Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 918 918 553

?Chapter 918: 553 Chapter 918: 553 They should have known these negative public opinions would wash away years of marketing and promotion surrounding Durant, and would put immense pressure on Durant, leading him to do things the “Son of America” wouldn’t do.

Yu Fei did not understand this move, so he contacted a friend outside the circle, Marvel’s President Kevin Feige, to inquire about it.

Feige knew little about basketball, but he cleared up the confusion for Yu Fei with a simple example.

In the 90s, Marvel turned its eyes to the movie market and loaned out its famous superhero characters to various companies to make movies, receiving some dividends in return. By 1996, Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy. To revive its fortunes, Marvel sold the film production rights of the extremely popular Spider-Man to Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony.

Years later, the rights to Spider-Man still lay in others’ hands, while Marvel’s own film industry had entered a phase of growth.

“You know, we can’t tolerate a Peter Parker that’s not manufactured by Marvel,” Feige said, “Besides bringing us a little dividend, it does no good. My Christmas wish last year was for the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ to flop at the box office.”

The rationale was simple and straightforward. In Nike’s eyes, Durant was externally compliant but internally rebellious. What did sacrificing Durant’s personal reputation matter for the company’s collective interest? Moreover, this was likely done without Durant’s knowledge.

Having identified the problem, Yu Fei began to order searches for evidence that Nike was directing public opinion away from themselves and towards Durant.

However, as the situation with the Supersonics became increasingly common and frequent, it reached a degree of paranoia.

The Supersonics finally ended their embarrassing streak of losses against a weak team, and the trade deadline arrived.

On the day of the deadline, Sam Presti traded Anthony Morrow, who had become a locker room bombshell.

Morrow was sent to D.C. in exchange for Nick Young, a fifth-year player known for his scoring on solo plays.

However, this young man, happy about playing solo, smiled and said it was an honor to join the Supersonics, a dynasty team, but he didn’t realize that a storm was waiting for him.

On the same day, the Golden State Warriors traded Asian-American player Jeremy Lin to the New York Knicks in exchange for two second-round picks.

The Knicks then bought out Jason Kidd’s contract, who subsequently joined the San Antonio Spurs for a minimum salary.

After the trade deadline, the Supersonics’ first game was at home against the Knicks.

The Knicks were a tanking team, while the Supersonics were contending for the championship; a big win was the fans’ expectation, even if the momentum wasn’t great, no Supersonics fan thought they would lose to the Knicks.

Durant argued with Roy over possession of the ball during the game, which was in the middle of the third quarter with the Supersonics leading by 10 points.

Then, Jeremy Lin stepped onto a chosen stage and fought fiercely against his dim prospects in the NBA.

The Seattleites watched helplessly as this nobody led the Knicks to a major comeback in the fourth quarter, the boos filling the arena, as Yu Fei had spoiled the fans’ tolerance for defeat.

Durant’s image hit rock bottom due to his dispute with Roy over shooting rights.

But that wasn’t the final blow.

Durant walked to the sideline where a seemingly underage fan yelled at him, “KD, why are you so selfish? Is passing the ball once so hard for you? Why can’t you be like Frye?”

The image of America’s Son was now up in flames. Durant snapped back sharply, “You don’t know anything, shut your fucking mouth, FUCK YOU!”

This still wasn’t the end.

Ultimately, Durant refused the post-game interview, provoking strong disapproval from the media. He returned home, logged onto his burner account, and engaged in a fierce battle with online trolls.

After replying to hundreds of tweets attacking him, Durant switched back to his main account to get some sleep, but then he saw Brandon Roy’s latest tweet.

“Stop complaining about KD or anyone else. Blame me, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do.”

Was Roy really being scolded? Was he trending on Twitter because of insults? Were the media furious because he missed an interview? Would fans insult him at the sidelines? No, not at all, then what are you shouting about?

Past emotions had turned to foam; those who lose their rationality do not think backward. Those who enjoyed using alternate accounts did so because an anonymous account that spoke without accountability could indeed vent all the darkness within their emotions.

“Shut up, you hypocrite, I don’t want to hear any more of your bullshit!”

Then, he saw someone cursing his alternate account, and he replied with a cold laugh, “Keep howling, tomorrow you will still have to accept relief, and I will still do what I need to do.”

Both of these replies were from Durant’s own main account; one directly attacked Roy, and the other defended the alternate account from its attacker. Although Durant soon realized his mistake, the public reaction was faster.

Durant’s tweet attacking Roy quickly topped the trending searches.

The fact that Durant used an anonymous account to troll on the internet also shot up to the second spot in the trending searches.

Overnight, the pleasure derived from wantonly airing opinions through alternate accounts had to be paid for with reputation and prestige.

Fans who had once adored him suddenly realized that their beloved was such a despicable, mean, and vile bastard.

At the end of March, Yu Fei made his comeback.

During his absence, the Supersonics’ win rate fell below forty percent, dropping from first in the league to fifth and third in the Western Conference.

Durant was discredited in an unprecedented manner; he neither explained to his teammates nor answered the media’s questions about the alternate accounts.

The Supersonics’ explanation was that Durant’s account had been hacked.

This explanation, although common, convinced no one.

Yu Fei returned to the team, but it was no longer the team he knew.

After training that afternoon, Yu Fei challenged Durant to play one-on-one, and the game was intense. Because Yu Fei was just back and not in top form, Durant had an initial advantage.

However, in the final round, Yu Fei blocked Durant’s layup and won with a fast-break dunk.

Durant stood there, as if he could hear the mockery in his teammates’ hearts.

Yu Fei picked up the ball on the ground and gently spun it on his finger: “Kevin.”

Durant looked up at him, his expression complex.

“Thank you for making all this so embarrassing.”

He paused, his gaze resolute: “But.”

Yu Fei threw the ball forward forcefully and shouted: “It’s not over yet, you bastards, it’s not over yet!”