NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 608 The Forever Big Brother

Jia Fei and Art Mayork exchanged a glance, then both looked up and laughed...

Such scenes are becoming increasingly rare these days. Since we're no longer in the NCAA, it can be a long time before we can meet again. Opportunities to joke around, meet up, and chat like this are few and far between, making them all the more precious.

"They'll definitely invite you to their wedding. Just prepare a big gift!" Jia Fei patted Kemba Walker on the shoulder and laughed.

“I’ve given up on Art, I’ve already given up on him. Ja, you can still salvage this. I look forward to your wedding!” Kemba Walker said with a smile, like an older brother.

There's not another person in the entire league who can talk to Jia Fei like that; it's Kemba Walker.

Jia Fei is now the league's top player, with explosive popularity. Most people wouldn't dare call themselves his senior, but Kemba Walker is definitely an exception. Their relationship is something most people can't understand.

On the evening of the 21st, at the Staples Center, the Clippers faced the Celtics. This was a highly anticipated matchup, naturally broadcast nationwide.

Unfortunately, Paul George and Danilo Gallinari will continue to be absent from this game. According to injury updates, they are expected to return in the Clippers' home game against the reserves on the 25th of this month.

But this doesn't diminish the anticipation surrounding this match at all. Jia Fei vs. the two young stars, Jia Fei vs. Kemba Walker – there's bound to be plenty of talking points.

Lin Ning also went to watch the game live. Going to the Staples Center to watch a game after get off work has become a significant part of her life. She doesn't consider herself Jia Fei's girlfriend, yet she can't quite define their relationship. Are they just friends? Are they boyfriend and girlfriend? What exactly is their relationship?

She herself didn't know...

This somewhat ambiguous relationship makes her overthink things, yet it also sometimes makes her feel infatuated. Humans are curious creatures, especially women. Letting her speculate isn't always a bad thing.

Practice before the match.

This game was broadcast live on TNT, and the commentators were the well-known Flying Black Charles Barkley and his longtime partner Kenny Smith.

These two not only commentate together frequently, but they also do shows together. Someone once joked that they are conjoined twins, probably even going to the toilet or sleeping together...

Of course, this isn't absolute. A reporter once revealed that Barkley often sneakily eats. He once saw Barkley finish a hot dog in 5 seconds and a sandwich and a cup of coffee in 10 seconds. Having a big mouth is definitely an advantage!

Charles Barkley is notorious for his outspokenness. Not only is he a fast eater with a huge appetite, but he also talks a lot and his comments are often quite outrageous. He used to constantly criticize Jia Fei, saying he was no good at this or that, saying that when Jia Fei won MVP, he didn't have a championship, and when he did win a championship, he attributed it to luck. Later, when Jia Fei won multiple MVPs and championships, Barkley stopped criticizing him and started saying Jia Fei was riding on someone else's coattails. Now, with Paul George injured and Jia Fei performing exceptionally well, Barkley has started digging into Jia Fei's personal life.

If you want to criticize someone, you can do it from any angle. For example, if your teammates play well, it's because you're carrying them; if your teammates play terribly and you play well, it's because you're a useless teammate. Or, if everyone is playing well, it's because you can only play when the team is winning...

Barkley has been saying for a while that Jia Fei's private life is a bit strange, as he's been living with Art Mayok, a Black man, for many years. The two have been inseparable since the Hawks moved to the Clippers, and there were even rumors that they lived in the same apartment complex and building. Now in Los Angeles, they still live in the same complex. Most importantly, neither of them is married or has a publicly acknowledged girlfriend. He suspects that their sexual orientation is questionable, and that they've been dating...

Shaquille O'Neal previously criticized Barkley, telling him to mind his own business and stop constantly criticizing Jia Fei. Jia Fei has a ring, while Barkley doesn't even have one; what right does he have to keep criticizing him? If you're going to criticize someone, criticize someone worse than yourself. Criticizing a top-ten all-time great—can you really do that?

Barkley was rather dismissive. In his view, criticizing Jia Fei wasn't necessarily "politically correct," but it certainly brought him a huge amount of traffic. Although many of Jia Fei's fans would go online to hurl insults and argue with him, he didn't change his smear campaign. His goal was simply to gain traffic, and he didn't care about the methods used. He somewhat regretted that Jia Fei hadn't publicly confronted him. If Jia Fei had, then his ultimate goal would have been achieved: massive traffic translates to immense wealth. Being infamous is still fame, and fame means money. Many star players don't have a stable income after retirement, but he lives so comfortably after retirement, all thanks to these "methods."

"Kenny, I think the two young stars will shut down Jia Fei in this game, I'm pretty sure of it!" Barkley started spouting nonsense with a straight face again.

"Charles, how many times have you been proven wrong? Have you even counted? Even if the two third-place finishers can shut down Jia Fei in this game, you're nothing special. You've been wrong more often than you've been right. Everyone online calls you a 'jinx,' and I think you are!" Kenny Smith couldn't help but tease.

"I don't think I've been proven wrong. I think there are just too many fans who don't understand basketball. They only like star players, and they tolerate their favorite stars without any principles. If anyone says anything bad about their star player, they will all attack them. I'm a person who sticks to the truth. Basketball doesn't lie, I firmly believe that!" Barkley said very seriously.

Kenny Smith almost burst out laughing; it's true that shamelessness knows no bounds.

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Clippers' starting lineup, playing at home, consisted of Jia Fei, Beverley, Dillon, Kyle Anderson, and Olynyk.

The Celtics' starting lineup for the away game is Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Daniel Theis.

The Celtics' head coach is Brad Stevens, who is known as the "young coach".

Stevens and Jia Fei have a connection. In the NCAA finals, UConn played against Butler University, and Stevens was the head coach of Butler University at the time.

It was precisely because of his illustrious coaching experience at Butler University that Stevens was specially invited by the cunning Danny Ainge to coach the Celtics. Judging from the current situation, Ainge's judgment is truly astute; Stevens is indeed a remarkable talent. He is just young, but youth does not necessarily mean incompetence.

The young marshal was still as handsome as ever; just standing there, he exuded the air of a refined young man. Compared to him, old Li and the others seemed far too rough…