Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1064 - 602 The Art of Awarding_3

Chapter 1064: Chapter 602: The Art of Awarding_3 Chapter 1064: Chapter 602: The Art of Awarding_3 The game fell into the Clippers’ rhythm, and the Mavericks’ season journey also entered its countdown.

In the end, the Clippers effortlessly defeated the Mavericks, advancing to the semifinals with a big 4-0 series win.

Nowitzki didn’t seem to be in pain; after all, they were the absolute underdogs. A win would be a surprise, and a loss was the norm for them. He had become numb to it. Until he walked up to Yu Fei, just about to offer a “congratulations to you guys,” Yu Fei asked first, “Does time really heal all wounds, Dirk?”

This question snapped Nowitzki back to nine years ago.

After that year’s Finals loss, ESPN’s Jim Gray asked him, “How are you going to get past this year’s failure?”

Nowitzki had answered, “Time will take care of everything.”

However, the most famous quote from that year’s Finals was Yu Fei’s award acceptance speech: “Because you never know if there will be enough time.”

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Later on, it was widely believed that this was a harbinger of Yu Fei’s imminent departure from Milwaukee, hinting that the time to save the Seattle SuperSonics was running out.

Now, as Yu Fei brought it up again, Nowitzki couldn’t help but think of the opportunities he had missed over the years. He had many chances to join super teams like James did but ultimately chose to stay in Dallas. The payoff for this loyalty was a 17-year championship drought.

Clearly, this record would continue until the day he retired.

But looking at James’s experience with the Lakers, did he really succeed? Leaving Dallas wouldn’t necessarily guarantee success either.

Seeing Yu Fei made Nowitzki feel even more certain that his choices over the years were not wrong.

“It’s settled,” Nowitzki softly said, “I just lost to a stronger player.”

Nowitzki knew his time was running out, and he fully accepted his career was highly likely to remain championship-less.

“That’s good,” Yu Fei said no more, “See you next season.”

The Clippers easily defeated the Mavericks, and the post-game awards ceremony followed.

Curry, Harden, Durant, Yu Fei, and Yao Ming were selected for the All-NBA Team.

This was the big headline of the day, as James, who had been selected for the first team for many consecutive years, dropped to the second team this year.

James’s camp hinted everywhere that it was because Nike’s promotional machine had shifted from James to Durant.

The big city effect was also perfectly demonstrated by Thompson. This season Thompson averaged only 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists—barely different from his previous season with the Golden State Warriors—yet he was successfully named to the third team.

Next was the announcement of the All-Defensive Teams.

Paul, Yu Fei, Leonard, Draymond Green, and DeAndre Jordan made the first team defense, Giannis Antetokounmpo the second team.

Then came the second big headline of the day: Yu Fei, beating out DeAndre Jordan and Leonard, was elected as the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY).

Some of Yu Fei’s naysayers claimed, “This is direct evidence of Reebok manipulating media votes!”

For a long time, Yu Fei’s defense has been controversial.

Critics argue that his defense, like Dr. J’s, with an average of 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, has never made an All-Defensive Team. With Dr. J’s popularity, if his defense were really half as good as the stats suggest, he would have made the team long ago.

Comparing Yu Fei to Dr. J is undoubtedly a satire that Yu Fei’s defensive stats are “padded.”

Supporters, however, argue strenuously for the actual impact of Yu Fei’s defense, but the controversy over his defensive performance persists.

Winning the DPOY this time seemed to have touched some people’s nerves, especially since this was the only honor Jordan had that Yu Fei had not captured before.

However, Yu Fei’s camp was not pleased with the DPOY. Getting the DPOY meant the media was indeed planning to tag him with “voter fatigue,” and then choose Durant as MVP.

Now that the DPOY had been given to Yu Fei, it seemed to be a move to preemptively stifle future criticism.

But Yu Fei himself was quite open-minded. Unlike the team members, he didn’t crave to hoard all the honors. After all, he was already recognized as the Greatest of All Time, and each additional honor only made it harder for future contenders to reach his level.

So what if Durant got the MVP? What ultimately determines the season’s winner is the championship title.

Therefore, Yu Fei quickly instructed his team to stop discussing the award ownership.

Without talking about the MVP, the Clippers are undoubtedly the biggest winner of the season: the best record in the League, three players selected for the All-NBA Team, three players chosen for the All-Defensive Team. The Coach of the Year went to Rivers, and the Executive of the Year was Arne Trem, who had received much criticism during the offseason.

The entire Clippers team was thriving, and the effect of the big Los Angeles market was also evident.

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The team’s revenue, market share, and influence in Los Angeles were all growing rapidly.

As long as the Clippers win the championship, the Lakers will no longer be the only franchise that the city of Los Angeles can take pride in.