NOVPUBChapter 952: Chapter 565 Bennett Knows the Answer_2 Chapter 952: Chapter 565 Bennett Knows the Answer_2 Once he regained that feeling of being a main core, even with a depleted roster, the Supersonics still gave off an incredibly powerful vibe. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
By mid-January, Yu Fei began to consistently churn out triple-doubles, and Irving gradually adapted to the role of the secondary offensive player, starting to show off his talents beside Yu Fei.
Irving’s performance in his rookie year was so outstanding that the outside world had already started discussing who was better, him or Roy.
In late January, the League announced the 2013 All-Star game roster. Averaging 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, Irving edged out the Mavericks’ Tony Parker and was elected as the starting point guard for the Western All-Stars.
At the same time, Irving’s signature sneaker sales under Reebok skyrocketed. In Seattle, his advertisements and posters also significantly increased.
Although Yu Fei’s future was still uncertain, various powers had already started paving the way for the next ruler of the Seattle dynasty.
Under Reebok’s aggressive promotion, Irving had become the leading player among the brand’s numerous rising stars.
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Curry, who was nearly as popular, faced a problem in Miami—he wasn’t the team leader. The leader of the Miami Heat was Wade, and no matter how agile Curry was or how exceptional his shooting skills, the main focus of the outside world still landed on Wade. Until this situation changed, Curry would remain “the second-in-command,” finding it difficult to attract market favor.
In contrast, Irving was the kind of player who could produce highlights in one game that others might only achieve over their entire career. He was extremely visually appealing, and also humble and refined, winning the hearts of sponsors.
On the very day Irving was selected as a Western All-Star starter, Reebok announced they would tailor-make a creative documentary for him called “Uncle Drew.”
At this point, Irving’s on-court aura, commercial appeal, and rising speed had left his peers far behind.
The outside world began to compare him to Nike’s Kevin Durant.
Both were rising stars with promising prospects, but Irving’s future seemed even brighter than Durant’s.
For Yu Fei, the rivalry between rising stars was hardly worth concerning himself with.
Irving’s recent performance could be described as sky-rocketing, with all sorts of accolades falling upon him—one of the fundamental steps in creating a star.
First comes professional achievements, followed by the League’s strong endorsement, and finally, the creation of a persona by sponsors.
Once all three elements are in place, the foundation for a star is solid. With improvement in skill, they will gradually approach the thresholds of All-Star, superstar, and even megastar status, but to achieve greatness or ascend to the pantheon, several championship trophies are still needed.
The NBA’s historical giants who have withstood many tests are hailed as legends among the top ten all-time.
However, Yu Fei was very clear about Irving’s true strength.
He had a glamorous playing style and a big heart during critical moments, especially his scoring efficiency during clutch time. If Yu Fei remembered correctly, Irving could score 56 points per 48 minutes under those circumstances, second only to himself.
This seemed like the seed of a future megastar, but as an offensive guard, he lacked the outstanding organizational ability to lead teammates, nor did he have elite-level defense to back the team. Therefore, if placed on a weak team, he could only strive for top draft picks through stat padding—a player with a very low leading floor.
But if he were the secondary offensive option on a strong team, his ceiling could be incredibly high.
For Yu Fei, none of these were problems; the issue was with Irving the person.
In a past life, Yu Fei didn’t understand why Irving would constantly cause trouble after leaving the Knight, but in this life, after close contact, he saw Irving’s other side more or less.
On the surface, Irving was a modest gentleman, confident to the brim due to his father’s strict upbringing. However, he had a rich inner world, was rather emotional, enjoyed reading, and even wrote letters to himself, questioning all societal norms and axioms like a cynical philosopher.
Yu Fei once hinted to the Reebok staff that Irving’s developmental potential was questionable, while Curry had a higher moldability, thus the distribution of resources to both should be balanced.
However, it now seemed that Reebok had become somewhat blind in their treatment of Irving.
But these had already exceeded Yu Fei’s scope of concern. He had issued the warning, and what happened next was no longer related to him.
At the end of January, the Supersonics, who had been plagued with bad luck since the start of the season, finally received good news.
Amar’e Stoudemire, who had been indefinitely sidelined due to a back injury, finally received the doctor’s permission to officially start participating in five-on-five scrimmages.
Although Stoudemire had degraded to the point of no longer being an All-Star player, the Supersonics’ frontcourt had become desperately thin.
As Coach Lu said, “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Stoudemire was quite dissatisfied with this; how had he gone from being a top ten player in the League to being seen as subpar in “beggars'” eyes?
The end result proved that Coach Lu was right.
Stoudemire’s return indeed added some depth to the Supersonics’ frontcourt, but that was about it.
The Supersonics’ winning percentage was not going to rise because of Stoudemire’s comeback.
For Stoudemire, a more realistic thought was to hope that the team’s winning percentage wouldn’t drop because of his return.
Going into February, the Supersonics achieved a record of 6 wins and 1 loss in the seven games prior to All-Star weekend.
On the evening of February 14, the NBA entered the All-Star break.
This year’s All-Star weekend was held in Houston. The Houston Rockets were struggling during the tough period after the retirements of Yao Ming and McGrady, but Harden’s rise had given them hope.
This year was also Harden’s breakthrough season.
