Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1038 - 594 The Lost Kingship

Chapter 1038: Chapter 594: The Lost Kingship Chapter 1038: Chapter 594: The Lost Kingship The rivalry between the Clippers and the Supersonics was essentially between Fei and Clay Bennett.

Bennett believed that he was the owner of the team and the inheritor of its glory, and that the players’ brilliant achievements ultimately belonged to him.

But he was wrong.

Every popular sports league sells dreams to the public, and the NBA’s dreams began in the ’80s with the Black and White duo, peaked during the Jordan era, with Yu Fei reaching the heights achieved by predecessors and climbing even higher mountains.

He didn’t need to appeal to fans to buy shoes with poor rap in a Converse commercial like Bird, nor did he need to find every way to engrave the era with “Be Like Mike” like Jordan.

His career was great enough.

A normal team should do everything possible to keep someone like him, but Bennett chose the opposite.

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This is exactly why Bennett was put in a passive position.

He couldn’t explain to the fans why he messed up everything, nor could he explain why he didn’t keep a dignified appearance after parting ways amicably and instead made the situation so embarrassing.

This was the problem Bennett needed to face and solve.

Meanwhile, Fei and the Clippers needed to move forward.

In the second game of the regular season, the Clippers “away” game against the Lakers.

The Lakers might become the dark horse this summer.

Like a centipede that doesn’t die easily.

Over the past two years, many Lakers fans had lost faith in the team, believing that the Lakers no longer had the championship drive like during the Kobe era.

However, while they lacked the motivation to compete for the championship, the plan to pretend they did and attract fans to watch Kobe score was not only in existence but also very successful.

Unexpectedly, the disintegration of the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three gave the Lakers a chance.

Anthony, because of his desire for life in a big city, ultimately chose to join the Lakers.

The New York Times was relentless in its mockery after Anthony’s decision: “Carmelo Anthony would rather join Kobe’s ‘Old Stars Choir’ than fight for a championship in a small city team. That’s the biggest difference between him and Frye. Frye can succeed in Milwaukee, while Anthony will never reach such heights!”

But what the New York Times didn’t know was that Anthony originally intended to team up with Yu Fei.

Unfortunately, the falling flower has intentions, but the flowing water is merciless.

The Lakers were just a temporary measure for him.

However, Anthony’s joining reignited some hope in the desperate Lakers.

They finally got their third star player. Together with a 36-year-old Kobe and Pau Gasol, they could be considered a “Mini Big Three,” barely meeting the modern championship team standards.

However, unlike the Clippers’ “Titan Lineup” slaughtering the Supersonics in the first game, the Lakers’ brand new Big Three lost to the Houston Rockets in the season’s opening game.

Lakers coach Byron Scott commented, “Sometimes, I have to remind Melo that basketball is a team sport, and frequently demanding the ball isn’t good for the whole. Sometimes you need to share the ball

and let your teammates get involved.”

Anthony’s problem was exposed right from the start.

If the experience of the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three taught Anthony anything, it was that he must ensure he has enough say.

His joining the Lakers did not mean he was willing to be number two. The Lakers should have understood how to choose between a 30-year-old star at his peak and a 36-year-old aging legend.

But this is exactly what the Lakers did not understand.

They didn’t understand why Anthony had such baffling confidence.

This problem was magnified in the second game against the Clippers.

Anthony wanted to prove that Fei was wrong for not teaming up with him, so he kept positioning himself to demand the ball.

Old Kobe finally felt how helpless his teammates felt dealing with a young, rampant him back in the day.

But then again, one is not young if not rash.

Back then, he was a young man in his early 20s, untouched by societal knocks, what’s it to be stubborn.

But how old is Anthony?

He’s 30, using youthful arrogance to excuse his selfish behavior is like watching Liu Xiaoqing play a young girl.

Fei didn’t know about those 1980s small forwards who only focused on scoring and not defending, but a player like Anthony was basically a carbon copy of Kyrie Irving.

Not to say he’s not impressive, he is.

But if he truly led a team, he’d only steer the team into a pit.

However, if he realized himself and focused on being an offensive player, he could indeed cause massive damage.

When could Anthony realize himself?

Fei only saw that at 30 years old, he was still playing one-on-one like a thoughtless 20-year-old, such people likely had to undergo the process of becoming cancer of each place, being marginalized by the NBA, and completely falling from the position of a frontline star before they could see the reality in front of them.

Any idea of teaming up with him to compete for a championship is a baseless delusion.

“Frye, keep going!”

When Fei scored over him, Anthony shouted.

Then, Anthony responded to Fei with a beautiful stop-and-jump shot.

This was the rhythm he liked.

Whenever he encounters a strong opponent like Fei, he is strong both offensively and defensively, but he turns the game into a one-on-one match.

Fei simply said, “I really envy your forever 18-year-old mindset.”

Then, he passed the ball to Jokić.

Jokić set a screen for Thompson, who, using the high-quality screen, shot a three-pointer.

Kobe couldn’t stand it anymore and joined Anthony’s one-man show.

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