Playing in a major basketball market had its downsides, too.
Without enough mental toughness, it was all too easy to get caught in that vicious cycle.
Especially when Chen Xi played brilliantly but the team still lost, the criticism could easily fall on Grant as the "second-best player on the team."
It was not because Grant was particularly unpopular or singled out. It was simply because, aside from Chen, he really was the easiest target on the team.
Those voices had been there all along.
They would not fade away with Grant's departure, because before he came to New York, those same people had ripped into Ewing, Marbury, and Anthony just as mercilessly...
And after he left, those voices would still be there.
They would either turn on the team's new second option or move down another rung, piling pressure on promising young players like Toppin, Ethan, and Hart.
That was something no professional NBA player could ever avoid.
The league's current average salary, the highest in the world, was not easy money either... (Among all sports leagues worldwide, the NBA had the highest average player earnings, at roughly $8 million or more.)
Never mind Grant—even Chen himself had faced criticism and boos.
So even though Chen Xi, Rose, and the others often comforted Grant after games and spoke up for him,
the help they offered was ultimately little more than a drop in the bucket.
That was also why, faced with the team's request for a pay cut and lucrative offers from Charlotte and other teams, Grant had thought, I might as well leave, and simply followed through...
In truth, Grant's inner journey and the process behind his decision were not all that important.
What the fans really cared about was always the final outcome.
And the outcome now