Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters Chapter 420: 279: A Clear Conscience

Chapter 420: Chapter 279: A Clear Conscience

“`

“Big Fei, there’s no need to apologize to LeBron,” Lawson said with casual disrespect, “The Cavs losing by 45 points isn’t your fault.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Fei’s face darkened.

“Apologize? Did I say I was going to apologize?”

Lawson asked, “Then what are you going to do with him?”

Yu Fei smiled calmly, “Losing by 45 points in the season opener must be hard to swallow, but if you think about it, they’ve exposed their problems in the very first ga. In the long run, that’s a good thing, right?”

Images of Yu Fei showing off his moves at the Quicken Loans Arena flashed through Lawson’s mind, along with ABC adding fuel to the fire by replaying those monts while also zooming in on Jas’ face.

Would Jas consider that a good thing…?

You move into a new arena, ecstatic about the team’s off-season moves, and everyone around you says you were nearly as good as that Big Fei character. Now that you’ve got everything you need, it’s ti to hit the road for the throne, ready to beco the ultimate king of the league.

And then that so-called ‘king’ you treat like a brother cos up and stomps on you right at the outset, grinning and asks, “You think you’re fit to be the king?”

Is that really a good thing?

“What’s with that expression?” Yu Fei asked, noticing Lawson’s ambiguous look.

Lawson said diplomatically, “I feel like LeBron might be a bit upset.”

“That’s exactly why I’m waiting for him here,” Yu Fei declared with exaggerated righteousness, “He’s my little bro; I can’t let him go ho with all those feelings.”

Lawson had sothing on the tip of his tongue but hesitated to say it.

Big Fei, isn’t there a chance, that seeing your ‘little brother’ here might make his bad mood even worse?

Since Big Fei had his own plans, Lawson decided not to say any more.

LeBron Jas walked into the dia room’s backstage corridor in silence, a path leading directly to the ho team’s locker room.

Seeing his solemn deanor, Randy Mims didn’t dare say much.

Rich Paul knew what was troubling Jas.

During the recent press conference, the dia had asked about fifty questions related to Frye.

LeBron’s mood was on the verge of collapse.

This only compounded Paul’s dissatisfaction with Fei.

If the Bucks hadn’t created a massacre in Cleveland, even if they lost, the dia wouldn’t have gone crazy dragging LeBron into “Frye Hell.”

Ahead was a crossroads; going straight would lead to the ho team locker room, while a turn would take one to the visiting team’s.

What Jas and his team didn’t expect was to find the architect of the massacre, smartly dressed and smiling, standing there.

“Frye…?”

Leaving the dia scrum, Jas was still trapped in that “hell,” but he never expected to et the devil himself at the end of it.

“What, not happy to see ?”

Yu Fei asked with a smile.

Jas said, “I thought you’d already gone back.”

“I figure tonight must’ve been tough for you, so I wanted to say a few words before I left,” Yu Fei replied.

No sooner had Yu Fei’s words fallen than Mims couldn’t hold back, “The person who upset Bron is you, right? And now you’re here acting like the good guy?!”

Where did this rude dog co from?

Lawson frowned; as the one “always seen with Frye,” he never spoke up at tis like this.

As an entourage mber, it’s important to know one’s place; this was not a ti for them to speak.

But Yu Fei looked kindly at the man, “Randy, you’ve misunderstood.”

“Misunderstood what?”

“I an, as a mber of the Cavaliers, LeBron must be feeling down tonight. But as my most outstanding little brother, I think he perford admirably and should be proud,” Yu Fei explained.

“What?!”

“You don’t think LeBron played well tonight, do you?” Yu Fei argued persuasively, “He scored 30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. The reason the Cavs lost by so much ultimately cos down to an unsuitable tactical system. So I feel, as a mber of the Cavs, LeBron is understandably upset tonight, but it’s not his fault. The Cavs lost, but in our matchup, he didn’t lose.”

Yu Fei’s smile conveyed affability, “I’m proud to have such an outstanding little brother.”

It was clearly adding insult to injury, but coming from Big Fei’s mouth, LeBron’s night suddenly turned into a solo hero narrative?

Lawson was flabbergasted.

After losing by 45 points, do stats still matter? And besides, so of those stats were during garbage ti…

Lawson struggled to keep his expression in check.

“Frye, do you think there’s anything else we need to improve on?”

Regardless, Yu Fei’s comnts had successfully lifted Jas out of “hell.”

Speaking with an English accent, Yu Fei said, “Dear LeBron, the only advice I can offer is for that idiot Mike Brown to give the damn ball back to you.”

Jas remarked, “Mike thinks one person can’t get it done.”

“`

“You can ask him how he thinks about single-handedly taking the team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year,” Yu Fei said indifferently.

The last bit of displeasure in Jas’ mind also vanished. Frye was right, the Cavaliers’ problem was that their play style was unreasonable.

When the team drafted him that year, they were planning to build around him the way the Bucks built around Frye.

His forr coach, Paul Silas, did just that, but the new owner thought Silas was an incompetent head coach and insisted on bringing in Mike Brown from the championship team, even though Brown’s 03 Spurs built around the invincible Duncan had ultimately fallen to the Bucks with their trio of stars. Brown then tried to convince Jas to give up ball control.

Although Jas was reluctant, as a third-year player, he was willing to make so sacrifices for victory.

Then he got defensively destroyed by Big Fei.

As a result, he found that this crushing defeat might allow him to regain ball control, and his mood started to improve, which also made him accept Yu Fei’s problematic yet effective words.

Setting aside the fact that they lost by 45 points, he had 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. That was not his fault.

“Frye, I know you actually didn’t need to say these things to ,” Jas said gratefully, “Thank you, you’re a true friend.”

Heartfelt exchanges feel really good.

Yu Fei smiled and said, “LeBron, it’s always a pleasure to play against you. I hope the next ti we et, you won’t lose by 45 points again.”

Jas laughed in spite of himself, “Frye, if you keep talking about that, I’m really going to get mad…”

The two joked around for a while and then parted on good terms.

After Yu Fei left with Lawson, Mims, who was with Jas, said discontentedly, “If the Bucks had lost by 45 points tonight, I’m sure Frye would no longer call you his little brother! He would hate you just like he hates Michael!”

Jas replied unflinchingly, “Randy, you can’t assu things that didn’t happen.”

Mims kept on complaining, “LeBron, I know him too well! That’s just how he is!”

Unlike Randy Mims, Richie Paul was considering more complex issues.

“LeBron, I rember Bob (the agent) once said that for your longer-term developnt, you shouldn’t let Frye keep calling you ‘little brother,'” Paul said.

Jas’s face remained expressionless: “I know.”

“He’s doing it on purpose,” Paul looked at Jas, “A brother stands above a brother, and the younger will never surpass the elder.”

Jas still said, “I know.”

Paul thought Jas didn’t understand the seriousness of the issue: “How many tis did he emphasize this just in the span of a few sentences? LeBron, we can’t let him keep posturing like this!”

Jas watched the direction in which Yu Fei had disappeared; there was no one there anymore.

His two loyal friends beside him were anxious, not knowing what magic potion Frye had fed this usually calm and rational guy.

“Frye is two years older than ,” Jas said, “You all know he’s outspoken. I don’t care what he says, and besides, this is a basic way our society operates.”

Jas smiled, “This is the United States, we have freedom of speech.”

Paul didn’t say anything further; he knew that Jas had his own ideas and perspective.

Maybe Jas still cherished the old help that Frye had given him, but as long as they played basketball and competed, as long as Frye represented Reebok and LeBron wore Nike on his feet, the result of the competition would be a conflict, and once the conflict started, the brother ga would be over.

Whether they liked it or not, sothing in this world would force them to stand completely opposed.

Unfortunately, the relatives and friends of both Yu Fei and Jas would beco part of this force.

“Big Fei, sotis I really don’t understand you,” Lawson said.

“What’s there to not understand?”

Lawson asked, “Why do you take such good care of LeBron?”

I just made him lose face at ho, and you say I’m taking care of him?

“Because he’s my little brother,” Yu Fei replied out of habit.

Lawson said nonchalantly, “The way his hangers-on show no respect for you, it’s clear he doesn’t regard you as a big brother either.”

“Oh right, now that you ntion it, I know why my relationship with LeBron sotis seems so fragile; it’s because we have too many assholes like you around us spewing nonsense all day.”

Lawson laughed, “I don’t have the ti to stir up trouble. Haven’t you seen the way LeBron’s entourage looks at you? They’re the real assholes.”

Yu Fei rembered the way Randy Mims behaved around him.

They say that people call each other ‘brother’ in private but curse like dogs in public. But Mims looked ready to devour him tonight; who knows what he’s been saying about to LeBron.

No matter how sincere the sentints are, they beco fragile in such situations.

Stopping outside the visiting team’s locker room, Yu Fei said to Lawson, “No matter what, I have a clear conscience about LeBron.”

Lawson nodded in agreent.

“And,” Yu Fei added, “from today on, don’t speak ill of LeBron.”

“It’s not like he can hear us…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Yu Fei said. “If you talk bad about him again, I’ll trade you to the Clippers.”

Lawson: “…”