noveldrama
Chapter 949 949 564 Proof of My Existence_2
Chapter 949 949 564 Proof of My Existence_2
?Chapter 949: Chapter 564 Proof of My Existence_2 Chapter 949: Chapter 564 Proof of My Existence_2 Now, I have to watch Yu Fei receive his eighth championship ring with my own eyes.
This set the Spurs aflame with rage.
The guests were already angry, but the Commissioner was strolling leisurely as he handed out the rings.
David Stern distributed the rings one by one, and when he came to Yu Fei, he was somewhat emotional.
Who would have thought that Yu Fei could come this far?
Stern himself never imagined that he would witness someone dethroning Jordan before his retirement.
Moreover, with Yu Fei’s momentum, it would be difficult for successors to catch up.
“I heard you and Clay are not getting along too well?”
Stern suddenly brought up something else.
Yu Fei laughed and asked, “Looking at what he has done, should I feel happy about it?”
As a pawn responsible for moving the Supersonics away from Seattle, Clay Bennett has now become the owner revitalizing the team’s market in the city; Stern, of course, knows what happened in between.
He also knows why Yu Fei and Bennett had a falling out.
Instead of saying that it was a personal clash between the two, it was the league’s successful anti-monopoly measures that forced Bennett to take steps that Yu Fei could not accept.
Yu Fei understood this issue, but he could not blame the league, as it was part of the game rules.
Bennett’s unwillingness to continue paying the price for good results was intolerable for Yu Fei.
“Whatever you decide to do, remember LeBron’s precedent,” said Stern, his words laden with significance, “Sitting in this position, reputation matters more than anything.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Commissioner,” said the GOAT, “standing before you is a man about to turn thirty, capable of handling anything.”
Stern chuckled, handed the ring to Yu Fei, and moved on to the next person.
Every time he compared Yu Fei to Jordan, he found the former’s character and private virtues to be far superior to Jordan’s. What was the biggest issue with Yu Fei as a person? Perhaps it was a lack of respect for franchise rights, or perhaps it was his mercilessness towards opponents.
But these are not too significant as the GOAT.
Stern was not worried that Yu Fei would show up in Las Vegas gambling all night during a critical playoff moment, nor that he would tell a female reporter at a league meeting about how large his “Jordan II” is and ask if she wanted to try it. Internally and externally, Jordan had all sorts of issues. His deity was forged by his two three-peats, and his team glossed over his wrongdoings, portraying them as part of the “ultimate competitor fighting for victory.”
From a publicity standpoint, Yu Fei didn’t need such glorification; his biggest personal issue was about his relationships with women, which might seem too frequent for conservatives, but lately, he appeared to have settled down.
He got engaged, had a child, and seemed to be embracing a new life.
In terms of character, he was purer than Jordan, and his honors had already begun to outstrip Jordan’s.
Such a GOAT seemed even more invincible.
Stern was certain that for the next few decades, it would be difficult to see someone getting close to Yu Fei, no, those people’s goal should be Jordan first and then Yu Fei.
And that was just the current Yu Fei.
When Yu Fei retires, his accumulation of honors might well deserve an unprecedented and unparalleled monument.
The Commissioner’s goodwill could not make this night any better.
The Supersonics’ opponent aimed to give the defending champion an unforgettable night.
From the start of the game, the Spurs’ performance was dazzling.
This was their third year of transformation, and their diversified cutting and passing system was already perfected, further bolstered by the continuous evolution of Paul George and Kemba Walker.
At first glance, the Spurs might have the strongest starting lineup in the Western Conference.
Walker, Ginobili, George, Duncan, and Pau Gasol.
They only had one problem: Duncan and Big Jah weren’t great at defending the outside.
But tonight, that wasn’t an issue, because the Supersonics’ outside shooting was off. Instead, they were blasted by the Spurs’ cutting and passing on defense.
Irving, who was determined to lead the team defensively, became the biggest breach on the perimeter.
No matter how much Yu Fei could cover, he couldn’t cope with fire breaking out everywhere. Within three and a half quarters, the Spurs had built up a 20-point lead, followed by the Supersonics desperately fighting for the honor of the defending champions until the end, finally closing the gap to 11 points.
But the defeat was difficult to overturn.
117 to 106
The Spurs defeated the Supersonics on the road, teaching the reigning champions a profound lesson.
“The departure of Kevin Durant, Chris Bosh, and DeAndre Jordan is not just a decline in talent, it also takes away the height and length advantage from the Supersonics; they’re no longer a team with outstanding athletic ability,” said ESPN expert Zach Lowe after the season opener, “And that’s fatal for a team used to leveraging athletic ability to enhance defense.”
Lowe was being euphemistic.
Defense is the Supersonics’ biggest issue now, and it’s also an unsolvable one.
In a starting five featuring Roy, Irving, Yu Fei, Parsons, and Stoudemire, only Yu Fei was an outstanding defender, Parsons was a “smart team defender,” while Irving and Stoudemire were a giveaway defensively, and Roy’s defense was mediocre.
Such a defensive lineup usually requires that one good defender to fully commit to defense while the offense is left to the others.
But the Supersonics hadn’t the luxury of letting Yu Fei focus solely on defense.
Therefore, their defense would inevitably have problems, but Coach Tyronn Lue’s initial hope was to suppress opponents with offense.
However, Stoudemire’s actual performance disappointed everyone.