Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1041 - 595 The Flames of Revenge

Chapter 1041: Chapter 595: The Flames of Revenge Chapter 1041: Chapter 595: The Flames of Revenge This summer, the Miami Heat, like the Supersonics in the summer of 2012, voluntarily cut their roster for fear of the super-luxury tax.

Yao Ming couldn’t stay, veterans like Battier chose to retire. They also had to soothe some people’s feelings, such as Wade, who missed out on defending the FMVP.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Wade; he was not as open-minded as Curry, or rather, he hasn’t reached that level yet.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Because the experiences of Wade in this life are completely different from those in the main timeline.

In this life, after a long wait, he finally saw the team successively pick players like Love and Curry and then waited for them to grow up, coupled with the addition of Yao Ming, before leading the team to the pinnacle.

From start to finish, Wade has always been the linchpin of this team, the undisputed core, always seeing himself as the leader.

Despite his physical condition gradually declining with age, it was still enough to sustain his status.

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However, during last season’s finals, when Curry was selected as the FMVP, it undoubtedly poured cold water on Wade. The era of the younger generation had arrived, but he was not ready to give up his spot.

This situation is not without precedent in NBA history. For example, Wes Unseld from the Washington Bullets won the FMVP, even though his stats were not as eye-catching as Elvin Hayes’s, but because of the media’s bias against Hayes, they would rather choose the good guy Unseld, rather than acknowledge Hayes as the best player.

The situation with the Heat was even more complex.

Looking solely at the finals performance, Curry and Wade were quite on par. Under these circumstances, the FMVP would typically be awarded to the player with more seniority, by rights, it should’ve been Wade to defend the title.

However, when the situation was evenly matched, some seemingly unrelated factors quietly played a role.

Wade’s endorsed shoe brand was China’s Li-Ning, and although the brand was popular in China for a while, it was just a niche product in the United States, nowhere near as influential as Curry’s endorsed Reebok.

With a little push behind the scenes from Reebok, the scales of the FMVP naturally tipped towards Curry.

As a result, Curry became Reebok’s second fully successful star, while Wade could find no outlet for the resentment in his heart.

After the start of the new season, Wade increased his desire for ball possession in defense of his position as the leader. This change affected the overall performance of the team.

The departure of Yao Ming also became a disgrace for the Miami Heat.

They carried a stigma similar to that of the Supersonics back in the day, but since Miami is a major tourist city, not a media center, and the team lacks a superstar with huge popularity, these reputational damages were relatively minor.

However, the problem of Wade’s ball-dominant style of play was exposed early in the season.

With the ball concentrated in Wade’s hands, the original four-star lineup had to play down the role of other players, becoming a “Wade-centric” team.

This approach had a huge impact on the team. Curry suffered less due to his off-ball ability, but Butler and Love were in distress.

With Yao’s departure, the pressure on Love as an inside player surged, and the Heat, unable to find another high-value center in the free market, could only pin their hopes on his talent.

Love’s talent was more evident on the defensive end, which was precisely what the Heat needed least. As a team not known for defense, a center who could defend couldn’t alleviate Love’s offensive pressure. Consequently, the situation deteriorated rapidly.

Without Yao, Love had to pull out to the perimeter to shoot, and an inside player who relies solely on shooting to maintain dignity naturally struggles to be consistent. As a key part of the Heat’s offensive system, Love’s performance plummeted, almost competing for the “Most Regressed Player of the Year.”

Also affected was Jimmy Butler in his contract year.

As a representative of a low draft pick making it big, Butler did not have exceptional talent, relying more on tenacious defense and a fighting spirit. To make him effective on offense, he needed enough ball possession. But with Wade monopolizing the ball, Butler couldn’t showcase his strengths.

Although Coach Spoelstra clearly understood the problem, he was powerless to change the situation, as Wade’s status had already transcended the authority of the coaching staff. To rectify the situation, it would likely require Pat Riley to step in, but Riley continued to wait and see.

From the start of the new season to the Christmas Day games, the Heat lost 8 games, whereas in the past few years, they lost at most 5 during the same period. Facing the Clippers who are leading the league with 3 losses, the Heat’s prospects seem dire.

Yao remains the amiable big man, but Coach Spo wouldn’t naively think that the way the Heat treated Yao wouldn’t breed resentment in him.

The Miami Heat is one of the few teams in the league that still builds its team on a “family” model. During the season, the team regularly organizes team dinners, allowing players to bring their families, creating tight-knit relationships.

Yao’s family greatly appreciated this. As long as the Heat showed sincerity, Yao was not opposed to taking another pay cut to stay. But they had not considered this option from the start, ultimately ousting Yao in the most ruthless manner.

Spoelstra, looking at the smile on Yao’s face, couldn’t help but think of the ancient Chinese idiom he had mentioned — “a dagger hidden beneath a smile.”

In comparison, Yu Fei was much more direct. He had no entanglements with the Heat and could say those things Yao wasn’t comfortable saying.