Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters Chapter 498: 342: I Have Decided (Two in One)4

Chapter 498: Chapter 342: I Have Decided (Two in One)_4

Afterward, Randy Mims, who was by LeBron’s side, said to the people around him, “We will not accept interviews from this guy anymore! He’s not welco!”

The reporter didn’t seem surprised by the reaction from LeBron’s camp and left muttering complaints like “such a hypocrite.”

LeBron’s heartbeat was accelerating. The opinion in the sports world is no different from that among celebrity fan circles; it’s all a turn-based ga. Whoever has the upper hand will never be criticized.

When LeBron single-handedly buried the Detroit Pistons, he didn’t have to comnt on Darfur because he had proven he could rival Yu Fei.

However, once he was defeated by Fei, the domineering aura suppressed by the semifinals would attack from all sides again. That was what Fei had lived through in the past few years, and what Michael Jordan faced in 1993 when mired in a gambling scandal.

Only victories could silence those people because this was the covenant made between the gods of sports and the devil.

They only temporarily disappear from their lives when they continue to win—rember, it’s temporary, because when glory fades, rumors such as “Jordan retired to escape his gambling debts” or “gambling debts led to his own father’s murder” surface. At his peak, Fei only had the right to breathe in public opinion when he was winning. This status had been LeBron’s desire for the past few years.

Now, he had ascended by virtue of a great ga.

Only, the view from here might not be what he wanted to see.

Because Fei was unwilling to share the throne at the summit with anyone, whoever climbed up, he kicked them back down.

LeBron returned to the locker room, but unexpectedly encountered Richie Paul. Why unexpectedly? Because Paul should be following his agent Leon Rose to learn the business. For Paul, there would be other plans in the future.

But tonight, he ca unannounced.

LeBron asked, “What happened?”

Paul glanced at Mims, who gave him an affirmative look, hoping he would speak up.

Paul took a deep breath and said, “Nike has already agreed to your signing on that letter.”

LeBron’s face was like still water as he asked coldly, “I don’t understand, what does that an?”

Just as the outside world had said, LeBron didn’t sign the letter for the sa reason as Fei; Nike had vast business in China, and as a new generation representative of Nike in the basketball field, he couldn’t easily make political statents to the international community.

“It’s just making a statent,” Paul said. “You won’t lose the Chinese market, we are just straightforwardly opposing the genocide in Darfur, which has nothing to do with China.”

LeBron still didn’t understand why Nike wanted him to take the risk of losing the biggest market in Asia this ti, it wasn’t his style.

“Don’t they know I go to China every sumr?” LeBron said angrily. “I have fans there, they support just like the fans in the United States, and if I sign on that letter, everything I did there in the past few years will be aningless!”

Paul wasn’t sure if LeBron cared about China’s interests or the feelings of Chinese fans, but it no longer mattered.

“LeBron,” Paul said, “we can’t give you a team as outstanding as Frye’s right now, so we must seize his only weakness.”

LeBron was silent.

Political incorrectness was a main reason Fei was dood to have a villain image. When his rivals temporarily couldn’t defeat him on the court, seeking other asures off the court was only natural.

Frye doesn’t play for the national team? Then LeBron is the man born for the national team, as you know, he has a strong sense of national honor.

Frye’s personal life is a ss? Then LeBron is the NBA’s only good man.

Frye is arrogant, LeBron is humble;

Frye is aggressive, LeBron is frugal, respectful, and decent;

As long as he is the opposite of Frye, even if LeBron isn’t as good as advertised, he could still find a place in public opinion.

Now, Frye publicly refuses to speak out for the suffering people of Darfur for his own benefit? Then LeBron becos the altruistic incarnation like Michael Jackson singing “We are the World”, willing to offend the eastern powerhouse for the suffering, ready to give up that market, ready to lose countless fans.

The third ga of the Eastern Conference Finals moved to Cleveland.

Before the ga, Nike created a grand atmosphere to build montum for LeBron.

They claid that LeBron would announce an important decision after the Eastern Conference Finals.

Because LeBron strong-ard the Cavaliers into signing a 2 1 contract extension last sumr, the outside world didn’t know what LeBron’s decision would be.

Returning to the ho court of the Cavaliers, the trend of the ga didn’t change in the least.

A rout of the Cavaliers was inevitable; they couldn’t compete with the perfect chemistry of the Bucks.

In the third ga, Fei scored 40 points, and the Bucks won by 35 points away from ho.

The defeat of the Cavaliers was nearly certain.

The Bucks were about to win their fourth NBA Finals ticket in five years.

Before the fourth ga of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers announced LeBron Jas would miss the ga due to injury, which seed to explain LeBron’s slump in the third ga.

However, the outside world was now more curious about LeBron’s decision.

Nike brought in ESPN to broadcast it live, a loser about to be swept out of the playoffs, yet suddenly enjoying the attention usually reserved for winners.