Yu Fei’s pressure on Paul threw the Hornets into disarray.
When the Hornets lost their usual game rhythm because of Paul’s frenzy, the Supersonics surged ahead, leading by 18 points before halftime.
Byron Scott said to Paul, "Chris, you see? If you can’t keep your cool, we become sitting ducks."
Paul saw, but what could he do?
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Keeping calm in front of Yu Fei was a difficult task.
In the second half, the Hornets caught up some points under Paul’s lead, but Yu Fei and Roy quickly interrupted their momentum.
Yu Fei fired from the outside, while Roy shattered Paul’s defense one-on-one.
When the Supersonics’ outside dual-core was both performing, they were nearly unbeatable.
By the end of the third quarter, the Supersonics led the Hornets by 15 points. Stay connected with Freewebnovel
At the start of the fourth quarter, other Supersonics players stepped up as well.
The overlooked Durant made jump shots and breakthroughs in position battles, Kwame Brown took advantage of the star’s gravity to continuously score easy baskets, and the ubiquitous Marion filled up the stat sheet.
Even though Paul started hitting three-pointers, Fei could respond with jump shots, find layup opportunities against Brown’s help defense, but a star needs to take over the game and attempt a comeback by simultaneously containing the opponents.
Otherwise, it might seem like padding stats during garbage time.
In the end, 111 to 98, the Supersonics defeated the Hornets at home, taking the first win of the series.
What was impressive was the strong animosity between the Supersonics and the Hornets.
After the game, there were no hugs, no handshakes, each team went their separate ways.
"When they wanted to compete, all we could do was respond," Yu Fei remarked about Paul losing control on the court, "I might have said some excessive things, but I won’t shut up just because the other side feels hurt."
Yu Fei recalled the game, distinctly remembering how the opponent broke down when he trash-talked using Paul’s grandfather.
So Yu Fei asked around, wanting to know what the relationship between Paul and his grandfather was like. Unexpectedly, he learned that the latter had passed away during Paul’s high school years, and Paul even scored 61 points in a single game to commemorate him.
Now that truly was talent without virtue.
Big Fei thought with self-mockery after learning the answer.
Of course, he wouldn’t continue to bring up Paul’s grandfather, but he didn’t plan to apologize either. After all, he started the game with a smile, but Paul’s attitude of "give me back my MVP" made it hard for him to not retaliate.
Yu Fei really didn’t understand Paul’s grudge about the MVP.
Paul was just the third in MVP votes, he didn’t take issue with the runner-up, so why bother with him?
Paul’s loss of control also exposed the Hornets’ Achilles’ heel.
They rise with Paul, they fall with Paul.
Once Paul’s control over the team was lost, as it was tonight, they were just an ordinary strong team.
In the following days, Seattle’s sports market was engrossed in a frenzied atmosphere.
While MVP wasn’t new to Fei—he had won several in Milwaukee—for Seattle, a professional basketball MVP was very fresh.
Although the team had a forty-year history in Emerald City, they had never owned a regular season MVP.
Their last MVP was the 1979 Finals MVP Dennis Johnson, and before him the 1971 All-Star MVP Lanny Wilkens, but neither the Finals MVP nor the All-Star MVP could compare to the MVP in terms of difficulty or gold content. The latter required a sample of 82 games, while the former only needed one playoff round and an exhibition game’s sample size.
The smaller the sample, the higher the chance of randomness.
The commercial value generated by Fei fostered a bull market for sports merchandise around Key Arena.
The MVP intensified this phenomenon.
Most of the merchandise related to Fei was pre-ordered before it even hit the shelves, and jerseys were especially hard to come by.
This feverish fandom began to spill over from downtown, subtly influencing other city residents who were previously indifferent to professional basketball.
The Supersonics’ commercial potential was exploding.
And Seattle was never short of visionaries.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer developed a strong interest in investing in a new arena for the Supersonics.
Everything related to the Supersonics was being mobilized.
The Hornets in front of them were no longer the Supersonics’ concern. Their task was to defeat the Hornets, then push through divisional finals considerations, and finally win back that damned trophy in the Finals.
An economist who had once believed that the Supersonics had a zero economic impact on Seattle predicted, "If the Supersonics win the championship this year, they are expected to generate profits exceeding tens of millions of US Dollars and an economic impact of over one hundred million US Dollars."
The Seattle Times quoted this prediction and reminded the fans who had brought all this about.
"If it weren’t for Frye, none of this would have happened."
The powerful celebrity effect began to benefit the brands under Fei’s name.
Yu Fenglin’s restaurant in Seattle thrived, and Reebok swiftly defeated competitors such as Nike and Adidas in the basketball market, monopolizing Seattle’s basketball scene, with every brand associated with Yu Fei eager to trumpet their relationship with him.
For a time, Yu Fei seemed like a roaming deity among humans—he was everywhere, and everywhere was his domain.
The most direct witnesses to this were the players of the Hornets.
"Did you know? Even the delivery guys’ uniforms have No. 44 on them!" Paul’s brother, CJ, complained. "It’s No. 44 everywhere! It’s like it’s his city alone!"
Paul listened in silence.
After the first game ended, he realized that the attitude he had displayed was harming the long-term relationship between him and Yu Fei.
Although they had no personal friendship, as teammates on Team USA, they would fight side by side this summer.
If they fell out now, how could they cooperate then?
Nevertheless, Paul still couldn’t accept being snubbed in the MVP voting.
He had rescued professional basketball in New Orleans and kept the Hornets there; before Yu Fei completed the great task of saving the Supersonics, he had already saved the Hornets.
Why were people blind to this?
But when Paul saw Seattle’s sports market taking off and the basketball economy quickly reviving, he could distinctly feel a direct difference between what he had done and what Yu Fei had accomplished.
Stricken by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was still rebuilding, the Hornets had stayed, but the market hadn’t recovered, nor had a flood of sponsors come pouring in.
And the Supersonics?
Their future was still uncertain; the team needed to get the Seattle City Government to pass a financing plan before the summer of 2010 arrived, or the current boom would be as fleeting as flowers reflected in a mirror, gone in an instant.
But that was what was terrifying.
The Supersonics were still playing in Key Arena, their revenue could not be maximized, yet under such circumstances, the basketball scene had fully recovered, the market was bustling, and Supersonics merchandise continued to sell out.
What if they stayed and gained a better arena?
Both were salvations, but the impact on the city was worlds apart.
The Hornets staying in New Orleans was a consolation in the aftermath of a disaster.
But the Supersonics, having ignited a major market comeback, could have a profound impact on the culture and economy of the city.
This difference and impact were exactly what distinguished Yu Fei from Paul.
In each era, in every highly commercialized sport, there are only one or two individuals like Yu Fei.
Their names have become symbols, their very existence a personification of commercial value, and when they can bring profit to everyone, their presence transcends the role of just an athlete.
He would be the avatar of commerce, the embodiment of public sentiment, the representative of the league, the darling of the media, and unfortunately, Paul, who had also saved New Orleans, was destined not to be mentioned in the same breath as such a person.
From the beginning, the competition was not fair.
When Yu Fei returned to Seattle, he had already won.
Paul was a smart man; when reality kept striking him hard, he began to reflect on the whole situation.
In the end, he realized that neither Yu Fei nor himself had done anything wrong. They both deserved the MVP, but to the world, Yu Fei was more deserving.
This is how professional basketball operates; this is the sweet spot that the business league provides to those stars who bring them profit. They simply deserve it more than others.
"Frye is not wrong, he deserves the MVP."
Suddenly, Paul said.
"Chris?" CJ was shocked. "What are you talking about?"
"Hear me out," Paul said. "I deserve the MVP too, but it’s not us who decide these things. It’s those money-grubbing bastards. Do you think I should oppose Frye over this?"
That may be true, but now that the teams were facing off in the playoffs, without the courage to oppose Yu Fei, how could they hope to defeat the Supersonics and advance to the next round?
CJ’s concerns were valid.
Paul understood, but his fighting spirit to face Yu Fei head-on had also faded.
A day later, the teams were back at Key Arena, battling through four quarters; Paul played steadily, but Yu Fei’s unstoppable one-on-one plays at critical moments left the Hornets helpless.
106 to 101
The Supersonics won against the Hornets again, leading the series 2-0.
That night, Paul proactively shook hands with Yu Fei, "You’ve done what you had to do. Now it’s our turn."
Yu Fei was, of course, unaware of the change in Paul, but it seemed he had come to an understanding.
That was good.
Even though he truly lost his one and only chance at the MVP in his lifetime, the most important thing for a person living in this world is to have clarity of thought, as being constantly troubled by worries can lead to premature aging.