noveldrama
Chapter 891 891 544 Its Hard to Be a Good Person_3
Chapter 891 891 544 Its Hard to Be a Good Person_3
?Chapter 891: Chapter 544: It’s Hard to Be a Good Person_3 Chapter 891: Chapter 544: It’s Hard to Be a Good Person_3 Being less important to the team than Yu Fei is understandable, but less than Roy?
What’s Roy anyway? Just an ordinary All-Star who forced himself into the role of second core by leveraging Fei’s prestige. His prospects and abilities simply can’t compare to Durant’s.
Nike had had enough of Durant continuing to play second fiddle.
The Supersonics’ loss to the Spurs severely stung them.
Though the Supersonics had lost, who cared? It was a thrilling game, Reebok’s stars put on a visual feast for the world.
No matter who won, it was Reebok’s victory, which was originally Nike’s concept.
Just before the Empire Battle, Nike thought that no matter who lost or won, it would be Nike’s victory, since three of the four major stars in the battle were representatives of Nike.
Roy’s injury was more timely than they could have hoped, turning Durant into the Supersonics’ second star. If Fei wanted to beat the Lakers, Durant was bound to put on a great performance. By then, even if the Supersonics won, Durant would solidify his status as the top superstar of the new generation.
The idea was beautiful, but reality was always cruel.
There were always people who didn’t follow scripts.
Roy, risking his career, loudly copied Willis Reed, becoming one of the main characters of the series. Durant was marginalized, and the Supersonics subsequently succeeded in staging a comeback to advance to the finals and achieve a three-peat, with Fei officially replacing Jordan as the new GOAT.
The trend was unstoppable, but Nike still didn’t want to see their most talented Rising Star become Fei’s greatest aid.
Either kick out Roy to let Durant share in the glory of the empire, or turn Durant into the biggest destabilizing factor within the empire until it became unbearable.
Durant was indeed dissatisfied with his tactical status.
He wanted to take more shots.
It was obvious, his efficiency was much higher than Roy’s—far higher—if he had more opportunities to shoot, he could punish the Spurs’ interior more effectively, and perhaps they would have won the game. But with only seven games into the season, things like shooting opportunities and tactical status are slowly adjusted as the season progresses—he wasn’t in a hurry.
That was until top Nike executives called him to say, “Kevin, how long will you hide behind Frye? It’s time to take up your responsibilities.”
Durant wanted to know how to take responsibility.
“Fight with the coaching staff for a higher tactical position.”
“We’ve already formed a balance.”
Durant hoped to rightfully fight for his position but now that the Supersonics’ internal status was established, rashly breaking the status quo would make him a target for public criticism.
“What balance? A balance led by Frye and Brandon Roy? Do you think you are inferior to Roy?”
Roy’s comeback in the 2010 Western Finals left Durant with deep admiration, which was also why he didn’t want to fight fiercely for power.
“I wouldn’t think so,” Durant said, “I just…”
He couldn’t find the words. Of course, he couldn’t say that because Roy was someone he admired, he didn’t want to make it difficult for him; he hoped to rise to power through fair competition. How would it look if he shook the status quo when everyone was content? He wouldn’t do that; it wasn’t something Kevin Durant would do.
He wouldn’t say this.
“You just don’t want to be the bad guy, right?”
Durant tacitly agreed.
“I know you’re thinking of your team; you’re chasing a four-peat. But how do you think they see you?” the Nike executive said over the phone, “Roy’s shooting percentage last night was only 42%, his inefficiency is hidden by his scoring, and now everyone is saying he’s Frye’s biggest helper, while you’ve made no progress. The way you played as a rookie is the same as how you play now, even Brandon said…”
Durant asked, “Said what?”
“He said you have no advantage in the paint.”
“Kevin, everyone wants to be a good guy, but in this world, it’s not easy being one. You have to do what’s best for Kevin Durant and the people around him.”
After the Nike executive hung up, Durant immediately turned on his computer to watch last night’s post-game interviews.
When a reporter asked Roy how he felt about taking 22 shots, Roy answered, “We had no advantage inside, so we had to counter it with our perimeter strength.”
Last night, Durant went 8-for-14, scoring 19 points. If he had as many shots as Roy, would the Spurs still have a definitive advantage in the paint?
He couldn’t help but think that.
Last night, Fei also played power forward, without any advantage. Why did he ultimately perform well? Because he had enough ball rights.
Without enough ball rights, Durant found himself getting more passive as the game went on, letting the Spurs’ interior have their way.
Then, Durant also saw a lot of comments and articles about his lack of progress this season.
He had seen similar opinions during the 2009-10 season.
Because he always didn’t have enough ball rights, so his stats didn’t seem to change much.
This was his fifth year in professional career.
He was no longer a rookie.
If his tactical position hadn’t changed significantly over the past five years, could he expect a change in the coming years?
Convinced that he was the team’s number two star, wasn’t fighting for a deserved tactical position his rightful due?
He decided to be more proactive.
Starting today.
(1) After seeing so many lottery conspiracy theories, I think the old NBA method of deciding the first and second draft picks with a coin toss is the fairest.