The gesture LeBron James made towards Fly from the bench was immediately captured by the broadcast cameras on the sidelines.
Especially when contrasted with the scene of Fly awkwardly turning his head, it further highlighted the ridiculousness and arrogance of LeBron James crowning himself.
Look, Fly Adams, who is evaluated as "wild and unruly" by his Fleet Street peers in European football, actually found LeBron James's crown gesture very awkward.
Doesn't this further illustrate how presumptuous it is for LeBron James to crown himself?
Obviously, LeBron James's actions on the bench were heavily reported by the media after the game, drawing a lot of mockery from fans.
Even though LeBron James gradually took over the scepter of the league's leading star from Kobe, his actions still drew cold sarcasm from many fans.
After all, it's a bit too ridiculous for a player who has never truly succeeded to crown himself.
You know, even in his previous life, when LeBron James was evaluated by the media as "sub-GOAT", his act of crowning himself drew criticism from many fans.
Let alone the Heat LeBron who hasn't even won a championship yet?
It was only normal for him to be cursed to death by fans.
Even many NBA legends came out to comment on LeBron James's behavior.
Magic Johnson was not polite about LeBron James's action, stating directly: "Someone who has never won a championship does not deserve my commentary."
Scottie Pippen, the strongest second option in history, unleashed his big mouth, blasting the media:
"LeBron is just a failed Michael, they are essentially the same type of person, thinking they are invincible and all the credit for the team's victory belongs to them, but in reality, without their teammates, they are nothing!"
Although Pippen's words were outwardly criticizing LeBron James, anyone with a discerning eye could see that his true intention wasn't about LeBron James; the person he actually wanted to blast was Jordan.
Even Kobe, LeBron James's opponent in this game, accepted an interview. When asked about this issue, Kobe's face looked very bad, and he said:
"I don't care about things off the court, I only focus on things on the court. We lost this game, and we lost badly. I don't want to play like this again when we face the Heat next time. We need to make changes..."
The reporters were a little disappointed that they didn't get the answer they wanted from Kobe.
Even Fly was surrounded and intercepted by reporters after the game, including specialized NBA reporters and Hollywood reporters.
The questions they asked were varied and diverse, giving Fly a headache.
In the end, Taylor, who was experienced in dealing with the media, stepped forward to help him out:
"Dear reporters and friends, Fly is just here on vacation today to relax at the Staples Center. He is not prepared to accept interviews, so I hope you can understand."
However, Taylor's words clearly did not have a good effect. In fact, her appearance caused many reporters to turn their focus onto her as well.
"Taylor, tell us about the social media posts you and Fly made yesterday. Did Fly's parents really set up some high-tech stuff at the manor?"
"Taylor, are Fly and LeBron good friends? What do you know?"
"Taylor, is everything Fly said on The Oprah Winfrey Show the other day true? Did you really actively pursue him? You didn't just say that to save his face, did you?"
"Taylor..."
Seeing these fanatical media reporters getting more and more out of line, Fly pulled Taylor behind him and said one sentence to them: "Today is a day off, no interviews will be accepted. Thank you!"
Immediately, with the bodyguards clearing the way, Fly pulled Taylor and smoothly got into the car.
Even though the media reporters behind them were still chasing and asking questions, Fly and Taylor did not respond with a single word from beginning to end.
This Christmas Day game had many elements and maintained a very high level of discussion even after the game ended.
Fly, Taylor, LeBron James, Kobe...
Several super famous stars in the United States gathered together, and something happened between them.
This greatly satisfied the curiosity of the onlookers and the traffic for the media reporters.
Almost on the same day, topics related to #Fly, Taylor, LeBron James, Kobe# were reported by major media outlets and newspapers.
Among these, the entry about LeBron James crowning himself towards Fly reached the top of the trending searches.
Even the popularity of the game itself was overshadowed.
Fleet Street, which originally did little attention to the NBA across the ocean, also put this matter on the front page headline because of Fly.
However, compared to the American media which were all discussing "LeBron James crowning himself."
Fleet Street focused on the point of "LeBron James crowning Fly".
After all, before LeBron James put on the crown at that time, he first pointed to Fly and himself, indicating "the two of them".
So the meaning of this gesture is: You and I both wear crowns.
This is what Fleet Street hyped up.
After all, Fly is now almost a superstar throughout Europe, especially in England!
In his first year of debut, he showed the level of the strongest super rookie in history, scoring over 40 goals just past the halfway point of the season.
It can be said that the current Fly is already a super threat no less than Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in the eyes of coaches of various teams.
But even so, no media outlet has come out and said "Fly is the king".
The reason is very simple, a king not only needs absolute strength, but also sufficient honors.
Fly currently has the former, but not the latter.
This time, LeBron James put a crown on Fly, which is equivalent to directly skipping the step of "winning honors" and directly calling him king.
This will definitely cause a lot of discussion in European football.
For a time, many people began to express their views on social platforms.
The famous England legend Gary Lineker, contrary to his usual behavior, continued to praise Fly. Even regarding this "king" evaluation, he felt there was nothing wrong with it in his blog.
"I don't think there is a big problem with the crown LeBron James put on Fly. Of course, I don't understand basketball and don't know what basketball fans think about him crowning himself."
"But at least for him putting a crown on Fly, I think it's reasonable."
"You know, Fly has already scored 40 goals now. If there are no surprises, he can score dozens more goals in the second half of the season. Together, I don't think it will be less than 60 goals, and 70 goals is not impossible..."
"A player who can score so many goals in a single season absolutely possesses the strength of a king."
"I know many people want to say that Fly has no honors yet, and he hasn't proven himself to be the strongest player in the world."
"Undeniably, these people's views are correct, but we need to think clearly about one thing: is the reason Fly doesn't have honors yet because of his strength?"
"Obviously, no!"
"The reason Fly hasn't won honors is simply because this is his first season, and his career hasn't reached the point where he can compete for championships, that's all."
"It's not that he can't win championships, but that the time is not right. Even if he scores 100 goals in a game at this stage, he won't win a championship until next May."
"All in all, Fly absolutely has the strength to wear a crown. At least from the perspective of pure strength, there is nothing wrong with LeBron James putting a crown on him..."
Gary Lineker's remarks instantly ignited the entire England.
Many British people believed that Gary Lineker had completely lost the dignity of an England legend by flattering an American and begging him to join the England National Team.
Noble Englishmen absolutely would not allow those American nouveau riche from the countryside to act as the saviors of England football.
For Englishmen who regard football as their life, this was simply a great humiliation!
But there were also many Englishmen who felt that Gary Lineker's words were crude but the reasoning was sound.
Because putting everything aside and only discussing strength, Fly is indeed qualified to be called king.
After all, the over 40 goals scored since entering the first team are cold, hard data, laid out there, undeniable.
In addition, many England fans genuinely hoped that Fly could lead England football to win a championship and bring football home.
This made them subconsciously side with him when facing topics related to Fly.
After all, such a super star is hard to find, and someone like Fly who doesn't have a clear national team intention is even rarer.
As long as he can lead England football, many England fans are even willing to kneel before Fly.
However, the thoughts of England fans cannot represent the mainstream European view.
Because other countries in Europe do not have the idea of relying on Fly to save their national teams, their view on LeBron James crowning Fly was almost universally critical.
"Unbelievable, I don't know what LeBron James meant. Neither he nor Fly is qualified to wear a crown at this stage."
"Of course, maybe they will never have this opportunity."
"Because in the field of basketball, there is Michael Jordan, and now there are also Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. These players can firmly suppress LeBron."
"As for Fly, that's even more ridiculous."
"Leaving aside the two football kings Pelé and Diego for now, just the current Cristiano Ronaldo is not someone Fly can compare to."
"Without a doubt, Cristiano is the best player in football today, not even Lionel Messi can compare to him."
Jorge Mendes, known as the world's number one agent, immediately tweeted to criticize Fly.
As Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, he is naturally in opposition to Fly.
Therefore, regarding news like "crowning", he would definitely not stand by and watch. He would certainly come out to express his stance.
Because his biggest client is Cristiano Ronaldo, only by standing firm on his position can he continue to cooperate with Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition, knowing Cristiano Ronaldo's personality and ambitions, he would naturally be hostile towards Fly, who was trying to "steal" the crown from Cristiano Ronaldo's head.
It can only be said that Fly, who never expressed his desire to wear a crown from beginning to end, was purely caught in the crossfire while lying down.