Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 536 - 178: I Play More Like Kobe (5,000-word - , my cervical spine is a bit better today)
Entering the new year in January, the Warriors’ first opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This season, James, in his contract year, has been delivering MVP-level performances — averaging 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game for the Cavaliers.
The young James is confident that he’s mastered the art of being a primary ball-handler on the court.
But the returning Qin Yue...
Seems like a mountain pressing down on him, no matter what achievements he accomplishes, it will always overshadow him.
Qin Yue is described as a more skilled and taller version of James — this has been the most common evaluation James has heard about the comparison between him and Qin Yue in recent years.
No matter how he chases, whenever people mention that Finals series or those two USA-China games in the Beijing Olympic Games, he naturally falls short compared to Qin Yue.
Moreover...
The most terrifying thing is, James knows that everything people say is true.
After years of competition, Qin Yue has long left an indelible psychological shadow in James’ heart.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, James used all his strength in defending Qin Yue.
Yet on the international stage, like a man possessed, Qin Yue scored 55 and 58 points over him respectively.
In past encounters, James has always taken them seriously, yet each time, Qin Yue would lead the Warriors to easily outmatch the Cavaliers.
James believes that if it weren’t for Qin Yue, he might already be having the peak season of his career.
However...
As long as there is a comparison with Qin Yue, as long as he cannot defeat Qin Yue, James can only use his need to grow as an excuse.
James doesn’t know when this difficult pursuit will end.
Perhaps...
It may never have an end.
In any case, James doesn’t want to keep chasing like this.
Although on the surface, James has publicly stated multiple times this season that he will prioritize staying in Cleveland this summer.
But privately, knowing only by overtaking in corners can he catch up with Qin Yue, James has already quietly set his deep gaze on those teams with more promise.
The Cavaliers and Gilbert are willing to spend money on this young King—
But isn’t it a fact that Cleveland has long struggled to recruit true superstar players?
If the Cavaliers can’t help him catch up with Qin Yue, then naturally, James can only switch to a team that can help him overtake in corners.
Oakland, Oracle Arena.
James is about to face Qin Yue for the eleventh time in his career (including playoffs).
Having lost all ten previous encounters, James approached Qin Yue before the game for a brief chat.
Their conversation mainly revolved around the upcoming labor negotiations in February.
At that time, many superstar players, including Kobe, Qin Yue, James, and Paul, will attend.
This is a critical labor negotiation.
However, during the chat, Qin Yue noticed that James was intentionally distancing himself.
"We are the juniors, we should listen more to the opinions and views of veterans like Kobe who participated in the 1998 labor negotiations."
"At that time, we should try to speak less because the more you say, the more mistakes you can make."
"Patrick Ewing is an example; it was the words he said back then that led to no fans willing to stand by our side now."
Qin Yue knows very well that even though James repeatedly falls to Star Fury in front of him...
He is still among the top five active stars in the league today.
But what Qin Yue didn’t expect at all was that in the upcoming labor negotiations, a top five player like James would rather just be an observer.
He neither wants to betray the players’ union in this labor negotiation.
Nor does he want to offend the owners and fans because of a misspoken word.
Is this reasonable?
It’s very reasonable.
Because historically, that is exactly what James did in this labor negotiation.
Until 2015, when the players’ union and the owners resumed labor negotiations, James, having learned that the NBA had signed a massive broadcasting deal, only then did his stance become tougher.
After all...
Compared to the current labor negotiations, it was clear to anyone that during future negotiations, in the face of enormous benefits, all disagreements between the two sides were no longer disagreements.
In simple terms, James never fights a battle without assurance and chance of winning.
Qin Yue won’t criticize James’ approach.
However, at the end of the chat, Qin Yue still reminded James: "Brown, this time we can only overcome the difficulty by staying united."
Qin Yue knows very well that compared to the seniors back then, the most important reason why the players’ union hasn’t been able to defeat the owners since 1983 is the lack of unity among the players.
Unlike those barefoot ancestors who feared nothing, the younger generations, with rising incomes, always formed a considerable number of compromising factions for various reasons.
So, every time the owners pull out the ultimate trick of a lockout, at most they hold out for a few months, and the players’ union would obediently wave the white flag to the owners.
Qin Yue plans to seek valuable advice from Oscar Robertson, who once advocated for numerous benefits for countless players, before the All-Star Weekend to find a way to win this off-court war.
After all, if possible, Qin Yue truly doesn’t want the NBA to go into a lockout.
Because if the future 11/12 season turns into a shortened season, that would mean, even if Qin Yue led the Warriors to the championship, he would only achieve an asterisk championship.
