"Tang, Kevin said in an interview that you often play dirty and are a total thug on the court. Kevin said your character is problematic and he'd rather not play with you if given the chance. How do you respond to that?"
"KG is just making excuses for his own failure. After he was eliminated from the playoffs, of course he can use this as a reason to absolve himself. It's nothing more than a loser's excuse."
"As for my character being problematic, everyone's eyes work, don't they? I advise him to be kind, or I'll mobilize all the players who have been targeted by Kevin's dirty plays and trash talk to stand up and confront him."
Although the Cavaliers lost to the Celtics, Tang Long's 25 points and 11 rebounds in this game weren't particularly outstanding. However, this post-game interview attracted the attention of many players and fans.
Some busybodies even created a ranking.
Who is the real court thug?
The result was that Garnett, Artest, Dennis Rodman, Raja Bell, and others all made the list. Bruce Bowen's "crippling kick" was even directly brought up by fans for ridicule.
Suddenly, the internet was flooded with stories about these court thugs, unearthed by fans.
The dirty plays of these players were made into GIFs and posted on fan forums and Twitter, with everyone comparing whose moves were dirtier.
No one knows who it was, but a GIF was posted showing Tang Long rushing to help Carter when he stumbled after a dunk, preventing him from falling.
After that, more fans got involved, posting all sorts of GIFs of Tang Long playing against others.
Tang Long's moves were not only clean and crisp, but he often stepped forward to help opponents when they made dangerous plays, preventing them from getting injured.
Everyone else was a court thug, but Tang Long turned out to be a court gentleman, and the fans' approval of Tang Long soared.
"Tang, did you see that poll on Twitter?"
Tang Long received a call from James early in the morning, filled with a strong sense of jealousy.
Having played with James for so long, Tang Long understood him well. James treated some of the flashy plays on the court with a casual attitude.
After all, as one of the league's superstars, he was confident in his skills and abilities. It was only off-court polls like these that could make James lose his composure.
"What poll?"
Tang Long hadn't paid much attention to the internet during this time. Hearing James mention it, he opened his computer.
"Damn, who came up with this?"
Seeing that everyone else was a court thug and he was the only court gentleman, Tang Long broke out in a cold sweat.
"I'm telling you, you're not satisfied even though you've been rated as a court gentleman?" James was displeased. "If you're not satisfied, then give it to me too."
"You think this is a good thing?" Tang Long said irritably. "I don't know who's targeting me. I'll talk to you later, I need to deal with this first."
Whether in the United States, China, or other countries, being too prominent makes you a target.
Especially in the United States, many people like to ride these trends. The difference is that in China, it's usually bored haters, while in the United States, it's politicians.
Tang Long could even vaguely guess that if this situation continued to escalate, politicians would definitely come out to stir up trouble.
Mentioning Tang Long's Chinese identity, they might talk about increasing income tax for him in the United States, or how foreigners shouldn't enjoy such great fame.
Everyone knew these guys were seeking attention, but they could still gain a group of supporters.
This kind of thing wouldn't bring anyone down, but it was effective at being annoying.
Tang Long thought for a moment and called Jack.
Before long, posts appeared stating that Kobe was a respected player, along with many heartwarming GIFs of Kobe.
Then, quickly followed by flashes of brilliance on the court from players like James, Howard, Carter, McGrady, and Yao Ming.
Soon, the public's sentiment began to shift.
Of course, those court thugs were still targets of public condemnation.
...
"Damn, I didn't count on this guy."
The person speaking fiercely threw the cup in front of him to the ground. As if still not satisfied, he stood up and kicked the computer in front of him away.
Hearing the commotion in the office, the secretary just came in and was yelled at to leave.
"No, I refuse to believe I can't smear him."
This guy opened his tablet and searched for information about Tang Long online. He soon discovered that ESPN reporters always disliked Tang Long.
Their relationship was described as fire and water, and Tang Long, in retaliation, had directly caused the loss of many sports news and player interviews to Xiao Gen.
The guy's mouth immediately curved into a smirk, and he then dialed Catherine's number.
...
After a day of rest, the Cavaliers players resumed their normal training.
Tang Long saw James in the training facility. James's mouth was wide open, clearly delighted by the GIFs he was seeing.
After all, James had a considerable fan base, both in China and the United States. With someone leading the way, fans naturally followed.
"Tang, check this out."
James held up his tablet in front of Tang Long to show off.
The GIF showed James taking off from the free-throw line and dunking over three players. After landing, James didn't forget to pound his chest and interact with the fans.
The image was accompanied by the text: hardly possible.
James was as happy as a 200-pound胖子.
"And me, look at my drive, doesn't it have some flair?"
Larry Hughes also joined the conversation, showing a GIF of himself driving to the baseline and finishing with a layup.
"That's nothing, look at this one."
Drew Gooden also joined in, comparing whose layup was better.
Little did they know that the current nationwide GIF craze was simply because Tang Long didn't want to be too prominent.
...
"Commissioner, we've found out. Initially, someone guided the narrative that Tang Long was a court gentleman. Later, for some reason, many GIFs of other players appeared on Twitter."
Stern looked at the report provided by the analyst, his eyes fixed on Twitter.
Twitter, huh?
Others might not know, but Stern was well aware that Tang Long held a 20% stake in Twitter, making him the second-largest shareholder.
Without Tang Long's intention, how could Twitter suddenly have so many heartwarming GIFs of other players?
This guy was becoming more and more interesting.
"Based on the current user numbers and active growth, Twitter's market value has now exceeded 500 million, with over a million active users!"
"It's growing at a rate of 20% every month." As he spoke, the analyst sighed with envy. "Tang really has excellent investment insight."
The richest athlete in the NBA?
Stern felt a little envious.
"Oh, by the way, Commissioner, there are many GIFs from the NFL appearing on the market. They're learning from us."