Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1044 - 596 Curse Game

Chapter 1044: Chapter 596: Curse Game Chapter 1044: Chapter 596: Curse Game As 2014 drew to a close, Yu Fei accomplished another significant event in his life.

On his 32nd birthday, he married his fiancée Elizabeth Olsen. That moment, like a chess piece hanging in suspense for a long time, finally settled.

Their romance began during the lockout period, and thereafter, Olsen became pregnant, further solidifying their relationship. It wasn’t long before Yu Fei proposed to her. However, engagement does not equate to inevitable marriage, hence there had always been speculation about whether Yu Fei would really walk down the aisle with Olsen.

Now, all those speculations had dissipated into smoke.

At 32, Yu Fei finally chose the “tree” in his life – like a prodigal who, after enduring hardships, ultimately desires a peaceful haven.

In the presence of family and friends, Yu Fei completed the wedding ceremony, kissed his wife, and lifted his three-year-old son. He felt immensely satisfied with his life at the moment.

Yet, some raised the question: “Will a happy family life cause Frye to lose his ambition?”

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Such skepticism has a certain allure in the market. At the start of 2015, the Clippers lost to the Kings in Sacramento, undoubtedly fueling the speculation.

The Kings weren’t a strong team; ever since the mid-2000s ended with the golden era led by Chris Webber, they had been in a state of rebuilding.

Small-market NBA teams undergoing a rebuild, lacking attraction, struggle to recruit star players through the free agent market. Typically, such teams would tank to obtain high draft picks, hoping to select a prodigious talent who could change the team’s fortunes with the number one draft choice.

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However, even with a number one draft pick, there’s the risk of selecting busts like Kwame Brown or Michael Olowokandi. The Kings’ draft luck had been poor; since the late 80s, they had never landed the first overall pick.

While a number one draft pick often ensures the team’s baseline, other players – often lacking in talent or skill – pose a high risk. For many years, the Kings had taken on many drafting risks but had yet to land The Chosen One who could turn things around.

Last year, they used the third pick to select the injury-prone Joel Embiid, and quickly Embiid was out for the season due to injury, seemingly reaffirming the external doubts about the Kings.

Yet it was this widely mocked team that served the Clippers their fourth defeat of the season for the new year, prompting questions about the Clippers’ strength.

This is the charm of big-city media.

Both Los Angeles and Seattle are major cities, but what’s different is that Los Angeles boasts the largest media camp worldwide. The Lakers have long held local media support, while the Clippers lack such resources. Before Yu Fei joined the Clippers, the team had been looked down on by outsiders. Even with their great performance at the start of the season, the dissenting voices never ceased, with people worrying that the “cursed” team would once again encounter misfortune.

Frye’s wedding followed by the Clippers’ weak performance seemed to provide the media with an opportunity to mock them.

However, Yu Fei didn’t care about the defeat, bluntly stating, “We really don’t care about those people’s opinions.” This statement thoroughly enraged the prideful media. “When we win, they praise us as kings; now, because of a little mistake, they start their old tune again, talking about curses, about the history of the Clippers. If they really care about history that much, they wouldn’t care about us because nobody cares about the Lakers now. Only when they talk about the Clippers can they make headlines!”

Although what Yu Fei said was not unreasonable, such unreserved remarks were undoubtedly an affront to the media.

Even the GOAT cannot avoid being vilified for boldly criticizing the “Fourth Estate”.

“Los Angeles Daily News”‘ columnist JD Rotten immediately fired back with an article criticizing, “A long period of victory has resulted in Frye’s delusions. Perhaps the greatest enemy of the Clippers is not that elusive curse, but Frye’s arrogance. The most successful basketball player in history also possesses the greatest arrogance!”

Immediately after, various tabloids followed suit. A single defeat sparked an overwhelming barrage of negative reports.

Yu Fei was reminded of past scenarios where, when Curry or James lost a game, those “experts” on internet forums would furiously attack.

In this world under the magnifying glass of public opinion, the media scrutinizes every action and statement of a player and magnifies their flaws endlessly. Even occasional mistakes can spread virally on social media. Posts that dozens of people share might quickly evolve into a storm sweeping the net, magnifying a small error, and obscuring the true nature of the entire incident.

Professional athletes are like shadows living in a mirror; their every action and decision is interpreted in dozens of different ways under external scrutiny, and they are even forced to respond to these interpretations.

However, Yu Fei knew how to silence those voices. All the questions and negative public opinion stemmed from their loss to the Kings. As long as they started winning again, the mockery would vanish, replaced by Yu Fei’s supporters who would take to the internet to battle for him, settling the score with the naysayers.

This is the future ecology of professional basketball: losers become tools to attract traffic for the media, while successful players only need to face one setback to trigger mass ridicule on the internet.

But Yu Fei didn’t plan to let those people gloat for too long.

Two days later, the Clippers faced the Grizzlies away. Yu Fei put forth full effort throughout the game, not leaving the court even during garbage time, making 20 of 28 shots just by low post back-downs, scoring 53 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and blocking 4 shots. The Grizzlies were no match, defeated soundly.