Unfortunately, his time on the court coincided with Nowitzki's.
Fei, watching from the sidelines, seriously suspected this was Karl's trick.
Playing at home, Nowitzki was bound to take numerous shots, a well-known unwritten rule. Nearly a hundred thousand people in the audience wanted to see Nowitzki take the trophy home. Unless James wanted to earn a reputation as selfish before nearly a hundred thousand booing spectators, he had to play the understudy to the German.
As expected, James made a few plays, but when the piercing cries of "We want to see Dirk" rang out, he sealed off his offense.
By the time Fei got back on the court, both James and Nowitzki had stepped off.
This is what makes a coach valuable - he doesn't need to suppress James overtly. He just needs to cleverly schedule their playtime, forcing James into a supporting role while Fei could freely help Durant win the AMVP.
But now the problem had shifted back to Fei.