After laughing wildly with the OK group, Li Ao got to know the other all-stars.
The Western team, except for their three in Los Angeles, has nine other players: Garnett, Antonio McDyess, Payton, Malone, Rasheed Wallace, Kidd, Finley, Webber, and Divac.
For the Eastern Team, Mourning and Ratliff were reimbursed. Stern designated Anthony Mason Jr. of the Heat and Reggie Miller of the Pacers to participate. The other 10 people are Duncan, McGrady, Carter, Iverson, Marbury, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Stackhouse, Mutombo, Antonio Davis.
As a social worker, he could chat with someone whether they were familiar with him or not, and whether he had a good relationship with someone or not.
Less than a season after entering the NBA, he had only met these All-Stars on the court before, and had little contact with them in private, and some of them had never even met.
He found that some people were similar on and off the field, such as Glenn Robinson, who was selected as an All-Star, but still looked like he was "forced to do business"; Reggie Miller had no expression when talking to anyone; Ray A Lun stood aside quietly. When Li Ao went to say hello, he responded with a smile but did not take the initiative to speak.
Carter found Kobe and launched a dunk challenge, saying that they were both dunk kings and it was time for a duel, but Kobe ignored him.
There are also people who have very different styles of painting on and off the field. Tianzun enthusiastically introduced to Li Ao the flow of today's activities during the day.
Payton wanted to point his nose at his Spider-Man and scold him on the court, but when he went to say hello this time, the other party encouraged him to perform well tonight and pass the ball to him.
Malone always has a fierce look on the court, and Mutombo also has an index finger that no one likes on the court. However, the two of them talk a lot on such occasions, and they also make dirty talk from time to time, revealing their true colors.
What's special is that Marbury just said to his All-Star teammates, "I will lead you to win."
What surprised Li Ao the most was Iverson...
"Wow, look who this is, my favorite Spider-Man! I heard that you refused to play Spider-Man, God, it's such a pity, but I think your choice is right. Basketball is your job. , you are even better than I was in my rookie season, Vaco, I will be 26 soon and you are only 19. I might retire by the time you reach your peak. No, I have to play for a few more years. Only then will I have the opportunity to enjoy the joy of competing against you at your peak..."
Iverson encouraged Li Ao in the same tone as a child, but he didn't know how to answer for a while.
The key is that the other All-Stars didn't feel strange at all about Iverson's words and deeds!
Li Ao thought of what Melo, who is still a high school student, said during his wandering career - the years I partnered with Allen were the happiest time since I entered the NBA.
Anthony is the kind of player who has a big face but not a mature mentality. With a senior like Iverson leading him, whether he can win or not, he doesn't have to shoulder any responsibilities, he will definitely have a great time.
Li Ao got to know the All-Stars a little bit, and the All-Stars had a new understanding of him - he was really mouth-watering!
He was not as proud and arrogant as they thought, nor was he violent. Instead, he looked like a sunny and cheerful boy, not a fake one.
But after a few more conversations, I found out that I really deserved a beating!
Although they felt that the Knicks deserved to be defeated, they now feel that the reason for that brawl was somewhat due to the rookie himself...
…
After chatting for a while, the staff led the All-Stars to participate in the event. Li Ao could only end the short greeting with regret.
After experiencing the activities on the All-Star game day, Li Ao felt pretty good. The media were very friendly today.
There are so many stars that there is no need to hype up news about anyone.
At 3 p.m., the Western Conference All-Stars conducted preparation training under the leadership of Kings head coach Rick Adelman.
Kidd wanted to show his ability very much and took the initiative to get the command of offensive training from Adelman.
Garnett also took the initiative to take command of the defensive training.
Adelman was eager for other teams' All-Stars to do more work, so he readily agreed.
The two of them were worried that the All-Stars in Los Angeles would compete with them, but the three brothers obviously joined together today.
Mainly worried about Li Ao. Some people seem to be born with the ability to lead the team. In their eyes, Li Ao is.
They admired the Clippers for being able to integrate the Clippers, which had been bad for so many years, and set sail.
Although the Clippers do have a solid foundation, so many years of bad performance are not in vain, but if Li Ao is replaced by them, both of them feel numb when they think of Li Ao's situation when he first came to the Clippers.
In fact, Adelman most wants to hand over the offensive and defensive command to the Los Angeles trio.
If the Clippers enter the playoffs and rank seventh or eighth at most, the Kings will definitely be in the top three and may face each other, and the Lakers are the Kings' strongest opponent in the playoffs.
Giving the command to these three people will not only allow the three to work harder during the All-Star Weekend, but also directly understand the two teams' playing styles from the way the three direct the team.
However, these three people in Los Angeles, when it comes to commanding tactics, the OK team all looked at Li Ao. Li Ao didn't fight for it, so it didn't matter to them.
Li Ao's thoughts - Kidd leads the offense and Garnett leads the defense. What kind of magical treatment is this?
Kidd and Garnett are both famous superstars. They take the initiative to lead the team. The most powerful OK team has no objection, and others naturally have no objection.
…
On February 18, 2001, at 7 pm, the Verizon Center Arena in Washington was already filled with voices.
When the Clippers moved from Memorial Stadium to the Staples Center, it became the third largest arena in the NBA. Wizards games usually have 20,000 seats, but can accommodate up to 50,000 seats.
Tonight, the Verizon Center Arena has arranged a full capacity of 50,339 seats and 114 boxes. The advanced angle design of the auditorium ensures that viewers in every position can see the performance of the players on the court.
For this All-Star Game, more than 300 of the latest LED screens were equipped, allowing viewers in each area to see real-time images on the court from all angles through the screens.
Britney Spears used her singing voice to ignite the enthusiasm of more than 50,000 people in the audience.
North American sports leagues have two stages that singers flock to. The most famous one is, of course, the Super Bowl halftime performance.
The second one is the performance stage before the game and halftime of the NBA All-Star Weekend.
After the warm-up performance, the protagonists entered the stage.
The enthusiasm of the fans is particularly high. There are more than 50,000 fans, more than half of whom are locals. Their enthusiasm is even higher than that of fans from outside.
Since the Wizards traded Webber away, the Wizards have been terrible. They have been extremely disappointed with the performance of Juwan Howard and Mitch Richmond. The Wizards have the lowest attendance in the league this year, neck and neck with the Bulls and Warriors. Only better than the Grizzlies.
The longer the emotions are suppressed, the more ferociously they erupt, and tonight, Washington basketball fans let their passion out.
Amid the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the host introduced one by one, and the 14 All-Star substitutes from the two teams entered the stadium one after another.
When the host introduced the All-Star starters, the cheers of the fans reached a boiling point!
No Wizards player was selected for the All-Stars. At least the nearly 30,000 local fans were not divided into camps, and everyone cheered when they saw it.
Li Ao felt passionate at this moment, and he felt like he was back when he was fighting Crazy San.
But it's very different. When Mad San is playing, the 'team' is one.
Here, it is 'individual'.
Opponents and teammates are all the top basketball players in the world!
All star, a game where all participating players are superstars!
…
It took half an hour to enter the court. After the entrance ceremony, Kidd and Garnett actively greeted their teammates to discuss the details of their play.
Li Ao felt that these two people were taking this opportunity to show off their abilities and recruit teammates.
He also wants to join, but in terms of attractiveness, he can't beat these two people yet... Forget it, let's play the game first.
After communicating with the two for a few words, he came to the court to shoot the hot shot.
Over in the East, there are people doing similar things to Kidd and Garnett, Marbury and Iverson.
The difference is that the All-Stars of the Eastern Conference were willing to listen to what Iverson had to say, while Marbury was ignored for no other reason than his strength.
Marbury had been busy for a long time without making any impact, and could only look at the No. 1 pick in his class with jealousy.
Soon, at 7:58, the starting lineups of the two teams came on the court.
Eastern team: Iverson, McGrady, Carter, Anthony Mason Jr., Duncan.
Western Team: Kidd, Kobe, Li Ao, Webber, O'Neal.
These 10 people once again triggered cheers from the fans at the scene.
At this moment, Li Ao lost his previous restlessness, calmly and focused, and devoted himself to the upcoming game. All he was thinking about were the playing styles of these temporary teammates and how to cooperate with them.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the game started.
Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, O'Neal defeated Duncan to win the jump ball, and the Western team attacked first!
Li Ao immediately bypassed his cousin and went down quickly, but was blocked from the three-point line by his cousin who was actively extending.
The Eastern team's defense quickly settled in, and Kidd advanced steadily and fell into a positional battle.
Li Ao came to the right side of the three-second zone and slipped out of the baseline. Kobe followed up and came to the right side of the three-second zone.
When Li Ao went around to the left sideline, Kidd lobbed the ball to O'Neal in the low post. Duncan lowered his focus and carried O'Neal behind him.
But O'Neal didn't play singles, he hit the ball in the middle!
After Li Ao borrowed Weber's ball-free screen on the left side of the three-second zone, he shook off Anthony Mason Jr., who was changing defense, and came to the right sideline of the three-second zone to receive the ball one step inside the free throw line. Carter actively covered the defense from the three-second zone. Go up.
Li Ao catches the ball and passes the second ball without stopping...
O'Neal caught the ball under the basket and easily dunked with two hands to score two points!
Li Ao kept looking at Kobe. When Carter was guarding Li Ao, Kobe went deep into the distance and attracted Duncan's footsteps. O'Neal got an easy dunk opportunity!
The coordination of the Los Angeles trio made TV commentators call it perfect.
Kobe and O'Neal didn't move, and the OK combination easily got the chance to score!
The starters of the Eastern Team were also surprised. The Los Angeles trio seemed to have a tacit understanding or not. Just their style of play seemed to be a perfect fit!
During the transition between offense and defense, Iverson advanced to the frontcourt and saw Kobe Bryant pulling up his trouser legs in the top arc.
Li Ao saw Carter next to him on the right side of the three-second zone.
Kidd saw the bottom line on the left sticking to McGrady.
And there is O'Neal who can't even hold up Duncan's strength monster when he is stuck under the basket...
Iverson called out Vaco!
What a surprise to the Los Angeles trio just now!
This is simply a piece of iron!
In fact, even the first-defense boss Kidd seems redundant!
But this also aroused the competitive spirit of the answer, and he began to dribble dramatically horizontally when facing Kobe.
Kidd on the left, Li Ao on the right, and Iverson no longer choose the breakthrough direction.
After shaking Kobe's center of gravity away, Iverson showed his strongest ability to control the ball and pull one step across, creating a huge gap and accelerating forward!
Iverson was at his peak, no one could keep up with him, and no one could keep up with his first step of acceleration, leaving Kobe behind!
However, as soon as Iverson entered the three-point line from the right, he saw Li Ao coming up, but Kobe turned around and caught up. He had no chance to make a two-point emergency stop shot, so he could only continue to rush...Immediately felt the feeling from The enveloping feeling of a giant spider.
The deterrent effect of Li Ao's 'heavy pressure' was useless to Iverson. Iverson calmly prepared to pass the ball, but he couldn't even see where Carter was...
Fortunately, Carter had good awareness of the ball and immediately moved around the three-point line toward a 45-degree angle. But as soon as Iverson saw Carter, Kobe switched defense and Li Ao also made up for Iverson. Ferson's shooting space is completely covered!
In the blink of an eye, Iverson once again made a drastic change of direction, taking a step horizontally to gain space for a breakthrough.
Li Ao struggled to keep up and couldn't block it, but he used his height and wingspan to block Iverson's shooting space.
Iverson had no choice but to go deep into the basket and meet O'Neal...
Already exhausted, Iverson rushed into the layup and was slapped down by O'Neal!
Li Ao grabbed the ball before Duncan, and when he avoided Duncan's steal, his hand grabbing the ball was forced to stretch in the direction of Iverson.
But Iverson was numb at this moment. When he reacted and reached out, Li Ao had already noticed the problem and hugged the ball. He lost the chance to steal.
Not only Iverson, but other players on the field were also shocked, including Kidd and Webber, who are also on the Western Team!
(End of chapter)
