noveldrama
Chapter 1002 1002 582 End of an Era
Chapter 1002 1002 582 End of an Era
?Chapter 1002: Chapter 582: End of an Era Chapter 1002: Chapter 582: End of an Era The year had transitioned into 2014, and the Brooklyn Nets had still not managed to trade Dwight Howard.
The league’s top center had become a hot potato.
He held some value, but nothing to drive pursuers mad.
Already out of the race, the Clippers disregarded everything else, focusing solely on maintaining their third-place standing in the league until the All-Star weekend arrived.
With the regular season nearly halfway through, the Clippers’ capabilities were thoroughly scrutinized.
Yu Fei remained that unbeatable superstar, no matter how opponents targeted him, he never faltered.
On the other hand, despite posting numbers worthy of the league’s top power forward, Blake Griffin’s surface stats and actual performance conveyed a sense of illusion.
At Yu Fei’s insistence, Griffin had reached a career-high in dunking this year. He hadn’t dunked this much even in his rookie season. Dunking in itself is good; probably no fan would dislike seeing the world’s most exciting dunker deliver a full-performance dunking show every night.
But when a person is well-fed and worry-free, they tend to overthink, questioning whether their diet is healthy, doubting the nutrition of their food, and even questioning everything; this is the so-called “Have I overfed you?” phenomenon.
This phenomenon exists on the basketball court as well, especially for a dunker like Griffin. Apart from those who only “eat off the plate,” no dunker wants to be seen as a mere dunking machine. Griffin was no exception. Beyond dunking, he wanted fans to recognize his skills.
However, when he tried to draw fouls like a guard with subtle moves during the Clippers’ rematch against the Knicks, he attracted much more criticism than those guards who genuinely profited from this tactic. After the game, no one cared that the Clippers had beaten the Knicks again; the media’s focus was all on Griffin.
“I have no objections to Kevin Durant shooting 11 out of 30 as he was guarding Frye, who could do better? But I do have a problem with Blake Griffin, a strong dunker, acting like a guard to beg for fouls! I have a problem with a player we think of as the toughest faking like Manu Ginobili!”
After the game, Jalen Rose, now a part of the ESPN broadcasting team, said on Twitter.
Some of Griffin’s fans on Twitter questioned, “Why can’t Blake be like Manu Ginobili?”
Rose arrogantly replied, “I don’t even know where Argentina is.”
Yu Fei did not understand the attacks on Griffin. It’s just flopping, isn’t it? Everyone flops, he does too. Yes, even the GOAT flops, which is also a skill that can manifest a player’s basketball intelligence. But when a power forward, sculpted like a statue and capable of jumping over cars, uses this technique, it seems to irritate people more than when Chris Paul or Manu Ginobili do.
Griffin’s struggles against strong interior players fueled these criticisms. This made most fans who don’t follow the Clippers feel that Griffin’s reputation was built on his dunking talents, which far exceeded his actual basketball achievements.
All these criticisms led to the current most annoying stereotype: Griffin was a player with only dunking skills, lacking in low-post techniques and basketball intelligence, helpless when dunking wasn’t enough to win games.
After these events, Yu Fei felt that if he were Griffin, he too would not want to dunk for such an audience anymore. However, these voices mainly came from outside Los Angeles. Clippers fans were well aware of Griffin’s versatility. Thus, Yu Fei talked to Griffin after the game, hoping he would continue the previous playing style.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” Griffin said, “You’ve seen it, if I keep dunking frequently, they’ll just think that’s all I can do. I don’t want to leave that impression.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Yu Fei responded.
Griffin looked puzzled at Yu Fei.
“If Vince Carter retires this summer, the only thing fans will remember about him is his dunking. Because of his dunking, he will be immortal.”
“Each year, there’s a new championship team, but fans won’t remember all the championship teams. However, when a player excels in a particular skill, fans will always remember him.” This time, Yu Fei did not exert his personal authority over Griffin’s decision, but calmly said, “Think about it.”
With the schedule more than halfway through, the Clippers’ reputation for “explosiveness” was already established.
They had moved past the phase of using visually stunning dunks to attract fans.
As Bill Simmons put it, watching the Clippers had become something people needed to plan in advance, clearing their schedules to truly enjoy because “this game is a must-see.”
They had become a guarantee for ratings, and even if Griffin reduced his dunks, the Greek Freak would ensure the baseline support.
Griffin still decided to reduce his dunks.
He was inherently a skilled player, and initiating cheers through dunking was just one of his methods; he did not want to make it his selling point.
Yu Fei no longer opposed this.
The NBA’s peculiar star ecology provided fertile ground for these individuals to form a strong self-awareness, and one manifestation of excessive self-awareness was an overly fragile self-esteem.