noveldrama
Chapter 899 899 547 No Good Results_2
Chapter 899 899 547 No Good Results_2
?Chapter 899: Chapter 547 No Good Results_2 Chapter 899: Chapter 547 No Good Results_2 Durant could understand the skepticism, but he thought about more than that. For example, why was no one angry that Roy had taken away Frye’s ball rights? Was Roy really better than Frye?
Frye’s most impressive period was during his time with the Bucks. Back then, with the ball in his hands, he averaged 36 points, triple-doubles, and four championships in five years, completely redefining the league’s concept of a core player. However, after coming to Seattle, he chose to transition because his good friend Roy also needed the ball. Despite his excellence in Seattle, the Frye of the Bucks had become a legend. It wasn’t until the 2009-10 season, when Roy was ruled out for the season, that Yu Fei again achieved a triple-double average, reminding many of how he played in Milwaukee.
Why did no one mention this? Was it just because Frye and Roy played brotherly basketball? No, Durant thought the more likely reason was that Roy was a local from Seattle, while he was not. Roy was the only native of Seattle on the team.
Some said Frye was also a son of Seattle, but that was just Seattle shamelessly trying to claim him, much like LeBron James immediately claimed to be a kid from Akron after abandoning Cleveland. Akron is not Cleveland, just as Kent is not Seattle. Even though the two places are close, Kent is Kent, Seattle is Seattle, and Frye was at best a half-Seattleite.
If that was the reason, Durant accepted it. That was the advantage of having a local registration, what more could be said?
What puzzled Durant the most was that, despite his best efforts to be the good guy in the public eye, why were there still so many people willing to vilify him over trivial matters?
Especially those in the media he had “taken care of,” like this Ethan McNeal.
He had accepted multiple interviews with him, believing he had been completely open and had not been disrespectful, yet McNeal remained indifferent and criticized him arbitrarily, questioned his efforts, blew his mistakes out of proportion, as if he had never done any good.
Would any media person that Yu Fei had looked after treat Yu Fei this way?
On a broader scale, would any media favored by stars respond to the stars’ kindness this way?
Unable to contain his anger, Durant wanted answers, so he threw the ball aside and asked coldly, “Why would you write that shit?”
“KD, I’m just writing what I observe,” McNeal felt no warmth from Durant, a departure from the young man who used to treat the media with respect and goodwill. “I mean no harm.”
“You don’t even know me, how are you qualified to judge me?” Durant dropped a line, “You’re the one who knows nothing about the empire!” Then he ran off.
McNeal had heard many similar stories, where a player disliked an article by a media person and expressed dissatisfaction. Over the years, he had entered automatic mode, his brain smartly ignoring these disturbances because media people could never escape such situations through argument, at least McNeal never had. These star players would never say, “My God, you make a great point.”
Their egos and self-esteem were too large to accept external negativity.
If Durant hadn’t walked away, McNeal would have asked him, “So what is the real empire like?” then waited for an answer, to see if some unheard perspectives might surface, showing him something new. But Durant didn’t give him that chance.
What puzzled McNeal the most was why Durant didn’t give him that opportunity.
Why was Durant unwilling to accept criticism?
All along, Nike and Durant himself had been marketing him as such a player.
Though he might look peculiarly quirky, he possessed a greatness of character rarely seen in NBA history. He was humble, kind, hardworking, and pure; his only companion on trips was a backpack carrying his basketball and the Bible. He had no tattoos and didn’t emit the dangerous vibes of “mess with me and I’ll end you” like other NBA stars.
He was like Grant Hill and David Robinson but not overly gentlemanly like those two. Coming from the lower class of a poor family, he knew there was no free lunch in life.
He had a strong competitive spirit, but it didn’t drown the purity of his character. Off the court, he was just the boy next door, to whom basketball was as essential as oxygen — a statement you couldn’t apply to Frye. To Frye, basketball was important, but so were women, Hollywood, fame, stardom, identity, and social consciousness; basketball was just the jewel in the crown. For Durant, everything was only about basketball, away from basketball, he was just a regular person, a decent man.
How precious was such an image? It transcended the unrelatable elegance of Hill and Robinson, blending a simple image more accessible to the grassroots. A man born for basketball, living and dying for it, non-violent, not arrogant, who opened up all his positive sides for people to see, why couldn’t he accept criticism?
McNeal didn’t know who could give him the answer.
He saw Yu Fei. At that moment, he was walking towards him, but clearly not coming for him, just passing by.