LeBron was one of the league's promoted faces.
But after Su Yan burst onto the scene and won two championships,
everything changed.
LeBron had once been the only choice. Now, he was merely one of the choices.
He would receive some consideration from the league and get some special whistles.
You could call them whistles reserved for the Kings, or you could call them superstar whistles.
That was common in the NBA.
It was also normal.
But if the player being compared to him was Su Yan—the strongest God Yan in the league, another handpicked next face of the league—
the referees' standard would change.
If they forcibly called Tony Allen for fouling LeBron, Su Yan would lose that fast-break opportunity.
Su Yan would be denied the points he should have scored.
They could not let LeBron benefit from the whistle in that way.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
If it had been anyone other than Su Yan, even Curry, they might have blown the whistle.
The referees had probably already considered it and given him some consideration. It was simply because his opponent was Su Yan.
But LeBron did not see it that way. He only knew that he had not received the referees' consideration, and he was furious.
Most of that anger stemmed from Tony Allen's defense against him.
If the referees did not step in, it meant Tony Allen had stopped him once again and even completed a steal.
That was just too embarrassing—beyond embarrassing.
LeBron was angry and even more uncomfortable. He desperately wanted to change the current situation.
Not to mention, if Su Yan were defended by someone like Tony Allen until he had no answer and could not score at all,
his image in the fans' minds would take a massive hit.
That was something