct confrontations.

This practice would deal a heavy blow to James’s already dwindling popularity and give Fei’s camp the chance to taunt him relentlessly.

This was why Gilbert was disappointed and angry with James; how could LeBron be so cautious, was this the mindset of someone destined for greatness?

Look at Frye!

His eagerness to broadcast his victories to the world infuriated Gilbert.

Before this, he could still console himself by saying that LeBron just needed time.

But now, he no longer had that confidence.

Because even LeBron himself didn’t feel he could succeed in Cleveland, otherwise why would he force the team to sign a 2+1 contract with him?

Even if Gilbert tried his best, the Cavaliers couldn’t turn trash into treasure, they lacked enticing assets, so it was impossible to quickly assemble a roster that could satisfy James.

Gilbert once consoled himself that LeBron was different from Frye, that he signed short contracts just to keep the management on their toes.

But this self-consolation never really succeeded.

Because there were more and more signs that James would leave in the summer of 2009.

The signs tonight were the clearest.

Gilbert saw LeBron’s schemes that were unlike those of a basketball player; he was thinking too much.

Sadly, the more he thought, the more he understood that Cleveland was not the land of kings.

Staying here would only slow down his pace in catching up with Frye.

Frye could sacrifice a three-peat for his hometown team, but would LeBron give up his hometown team for a championship?

Emotionally, Gilbert certainly wanted to believe that James had the pure love for his hometown, but what about rationally?

The reason James made Gilbert lose faith was that he was too rational.

There was no way he would make an emotional decision like Yu Fei, who left the Bucks and transferred to the Supersonics.

The two, who both strived to label themselves as “more than just basketball players” in business, in the end, only one of them didn’t seem like a pure basketball player.

Gilbert sat silently in the presidential suite, watching the final minutes of the game tick by.

109 to 94

The Supersonics defeated the Cavaliers, achieving the third consecutive win in their five-game road trip. As one of the teams with the easiest early season schedule, they ranked first in the Western, nothing like a team that was last in the previous season.

This was the magic of Frye Yu.

He really could change an entire team by himself.

ABC was live interviewing Frye—of course, they had to interview the man who defeated LeBron yet again as the best player of the game.

Gilbert wanted to know how many consecutive wins this was for Yu Fei against James.

“Frye, this is your twenty-fifth consecutive win against LeBron,” the frontline reporter from ABC almost made Gilbert lose his composure. “How do you feel?”

Yu Fei responded with a joke, “That many? Well, if that’s true, then it’s cool.”

Gilbert had already smashed everything in the room.

How stupid must those LeBron fans be to think that LeBron has more potential than Frye? Twenty-five consecutive losses! You could argue team difference with one or two losses, but you can’t explain away twenty-five consecutive defeats with just team differences.

“You and LeBron had a fierce collision on the court, how much personal emotion was involved in that?”

“Fierce?” The thing Yu Fei was most dissatisfied with tonight was the referees’ decision to cool things down after the conflict, and the Cavaliers’ coaching staff decisively separated their matchups. “It was nothing compared to Las Vegas.”

Gilbert still didn’t know how much damage Frye had done to LeBron in Las Vegas.

Though he had heard many rumors, those rumors had become more and more absurd and incredible.

“When you just arrived in Cleveland, you made a public prediction that LeBron would leave when his contract expired. Was that a joke or a serious statement?”

Inside the presidential suite, Gilbert could only watch the live interviews in two ways, one through the big screen at the venue, and the other on the TV in the suite.

At that moment, Gilbert suddenly turned the TV volume to maximum.

He wanted to know why Frye had come to that conclusion.

He had been LeBron’s elder brother and now his nemesis. He might be the person who understands LeBron best in the whole league.

“Many people don’t understand my decision to leave Milwaukee, because I had a team there that was perfect for me. If I had stayed, we had a great chance for a three-peat,” Yu Fei gave a straightforward analogy. “As many reasons as I had to stay in Milwaukee, LeBron has just as many to leave Cleveland. This isn’t a prediction, it’s a fact.”

“FUCK YOU!!!!”

Gilbert, overcome with rage, threw the remote at the TV, “Even someone like you understands the weight of hometown, how could LeBron not understand? Even someone like you…”

Gilbert’s voice weakened, Yu Fei had simply spoken the truth that everyone already knew.

What panicked Gilbert was that LeBron had options, they did not.

They had to prioritize keeping LeBron as their main objective, even if it meant gambling all of the team’s accessible future.

What Gilbert feared was that, even if he spent everything he had and sacrificed the entire future of the team, he still couldn’t turn the Cavaliers into a formidable championship-contending team.

In such a situation, if LeBron still chose to leave, the Cavaliers would be doomed forever.

Gilbert was burning with anxiety, but he didn’t know what to do next, nor did his management team.