章 25: Chapter 24 So now, I will immediately trade my uncle away
LeBron once again demonstrated the media power he and his team possessed. Shortly after Su Wan had finished an interview, LeBron hurried into the locker room, and his first words to Su Wan were, "Hey, bro, is there some misunderstanding between us? I support you becoming a better version of yourself, but I think you still need my help. I entered the League before you did, uncle, so we shouldn't have any disagreement on that, right?"
Su Wan nodded—an acknowledgment he couldn't deny.
"But LeBron," Su Wan countered, "I got my career's championship earlier than you, and that's a fact."
LeBron's intent was clear, "I know the ins and outs of the NBA better; you should listen to me." Su Wan's retort implied, "If we're talking experiences, I've had more! Listen to uncle's advice; the professional league is deep, and kid, you might not handle it. But uncle can, so here I come!"
LeBron fell silent, and after not speaking for a while, he finally stood up, walked to his locker, changed his clothes, and left without saying another word to Su Wan.
They parted on bad terms.
Bill Duffy keenly realized that there was a surge in press releases stating LeBron James was a versatile player who always cooperated with his team. Some experts even believed that "LeBron is the most selfless rookie. As long as his teammates have good opportunities, he'll pass the ball without hesitation." This was clearly an attempt to prove that Su Wan's complaint about not getting the ball was not due to LeBron James.
The effect was obvious!
The latest wave of press releases all claimed that Su Wan lacked team spirit and was dissatisfied with the existing ball possession.
Su Wan wasn't surprised when he learned about the current state of public opinion from Bill Duffy.
This was LeBron James's dominance in controlling public opinion.
Even as a rookie, he had the media influence of a superstar; after becoming a superstar, his influence over public opinions was "goat" level.
"However, an ESPN reporter wrote an article mentioning that last season, Carlos Boozer also complained several times about not having ball possession, and Ricky Davis was traded by the Cavaliers for the same reason..."
"Is this speaking up for me?" Su Wan was somewhat surprised. This couldn't be Bill Duffy's doing, otherwise, he wouldn't specify that it was written by an ESPN reporter.
After thinking it through, Su Wan felt he should know the name of the person backing him. Speaking up for him at this time was like sending charcoal in snowy weather. While the influence might be limited, it at least provided them with a "counter-public opinion" strategy.
"It's actually an old acquaintance of yours, Erin Andrews!"
"Her?" Su Wan wasn't so surprised this time, given that she had always been sending similar signals. But this time, it was more intense.
What Su Wan didn't know was that Erin was also confused at the moment.
She originally just wanted to support Su Wan, but suddenly a wave of press releases justifying LeBron's playing style made her article stand out starkly, directly opposing LeBron James. Uncertain of what to do next, several other media outlets stepped up, releasing similar articles that detailed last season's "battle for ball possession" between Ricky Davis, Boozer, and LeBron, with many "anonymous insiders" revealing explosive information.
Furthermore, these media moved ahead, providing some advanced statistics not even ESPN had, with a key point in the article stating: "LeBron's possession rate per game is 33.5%! It's hard for his teammates not to feel deprived of ball possession!"
These press releases naturally came from Bill Duffy's team.
Behind LeBron, the current team members included the agent Goodwin Brothers.
They're not worth mentioning.
What's worth mentioning is Fred Schreier, the lawyer LeBron James has chosen, who used to be a senior executive at Nike, and LeBron had always maintained a close relationship with Sonny Vaccaro, the legendary figure in the sneaker industry and founder of Adidas ABCD Camp. Last summer, the top brass at Adidas flipped at the last moment, causing LeBron to sign with Nike, after which Sonny Vaccaro resigned angrily.
From this, it's apparent that LeBron James' agent team had media resources only available by backing from both Adidas and Nike.
Ordinary agent teams really couldn't compete with them.
Fortunately, the team Su Wan had chosen, led by Bill Duffy, was one of the few capable of standing up against them.
Advanced data was proposed by Su Wan.
Beginning in the 1990s, with the development of computer technology and the rise of data analysis, basketball statistics began to go beyond traditional basic data such as scores, rebounds, and assists. But before John Hollinger joined ESPN in 2005, there was no clear formula for advanced statistical data. It was not until he introduced the concept of PER.
The biggest beneficiary of advanced data was undoubtedly LeBron James, and the biggest victims were naturally those "Lone Wolves" who took extremely unreasonable shots, like the "Little Ironsmith" from Italy.
In fact, the formula for calculating advanced data was absurd in itself. Fifteen years later, Westbrook's successive years of "season average triple-doubles" made PER bust, forcing ESPN to modify the formula, proving this point.
With just a slight adjustment to the formula, they could knock a player off his pedestal or maintain some players steadily in the "data goat" category.
That was the huge bug in advanced data.
Su Wan thought of using "advanced data" to counter LeBron James.
ESPN was to be the biggest "royalist" in the future, yet they recorded LeBron's ball possession rate at only about 25%. If Su Wan got his data team to rigorously verify LeBron James' rookie season's ball possession rate, wouldn't he be able to deliver a powerful response from a data perspective?
The results didn't disappoint him, in his rookie season, LeBron James' average 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists per game brought him a high ball possession rate of 33.5%!
Such a ball possession rate naturally caused his teammates to complain.
What was interesting was that Carlos Boozer also stepped up at this time, harshly criticizing the Cavaliers management: "They only respect LeBron James; it's as if there are no other players in the Cavaliers, Ricky Davis treats the Cavaliers as his own home, I am grateful that the Cavaliers chose me, but I am not the last to come, nor is Ricky, now it's the turn of the rookie from Huaxia. If they can't properly handle our relationship with LeBron, then such affairs will never stop, they will only keep repeating."
Su Wan won this battle of public opinion.
LeBron's team didn't sit idle, and after losing the battle of public opinion, they immediately shifted their target, beginning to pressure the management: "The huge billboard in the center of Cleveland should not be of that Huaxia person, but of LeBron James, his significance to this city, I think you should know."
But Danny Ferri was unusually firm: "This isn't the first time such a situation has occurred, do you ever consider the consequences? If LeBron's teammates keep complaining about not having enough ball rights, constantly being traded, where would his help come from? Or do you think LeBron can take on five players by himself? If you think so, then right now, I'll trade Su away immediately."
No fxxk said, LeBron's team lost again and again.
The Goodwin Brothers could only pull LeBron aside to have a chat, urging him to bide his time until things calmed down, but looking at the brothers, LeBron thought to himself:
It's time to replace these two old dogs!
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