On the first day after arriving in Los Angeles, Woody participated in various business activities from the moment he got off the plane to the hotel until evening, when he had time to rest.
After a busy day, Woody had a feeling:
tired!
No wonder Yao Ming said that when he participated in the All-Star Weekend for the first time, he was more tired than playing "back-to-back games".
All-Star Weekend is a "show" that David Stern uses to give back to his fans.
Therefore, it can be said to be a "super double" in terms of publicity!
Especially for a "super hot new star" like Woody, he cannot refuse even one event.
This is not only the meaning of David Stern, but also the meaning of the brand behind Woody.
How can we shirk this opportunity to have “zero distance” contact with potential consumers?
Originally, Woody had made an appointment with Scarlett, but when he returned to the hotel that night, he fell into bed and fell asleep. What awaited him the next morning were twelve missed calls from Scarlett. Just as he was about to make a call and explain, Johnson was already knocking on the door. He could only send a hurried text message:
Definitely next time!
The first day of the All-Star Weekend is the Rookie Challenge.
The first-year rookies form a team to challenge the second-year rookies.
The attention of this show mainly depends on whether there are "super newcomers".
There was not much attention last year compared to the previous ones, because these two years were both small draft years.
This year, fans have been looking forward to it since a long time ago.
There is no way, the popularity of the "03 Golden Generation" is too high!
The "St. Mary's Twins" will also become teammates again on this stage, which is also a very gimmick to watch.
A reporter asked LeBron James about his expectations before the Rookie Challenge.
He had just been robbed of the limelight by Woody and had not yet fully recovered. He did not expect that the city had changed from Akron to Los Angeles, but the topics surrounding him remained the same:
Woody!
Woody!
It’s all Woody!
If you want to know so much, why don't you ask Woody what he expects from joining forces with LeBron James?
In fact, a reporter also asked Woody this question.
But during the questioning process, the reporter asked Woody the following questions:
How he felt attending his first All-Star weekend.
Preparations for the upcoming All-Star Game.
And then there’s the feeling of playing alongside LeBron James again.
When it comes to LeBron James, the "St. Mary's Twins" cooperated in the Rookie Challenge, but it was the first question raised by reporters...
Obviously, the less important issues with Woody were the aspects of him that these reporters were most interested in.
I, the majestic ESPN "King" actually foiled me to such an extent!
this……
But even with so much dissatisfaction in his heart, when answering this question, LeBron James still had to squeeze out a smile of memory: "I can't wait to fight side by side with Woody again. I think this must be a very big thing." Cool stuff!”
There is no way, the "deep brotherhood" character design has been created, he can't shoot himself in the foot, right?
However, he had already made up his mind. No matter what, he would never be Woody's foil this time!
On the first-year team, in addition to Woody and LeBron, there are Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, TJ Ford, Hayes, Hinrich, Josh Howard, and Chris Kaman. .
Wade missed the All-Star Rookie Challenge due to injury, and his position was taken by Barbosa.
In terms of lineup composition, except for Chris Kaman and Barbosa, everyone else is the starting or even core player of their respective teams, and the "three geniuses" are the cornerstone of the team.
Although they are only in the first grade, the strength of the lineup is much stronger than the first grade lineups in previous years.
Compared with them, 2002 was originally a small year for the draft.
Yao Ming and Stoudemire are the leaders of this second-year team, but Yao Ming has determined that he will not play in the Rookie Challenge for too long because he has to play in the All-Star Game.
Apart from Yao Ming, the only thing this team can offer is the Spurs' "Sixth Man" Manu Ginobili.
Others, such as Dunleavy and others, can only be regarded as pretty good main players, and their competitiveness is similar to that of Josh Howard and others.
This team lacks a core defender who can organize.
Therefore, before the game, most media were more optimistic about the first-year team.
Of course, the media's optimism is sometimes not a good thing. LeBron is also afraid of "poisonous milk". Before the game, he gathered everyone together and said impassionedly:
"Guys, we are called the 'golden generation' and this challenge is our chance to prove to everyone why we are the 'golden generation'. Guys, let's fight!"
These words are very middle-aged, but they are also suitable for this age.
These rookies who have just entered the league are also proud of the "03 Golden Generation". LeBron James's words speak to their hearts. Everyone is gearing up and eager to try.
Seeing everyone's positive response, LeBron James feels that his reputation is enough!
There are more smiles on the face.
This should be the happiest time he has been in the past few days.
But this joy did not last long. When the Rookie Challenge began, when he saw the largest number of Woody posters in the audience, and when all the reporters immediately pointed their cameras at Woody, he I felt like my limelight had been robbed again.
Woody just stood there and did nothing, and he was already shining brighter than him!
This feeling made him uncomfortable.
What makes him even more uncomfortable is that today, in order to make the fans at the scene happy from the beginning, Woody specially did the "throwing magnesium powder" action that he had not done for a long time.
This action made the audience scream in surprise and made LeBron James jealous.
God knows how excited he was when he saw this action from the team.
When practicing this action, he really felt like he had become a "King"...
"emperor!"
"emperor!"
"emperor!"
…
A unified voice of "Emperor" rang out from the scene.
The effects of Adidas' overwhelming publicity are already showing. Now fans who follow the NBA know Woody's intention in choosing the No. 95 jersey.
The shout of "Emperor" Woody also began to spread in the mouths of every Woody fan.
Listening to these shouts, LeBron James belatedly remembered that his team would not let him call himself "King" anymore.
Because "King" is just a king, and "emperor" is an emperor!
In terms of character, there is a big distance between the king and the emperor...
They don't want to see LeBron James not as good as Woody.
However, he always dreamed of putting a crown on his head and practiced in front of the mirror. He was really unwilling to let him use the title "King" now... This made him couldn't help but secretly thought again:
This time, you must not be Woody’s foil!
Just wait, when this game is over, the name in these people's mouths will become another name...
LeBron is determined.
As soon as the game started, he was very motivated.
His signature "tank charge" came right up, but at this time, Yao Ming was still on the court and slapped him down.
Woody followed closely and just caught the ball. Yao Ming had just stretched out his arm to cover LeBron. Now facing the menacing Woody, it was impossible to block him in time.
As for the exciting "China Insider Collision" with Woody in the air, Yao Ming's answer is:
No!
"Bang!"
The first time he got out of the way, Woody also slammed the ball into the basket.
The first goal of the 2004 All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge came from Woody's iconic follow-up dunk and a second attack.
Seeing Woody's goal, the first-year team coach Shaquille O'Neal rushed towards Woody and wanted to give him a "Shark" kiss, but Woody responded in time.
Ugly rejection!
"Man, just fight like this, don't worry I'm behind you!"
Woody landed, caught up with LeBron, and tapped him on the shoulder.
In a tone of "I knew you would be covered".
LeBron James forced a smile and responded to Woody's pat on the shoulder.
This guy had agreed not to be a foil, so why did he become a foil again as soon as he came up?
Bill Walton said: "It seems that Woody is still very familiar with LeBron James. We have reason to believe that this has happened many times at St. Mary's High School!"
Otherwise, how could he be so familiar with the road?
Especially the pat on the shoulder after dunking the ball, it was really a "magic touch".
Having never played before, it is impossible to have such a knee-jerk reaction.
Judging from his appearance, LeBron should be the big brother!
The second-year team counterattacked. Manu Ginobili faced Josh Howard on the wing and easily got rid of the latter with his signature skill "snake breakthrough".
In other words, this guy is a player under his command, otherwise the second-year team’s head coach Barkley might have said:
"This is the best twerk I have ever seen, even better than the most expensive girl I ordered!"
But the problem is that on the first-year team, from LeBron at position 1, to Woody at position 4, and Chris Bosh at position 5, these are all very defensive-minded players. How can I twist? I can only take two steps after getting the ball.
After the game, Ginobili recalled his performance in the Rookie Challenge and said this: "When I jumped up, I felt like there were palms all over my head..."
Airtight!
"Snapped!"
I don’t know which hand blocked his ball, but it was blocked anyway.
LeBron rushed toward the ball as soon as he landed, but it was Woody who controlled the ball first.
In terms of physical coordination and flexibility, LeBron really can't compare with Woody.
"ball!"
LeBron subconsciously wants the ball.
He didn't want to be Woody's foil in this game, so his plan was to firmly control the ball from the beginning, and then...
Get the ball and attack!
As long as his scoring data is the highest on the first-year team and the team wins, then he will be the ultimate "Rookie Challenge MVP".
If he loses, that's okay. As long as Woody doesn't win the MVP of the Rookie Challenge, he can accept it!
But at this moment Woody got the ball in his hands, and the memory deep in his memory emerged:
In the high school league, after this guy grabbed the ball, he would always hold the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt.
This guy can handle the ball!
However, the second-year team returned to defense very quickly. Woody advanced quickly with the ball, and did not get any fast break opportunities until the frontcourt.
LeBron James immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had to give me the ball now, right?
What he didn't expect was that Woody didn't give the ball to him. Instead, he moved to the wing to face Stoudemire who was defending from the opposite side, and then kept raising his hands, heating up the atmosphere at the scene.
As the cheers grew louder, Woody also started his "dribbling show"!
After loading Barkley's template, Woody's dribbling potential reached 90 points. With his continuous practice during this period, his dribbling ability has reached 73 points, although it has not yet reached the level of an NBA main player.
In the regular season, he will not take the initiative to attack with the ball.
But this dribbling ability is enough for him to show off his "continuous hip dribbling" on a stage like the Rookie Challenge.
His playing style, which was completely opposite to his usual, made the entire atmosphere at the scene lively.
Shaquille O'Neal also laughed out loud.
In his opinion, Woody was paying tribute to his antics at the All-Star Weekend!
Children can be taught!
Drexler, who was in the commentary box, looked at Woody's sudden move and said with a smile on his face: "It can be seen that Woody knows how to express himself on this stage!"
LeBron James looked on with his hands on his hips.
he……
shocked!
As for Stoudemire, who was guarding Woody, he looked seriously at Woody after showing off his "crotch" and waited very seriously for the moment he broke through.
Woody has been observing his movements and knows very well that this guy is very serious about guarding.
Although Stoudemire is only an inside man, his mobility is not inferior to that of ordinary strikers. With his ability to break through with the ball, it may be difficult to force a breakthrough against Stoudemire. Some changes must be added.
But as for Woody's ability to change direction...
I'm afraid he didn't shake Stoudemire away and shook the ball from his hand first.
It has to be a bit unexpected!
From the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of McGrady in the audience.
This "man who can't wake up" is here too.
Got it!
A certain image appeared in Woody's mind. He immediately broke through with the ball and stepped on the three-point line. Stoudemire was completely blocked in front of him. Woody took another step forward and held the ball with both hands. After making a shooting motion, he successfully tricked Stoudemire into jumping and then smashed the ball toward the backboard.
Suddenly, with great force, the ball hit the backboard with a "bang" sound and bounced straight back. When the ball bounced straight back, there was a burst of exclamations from the audience.
A figure wearing jersey No. 95 was already flying in the air, grabbed the rebounding ball in his hands, and smashed it into the basket.
"Bang!"
One-handed chop after gliding!
The scene suddenly burst into excitement.
(End of chapter)
