After Yu Fei moved to the Western Conference, his matchups with James dropped from at least four games during the Bucks season to a minimum of two games per season.
If rarity is valued, then the big game hype would also be amplified by the reduction in these competitive encounters.
James had never beaten Yu Fei in his career to date.
The 24 consecutive defeats were part of the humiliation etched onto him by his rival.
But the biggest problem was that Yu Fei had heaped too much shame on James.
The 24 losses weren't even the most humiliating part.
Starting with scoring 49 points over him in their first professional game, Yu Fei always found various ways to set records against him. Therefore, every time the two met again, past failures would be repeatedly mentioned.
Now, with the rift between the two, the outside world became more sensitive to these matters.