Chapter 715: Chapter 492: Frye’s Etiquette Class (Unified) Chapter 715: Chapter 492: Frye’s Etiquette Class (Unified) A greater failure?

Doug Collins had just uttered that closing remark when James was not far away from him.

For James, tonight’s game wouldn’t bother him.

Outsiders might never know the true significance for him of finally defeating Yu Fei during their second encounter against the Supersonics.

They would only recount those cliched stories.

Sure, defeating Yu Fei was important, but did they truly understand the importance of it?

It was a curse and a nightmare; when you can defeat everyone else but constantly lose to the same person, that person becomes your demon.

James’s greatest fear was, having left everything to join Kobe in Los Angeles, what would he do if he still couldn’t defeat Yu Fei in the end?

That victory let him experience the feeling of overcoming Yu Fei.

Most importantly, it was the first encounter.

With the first experience under his belt, everything thereafter would be much easier.

James wouldn’t consider tonight’s loss to the Supersonics as another failure.

He knew that the verdict between them would ultimately need the playoffs to settle it.

Therefore, to him, Collins’s words seemed nothing more than a media figure seizing an opportunity to create a sensation.

James knew Collins had been Jordan’s coach and was well aware of how much the man idolized Jordan.

But now, he had drawn a clear line from Jordan.

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Because he had clearly sided with Yu Fei in the “GOAT” debate.

Whenever Jordan came up, James always had the impression of “someone like Doug Collins, who is duplicitous, surrounds me.”

Not only did he betray Jordan, but now he wanted to disgust James as well?

James approached him and said, “Doug, do you know what real failure is?”

Collins smiled and said, “LeBron, do you have some wisdom to share?”

James said, “I know what real failure is.”

Collins teased, “You certainly do.”

Collins meant to say that James was a notorious failure in the sports world.

He had that media-inherent arrogance, despite James’s much higher status in the professional realm, but he had become a recognized supporter of Yu.

Thus, there was no need to be overly concerned with James’s face, given that he was a recognized enemy of Yu Fei.

However, if your work is to offend others, you must be prepared to be offended in return.

James, while looking at Collins, said something hurtful: “Real failure should accompany a person for life. Like you, Doug, I guess you will never forget how you represented Team USA in Munich and lost to the Soviet Union until your death.”

To Collins, this was undoubtedly a true insult.

It was a deep, unhealed scar in his heart. That devastated Team USA in Munich didn’t acknowledge themselves as the runners-up; none accepted the silver medal in the end.

James suddenly delivered a heavy blow, causing Collins to become furiously angry.

“Who do you think you are!” Collins bellowed, “You think you know something! Kid, don’t talk about things you don’t understand! You have no right to judge those Olympics! Because you are someone cut by Team USA, you, who reaped where you did not sow, have no right to question those who fought for their country!”

The situation was far from dignified.

James didn’t want to publicly clash with Collins.

Although his image was already poor, doing so would only make his future image-rebuilding efforts more difficult.

With time, once he defeated Yu Fei in the playoffs, he hoped people would remember him like they did Muhammad Ali when he returned from suspension to become the world champion again.

That would be his moment of redemption.

Before that, he couldn’t afford to leave the impression that he was disrespectful towards elders or to speak recklessly about a shameful chapter in American basketball history.

He didn’t respond to Collins anymore and walked towards the players’ tunnel as if he had won the victory.

The third battle with the Supersonics concluded in such a manner, which was certainly not something the Lakers Team could have anticipated.

They knew they were at a disadvantage at power forward and that Chris Bosh’s return would cause a lot of trouble, but they didn’t expect Bosh to dominate the court as he did.

Phil Jackson summed it up in the locker room: “The burst from Chris Bosh won’t become a norm for Seattle.”

However, Bosh’s advantage at power forward was clearly visible.

Kobe couldn’t tolerate the match being disrupted like this.

If it weren’t for Bosh’s sudden explosion, the Lakers wouldn’t have started the first half with the pressure of playing catch-up, which only escalated in the second half until they crumbled completely.

“Frye and KD are both tough opponents,” Kobe said, “We can’t be distracted at power forward; we need an influential player in that position.”

This was clear to Jackson as well.

The Lakers’ frontcourt depth was severely imbalanced.

Pau Gasol was the starting center, with Bynum and Big Z off the bench.

This went beyond a deep bench.

It was an extravagant center reserve.

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Especially since Jackson had the habit of relying excessively on Pau Gasol against stronger teams, making Bynum and Big Z seem like grossly overpriced decorations.

Big Z had come to the Lakers with James, with a very low salary; he was just right as a backup.

Bynum, however, was someone the Lakers had locked down with a max contract, and now he was only playing a few minutes per game, earning a salary close to that of Kobe and LeBron.

The Lakers Team weren’t afraid to spend money, but with the Supersonics’ advantage at power forward winning them a game, Kobe’s desire to use Bynum as the main trading piece to strengthen the power forward position had intensified.

But everyone in the team knew whether Bynum could be put on the trading table depended on the controllers of the management – the young boss Jim Buss.