Chapter 757: More Female Fans Than Male Fans

Chapter 757 -682: More Female Fans Than Male Fans

This was undoubtedly a day of celebration for the fans.

And the festivities began right at the hotel.

A little after three in the afternoon, the Lakers’ bus departed from their hotel.

“Yao, I thought you’d have the most fans, but look, they’re all here for Kobe,” Fisher said, pointing out the window.

Outside the hotel, a massive crowd of fans had gathered.

At a glance, most of the fans were wearing number 24 jerseys, and most were holding up signs with Kobe’s name.

And when Kobe opened a window in the back row to wave at the fans on either side, the cheers for him erupted in a thunderous roar.

Yao Ming spread his hands, as if to say there was nothing he could do.

As a center, he just couldn’t grab the spotlight the way Kobe did.

For the vast majority of Chinese NBA fans, their favorite team was now the Lakers, and their favorite player was Kobe.

Of course, none of this would have happened without Yao Ming joining the team.

If it weren’t for Yao Ming, the Lakers never would have gained so much attention in China.

When the bus arrived at the Tianhe Sports Center, the crowd was even larger.

Several of the surrounding streets had been temporarily closed off.

The officials from the Guang City Sports Bureau and the police department had never expected so many people to show up.

But while the fans idolized Kobe, Kobe had his own idol to chase after.

The moment he stepped off the bus, he asked a staff member if Baggio had arrived.

After receiving a confirmation, he broke into a jog and rushed backstage.

Baggio was already there.

He was currently backstage, talking with Chen Yu.

“Chen, this is all just insane. You know, when I got to the hotel yesterday, there were so many people shouting my name. It even continued when I was trying to sleep at night! I had to run downstairs and ask them to go home and get some rest,” Baggio said, unable to contain his excitement.

He had heard from Chen Yu that he had tons of fans in China, but it wasn’t until he actually arrived that he realized Chen Yu hadn’t been exaggerating in the slightest.

Chen Yu smiled. “What can you do? They love a hero, and you’re a hero.”

After the moment in ’94 that broke the hearts of fans worldwide, Baggio finally achieved his redemption in ’02, helping Italy lift the FIFA World Cup.

His entire life was the story of a tragic hero.

Just as they were speaking, the door opened and a head poked through.

It was Kobe.

Seeing that familiar face, Kobe’s breath quickened. He covered his mouth, too nervous to step forward.

“Kobe Bryant, I know who you are!”

It was Baggio who spotted him and waved him over.

In the NBA, Kobe was a dominant, top-tier superstar, but in front of Baggio, he was reduced to a star-struck fanboy.

“The great Mr. Baggio, I’m so excited, so happy to finally meet you.” Kobe stepped forward excitedly, his voice trembling slightly.

Baggio smiled, opened his arms, and gave Kobe a hug.

Albertini was there as well, of course.

During the seven years Kobe lived in Italy, the Red-Black Legion was dominating the Apennine Peninsula. So, if you were to ask Kobe who his home team was, the answer would undoubtedly be AC Milan.

And Albertini, it could be said, was one of the symbols of AC Milan.

Albertini smiled and hugged Kobe, then said, “I was promoted to the first team in ’88. You probably hadn’t left Italy yet at that time, right? Maybe you even came to see me play in person.”

Kobe nodded repeatedly. “I went to San Siro more than once! Back then, my favorite player was Van Basten. I still have a signed jersey of his. Oh man, that was my favorite birthday present ever when I was a kid.”

As he recalled his childhood, Kobe’s eyes lit up.

Baggio chimed in, “So your favorite was Marco, huh? What about me?”

‘And just a moment ago he was calling me great.’

Kobe panicked, flusteredly explaining that Baggio was his hero forever and also one of his favorite players.

“Alright, I’m just teasing you,” Baggio said, clearly joking.

Kobe went on to talk about his childhood, saying that when he was a kid in Italy, he wasn’t very popular with the other children because he played basketball.

His friends would often take over his basketball court.

If there were only a few of them, Kobe would chase them off. But often there would be more than ten of them, and Kobe couldn’t win against those odds, so he had no choice but to give up basketball and play with them.

The worst part was, he wanted to play soccer, but because of his long arms, he was always picked to be the goalkeeper.

This made him incredibly frustrated.

“Later, I decided I didn’t want to be a goalkeeper. I wanted to play midfield, or be a striker. And I succeeded!” Kobe felt that his love for soccer during those years also helped his future basketball career by improving his flexibility.

Baggio and the others burst out laughing.

Baggio said, “It’s a good thing you didn’t switch to soccer, or the world would be short one top-tier basketball superstar.”

Just then, Yao Ming and the others, who had been lagging behind, began to arrive.

Baggio was taken aback when he saw Yao Ming.

“Good heavens, you’re tall!”

Baggio gestured, realizing he didn’t even come up to Yao Ming’s chest.

In Baggio’s presence, even Yao Ming seemed shy. He took out one of Baggio’s National Team jerseys and asked for an autograph.

When asked who it should be made out to, he sheepishly gave his mother’s name.

He was getting it for his mother.

“My mom is a huge fan of yours,” Yao Ming said shyly.

Baggio wasn’t surprised by this at all. He had learned after arriving in China that he had a huge following of female fans, not just male ones.

The day before at the airport, a surprising number of middle-aged women in their thirties and forties had rushed forward to give him flowers.

There was even an unexpected incident.

One female fan had even broken through security, grabbed Baggio, and kissed him passionately.

Chen Yu had already told him that for this fan meet-and-greet, at least a third of the tickets had been purchased by female fans.

If girls in their twenties liked Beckham…

…then women in their thirties and forties liked Baggio.

In an age where looks are everything, Baggio’s were still top-notch, not to mention his innate, melancholic charm.

The clearest demonstration of this was when Baggio appeared in the stadium—the screams from his female fans almost completely drowned out the shouts from the men.

“Chen, this is just wild. I bet if you invited Beckham here, they’d be even crazier.”

Albertini, standing next to Chen Yu, watched as Baggio basked in the crowd’s cheers, a hint of envy in his eyes.

“David’s not the same.”

Guardiola commented drily from behind them.

Chen Yu turned to glance at Guardiola.

“I’m just telling the truth,” Guardiola said with an indifferent shrug.

Baggio was his idol, of course, but even if he weren’t, he’d still prefer him. Baggio let his skills do the talking; he was a man who came infinitely close to the title of “King of Football.” His looks were just a bonus.

As for Beckham, his skills were excellent, of course, but it was like he was making a living off his looks.

‘Anyway, as far as I know, within the real inner circle of soccer—the players and coaches—Beckham isn’t particularly well-regarded,’ Chen Yu thought.

‘Back when he was at Manchester United, he’d certainly offended his share of the British media.’