Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 326 The Turmoil Begins Again
At first, no one thought anything would happen to Thornwell; he was just a lucky guy.

Even within the team, there are similar opinions.

On January 25th, their last away game will be against the Chicago Bulls.

LaVine, Markkanen, Lopez, Holiday, Jabari Parker, and Kris Dunn.

Without a doubt, this is a rebuilding team brimming with talent. If the Clippers didn't have Chen Fang, this game would have been a spectacular clash of rookies.

This is Bulls head coach Jim Boylen's first season, and he is still struggling to establish a fixed starting lineup. Facing the Clippers, he copied his predecessor's approach, but ended up with a poor imitation.

Rivers quickly perfected Sandwell's role, boldly promoting him to the starting lineup and making new adjustments to the starting lineup and rotation.

Chen Fang, Sunwell, Juholedi, Richon, Zubac.

This starting lineup balances both defense and offense. Zubac has put up double-doubles in the last few games, proving that he can produce decent stats when given 30+ minutes of playing time.

Richon's on-court contributions are far better than Jaren's, but his playing time has been reduced simply to develop the latter. In the current situation, Richon is the best option for number 4.

In terms of rotation, Lou Williams has surpassed Brunson in authority and become a key rotation player.

It can be said that Rivers effectively shut down all four rookies, and Chen Fang had no objections.

This is just punishment; if you don't perform well, you have to accept it, and it will spur you to greater motivation.

At the start, the Bulls used LaVine and Holiday to lead and double-team Chen Fang, while Chen Fang's old acquaintance Markkanen provided help defense.

With his back open, Sandwell stunned Jim with a three-pointer and a layup and a 2+1 play.

As the older brother, Jrue Holiday also faced his younger brother's defense, ruthlessly using his physicality and experience to score five points.

On the defensive end, Chen Fang's all-around switching and Thornwell's half-court defense against LaVine further hampered the Bulls' already fragile scoring system.

Markkanen attempted to use space and height to one-on-one with Jon, but the latter countered with a rough physical approach, completely neutralizing his strategy.

The Bulls' inability to find a way to score on offense and defense allowed them to fall behind by 9 points quickly in the first quarter.

The Bulls' head coach continued to double-team Chen Fang, while Thornwell continued his role as a surprise weapon.

He hit consecutive mid-range shots, forcing the Bulls to stop Jrue Holiday from guarding him. At this point, Kris Dunn replaced LaVine as the help defender against Chen Fang.

Neither of the two players is as fast as Chen Fang in terms of physique or speed, which gives Chen Fang an advantage by using off-ball screens and back-to-the-basket moves to create an overwhelming advantage.

At halftime, the Bulls' home fans erupted in a huge chorus of boos.

65:48.

The Bulls are down by 17 points.

"Not every team can use this tactic, especially since the emergence of Sanwell has already filled this fatal gap." Duan Ran was very happy that Sanwell could continue to perform brilliantly, which undoubtedly made Chinese fans feel gratified.

The home fans still held a sliver of hope, but Chen Wang suddenly unleashed his power in the third quarter after the Bulls stopped double-teaming him, scoring 18 points in the quarter and turning the game into garbage time.

Chen Fang, who scored 27 points in three quarters, seemed very happy. He was pleased that more players on the team stepped up and satisfied with the atmosphere of the Clippers' game at that moment.

Whoever scores, everyone gets up and cheers. Chen Fang sat for a while and then stood with his teammates at the corner of the baseline, fully engaged in cheering, waving, and shouting.

After winning the game, Chen Fang voluntarily stepped back, giving the stage to the players.

But he was still caught by the reporters accompanying the team, who asked him to say a few words.

“Great, really great.”

"A team that can fight tough battles must go through many difficulties. What's valuable is that we choose to believe in ourselves instead of complaining."

The reporter was very perceptive; he immediately recalled that the Lakers had lost their first game after the trade.

James said a lot after the game, which was interpreted as an excuse and a complaint about the referee's calls.

"So, what kind of behavior do you think complaining is?" the reporter immediately asked, trying to get information out of the reporter.

Chen Fang was so happy that he didn't think it through and blurted out, "Only cowards complain."

"The weak complain about their environment, while the strong change it!"

The reporter's eyes lit up, and at that moment, Sandwell rushed over, and Chen Fang ran to greet him.

No one realized anything, including Chen Fang himself; he didn't even remember being interviewed.

But the next day, when the Clippers flew back to Los Angeles, they were met with a deluge of reporters.

"King Chen, why did you mock James to his face? Is it because of a rivalry in the same city?"

Actually, the Clippers' media officer had already told the coaching staff about this on the plane, but Chen Fang, who was still confused, was stunned by the scene as soon as he got off the plane.

But Chen Fang has a personality that never backs down.

He was probably just recalling some things he said in the interview yesterday when he was in high spirits, but I never mentioned James at all, so why is the media bringing them together?

Could it really be all for the derby match six days from now?

Chen Fang did not answer, but instead boarded the bus with his teammates.

Rivers deliberately sat down next to Chen Fang and comforted him, saying, "It's just a marketing campaign. I watched the video. You were just expressing some opinions about the game and your attitude towards winning."

"That's perfectly reasonable, and the media officer will clarify this later."

"Don't say anything, and things will calm down quickly."

"It's going to be tough. The game against the Lakers is coming up soon, and it's the first one since the trade. There's a lot of suspense and hype." Chen Fang shook his head and continued, "The media won't let this go. No matter what, they'll keep the hot topic going until the 31st."

Rivers understood that Chen Fang was right, so he could only silently pat Chen Fang on the shoulder.

"It's nothing, I didn't expect to be friends with James anyway!" Chen Fang chuckled softly.

Under Rivers's surprised gaze, Chen Fang continued to lower his voice: "After all, whoever becomes his brother is bound to be unlucky."

“Oman, waooo.” Rivers was also amused. He just took Chen Fang’s joke as an excuse, but little did he know that Chen Fang was serious.

In his 20 years in the industry, who among those who truly considered LeBron James a brother hasn't suffered greatly at his hands? There's a saying in the league: when LeBron calls you brother, you get chills down your spine.

The league's assessment of someone's value as GOTA is well-deserved. But Chen Fang would never admit that he was simply annoyed that his troubles had increased since James joined the Lakers.

Just as Chen Fang predicted, even after winning against the visiting Kings and Hawks in Los Angeles, the hot topic in the news was still Chen Fang mocking James as a coward.

Twitter, news, TV shows, radio—wherever basketball is discussed, this topic appears.

Meanwhile, in China, far across the ocean, the debate raged on.

Unscrupulous self-media and unethical sports portals are all creating hype and fueling the upcoming Lakers vs. Clippers game.

Many fans, unaware of the truth and misled by numerous news reports, initially perceive Chen as spouting nonsense and mocking James as a coward and a weakling.

Some people who know the truth, despite posting or leaving messages on forums, tried to tell everyone that Chen Wang never mentioned James.

But this is ineffective; instead, it's seen as a veiled attack, leaving one speechless.

Actually, this isn't a bad thing. Most of the fans who are egging us on are on Chen Wang's side. They're happy to see their idol criticize the league's superstars because it's really exciting.

Especially since the two sides are about to play a match.

So when Wang Zhen called to ask, Chen Fang knew he was destined to take the blame.

Fake!

Okay, let's go all the way.

Chen Fang also became determined. He no longer cared about this and began to prepare for the competition the day after tomorrow.

To be honest, the Lakers' current roster is intimidating, but the results are actually mediocre.

Five matches were played, with three wins and two losses. The wins were shaky, while the losses were clean and decisive.

The coaching staff's feedback consisted of only one name.

Anthony Davis!

His performance directly determines whether the Lakers win or lose. With a versatile power forward like him who can play inside and outside, facilitate and lead the passing, and protect the rim, James couldn't be happier.

In one of the two losses, Davis didn't play, and in the other, Howard didn't play. Davis played center.

Whether Davis plays 5 or 4, the difference is huge.

If Davis plays at number 5, he won't be able to fully unleash his offensive potential, his energy management will suffer, and his offensive performance will be weakened.

When playing center, Davis comes alive and his talent shines.

But for James, when he's on fire, he needs Davis to play 5 to create space for him and draw defensive pressure away from him.

When he's tired, he needs Davis to play the 4 to keep the offense going.

And when Davis is moved around, Howard will inevitably have to make changes as well.

Change positions, or even move to a different spot.

As for Anthony, he remained calm. After his stints with the Thunder and Rockets, Anthony had come to terms with his status and current value. He simply hoped to win a championship ring with the Lakers, and he didn't care about anything else.

Therefore, he won't cause trouble unless absolutely necessary.

For Anthony at this moment, the game is just like clocking in for work; nothing else matters.

The coaching staff analyzed the results, which were also approved by Chen Fang, because Hei Nao's advice was no different, just not as tricky.

For example, a Gold VIP user on BlackBrain suggested that the Clippers use double teams to suppress Davis, while continuing to let James shoot and controlling the rebounds would ensure that James's points would not be too many.

This user was also very sarcastic; this is how he described James.

Be strong when facing the weak, and weak when facing the strong.

He also used data to prove that he wasn't being malicious, but simply stating the facts.

他在帖子里写道：詹姆斯在季后赛中面对的50胜以上球队大多集中在东部决赛和总决赛，例如2013年对阵49胜的步行者、58胜的马刺，2016年对阵57胜的勇士。

In the first round of the playoffs throughout James' career (considering only his time in the Eastern Conference), except for the 18 Pacers with 48 wins, all his other first-round playoff games have been under 45 wins, including a number of teams with 30+ wins.

This is why he only has 3 championships. If he had spent his career in the Western Conference, he wouldn't have had to wait that long to win The Decision 1.

In the wild West, there are seven or eight teams that have the ability to teach James a lesson year after year.

Finally, the user concluded with a profound statement.

Choice is more important than effort, and LeBron James has mastered this concept the most. After all, he is currently the biggest face of the league.

This post received thousands of likes on the BlackBrain Forum, and not a single negative review on Rotten Tomatoes.

It's worth noting that only registered members can like or use Rotten Tomatoes, and currently, BlackBrain members only number a little over a thousand.

It can only be said that anyone who understands basketball would not be a LeBron fan. If they are, it must be because they are not doing well financially and need to earn money from this advertorial.

Chen Fang laughed for a long time, but finally managed to hold back and share it.

He is a public figure. If he were to fall out with James, he would be the one who suffers. The league and the forces behind him would not allow anyone to ruin their money-making venture.

In Chen Fang's view, James was even controlled by the people behind him. Many of his statements were outrageous, but they were very effective.

Frankly speaking, it's because of James' many unconventional moves that his value multiplied towards the end of his career, which is truly incredible.

Kobe and Jordan were no longer able to increase their commercial value at the end of their careers, but LeBron James was able to.

从2018年的总收入的8550万美元增长到2024年的1.287亿美元，增长了约49.4%。

This is just for him personally; those who collaborate with him take the lion's share.

Therefore, no matter how disdainful he was, Chen Fang had to maintain a certain relationship with James with a smile.

After all, they have a lot of influence, and so far, they are happy to see someone step forward to challenge James.

Thinking about all this, Chen Fang calmed down. He suddenly felt that if he could make such a person have no excuse, the scene would be quite interesting.

(End of this chapter)