noveldrama
Chapter 988 988 577 The Worst Class_2
Chapter 988 988 577 The Worst Class_2
?Chapter 988: Chapter 577: The Worst Class_2 Chapter 988: Chapter 577: The Worst Class_2 His “passivity” was mainly reflected in his dunks. It sounds unbelievable, but Griffin rose to fame in Los Angeles and once boosted the Clippers’ box office to compete with the Lakers, all thanks to his heart-stopping slam dunks. During his rookie season, it became a routine for Los Angeles fans to buy tickets to Clippers games, where he would almost always deliver a blood-pumping dunk performance at every home game. At the same time, fans in China even gave him the nickname “Powerful Finn” due to his explosive dunking displays.
Although he was no Vince Carter, his fame largely came from dunking. Yet, this very man who made his name dunking had grown weary of dunk exhibitions.
Yu Fei noticed this. To confirm his suspicions, he started to frequently instruct Griffin to play pick-and-roll, combining with alley-oops during practice. However, his directions were overtly commanding, like instructing lions and tigers to jump through hoops in a circus.
At first, Griffin showed resistance, then he became passive. Yu Fei began to deliberately criticize his attitude.
This led to a misunderstanding by Trem. He thought that GOAT was unhappy with Griffin because his authority was challenged, so he deliberately spoke that way in front of reporters, to give Griffin a lesson.
After Trem’s remarks fermented, Griffin’s morale further declined.
With three days to go before the first regular season game, Griffin refused Yu Fei’s instruction and replaced the supposed alley-oop dunk with an alley-oop layup.
Yu Fei shouted in “anger”, “Blake, stop acting like a lethargic 40-year-old man!”
Griffin retorted, “I’m not a robot; don’t expect me to follow your commands 100%.”
“You’re not a robot, you’re a sissy!” Yu Fei cursed, “I’ve never seen a player who would give up on igniting the whole court with a dunk! You simply don’t understand the talent you have! You’re just being self-pitying. If you think you have no obligation to boost the team’s morale with a dunk when we need it, then get the hell out of the way. I only pass the ball to those willing to slam it hard!”
Griffin was left speechless, his face turning crimson with rage as he glared at Yu Fei, then said, “Then I quit!”
“Quit?” Yu Fei sneered, “Where do you think you can go? You represent the worst team in the NBA, and if you can’t even stick with this worst team, then frankly, your only option is the WNBA.”
Griffin yelled in anger, “What makes you think you have the right to tell me how to play?!”
“I’m not teaching you how to play. I only know that this team has been the laughingstock of the sports world for the past thirty years, and the only thing this team has to be proud of is when in 2009 it chose a player who made fans set aside their prejudices and come to see him play in person!” Yu Fei spoke loudly, “I just want to know why, just two years later, you’re unwilling to be yourself anymore?”
Griffin asked angrily, “Have you ever been treated like a monkey?”
Rivers’s face went pale, thinking Griffin was about to say something racist.
“Blake…”
Yu Fei waved his hand to cut Rivers off, staring at Griffin, “What do you mean?”
“It looks like you’ve never been treated like a monkey.” Griffin said, “You’ve never been through this: every time you complete a dunk on the court, a bunch of strangers yell at you, ‘Blake, do it again!’ I did it, but they’re never satisfied; they want more. And if one day I can’t meet their demands, they’ll discard me like a used tissue! Yes, in their eyes, I’m just a monkey who can dunk!”
“I guess you’ve never been through this either: scumbags like Donald Sterling praise your performance on the sideline then take a whole bunch of season ticket holders into the locker room to harass me. Because these people who think they’ve spent big money not only want to see a monkey show, but also want to touch the monkey. And Sterling didn’t think this was an offense to me; in his eyes, I’m just a lovable monkey!”
“Now, I’m nothing. I don’t even have the power to lead the team forward, I’m not even untouchable on the team. I’m a monkey who just wants to play basketball my own way; don’t I even have that freedom?”
The practice court fell silent.
Yu Fei finally understood why Griffin was weary of dunking, even averse to it. Honestly, it wasn’t surprising.
He had always compared Griffin with the former Carter, and now it seemed their “symptoms” were quite similar.
Carter gained fame with his incredible leaping ability and unmatched dunks that gave him the moniker “half-man, half-god.” Yet people who knew Carter understood that he didn’t actually dunk very often, because he didn’t like being called the “heir to Jordan.”
In Yu Fei’s view, this was the result of the NBA’s excessive star-making since 1984. Such mass-produced stars always ended up resentful.
They earn fame and wealth akin to Hollywood stars with their talent, but then suddenly “awaken” after establishing their position.
How do they awaken? Oh, I’m not a dunker; don’t expect me to perform. What? You actually expect me to perform? Are you treating me like a monkey? I’m a monkey because everyone just wants to see me dunk.
In reality, performing for the audience is a star player’s responsibility. Jordan never thought of himself as a monkey, and neither will Yu Fei.