Hupu News, July 18 Recently, former NBA player Channing Frye participated in the podcast "The King's Reign" to review the career of Lakers forward LeBron James.
On the evening of June 3, 2016, a beautiful, refreshing and sunny day in the San Francisco Bay Area was replaced by a drizzle, echoing the atmosphere in the banquet hall of the Four Seasons Hotel on Market Street.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were staying there for the first two games of the NBA Finals, and the night before, a Thursday, they were handily defeated by the Golden State Warriors in Game 1.
But losses on the court are not the reason for the gloom at the dinner table.
Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time, died that very day. Clouds swirled over the bridge, mist hung over the streetlights of Market Street, and every TV in every bar, restaurant, and yes, in the Knights Room at the Four Seasons Hotel, was broadcasting the news of Ali's death.
Cavaliers players including Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Kevin Love, JR Smith and LeBron James sat together, doing what they were familiar with that season: drinking vintage red wine.
Frye said: "We sat there with the Nike crew, had a glass of wine, and we were there for an hour or two, so maybe had a couple of drinks. Someone whispered something in his (James') ear, and he was like, 'Okay, big guy, bye.' And then he went upstairs to change, and went to practice for about two hours."
Friday night? There is a scheduled training tomorrow and the G2 finals will be played on Sunday? After a few glasses of red wine?
"I was like, 'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?' And they said, 'Muhammad Ali is too much of an influence on him,'" Frye said.
Frye said: "In my opinion, it changed his attitude towards the sense of urgency of the situation at that time."
