Chapter 621: Twists and turns, gathering in New York
The day after the game against the Lakers, Wang Zelin headed to New York with Aldridge and Lillard.
This year's 64th All-Star Weekend will be held in New York, and this All-Star Game will be co-hosted by the local Knicks and Nets.
Among them, All-Star individual events, such as skills contest, three-point contest and dunk contest, will be held at the Barclays Center, the home of the Nets.
As for the All-Star Game, the highlight of the All-Star Weekend, it will naturally be held at Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks.
It is undeniable,
Madison Square Garden is the most famous star stage in the NBA! Countless stars have left a very brilliant mark in their careers here.
Even before the game against the Lakers, the league announced this year's All-Star substitutes.
Let’s talk about this All-Star first.
In the Western Conference, the center is undoubtedly Wang Zelin, who won the All-Star vote again, and this time during the All-Star trip, he is still the most leisurely one.
In addition to preparing for rehearsals with the dance troupe members, the only thing left is the All-Star competition.
Although fans are very eager for Wang Zelin to participate in the All-Star individual competition, for example, imitating Howard back then and participating in the slam dunk contest,
What's more, they hope that he will participate in the three-point contest and skills challenge...
Listen, is this human language?
But Wang Zelin is not currently very interested in participating in individual competitions.
The first is the three-point contest. With the rise of the Splash Brothers becoming more and more fierce, it is almost impossible to win the three-point contest. Lillard still has some hope.
The second is the skills challenge. Considering his ball control ability in his early 80s, I might as well forget it after thinking about it.
As for the final slam dunk contest, to be honest, Wang Zelin really wants to try it. Then he can also create a title "Yellow people can fly!". But based on his current dynamic physical talent, it still feels a little inferior.
It's better to wait until he draws Chamberlain, and then have a good time!
You must know that Zhang Dashuai did not stop his interest in sports after he retired. Not only did he play volleyball for a short period of time in the International Volleyball Federation, but he also served as the chairman of this organization.
After that, there will be tennis, marathon and water polo. He even plans to challenge the generation of boxing champion Ali in the world heavyweight boxing match!
can only say,
The existence of Chamberlain is indeed a wonder in the history of world sports (ps: this is a compliment)!
Of course, his off-court life is even more legendary.
Even if countless LSPs in the future feel pain in their backs after hearing about it, they will still be envious and yearn for it.
Back to this year's All-Stars.
In addition to Wang Zelin, according to the voting results, the forward combination in the Western Conference is Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin, and the backcourt combination is Curry and Kobe.
The seven people selected for the substitute lineup are Griffin, Harden, Westbrook, Durant, Lillard, Duncan, and Nowitzki.
Logically speaking, as the defending champion team, the Portland Trail Blazers have set a record high of 24 consecutive victories at the beginning of this season. Now they have the best record in the league. The three core players in the team should have been at the same time like last year.
Selected as an All-Star.
However, because Aldridge missed more than a month of games in the previous period, he lost to veteran power forwards Duncan and Nowitzki in his first campaign for the All-Star substitute list.
As for why it is said to be the first time?
That's naturally because something unexpected happened.
I don’t know if they had communicated privately in advance. As veteran All-Stars, Kobe, Duncan, and Nowitzki all announced when they were selected for the All-Star Game: They will not participate in the All-Star Game this year!
Currently, the top four teams in the Western Conference are the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Mosaics and Los Angeles Clippers. Ranking 5 to 8 are the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas.
calf.
Behind them, the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans were chasing closely. Considering the team's schedule in the second half,
Kobe, Duncan, and Nowitzki,
He chose not to play in the All-Star Game.
Think about it too,
Surrounded by the former alliance giants,
All three of them have reached the top before. Now that they see that they are still capable of fighting, and the team management is willing to support them, their goals and vision have long been set in the playoffs after the regular season.
As for All-Stars and the like, let’s leave them to young people.
It is precisely because Kobe, Duncan, and Nowitzki took the initiative to miss the All-Star Game that the Western Conference suddenly vacated three positions.
After some discussions between the league's senior management and the head coaches of each team, and taking into account the team record and All-Star voting, it was decided to replace LaMarcus Aldridge of the Trail Blazers and Chris Paul of the Clippers.
and Pau Gasol of the Lakers, taking the three positions.
The West's bench will also be led by James Harden.
A similar situation has occurred not only in the west, but also in the east.
The Eastern Conference All-Star lineup is as follows:
Center: Cousins;
Forward combination: Anthony and James;
Backcourt combination: John Wall and Kyle Lowry.
The Eastern Conference's reserve lineup was initially planned to be: Jeff Teague, Al Horford, and Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks; Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, and the Miami Heat
Team Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
However, Wade was found to have a hamstring injury in the latest official injury report and had to withdraw from the substitute list. In the end, after careful consideration, the league allowed the Atlanta Hawks to start the five-talented sharpshooter Kyle
Korver replaced Wade and was selected for the All-Star Game.
At this point, everyone originally thought that a total of 24 people would be selected for the Eastern and Western All-Star rosters. After this was decided, it turned out that another mistake appeared in the Western Conference.
Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans had to withdraw from this All-Star Game because one was found to have a right elbow injury and the other was found to have a right shoulder injury.
As a result, two more positions became available in the west.
Then, amid heated discussions among fans, two new All-Stars were announced.
These two are the black and white duo of the Memphis Grizzlies: Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.
In fact, to be honest, the Grizzlies have been notoriously tough in the Western Conference in recent seasons, and no team wants to meet them in the first round of the playoffs.
Regardless of personal strength or team record, as the Grizzlies' dual-core duo, Xiao Jia's sister-in-law and Bad Tofu, they are actually already qualified to enter the All-Stars.
It's a pity that their style of play is destined to be unflattering, and their popularity is so sluggish that many fans basically selectively ignore the Grizzlies during the regular season except for the start of the playoffs.
Team.
Even the league doesn't care much about the Grizzlies...
Although the words are a bit heartbreaking, this is exactly the current situation of the Grizzlies.
This year, there is a rare situation in the Western Conference where five players have missed the main game. In addition, the Grizzlies have left everyone with the famous "shit stirrup" image of the Western Conference in the playoffs in previous seasons. The Grizzlies have historically
For the first time, two players entered the All-Star lineup at the same time.
In response, countless Grizzlies fans couldn't help but burst into tears and shouted, "Finally, all the hard work has come to an end!"
It is worth mentioning that with Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol being selected as substitutes for the Western All-Star team at the same time, this also set a new record:
For the first time in NBA history, two brothers were selected to the All-Star team in the same division.
After the news that my sister-in-law was selected into the All-Star reserve lineup was officially released, my sister-in-law, as an elder brother, expressed her excitement on social media for the first time:
"I'm so happy that we can play together again! My brother! I will always be proud of you!" Pau Gasol happily sent congratulations to his brother on Twitter.
Indeed, Marc Gasol's selection to the All-Star team this time is a very gratifying achievement for him. First of all, he surpassed his brother Pau Gasol and became the only player in the history of the Grizzlies to be selected to the All-Star Team twice.
The star player is the best in team history.
Secondly, he was selected as an All-Star together with Zach Randolph, who has played alongside him for many years. This is not only for himself, but also for the outside world to see the achievements of Zach Randolph and the entire Grizzlies team.
Recognition.
Moreover, for him, Pau Gasol and Zach Randolph are brothers, while the latter is not a brother but is better than a brother!
This year's All-Star list of players can be described as twists and turns, but regardless of how well Marc Gasol will perform in the All-Star Game, at least from the moment he was selected for the Western Conference All-Stars, he became the best among all star players.
The happy one.
And this is the most important thing!
…
…
February 12th.
It was almost 12 o'clock, and Wang Zelin and his team had arrived in New York and headed to the arena James mentioned.
"Long time no see LeBron, have you eaten?"
Entering the arena, Wang Zelin greeted him as soon as he met him.
"Not yet. Why don't we wait until James and Stephen arrive later, and let's go together."
To his surprise, James was actually very familiar with this Chinese-style meeting and greeting method. Judging from the reaction speed, it was by no means the first time.
Hey, wait...
James and Stephen?
Harden and Curry!
Why are those two guys here too?
"You mean, you also invited James Harden and Stephen Curry?" Wang Zelin asked.
"Yeah, because Dwayne was injured and couldn't come, so I specially invited James and Stephen. They are both excellent young people. I really hope..." At this point, James stopped suddenly and looked at the King of Hell.
Zelin continued:
"Of course, they are definitely not as powerful as you now, but I can guarantee that they are really easy to get along with. With their joining, I believe the fans will be shocked when the main game starts!"
Then, during a chat, Wang Zelin learned that as early as his college days, Curry was famous in the NCAA college league for his superb shooting skills. At that time, James even went to watch Curry play live.
That game was between Davidson College and North Carolina State University. In the end, Davidson College, where Curry is from, won the game 72:67.
Curry's own performance at that time was even more crazy. He scored 44 points in a single game, accounting for more than half of the team's scores. He was undoubtedly the MVP of the game!
After the game, it also became a hot search topic across the country, making many people realize this baby-faced three-point killer for the first time.
According to James, at first, he heard that Curry was also born in Atoklon Hospital and was also the son of Akron. He immediately saw the right person.
After that game, the two exchanged contact information. As Curry entered the NBA and slowly made a name for himself, the relationship between the two became less and less.
At this time, Wang Zelin suddenly remembered that it seemed that last summer, when James decided to leave Miami, Curry personally recruited James in front of social media.
It's a pity that James looked down on the Warriors' small boat at that time.
However, no one expected that the Splash Brothers of the Warriors would be so ferocious this season and would soon become a super dark horse in the league!
Wang Zelin didn't know if James had any regrets at this time. After all, with his playing style, he was cooperating with the Splash Brothers from the outside...
Hiss, the picture is simply not too beautiful!
Thinking of this, Wang Zelin suddenly approached and asked James: "LeBron, have you ever thought about what your future would be like if you had promised Stephen to go to the Warriors to join forces with him?"
"Well……"
As soon as this question came out, James was immediately stopped.
To say that he really has no regrets in his heart would be a lie.
But things are different. Not everyone is as open-minded as Wang Zelin and knows the general trend of NBA in the past ten years. Therefore, James quickly gave Wang Zelin a reply:
"If I really cooperate with Stephen, it may really allow me to win more games in the regular season this season, but that is ultimately hypothetical. Besides, I now have a group of very good teammates around me.
I have the confidence to lead them to break through the Eastern Conference!"
With that said, James looked at Wang Zelin again, and his smile gradually became playful: "Wang, really speaking, you should be the most worried, right? The Warriors are in the Western Conference like you, maybe you will lose in the playoffs.
To Stephen, if the Trail Blazers can't even beat the Western Conference, what's the point of defending the title?"
"..."
The pressure suddenly came to Wang Zelin.
"Losing to Stephen? Stop making trouble, my goal is to establish a Portland dynasty!"
Wang Zelin shrugged. Of course, he knew the strength of the Warriors better than anyone else. After all, the Warriors almost won three consecutive championships in the original history and created their own dynasty.
But it doesn't mean that he will be so afraid of the Warriors.
Just like Howard who met the tail end of his peak when he first debuted, he would only feel excited because of the strength of his opponent. The word "fear" has never appeared in his dictionary.