The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 248 - 156 LeBron at the Crossroads_4

Chapter 248: Chapter 156 LeBron at the Crossroads_4

Zhu Fangyu was also pleased with the outcome and then shared his thoughts with Su Wan, "I’ve made up my mind, Su Wan, I plan to go back home and play in the CBA!"

He added another sentence, "It’s not that no one wants me, I just don’t want to play here anymore!"

Su Wan didn’t say much in response to this typical "Zhu Fangyu-style" face-saving comment.

Moreover, as far as he knew, after Zhu Fangyu announced his departure from Cleveland, quite a few team general managers had indeed called Danny Ferry.

It was just uncertain whether they valued Zhu Fangyu’s ability value or his toughness. freewēbnoveℓ.com

After all, the tradition of the team leader having a "professional enforcer" had a long history.

Next to Michael Jordan there once was Oakley, a professional enforcer who not only took on outsiders but even his own teammates. Jordan established his authority within the team early on, and much of the dirty and exhausting work was done by him. They had a very good relationship, and Oakley remained a part of Jordan’s team even after retiring. When Jordan went to the Bobcats as the big boss, he reserved a position for him.

It’s just that Krause later realized that what Jordan needed was not an enforcer, but a helper. He straightened out "Cobra" and, with the growth of Pippen, they successfully won their first "three-peat."

If Zhu Fangyu only wanted to be a role player in the NBA, then after the Cleveland charter plane incident, he had the capital to stand in the league.

But being a lackey for others was not Zhu Fangyu’s style.

Many in the older generation of basketball had the mentality of "rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big ocean," and of course, it’s not wrong to dream on a bigger stage and should be encouraged.

It’s just that people are different; everyone has their own thoughts.

Zhu Fangyu’s strong self-respect made him prefer to return to the Guangdong Team as the leader rather than be a lackey to other players in the NBA.

A couple of days after this call, Su Wan saw the news in the media about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ buyout with Zhu Fangyu.

The sensational "Cleveland Bullying Incident" ended with McGinnis indefinitely suspended, Zhu Fangyu returning to the CBA, the "Chosen One" LeBron James losing five or six endorsements, paying a large sum of breach of contract, and receiving a seven-game suspension.

As for Newell and the others, it was said that Danny Ferry fined them as well.

Hmm...

The management had forked out $300,000 because of this affair; indeed, it was necessary to "suck" a bit back from these instigators to recoup losses.

But the impact of this incident did not dissipate easily.

Especially the pictures of LeBron wailing at the press conference had a profound impact.

His previously composed media image was completely shattered, and at the same time, many media outlets produced comments like "Su Wan was right," "Su Wan had seen through LeBron early on."

From this angle, Su Wan actually emerged as the biggest winner in the affair.

After this battle, LeBron was greatly weakened, and it was said that he had been holding fan meetings in Cleveland recently.

In these smaller-scale events, he was no longer as nervous and sharply criticized McGinnis’s "water ghost" antics, while casting himself as the victim: "I never said anything like that. He’s just creating public opinion, trying to divert attention from his bullying of the newcomer. He succeeded. Now no one discusses him anymore."

Then he announced he would donate $1 million to support associations condemning bullying and racial discrimination, using practical action to distance himself from the situation.

The move had some effect, at least Cleveland still supported him.

But his earlier remediation measures were too poor, and the impression in the public opinion had already formed; the overall environment was still hard to change.

Richie Paul told him, "What you can do now is just wait for your comeback and focus on the game, put on a good performance."

After all, an athlete’s reputation depends on their on-court performance.

Kobe had a big scandal, but he still gradually recovered, right?

Shaquille O’Neal had explicitly made racist remarks, and now he was still the number one "Shark" in the league.

LeBron’s alleged "condoning of bullying" and "racial discrimination" were even less of a concern. As long as he performed well and faced the media with "I have been through a lot because of that incident, it’s been a trial for me!"

The media would immediately offer comments like "Now he’s really mature, he’s finally got it."

At the end of the day, public opinion is just a process of repeatedly doing sit-ups.

Richie Paul was still very optimistic.

As for LeBron James, the biggest lesson he learned from this incident was the full power of public opinion. When all the media were praising him, he was the lofty "Chosen One," but when all the media turned against him, he was the alleged bully and racist "mud."

"I must have my own media channels!"

That way, he could hear the most genuine (he wanted to hear) voices.

A seven-game absence wasn’t particularly long, just about half a month, nor was it short, because it made him miss this year’s "Christmas Battle" with Carmelo Anthony.

Of course, given his current situation, not appearing on "All over the United States live broadcast" was the correct choice.

Clearly, David Stern had put careful thought into arranging the suspension.

Christmas is equivalent to the Chinese New Year in Huaxia.

Huaxia talks about "starting the new year all over," and the United States also has the idea of "a new year, a new start."

LeBron just sat on the bench, watching Carmelo Anthony shine on the "Christmas Battle" stage.

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