Chapter 730: Chapter 496: The Final Advice Chapter 730: Chapter 496: The Final Advice Ultimately, Dirk Nowitzki became the AMVP of the year without a doubt, scoring 39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists.

For Dallas, this was a perfect outcome.

They had organized the biggest sports arena in the area for the All-Star game, and it indeed paid off big time, with nearly one hundred thousand people attending the game. The amount of on-site consumption that came with it was immeasurable. Now, the hero of Dallas had become the star among stars–could there be a better outcome?

“I don’t like seeing the hometown stars treated like gods. We are all voted into the All-Star game by the fans, we all have the same opportunity, but if someone is at home, we have to give him all the flowers. What is the reason for this? If you give Kevin Durant the same opportunity, trust me, he would be the AMVP too!”

Bill Simmons, the number one Durant promoter, wrote on Twitter.

The All-Star game was over, and what awaited the players was the final third of the season and the tense trade deadline.

Previously, the trade between the Spurs and the 76ers had created momentum, forcing teams that could get better to find ways to strengthen themselves.

When the Lakers included Andrew Bynum in the trade options to boost their power forward position, the Denver Nuggets became immediately interested.

However, more teams than just the Nuggets had their eyes on Bynum.

In the current NBA, there was a paradox surrounding Bynum.

Scouts believed Bynum would be the next Jermaine O’Neal–once he got out of the Lakers’ current framework and earned the strategic status and freedom on the court, he would immediately become a star player.

This was because Bynum, in his limited playing time, demonstrated an on-court presence akin to Shaquille O’Neal, his brilliance so dazzling it was hard to ignore. Yet, in the Lakers, he had to play a supporting role in the triangle offense because the Lakers had Kobe, had James, and had the much wiser Marc Gasol; they didn’t need a rookie flailing about his talent in the low post.

Why is it a paradox? Because there were many signs that indicated that Bynum cared more about off-court minor interests than becoming another Little O. He was of a passive personality, needing someone to push him forward, but if you pushed too hard, he would sabotage everything.

Such a personality was never likely to succeed on the basketball court.

But no one had clairvoyance, not even Fei knew that Bynum was seemingly a great hairstylist, yet he was perplexed about his popularity in the trade market.

As long as the Lakers were willing to trade Bynum, they could almost certainly get the fourth superstar.

That’s why Kobe said after the All-Star game, “I can’t wait to get back to the real game!”

Even the person who had historically placed the most value on the All-Star game thought it was meaningless, showing how much they were looking forward to the upcoming reinforcements.

If the Lakers acquired the fourth superstar, they would have some advantages over the Supersonics, who had lost Brandon Roy, generating even more anticipation for these two rival teams destined to fight to the death in the playoffs.

But all this had nothing to do with George Karl.

After the game, Karl was waiting for Fei in the corridor.

He was going to tell him his check-up results.

Clearly, Fei’s legend was coming to its most important chapter, his Chosen Empire’s decisive battle with the Evil Empire of Lars would become the most important sports story of the past and the next decade. Once he defeated the Evil Empire and claimed his sixth personal title, the debate over the GOAT would vanish. Whether numerically or in terms of dominance, the record of seven championships in eight years would ascend him to the throne.

But the person who had helped Fei get this far could no longer continue on.

It was just so unfair.

Yet, Karl did not harbor such negative emotions.

He deeply missed the Spanish restaurant not far from the Seattle Center where the Palma cheese shrimp was his dish of choice, paired with the cold Coles wine. On holidays, he could enjoy a lovely meal there. He also missed Tony’s Restaurant in St. Louis, where the crabmeat tomato pie and Italian broad noodles were delicacies hard to find anywhere else.

And New York, whenever they were in New York for a game and if time allowed, Karl and Fei would go to Halsky’s Kitchen Brazilian restaurant for barbecue. Fei thought that their barbecue with rice could even surpass pork chop with rice as a delicacy, while Karl’s favorite was how the beautiful, tall waitresses moved around the tables with long metal skewers of roast meat, letting the meat neatly slide onto the plates.

For Karl, decades of coaching experience had brought him the greatest blessing of being able to savor the world’s finest food every day. If he wished, he could taste the nation’s cuisine everywhere. Those delicious meals suddenly turned into a non-stop gourmet show playing over and over in his mind.

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It wasn’t until Fei’s arrival that Karl returned to reality.

He knew that his life of savoring delicacies as an unknown food lover, the most memorable part of his life, was now over.

“George, you should have seen Kevin’s face when he missed out on the AMVP,” Fei said jokingly as he approached Karl, “he looked like someone had stolen 10 million dollars from him!”

Karl felt sorry for Durant; the young man had tried very hard tonight, and he deserved the AMVP.

But both he and Fei had tried their best.