The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 268 - 164 Have I scored 50 points in a single game this season yet?

Chapter 268: Chapter 164 Have I scored 50 points in a single game this season yet?

Su Wan returned to Indiana at the same time LeBron James returned to Cleveland.

Descending from the airport, looking at the huge poster of himself across the airport, he felt none of the excitement he used to feel.

This was his second trip to the All-Star game in his professional career.

But still as an All-Star reserve. —— Last season’s All-Star reserve, Wade, had become an All-Star starter, and Carmelo Anthony, who hadn’t made the All-Star game last season, also entered the Western Conference All-Star as a reserve this season.

He wanted to widen the gap with his peers again, and this time at the All-Star game, he also harbored the idea of snatching the All-Star MVP.

And he felt this was an opportunity!

McGrady wanted the All-Star MVP, others would surely let their guard down, and he could ’steal a chicken’ so to speak.

But in the end, Su Wan confronted McGrady head-on and took home the All-Star MVP from Houston.

In his second season in his professional career, with four MVP trophies, the only one remaining was the Regular Season MVP, which he had a good chance to get this season.

At the age of 20, to become a "grand slammer of the four MVPs," LeBron couldn’t imagine how glorious Su Wan would be with Nike’s support.

So at this moment, as he looked at his poster, he felt not only a lack of excitement but also a dragging feeling.

If he had been traded to Indiana back then, standing next to him now would be the two All-Stars, little O’Neal and Artest, along with the two big surprises, Calderon and Dior, as well as Foster and Tinsley to assist.

What game couldn’t be won with that lineup!

Then all the glory that Su Wan had would be his!

Yes, just like that!

Thinking this, LeBron James suddenly felt a sense of disgust at this conspicuous poster.

Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t dislike the domineering self portrayed on the poster, he just felt...

This poster shouldn’t be hanging in Cleveland, but in Miami, in Dallas, on some other better teams!

If he were on those teams, he might have already won the championship, already been the MVP!

Instead of like now, having money deducted by Nike for not starting in the All-Star game.

How much did Cleveland owe him without him realizing it?

But even so, he still had to accept that damn responsibility!

He was very aware that when he faced the reporters again tomorrow, he would definitely be asked:

Can the Cavaliers make the playoffs this season?

That was actually the question he wanted to ask Danny Ferry as well, do you still want the Cavaliers to make the playoffs?

If you do, why don’t I see you making any big trades in the free market?

Why don’t I see any strong reinforcements joining?

His heart was so tired!

But he had no choice but to confront reality; if he didn’t lead the Cavaliers into the playoffs, then he would face Nike deducting a large sum of money from him again due to contractual obligations, and even more intense media questioning.

Perhaps they all think the "Chosen One" should "take on 5 alone"!

But do these damn people really not see his statistics?

He was averaging 31.4 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game this season; wasn’t that enough?

If the team’s strength was insufficient, was it really my fault?

And while he was incessantly grumbling to himself, Richie Paul called him: "LeBron, Danny Ferry wants to meet with you; he wants to talk about renewing your contract."

"Renewal?" LeBron didn’t understand why Danny Ferry would suddenly want to talk about this matter.

Although he was indeed in the third year of his rookie contract, it was only respectful for the team to talk about renewal beforehand.

But...

Why was it at this particular moment?

Richie Paul shared his guess with LeBron: "I think Danny wants to let us know that the Cavaliers still have a lot of confidence and expectations for you..."

"Is this pitying me?" LeBron suddenly got angry, didn’t even listen to what Richie Paul had to say next, and directly had him refuse, "Tell him, right now I’m only focused on getting the team into the playoffs!"

Richie Paul was a bit surprised. He didn’t quite understand why LeBron was angry.

He had no idea that LeBron was already convinced that Cleveland was holding him back.

And at this moment, Danny Ferry thought that LeBron, having suffered consecutive setbacks, might be losing confidence and so brought a contract that was half respectful and half motivating, this...

To put it simply, a woman who thinks she deserves a better boyfriend was asked by her current one if she wanted to marry him, and half of his sentiment was out of concern that she would be upset from hearing gossip about her. freewēbnoveℓ.com

No wonder he was infuriated!

LeBron James found himself at a crossroads of the "three-year itch" and became even "itchier" due to an untimely renewal contract.

On the other side, the Pacers had also restarted their regular-season journey, now they were three wins behind the Eastern Conference’s first-place Pistons, they hoped to close this gap or even surpass it by the end of the season; to Rick Carlisle, the two games against the Pistons in mid-March and early April would become crucial "deciding games."

But the Pacers had their own issues...

They wanted to take the first place in the Eastern Conference, but they were reluctant to take the first place in the whole league.

Last year’s experience in the Finals taught them: first to plump doesn’t mean victory.

If they were the side with the worse record, they would have the chance to lift the Championship Trophy on their home court.

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