Just when the outside world was full of doubts, NBA officials quickly issued an official announcement.
"Timberwolves player Zhao Feiyang has officially decided to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest!"
Compared with the previous announcements that only appeared in text form on the official website, this time, NBA officials directly informed everyone of the matter by President Adam Silver in an interview in front of the media.
"We welcome international players like Zhao to participate in more events!"
"This will definitely be an All-Star night that fans will be delighted with!"
As soon as the news came out, the outside world was in an uproar again.
If many people suspected that Zhao Feiyang was just hype before, then this time, it is undoubtedly certain that Zhao Feiyang will participate in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.
Many people don't understand where he got the confidence to participate in the slam dunk contest? However, now that they have officially decided to participate, fans are only waiting for the arrival of the All-Star Weekend.
At the same time, the All-Star voting finally came to fruition.
After the final round of selection, the All-Star East and West starting lineups were announced. The East side is LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Kyle Lowry.
On the West side are Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Zhao Feiyang, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Among them, Kobe Bryant was elected as the vote leader of this All-Star Game with 790,000 votes.
Perhaps the league also heard rumors that Kobe was retiring. This time, Kobe was specifically placed in the C position during promotions to attract more fans to pay attention to the last moments before the league's superstar retired.
Moreover, regardless of whether they are in the Eastern or Western Conference, all the players have a tacit understanding, and everyone expressed their blessings for Kobe to be elected as the All-Star vote winner.
In addition to the All-Star Game, the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest are undoubtedly what fans are most concerned about.
Among them, the slam dunk contest has made more fans look forward to it because of the addition of Zhao Feiyang.
Whether it is good expectations or bad expectations, at least the ratings are already there!
The players participating in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest this time are Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic, Will Barton from the Denver Nuggets, and Zach LaVine and Zhao Feiyang from the Minnesota Timberwolves. .
It is rare for two players from the same team to participate in the dunk contest, not to mention that one of them is a Chinese player. This is unprecedented in NBA history.
Seeing that the All-Star Weekend is approaching, all teams have officially entered a state of rest.
The participating players took a flight in advance to Toronto, Canada, where the All-Star Game was held, while those who were not participating took the opportunity to go home and rest.
Two days before the All-Star Weekend, Zhao Feiyang and Zach LaVine took a plane to their destination.
LaVine not only participated in the dunk contest this time, he was also invited to participate in the All-Star Rookie Game.
Originally, Zhao Feiyang could have participated as a second-year student, but he was really not interested in the rookie competition. With his strength, those rookies couldn't stop him at all. If he really went, I'm afraid he would completely defeat the opponent. state.
Winning an easy MVP trophy is really not attractive to him now!
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All-Star weekend night is here as planned.
On the first night, Zhao Feiyang entered the scene to watch the game. He sat on the sidelines to cheer LaVine and the opponent.
LaVine's performance on the court is quite impressive. From stealing one-stop fast breaks to steadily scoring in singles, to guarding the opponent and stealing the opponent's dribble, whether it is offense or defense, his abilities are better than those of the previous year. He is much stronger.
So much so that the hosts and guests who were commenting on the scene exclaimed.
"Oh! Zach, a young man, has made great progress! He also participated in the rookie game last year, but at that time he did not have so many offensive methods, and his defense was also relatively average at that time. It can only be said that as a Highly drafted players are qualified..."
"But it's only been one season, and his progress is completely visible to the naked eye... I think all this is due to the training of the Timberwolves, or in other words, to their pursuit of the championship... .”
"If it weren't for the arrival of Zhao Feiyang, with the state of the Timberwolves, it would be difficult for them to make up their mind to chase the championship. But now Zhao has changed them and all the Timberwolves players. This team has already Fundamentally reborn... You can see it from LaVine..."
LaVine's performance was indeed what the host expected. In the challenge of this rookie game, he played a total of 23 minutes and scored 30 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 13 of 20 shots. He was the player with the highest statistics in the game.
Therefore, he was naturally elected as the MVP of the All-Star Rookie Challenge.
After receiving the MVP trophy, president Adam Silver also handed the microphone to his hand. Facing countless applause and cheers, LaVine was looking for Zhao Feiyang in the crowd.
He looked around and finally saw Zhao Feiyang somewhere in the VIP seats. LaVine looked excited, pointing to where Zhao Feiyang was and saying hello, while speaking to the fans watching the live broadcast around the world.
"The person I want to thank the most for receiving this honor is Zhao... When I came to the Timberwolves, I was just an ordinary rookie. I had no idea about the game and no idea about the championship... ..”
"At that time, I was just a clock puncher who trained on time and got off work on time. It was Zhao's arrival that inspired me and changed me, letting me know what the meaning of the game is..."
"This trophy should be his... Although I know he may not accept it, I still want to tell him, Zhao, you are my brother and the person I will always follow... .Man, thank you..."
LaVine's almost confessional words also surprised all the fans at the scene.
The on-site cameraman quickly focused the camera on Zhao Feiyang in the VIP seat and gave him a close-up.
After LaVine finished speaking these words, Zhao Feiyang also made a gesture to the camera with a serious look on his face.
This was his response to LaVine.
The fans at the scene were very moved and many applauded.
The Chinese fans in front of the TV were even more surprised. In addition to joy, they also cheered for the friendship between Zhao Feiyang and LaVine.
After the game, LaVine hugged and high-fived Zhao Feiyang. LaVine was so happy that he kept telling Zhao Feiyang what happened in the game. Zhao Feiyang also kept responding to him and mentioned some of his outstanding performances.
The first night of All-Star Weekend is officially over.
The second night, the night of the slam dunk contest that many fans are looking forward to, is coming.
