noveldrama
Chapter 778 778 510
Chapter 778 778 510
?Chapter 778: 510 Chapter 778: 510 Stein’s valuation indirectly amplified the rivalry between LeBron James and Cleveland.
But this was something Cleveland was pleased to see.
The “Honest Cleveland Reporter” responded positively, “We are no strangers to LeBron James’s performance last night; his six years in Cleveland were all failures like this. We had high hopes, and he never responded. Our leniency spoiled him, but Los Angeles will let him know, not every city will treat him like a king.”
The Honest Reporter predicted the reaction of the California media.
They were right.
Because the media in California is not dominated by the Lakers alone, or rather, the foundation of each media outlet is different.
Outlets like the “Orange County Chronicle” act more like media serving the Lakers, focusing on this media can reveal some exclusive scoops and future directions about the Lakers Team.
Places like the “Los Angeles Times” and the “Los Angeles Daily News” often bluntly point out the team’s problems.
James pretending to be a Japanese ninja, invoking invisibility in the game, would not be understood.
The “Los Angeles Times” pointedly asked, “We often hear people say Kobe and LeBron’s ceiling is a dynasty. Last night we saw Kobe’s ceiling, but LeBron’s ceiling, does it exist? Maybe we are expecting something that will never happen?”
The Times’ complaint about James represented the local public opinion of Los Angeles.
The fans wanted to know why James lacked energy.
And the “Los Angeles Daily News” focused on relaying Phil Jackson’s “thoughts.”
“I know many people think the Lakers will be the biggest losers in history if they don’t win the championship,” Jackson said, “Even though I don’t think this statement is reasonable, I understand the expectations from the outside.”
Jackson cited the Lakers of 1969 as an example, where, despite the undeniable strength of the Lakers with superstars like Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West being above the Celtics, the poor internal atmosphere, Chamberlain’s bad relations with the coach and Baylor, hurt the team’s chemistry, along with critical injuries that were not fatal, became the last straw that broke the Lakers.
“This is the issue a team seemingly destined to win the championship but ultimately failing needs to confront,” Jackson said, “Everyone has an ego, it’s hard to balance ego, and to get these huge egos to follow the team is nearly impossible. Last night’s game just proved the shadows that troubled that Lakers team in 1969 are still present today.”
Jackson likened failure to shadows.
His close friend and bestselling author Charley Rosen bluntly said on Twitter, “LeBron is the problem, let’s make this clear, he is the destabilizing ‘snake’!”
In the West, calling someone a snake is as severe as calling someone a dog in China.
A snake is the embodiment of all negativity, symbolizing maliciousness and darkness.
James had never thought that one day he would be called a snake.
However, on Twitter, a force was stirring behind the scenes.
James and snake became hot topics.
Meanwhile, the hype around Durant was heating up.
Simmons in his article praised Durant’s performance, believing that as a player, 22-year-old Durant surpassed 26-year-old James.
His basis was also blunt.
Because Durant was one of the deciding factors last night, while James “disappeared.”
The external pressure pushed James to the edge of the cliff.
If he played like he did in the first game again, public opinion would sentence him to death.
Durant’s team wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
Durant’s rising trend in Nike surpassing James and Kobe would become a reality.
This might be the worst public opinion environment a player could have.
But James seemed unaffected.
On the morning of the day of the second game of the Western finals, James tweeted.
“To all those who hate me, good morning. #KingJames”
James didn’t think his current situation was worse than the month after he made his decision on live TV.
Because he knew he hadn’t lost to Yu Fei in the showdown, he just hadn’t exerted himself because he needed to make the Zen Master realize who was qualified to handle the ball.
Even at the cost of losing a game, it was a price he was willing to pay.
Moreover, this game also allowed James to see clearly the faces and thoughts of many people around him, as well as the Achilles’ heel of the Supersonics.
The Supersonics seemed in good form, mainly because Yu Fei had a roster that acted as an extension of his limbs to serve his big-core system.
Durant was the X-factor in their entire system.
If Durant played like he did last night in every game, even if James went all out, the Lakers and the Supersonics would only be evenly matched.
If Durant could be subdued, could Yu Fei turn the tide?
James was confident about this, what he needed to do now was to take back the control of the ball, and then beat the Supersonics in his way.
Then, he would achieve his revenge on Yu Fei, wash away the disgrace of the past six years, and then go on to the final to crown himself FMVP.
FMVP is not a decisive honor, its value is not as high as MVP’s, but, in most cases, it can prove who the most outstanding player in the championship team is.
In the afternoon, before the training session began, James met Kobe in the locker room.
Kobe looked like he had been sitting there for a while.
“LeBron, I’ve talked to Phil, and we will play in the way you excel,” Kobe said, “We can’t lose two consecutive home games.”