NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 261 The Once-a-Year Christmas Battle

This year's Christmas Day game, with the Hawks vs. Cavaliers, was a carefully planned move by the league. The Cavaliers had a terrible season last year and, in principle, didn't deserve a Christmas Day matchup. But with the appearance of Running Man (a popular Chinese variety show), the Cavaliers instantly became championship favorites and a high-profile team, changing everything.

The league initially planned to have the Hawks and Heat play a Christmas Day game, but then DeAndre Azkaban ran away and went home. As a result, the Heat lost much of their popularity, and the Cavaliers formed their Big Three, making them a hot team in the league.

The matchup between Jia Fei and Running Man is significantly more popular than that between Jia Fei and Powell. The Running Man member's popularity and fanbase are unlike that of a typical sports star; he's incredibly controversial, which naturally generates buzz. Even if it's a case of being both famous and controversial, he's still famous!

These days, only star players with high popularity can attract sponsors. Is Tim Duncan a good player? How many championships does he have? How long was his career? But is he famous?

When it comes to generating buzz, Running Man is a master. And there are many people who both criticize and praise him; a large group of people make a living by either criticizing or supporting him, which is quite an interesting phenomenon in the basketball world.

Sometimes, the people who criticize him the most are also the ones who earn the most. Outsiders watch the spectacle, while insiders understand the intricacies.

The Cavaliers' recent record has not been as good as expected at the beginning of the season. They are currently ranked 4th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 17 wins and 10 losses.

There are many reasons for the poor record, including integration issues and roster problems. The Cavaliers' Big Three are all offensively oriented. Kyrie Irving was a member of the All-Defensive Team during his time with the Heat, but this season, due to injuries and a more conservative approach during the regular season, his defense has often been lax, with frequent instances of him putting his hands on his hips while defending. Kyrie Irving's one-on-one defense is decent, but he's prone to leaving his man open off the ball and is disastrous in pick-and-roll defense. As for Kevin Love, aside from his decent defense at the top of the key, he's unreliable in other areas.

Roster composition is also a factor. This team lacks a true center. Both Love and Varejao previously played power forward, and while they are good rebounders, their rim protection is lacking. Irving and Waiters on the perimeter are not known for their defense, and Marion and Mike Miller are getting old. This team is old and slow, and aside from Tristan Thompson, their defensive energy is generally lacking.

Ultimately, this is the growing pains of a rebuilding team suddenly transforming into a championship contender; it's a bit like forcing growth. Last season, this team was still rebuilding, the young players weren't used to winning, and they hired David Blatt, a rookie NBA coach to help them develop. Now, suddenly they're aiming for a championship, and this team is clearly not adapting well in any way.

The Running Man cast's desire to win the championship quickly is as obvious as Sima Zhao's ambition.

The Cavaliers' owner certainly wants to win a championship, and he wants the team to generate more revenue from ticket sales. The two have the same goal, but the young players on the team may be somewhat dissatisfied.

They could have leveled up by fighting monsters, but now they've lost the chance to fight small monsters and have to go straight to fight the boss. What the hell is going on?

Cleveland, located in the central United States, in western Ohio, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, is the capital of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Following a major industrial decline, it became a center for finance, insurance, and healthcare.

Logically, Cleveland, located in the Great Lakes region of the United States and possessing excellent trading ports, facing neighboring Canada across the sea, should have been a prosperous and developed city. In 1950, its population reached 92. Cleveland was once among the top cities in the United States, enjoying great prosperity. However, starting in 1960, with the relocation of manufacturing and industrial transformation, Cleveland embarked on a path of decline. With a large outflow of population, the economy slumped, remaining stagnant to this day. The entire Great Lakes region of the American Midwest became known as the "Rust Belt," a "rusty industrial belt."

In the Great Lakes region, apart from Chicago, which maintains its economic vitality thanks to the financial industry (Chicago has a futures exchange, currently the world's most representative agricultural commodity exchange), other industrial cities are still in great decline.

There was no practice scheduled for the 24th, so the Hawks players were free to move around.

Jia Fei and Art Mayor strolled through the streets of Cleveland. Compared to Atlanta, where they lived, it was indeed much more desolate. However, the United States as a whole was still developed, and even in industrial cities that were declining, the service sector was still relatively developed, and transportation was convenient.

It is said that the Running Man actor decided to return to the Cavaliers, but his mother and other family members were unwilling to go back, as they had become accustomed to life in Miami, a major metropolis on the South Coast.

That's true; many people are like that. They get used to life in big cities and find it hard to go back, even if that place is their hometown.

The streets are already filled with Christmas decorations and a festive atmosphere, making even a traveler far from home feel naturally drawn in and deeply experience the local culture.

“Jay, spending Christmas away from home has its own unique charm!” Art Mayork laughed.

"I don't really care!" Jia Fei said honestly. He and Art Mayork were essentially foreigners, so whether they celebrated Christmas or not didn't matter to them; they were just joining in the fun.

It was Christmas Eve, and Jia Fei and Art Mayork spent the night at the hotel. Kemba Walker video-called them and chatted with them.

"I really envy you guys, having the chance to play in the Christmas game!" Kemba Walker joked.

“What do I have to envy? We envy you more, being able to spend Christmas at home. What delicious food are you eating?” Jia Fei asked with a smile.

"Nothing good, what good stuff could I possibly have! Ja, Artest, the Christmas Day game is going to be broadcast live across the US, and the TV signal will be relayed to many countries around the world. Let's have a good fight, crush LeBron, and make a big splash on his turf!" Kemba Walker offered his expectations.

“That’s…absolutely necessary…absolutely necessary!” Jia Fei laughed.

Defeating the Running Man team in the Christmas game is a great opportunity for Jia Fei to boost his popularity and gain more attention!

Who doesn't want to become a bigger star? Then stepping on the so-called "number one player in the league" is the best way.

On the evening of the 25th, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Outside the arena, the huge poster for Running Man is up again. They say a fish's memory only lasts three seconds. When Running Man left to play for Brothers Basketball, fans burned his jerseys, the team owner publicly broke ties with him, and everyone said they would never forgive him. But now that he's showing goodwill and wants to come back, these same people have started to forget their past grievances and fawn over him.

So there aren't that many grudges; most of the time it's just a matter of self-interest.