After the game in Los Angeles, Zhao Feiyang returned to Miami with the Heat the next day. The battle between him and Steven Scott was also decided based on their final data.
Even the Los Angeles media, which always likes to praise Steven Scott, mostly chose to remain silent after this game.
What's more terrible for the Lakers is not that Zhao Feiyang defeated the "future star" they supported, but that the entire team has constant conflicts from top to bottom.
Centered around Steven Scott and Byron Scott, the previous team that focused on games and chasing the playoffs has completely disappeared, replaced by a team that plays its own game and plays poorly most of the time.
Lakers fans could no longer bear this, so a group of fans left messages on the Lakers' official website, hoping that the team would trade Steven Scott and leave.
Others were even crazier, standing outside the Staples Center holding up signs, hoping that the team would not only trade Steven Scott, but also fire head coach Byron Scott.
"The team will only get better if they leave!"
"Steven and Byron are working together, and they are ruining the future of the team!"
"Byron was the worst head coach and look what he's done now?"
The Lakers are in trouble internally and externally.
On the other side, Zhao Feiyang's career finally started to take off. After playing with the Los Angeles Lakers, local Heat fans' support for him continues to soar.
This involves another thing, which is the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in the middle of the season.
For Chinese fans, although they can see different All-Star series every year, the absence of local players has undoubtedly dampened the enthusiasm of many people.
When Yao Ming participated in the All-Star Game in the past, fans voted for him and even made him the All-Star vote leader.
At that time, Yao Ming's performance also attracted the attention of all fans. No matter how well he played, Chinese fans were very excited. After all, this was one of their own players competing on the world's highest level, which is something to be proud of.
But with Yao Ming's injury, the Chinese never appeared in the All-Star Game.
Even Jeremy Lin later, to some extent, is not the hope of the Chinese people. Born and raised in the United States, it should be said that he has Chinese ancestry, but he is an authentic banana man who grew up under the influence of American culture.
The emergence of Zhao Feiyang seems to be filling this gap, especially since he has performed well recently and his exposure and support rates are also rising.
With the arrival of the All-Star Game, NBA officials also announced that the voting process has officially begun.
However, what is puzzling is that the All-Star Rookie Challenge temporarily changed the rules. Previously, the coaching staff selected the best young people in January to form the rookie team. However, after the rule change this time, the decision-making power fell to In the hands of two NBA legends.
According to NBA official regulations, two NBA legends will select the nine best-performing rookies, and they will form a first-year team to face the second-year team.
The two selected celebrities have quite a lot of backgrounds. One is Gary Payton, nicknamed "The Glove", and the other is Dennis Rodman, nicknamed "The Bug."
They are figures from the Michael Jordan era. In terms of status, they are definitely one of the best in the league.
The choices of the two celebrities have undoubtedly attracted enough attention. Not only the fans, but also the players are looking forward to seeing their choices.
What is surprising is that Zhao Feiyang was not included in the final list given by the two celebrities.
Even though Zhao Feiyang is ranked 5th on the rookie list at this time, all the players ranked 1st to 8th have been successfully selected into the roster of two famous players.
Such a decision will undoubtedly arouse doubts among many Chinese fans.
They left messages on the social accounts of the two celebrities respectively.
"Why not choose Zhao? Although he is not a lottery pick, he is definitely one of the most powerful talented rookies..."
"This is unfair! His data is not bad. Even guys like Steven Scott were selected. Why can't Zhao?"
"I don't understand why you skipped him and chose someone else? Is it because he is a Chinese player?"
The outside world's doubts have become louder. Perhaps in order to calm the fans' criticism, the famous player nicknamed "The Glove" Gary Payton also stepped forward to respond.
"We know Zhao's data very well, but he will be 30 years old soon! Please, do you want him to play in the Rookie Challenge with a group of young people in their twenties?"
"I didn't think it was a good idea! His age didn't meet my requirements, so I didn't choose him..."
Gary Payton's words received some recognition, but some fans believed that this was not a reason.
"It is true that Zhao is an older rookie, but this is indeed his first season in the NBA. There is no rule that 29-year-old players cannot participate in the Rookie Challenge..."
"The NBA is a place where miracles happen. No matter how old a player is, as long as he meets the relevant regulations, he should be allowed to participate in the All-Star Rookie Game..."
The fans' discussion and Gary Payton's response attracted a lot of attention.
The local fans in the United States are fine and can barely accept such excuses, but the Chinese fans are different. Not only do they not accept such excuses, but they continue to leave feedback on the NBA Chinese official website to express themselves. of protest.
As more and more people protested, the NBA Chinese official website was paralyzed for a time. After learning the news, the NBA headquarters quickly contacted the China District. One day later, NBA officials finally launched a measure to make up for the previous " Error".
"Zhao, we would like to invite you to participate in the All-Star Three-Point Shootout Contest!"
When he first received the call from the official, Zhao Feiyang was a little surprised. After repeated confirmation, he did not refuse but chose to agree.
This official move was originally intended to ease the matter. However, what they did not expect was that many fans did not buy it at all. They still believed that not allowing Zhao Feiyang to participate in the rookie game was intentional because of Zhao Feiyang's age and identity. Deliberately targeted.
So, the angry fans took revenge in a way.
I don’t know who started it first. The day after the official invited Zhao Feiyang, the voting interface of the NBA All-Star Game began to change.
Zhao Feiyang, who was originally ranked sixth, saw a surge in votes in a short period of time. The fans who voted completely lost their minds and it was almost as if they were swiping votes. It only took 6 hours for Zhao Feiyang to reach the top, and the number of votes jumped directly over LeBron James has become the first player in All-Star votes.
