Chapter 553: Chapter 391 Frye is a Good Person

After training ended for the day, Marion went to find Karl to inquire about Yu Fei’s opinion of him.

Upon hearing this, Karl looked at him somewhat perplexed, “Is that important?”

“Supersonics is his team, it’s very important to me,” Marion said.

Karl hadn’t had much in-depth contact with Marion before, but he admired his style of play. Now that Marion was bringing up this question out of the blue, it was hard not to suspect if he had other motives.

“All I know is that Frye has an opinion about Smush,” Karl said.

Who doesn’t have an opinion about Smush?

“Does Frye support the trade?” Marion started to get a bad feeling, “I heard that Rashad stayed initially because of him, and now that you’ve traded Rashad for me, does he have any objections to me?”

Watching a man who looked like an alien discussing whether another person had an issue with him was a strange sight.

Karl didn’t think that Yu Fei had any objections to Marion.

If he had any, this trade would not have happened.

“You should know, if Frye didn’t want you to come, then you wouldn’t be here,” Karl said, “What exactly are you worried about, Shawn?”

Marion’s face tensed, “I’m a top ten player in the league.”

Are you really?

Karl nodded, “I agree.”

“But I’ve been traded twice in a month,”

So you’re definitely not a top ten player in the league, isn’t that obvious?

Karl nodded, “Relax, the trade deadline has already passed.”

Meaning, it was certain that Marion would not be traded a third time this season.

“I hope to settle down; I don’t want to be a gamble for you guys, like, if we fail this season and the Supersonics move away, then you’ll make me the scapegoat and trade me to a lousy team. I will never let that happen.”

As if you could resist if it did happen.

Karl feigned a concerned expression for Marion and said with certainty, “The Supersonics won’t move away, Frye has no issue with you, you’re not going anywhere unless you publicly request a trade like you did in Phoenix, otherwise, we won’t let you leave. You know, we can’t use you to get another top ten player in the league.”

Karl managed to slightly reassure Marion.

One day later, the Supersonics played against the Western Conference’s top team, the Spurs, at home.

As it turned out, Marion was worrying too much.

Yu Fei hadn’t interacted with him during training simply because they weren’t familiar with each other yet.

Yu Fei wasn’t someone who warmed up to people easily, but once they were in a game and Marion began to show his value, it was naturally clear that trading Lewis for Marion was the right move.

Lewis’s greatest value was his outside shooting ability; he was the number one space four in the league.

But the Supersonics didn’t lack space, what they were missing was a versatile jack-of-all-trades who could fill any position.

Marion proved in the game that he was the man the Supersonics needed.

His help defense was impeccable, his ability to fill spaces and switch on defense was unimpeachable, and his rebounding sense was exceptional. In his first collaboration with Yu Fei and Roy, he showed the fast-break instincts he had honed next to Nash.

The Supersonics’ fast break through all three lines suddenly became the most threatening offense in the league.

Despite the Spurs having numerous strong players, they had a restless night in Seattle.

They were off their game and kept missing shots, giving the Supersonics plenty of opportunities for defensive counterattacks.

Marion’s debut with the Supersonics was flawless; he contributed everything Lewis couldn’t with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

“Welcome to Seattle, Neo!”

That night, Marion earned a new nickname.

This nickname was given by the Supersonics’ home arena announcer, Bob Blake, and was simpler to understand than Marion’s nickname in the Suns, “The Matrix.” The Matrix moniker came from The Matrix, and Neo was the protagonist of The Matrix.

The Supersonics crushed the Spurs by 20 points at home.

Yu Fei didn’t forget what Caron Butler had said last time after a home win.

“I think, as a core player, if you go 4 for 14, then of course your team is going to lose the game,” Yu Fei retorted, “March’s Caron is much easier to handle than February’s Caron.”

The regular season was on the fast track.

The Supersonics were not only trying to hold onto the top four spots but also aiming higher to get as good a seeding as possible.

After defeating the Spurs, the difference in wins among the top four teams in the Western Conference was only 1-2 games.

That is to say, losing one game could have a big impact on the rankings.

Marion’s integration speed exceeded the Supersonics’ internal expectations.

Although he hadn’t made friends here yet, the best thing the Supersonics did for him was to let him keep playing as he did with the Suns.

For Marion, it was as if he hadn’t left the Suns at all.

He was still doing the same work, but now he was getting more attention than ever before.

When Marion topped the highlight reel with a #1 play after finishing an alley-oop from Yu Fei’s mid-court pass, he suddenly became hot property, akin to a superstar.

This was something Marion had not anticipated.

In mid-March, the Supersonics faced the Suns, with Yu Fei feeding Marion for a 30-point, 11-rebound, 4-assist, 4-steal, 3-block game that cut down his former team.

“Neo, I’d be surprised if you don’t make the All-NBA team this year,”

Yu Fei said to Marion.

“I’m used to being overlooked,” Marion appeared quite at peace with it.

“`

But was he really used to it? Just look at the face he made when showered with media attention in Seattle.

Apart from aliens like Duncan, the vast majority of people wouldn’t refuse the spotlight and praise.

Marion’s hanging heart was completely at ease.

He’d thought coming to Seattle was just to continue being a support for the superstar, because Fei’s star shone far brighter than Nash’s.

But he didn’t realize that not all superstars were the same.

Those at the pinnacle have the magic to make those around them the focal point as well.

In late March, the Supersonics went on a winning streak and thus secured the top spot in the Western Conference with a 48-21 record.

Trailing them were the Lakers and the Spurs with 47 wins, the Mavericks with 46, the Hornets with 45, and the Rockets with 44 (Yao was out for the season).

The competition at the top of the Western Conference was fiercer than it had been in recent years, but Supersonics topping it had symbolic significance.

At this time last season, the Supersonics were competing with the Trail Blazers for head and assistant class leaders, yet now, the Trail Blazers were still that class leader, but the Supersonics were the leaders of the Western Conference.

Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum, who had been granted follow-up access to write Fei’s autobiography, published a lengthy article in late March.

As it happened, Fei was also the cover person for this issue of the magazine.

McCallum’s headline was eye-catching: “Frye Yu is a Player from Another Planet.”

The purpose of the article, besides singing Fei’s praises for his achievements so far, was to sound the trumpet for the MVP race.

Currently, Fei was averaging 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, leading the Supersonics from the second-to-last in the Western Conference last season to first place. In terms of individual contributions, this was unmatched.

Kobe had Kidd by his side, so it wasn’t so incomprehensible for the Lakers’ rise, but the people around Fei had accomplished nothing last season, and now they had grown into the leaders of Western side.

What great leadership is that?

But Fei’s problem was that he had already won MVP three times before, which meant that the outside world’s expectations for him were much higher than those for the MVP virgins.

Kobe was the new darling of the media, and Paul, who led the Hornets’ rise, was also a popular topic at the time.

This season’s MVP simulation predictions consistently had all top three frequently coming from the Western Conference.

But Paul, compared to Fei and Kobe, was too new to the game; for those with voting rights, Paul had plenty of chances ahead of him, so the suspense of the MVP had come down to between Fei and Kobe.

Conveniently, the two teams battling head-to-head for first place in the West had bolstered their rosters after the All-Star break, and they would have their final regular season clash at the end of March.

Many in the media with the right to vote said, “I’ll pay special attention to this game, and on the day of voting, I’ll remember the result of this game, which will determine my choice.”

Fei vaguely remembered that Kobe’s only MVP was in 2008, but regrettably, as a Kobe fan, he wouldn’t easily concede this year’s MVP.

After all, the MVP thing is produced every year, and for someone of his caliber, getting 3-4 of them was about right; any more would be over the top… but, the Supersonics needed him to get the MVP.

Because the Supersonics needed attention.

Even though they had already gained unprecedented attention, it was still not enough.

Fei needed the “Save Our Supersonics” campaign to become a phenomenon-level news story breaking through the sports world, and for that, he needed to achieve results. Not just team achievements, but individual achievements as well; only when both were maximized would the media strive to hype it up to the outside world.

So, he must snatch this MVP title.

The flames of competition were burning; this was the feeling that should follow the end of the All-Star weekend.

People could sense the upheaval in the world of professional basketball, as the rivalry between Fei and Kobe officially became a serious topic for discussion in Fei’s seventh year as a pro.

The Supersonics had won the first few encounters with the Lakers, but they hadn’t played against the recently reinforced Lakers team.

This MVP-related competition drew national attention.

With a few days before the game, the media’s hype, the fans’ trash talk, and the verbal sparring between the factions of both sides had all been fully displayed.

At the center of the storm, Fei, along with his confidant and McCallum, went to North Carolina to watch a college game.

It was the height of March Madness, the matchup between Davidson College and Gonzaga University.

Fei’s appearance made the venue boil with excitement.

Players from both teams all came over to greet him, but Fei was only interested in one person.

Stephen Curry, who looked as green as a high school student, had never thought that Frye Yu would come specifically to watch his game. To him, Fei was out of reach.

But now, he was within touching distance.

“Frye, this… this is an honor for us.”

“Stephen, I came specially for you,” Fei said with a smile. “Don’t let me down.”

Now, Fei had finally reached that position. He could capriciously judge all the young players, just as Kobe once did during the ABCD Camp, and everyone was eager to receive his praise.

Tonight, Fei’s pre-game endorsement helped Curry completely explode, raining down 44 points on Gonzaga.

At least on the NCAA level, he was already showing the form that would trigger a technical revolution in the professional basketball world after 2015.

“This kid is going to be something special.”

When Fei said this about Curry, nobody felt it was out of place.

This was an honor for Curry, whose fame from an impressive sophomore season would skyrocket to a new peak.

Such recognition from Fei made Curry feel an unreal illusion.

The rumors were false; Frye Yu was a good guy.

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He definitely was.

This was the first stop on Curry’s dream run at March Madness with Davidson, and Fei had witnessed his magic firsthand. Now, Fei had to leave.

Because there was another battle waiting for him.

“`

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