Chapter 337 The All-Star is coming! Maddie won the vote!
First up is the All-Star Game.
This year's All-Star Game will be held at the Staples Center, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
As one of the largest ball markets in the United States, the popularity of this All-Star Game will undoubtedly be higher than in the past few years.
In addition, this season is full of heroes and bright stars, and NBA officials have also seen the business opportunities and began to warm up for the All-Star Game as early as a month ago.
As the biggest dark horse this year, the Rockets also have many players participating in various projects.
What attracts the most attention is naturally the roster for the All-Star Game.
The popularity of the Yao-Mai combination is terrifying.
Let’s talk about Yao Ming first.
He received a total of 2,380,016 votes and became the starting center of the Western Conference All-Stars.
T-mac, which played at MVP level this season, received 2,563,237 votes.
This allowed him to overtake Kobe and become the top vote-getter among Western Conference guards!
Not only that, 2,563,237 votes also made McGrady the vote leader of this year’s All-Star Game!
It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in his life that he has become the All-Star vote winner.
In addition to the starting lineup, two other Rockets players were selected as substitutes.
They are Curry and Griffin respectively.
One of the two young players has a long range and unpredictable three-pointers, and the other has the ability to detonate the audience with dunks at any time.
And the people who selected them as substitutes also came from the Rockets!
Mark Jackson - This fledgling coach, in the first year of his career, overcame legendary coaches such as Popovich and Phil Jackson to become the head coach of the Western Conference All-Stars.
His success also proves Shen Fei's vision.
In addition, in addition to the main game, Rockets players also participated in various All-Star events.
George, Griffin, Jeremy Lin, and Curry all participated in the rookie game. The first three represented the first grade, while Meng Shen represented the second grade.
Griffin was invited to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest, Curry Three-Point Contest, and Lowry Skills Contest.
Overall, the Rockets players covered every aspect of this All-Star Game.
The wide scope of participation and the number of participants are the best in the entire league.
As hosts, the Lakers and Clippers are far less popular than the Rockets.
In the Eastern Conference, the Heat also had three players selected for the All-Star Game.
James was the starter for the Eastern Conference, while Bosh was selected as the substitute.
At this point, the starting lineups for the Eastern and Western Conferences are -
West: Paul, Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Durant, Yao Ming.
East: Rose, Wade, James, Stoudemire, Howard.
But judging from the starting lineup, the East and West are evenly matched. The East relies on its physical talent and even seems to be the dominant side.
Therefore, although it is only the beginning of February, many fans are already looking forward to the All-Star Game on February 21st!
However, Shen Fei didn't care about this.
In his view, the All-Star Game is, in the final analysis, nothing more than a performance game conducted by the NBA, a business league.
Apart from entertaining the audience and making money, it does nothing for the team.
Therefore, even if McGrady won the All-Star vote, Shen Fei didn't care too much.
What he is most concerned about recently are the two signature sneakers that Under Armor is about to launch - Curry Generation and George Generation!
Both pairs of sneakers are now in full mass production.
In three days, Curry’s first-generation Kirin will begin pre-sale.
To this end, Shenfei invested a lot of money in advertising.
This also includes promotion in China.
Both the Chinese Basketball Association and CCTV have given strong support to Shen Fei.
Nowadays, Under Armor's advertisements will be broadcast during the broadcast of NBA games and on "Basketball Park" every Friday night.
Moreover, Under Armor's online mall in China has been successfully established with the help of the Basketball Association.
The Basketball Association also proactively promised Shenfei that once Curry and George's sneakers are released in the future, they will be launched simultaneously in the domestic market!
In the original words of a basketball association official:
"Shen Fei, we will always remember your contribution to Chinese basketball."
"We also know that you want to build Under Armor into China's national sports brand."
"Now is the time when Under Armor needs to make an impact. The Basketball Association will definitely help you clear up various relationships and help you develop the Chinese market!"
This passage gave Shen Fei great confidence.
Originally, he considered the Huaxia Market as his last resort.
Only when Under Armor failed to achieve its set goal (matching Nike) in the beautiful domestic market, did Shen Fei plan to reveal its final "trump card".
But now, since China has offered to help, he will naturally not refuse.
On the contrary, with the backing of the Chinese market, Shenfei has greatly increased its confidence in completing the system's task of leading Under Armor to become the top sports brand.
"All is ready except for the opportunity."
"We will see the result in three days..."
Shen Fei murmured to himself.
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February 3, Beijing time, Energy Solutions Arena.
Tonight, the Rockets will visit Salt Lake City to challenge the Utah Jazz!
The home court of the Jazz is the famous Devil's home court in the NBA.
The cold Utah can definitely be called a "bitter cold place" in the beautiful country.
The altitude here is as high as 1,300 meters, and the air is so thin that even some professional athletes can't stand it.
Of course, Energy Solutions Arena is called the Devil's home stadium not just because of natural factors.
The fanatical fans of the Jazz are the real reason why the away team doesn't want to come here!
No matter what the team's record is, Energy Solutions Arena is always packed!
The reason is somewhat special - Salt Lake City is the main gathering place for Mormons in the United States.
Mormons believe in loyalty.
They have always spared no effort to support their team.
During the game, Jazz fans were aggressive towards every visiting team player.
In order to support their home team, they will even say insulting words to their opponents!
Imagine what it would be like if more than two thousand fans booed a player at the same time.
Some players with poor psychological quality may directly explode.
When the Rockets met the Jazz in the playoffs, some substitute players had unstable receptions and deformed movements during the away game.
It can be said that Jazz fans are their team's best sixth man.
Considering the grievances with them, all Rockets generals really want to win this game!
............
At this time, the starting players from both sides have already walked onto the court one after another, waiting for the game to start.
The Rockets still have their regular starting lineup.
Compared with the past, the Jazz's starting lineup has undergone considerable changes.
In the playoffs that year, their "two great players" inside - Boozer and Okur - both created huge difficulties for Yao Ming.
But times have changed, Boozer has left the team, and Okur has been reduced to a substitute due to injuries.
Only All-Star guard Deron Williams, who is known as "eating, sleeping and beating Paul", still sticks to the Jazz.
Therefore, the starters they sent today are: Deron, Raja Bell, Kirilenko, Millsap and Al Jefferson.
This lineup has extremely high static talent and is both offensive and defensive.
Such a Jazz cannot be underestimated even by the Rockets!
............
As the referee throws the ball high, the game officially begins!