As a former NBA player, the owner of six NBA Championship rings, and even a member of that once-mighty Bulls team and its second-in-command, Pippen's words could naturally draw a huge following with ease.
This was also one of the ways many NBA players chose to make money after retiring.
They leveraged their genuine expertise and former status to make outrageous claims, stir up controversy, and turn the resulting attention into cash.
In those circumstances, their comments weren't exactly "impartial."
Pippen wasn't the only one. Former stars like Pierce and Tracy McGrady, who often worked with TV networks, were also prone to making outrageous claims.
Most importantly, they didn't just make outrageous claims outright. They would mix one in now and then after offering some very insightful analysis.
As everyone knew, half-truths were the easiest lies to believe. The same went for these opinions.
No one knew what they really thought.
They only had to make sure they said what the TV networks wanted to hear.
You could say they were driven to it by circumstance, or that they'd thrown in their lot with the powers that be.
But at the end of the day, it was simply a matter of perspective.
So Chen Xi didn't care at all about what these people said. Unless someone deliberately brought it up, he wouldn't respond either.
Ever since entering the League, Chen had always kept a relatively low profile in this regard.
His philosophy was "let the ball do the talking," and "once we've breached the pass, the great scholars will make my case for me."
He knew that as long as he kept putting up great performances on the court, whatever these people said—whether attacks or praise—would ultimately become a tool for raising his profile.
Of course, Chen didn't care, but