Chapter 467

On February 10, the day after the Eagles slaughtered the Cavaliers at home, all the arrangements for the All-Star Weekend have been released.

All-Star bench.

In the west, Rasheed Wallace of the Trail Blazers; Stephon Marbury of the Suns; Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks; Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers; Sonics Ray Allen of the Kings; Chris Webber of the Kings. Seven people were selected for the All-Star bench.

On the next day, February 10th, Liu Mang woke up in the morning and watched the news online for the first time after a few days. When he wanted to see who was selected as an All-Star, he saw Chris Webber and Stephen Marb All-Star Weekend news in which Lee withdrew due to injury.

Then David Stern had Marion replace Marbury in the All-Star Game and Peja replaced Webber in the All-Star Game.

Liu Mang saw that Chris Webber, who came to abuse his team a few days ago, actually "retired due to injury", he really played well, an All-Star position, he was surprised that both of them had He won the title of All-Star player and forced the Kings to have two All-Stars.

The Suns should have had an All-Star seat, either Marbury or Marion, the statistics of the two are almost the same, the difference in points is almost the same, but the statistics of rebounds and assists are basically reversed.

In the East, Sharif Raheem of the Eagles; Michael Jordan of the Wizards; Jason Kidd of the Nets; Jamal Mashburn of the Hornets; Paul Pierce of the Celtics, Jermaine O'Neal, Pacers; Ben Wallace, Pistons.

When seeing Raheem selected, Liu Mang felt that it was too normal. This year’s Eastern All-Star players, who look like inside players, except Ratourev and Ben Wallace, only Raheem, the All-Star starter There is no serious striker.

The guard line in the East is too strong.

But seeing Jordan in the All-Star bench... Liu Mang felt weird.

Wait, Liu Mang suddenly thought of a question!

I am an All-Star starter!

Depend on!

This year's Eastern All-Star head coach is not Coach Kruger, but Coach Carlisle of the Pistons! It is impossible to let myself play casually like last season. Coach Carlisle hates the Eagles so much, how can he let himself play blindly?

Happy birthday...

...

After watching the All-Star lineup, many guards in the East missed the All-Stars, such as Payton, who had just been traded, because there are too many All-Star guards in the East. Although he played well, he was not convincing.

But Ray Allen is different. He is not bad in the Eastern guard line, but he has not made it to the All-Star performance, but it is different when he goes to the West. There is no one in the Western guard line! Ray Allen was happily selected as an All-Star substitute.

Liu Mang continued to look at the others.

In the rookie challenge, he really entered the second-year lineup.

The second-year lineup also includes Pau Gasol and Shane Battier of the Grizzlies; Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson of the Warriors; Richard Jeffer of the Nets Sen; Jazz's Andrei - Kirilenko; Spurs' Tony - Parker; Bulls' Tyson - Chandler.

Freshman Yao Ming, Rockets; Amare Stoudemire, Suns; Nene Hilario, Nuggets; Jay Williams, Bulls; Drew Gu, Grizzlies Den; Carlos Boozer and Tayshaun Prince of the Hawks; Manu Ginobili of the Spurs; Caron Butler of the Heat.

The rosters of the All-Star Game and the Rookie Game did not exceed Liu Mang's expectations. In the Rookie Game, apart from Eddie Curry, who has not yet shown his potential, Kwame Brown's trough in life is still going on. The past two years The best rookies are basically on this list.

Originally, both Liu Mang and Yao Ming planned to withdraw from the rookie competition, but the alliance did not agree. Even if the two of them went to the field to take a walk, stand and watch, it would still be able to boost domestic ratings. In order to reassure the two, a team The head coach of the grade team is Howard Chen, a Chinese, who was originally the videographer of the Rockets. Because Yao Ming came, in order to help Yao Ming integrate into American life, the Rockets let Howard Chen, who can speak Chinese, into the coaching staff to be in charge of Yao Ming’s diet. health management.

Basically, every player from the CBA to the NBA enters the NBA. The first step is food management. CBA clubs are really unprofessional in this regard.

The sophomore team was head coached by Eagles defensive assistant Mike Woodson.

These two people must first respect Yao Ming and Liu Mang's decision on how long to fight, so Liu Mang and Yao Ming did not forcefully retire.

...

In the three-point contest, the list is Rick Barry of the Sonics, Pat Garrity of the Magic, Peja Stojakovic of the Kings, Antoine Walker of the Celtics, Hornets David Wesley.

Since Liu Mang and Ray Allen both expressed their refusal to participate, the league could only persuade two "substitutes" with similar functions, Peja to replace Ray Allen, Antoine Walker to replace Liu Mang, Peja originally I am no longer interested in this event, but I guess it is for the sake of being an All-Star substitute, so I agreed. Antoine Walker is very interested in this game, but no one has invited him. accepted.

For the slam dunk contest, Liu Mang, Carter, Jason Richardson, Amare Stoudemire, Richard Jefferson, and Drummond Mason participated in the six-member lineup. Except for Liu Mang and Carter who dunk less, everyone else is one of the players with the most dunks in their positions this season.

As for the Legend Challenge, the active player in the Eastern Conference is of course Jason Terry. They hold the All-Star Weekend. This small matter can still be decided by default. In the Western Conference... Liu Mang thinks that Jason Terry is going to be played to death. It's Maggette of the Clippers...

Liu Mang thinks that the list above is not bad. It depends on what to watch, and the competition is expected to be fierce.

But when it came to the list of skills challenge, Liu Mang was not calm.

Liu Mang, Payton, Kidd, Marbury...

Looking at his three opponents, Liu Mang really wanted to retire!

What is David Stern doing? I don't know if these three guys have been unhappy with the young master for a long time! Happy birthday again...

Liu Mang is a little strange, did he forget something, why are there more?

...

...

Woke up in the morning and saw the game schedule of the All-Star Weekend from the news, and then received a call from his agent. Schwartz informed Liu Mang to go to the team to attend the press conference. Liu Mang, Raheem and Ratliff were selected for the All-Star Weekend. The press conference for the star game, as well as the press conference for Prince and Boozer being selected for the rookie game, and Jason Terry and the famous Dominique Wilkins being selected for the legend challenge.

It's a pity that the essence of the human movie didn't come to the scene, otherwise Liu Mang would really like to get close to this team celebrity who is not only a competitor on the match day of the triathlon, but also a judge of the slam dunk contest.

A little disappointed.

But thinking of the slam dunk contest, Liu Mang thought of today's newspaper after arriving at the arena. After the slam dunk contest entry list came out, a little incident happened. According to the news source, the disagreement between Carter and the Raptors management has deepened!

After Carter came back this year, he has been protected. His playing time has reached a career low. He averaged 27 minutes per game, 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. All statistics have fallen to a career low.

But during this protection period, Carter had to participate in the slam dunk contest, which was regarded as a scourge by all teams. This made the Raptors management very dissatisfied. They negotiated with Carter many times, but they couldn't stop Carter from wanting to fight with Liu Mang. duel heart.

For the dunk contest, for teams, if the players are not so well-known rookies, the teams are very willing and very active to want their own stars to participate, so that the players can become famous and popular, and they can sell tickets and have live broadcasts.

But for famous superstars, the team doesn't want them to participate, because it doesn't make much sense. This is the case with the Raptors. They are afraid that if Carter loses? Then Carter's title of "the strongest slam dunk king in history" may be affected to a certain extent, and their box office will be ignored.

Although the Raptors declared to the outside world that they believed that Carter had fully recovered to his pre-injury diagnosis, they were still very worried, just like the media and fans questioned Carter's diagnosis.

The gap between Carter and the Raptors finally occurred. With this psychological crack, Carter's career in the Raptors is estimated to have begun to count down.

But this has nothing to do with Liu Mang. The Raptors have been unable to keep their stars once or twice. Their management has always been weird, and the decisions they make are always confusing.

...

Driving back home from the arena, Liu Mang saw that the old and unused bicycle in the garage had been covered with a layer of dust.

I couldn't help but fetched a bucket of water to wipe the bicycle, then found a big cloth to cover the bicycle and moved it to the attic to prevent it from being covered by dust. After all, it is an old man who has been using it for almost four years.

However, after moving to a new home, everything has a new beginning, let this old guy stay in the memory of the first season and a half when he first arrived in the United States and entered the NBA!

Moreover, Liu Mang didn't plan to buy a car anymore. He saw that the seven cars in the garage could summon dragons. Liu Mang, Levia, and Alexia ran three times together to get this car. Seven cars drove back to the villa.

Therefore, in order to commemorate the unique second-hand bicycle in his mind, Liu Mang decided not to buy a car! One is for environmental protection, and the other is to commemorate the poor years... definitely not because of picking...

There are already cars rubbing against each other, so why buy them yourself? Isn’t it a waste to park so many cars without using them...

...

Wipe the bicycle and save it. It was already noon. Liu Mang returned to the living room. Alexia, who was on winter vacation, was making lunch. While watching TV, seeing Liu Mang coming, he habitually jumped up to hug him.

Liu Mang hugged this little loli quickly: "Hey, Dinah, you are already eight years old! You've grown up! You can't just hug me casually!"

Little Lolita didn't care, and said with a ferocious expression: "Still talking! Uncle wasn't there on Dinah's birthday! It's too much!"

"Uncle was playing away at that time..." Liu Mang was a little weak.

This is the life of a professional player. Whether it's his own birthday or his family's birthday, he probably won't be able to pass it.

Luckily for Liu Mang, his birthday is August 26, 1982. During the offseason, he celebrated his 20th birthday with three beauties of all sizes. However, he did not invite his teammates that time, mainly because his family was too small. Next time I guess there will be a party.

Dinah's birthday is December 22nd, unfortunately, for the past two years, Liu Mang has been playing away games on that day.

"But the uncle didn't call Dinah!" Dinah looked at Liu Mang with disdain, "He must have gone out with some woman again."

"Didn't uncle buy you a gift to make up for it?"

"snort!"

"..."

The older you get, the more arrogant you are!

After agreeing to some unequal terms, Dinah happily went to the kitchen to wash her hands, and then went to try the dishes.

Alexia came to make lunch today, mainly because there are guests coming.

They made an appointment a long time ago, and after moving, Liu Mang also sent the new address to the other party.

This guest is the main inside substitute of the Los Angeles Lakers. Even in the more than 20 games that O'Neal did not play, the domestic center Wang Zhizhi started most of the time!

Sometimes making a right choice is more important than strength.

When it comes to the Lakers, which are best at cultivating centers, Wang Zhizhi's shooting ability and low-post skills have been fully developed. Stars... are not counted, but they have gradually become close to the starting strength of weak NBA teams.

And no matter whether he partnered with Kobe, who is best at passing the ball inside when O'Neal is not around, or standing in the corner and waiting for a three-pointer when O'Neal is around, Wang Zhizhi has done a good job with the Lakers.

With an average of 9 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, and a 36% three-point shooting percentage, Wang Zhizhi played the best performance of his career so far. Of course, compared with Yao Ming, the gap in talent and strength is obvious to the naked eye, but compared to the previous two This year, Wang Zhizhi has played very well this year, at least he has gained a firm foothold in the Lakers.

Humble yet funny, although O’Neill bluntly said that Wang Zhizhi is his favorite teammate, which made Kobe sneer at Wang Zhizhi, the good thing about the little blacksmith is that no matter how much he hates this guy, he will endure it if he can help him win. So, from this point of view, the future triple king really deserves to be the one who resembles the little blacksmith the most. The nickname of the triple king is very similar to the character of the little blacksmith, very ninja.

At 11:30 noon, Wang Zhizhi took a taxi to the villa, and Liu Mang invited him to have lunch at home today.

"Generally, it's been a long time. How are you doing?" Liu Mang deliberately came to the gate of the wall to meet Wang Zhizhi.

"Haha, Ace, thanks to you, I've been doing well recently." Wang Zhizhi smiled and hugged Liu Mang.

"Huh? Big-by is thanks to Dad? Is Dad so lucky?" A certain little loli popped up from behind Liu Mang and asked strangely.

Little Lolita's Chinese pronunciation is more standard than that of Levia and Alexia. It is indeed easier for children to learn languages ​​than adults.

It's just that, although Dinah can speak a lot of Chinese, she can always understand when speaking to Chinese people.

As a Lakers player, Wang Zhizhi has been on the news a lot. Dinah, who is a basketball fan, naturally knows him and the nickname Liu Mang gave him.

"Is this your daughter, Ace? She's so beautiful," Wang Zhizhi complimented first, and then said, "Of course your father is blessed, that's why you have such a beautiful daughter."

Hearing the praise, the little Lolita was overjoyed: "Uncle big-by is so right!"

Seeing the little loli who pretends to be cute when there are outsiders, Liu Mang's ass hurts, and then the next scene should happen...

Sure enough, as Liu Mang expected, Dinah stretched out her hand: "Uncle big-by, Gong Xi Fa Cai, here is the red envelope..."

Wang Zhizhi was stunned when he saw this scene. It was true that it was still during the Spring Festival, but he didn't prepare red envelopes at all! Who knew there would be children asking for red envelopes in the United States?

Wang Zhizhi took a bunch of prepared gifts from the rented car parked in the yard, but Dinah still reached out to ask for a red envelope. Seeing Liu Manghe took out an empty red envelope from his pocket, Wang Zhizhi was also happy, and took out a few A beautiful green knife was put in, and it was given to the satisfied little loli...

It’s just a very simple reminiscence lunch. In the NBA, there are too few Chinese people, so it’s hard to call it a group for warmth, but it’s also great to have the opportunity to meet and have a meal. Wang Zhizhi also brought a lot to thank Liu Mang. Most of the presents were for Dinah. He had heard that Liu Mang had a "daughter".

Having stayed in the US for so long, Wang Zhizhi thought that Liu Mang had been in the US for many years. It is very common for Americans to have children in their teens. Seeing Liu Mang's integration into the NBA so well, he thought Liu Mang had been in the US for a long time. , so I think there is nothing wrong with it.

Wang Zhizhi is very rich, so he was not surprised that Liu Mang changed to a big villa. He is a land rich man and his wife is a real estate agent. He originally planned to buy a villa in Los Angeles. The housing price in Los Angeles is much higher than that in Atlanta, but due to He is not a football star, and it is hard to say where he will move in the future, so the monthly rent for the rented villa is more than 10,000. The house is more luxurious than Kobe and O'Neal's, and it is bigger than the villa Liu Mang lives in now. The gifts you bought don't look cheap...

Wang Zhizhi felt that Liu Mang probably didn't care about gifts, so it was better to give him a gift for his "daughter".

Liu Mang is very resentful, who said that the young master doesn't want gifts!

...

...

February 11, the last game day before the All-Star Weekend.

The half-season of many teams has ended, and some teams' All-Stars and players participating in the All-Star Weekend have already come to Atlanta.

From what Liu Mang learned, there are many superstars who bought tickets for today's game between the Eagles and the Lakers.

Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, all came to Atlanta this morning.

The Eagles played at home against the most popular Los Angeles Lakers in the league, and it was regarded as the "hot show" of the All-Star Weekend. Liu Mang and Kobe ranked the top voters in the Eastern and Western All-Stars, and Kobe was the total vote leader in this All-Star. It's not for nothing that this game is seen as a warm-up for All-Star Weekend.

In addition to this, the league has other purposes, which is to start warming up for China's All-Star Weekend live broadcast, where the strongest players in China will play against the strongest players in the United States. Although Liu Mang and O'Neal are no match, Kobe This year, he is regarded as the first player in the guard position, which is about the same.

In addition, there is also the "China Derby" between Liu Mang and Wang Zhizhi. Although Wang Zhizhi can't keep up with Yao Ming's popularity, he was once banned in China and scolded as "treasonous". However, everything is based on strength. The team has gained a firm foothold and played well. With such strength, Wei Yuanli, the newly appointed director of the Blue Association, canceled the ban on Wang Zhizhi, and is planning to invite Wang Zhizhi to play in the Harbin Asian Championships in the summer.

Who would have trouble with political achievements? Wei Yuanli made it clear that as long as Wang Zhizhi is "patriotic", he can accept his return.

Wei Yuanli and his predecessor, Cheng Lanxin, have three fires when they take office.

Relatively speaking, Cheng Lanxin is more like a normal "league manager" who focuses on making money, while Wei Yuanli is more like a traditional domestic official who focuses on political achievements.

As soon as Wei Yuanli came to power, he announced the policy of the national team's first score, and the CBA was strangled when it just started to develop.

Although Cheng Lanxin is called a vampire, his approach seems to be more in line with the development of a normal league, which is to make money. The development of the NBA is also because the magic bird wars have started to make money. If you can make money, you will have a higher level With a higher salary, more children are willing to play basketball for a living, and more parents are willing to let their children play basketball.

Cheng Lanxin has almost paved the way for the development of CBA from semi-professional to professional, trying to cancel the relegation system, to preserve the value of league teams, make more money, etc., just about to start.

From this aspect, Cheng Lanxin has done a good job.

It's the same as a certain magazine's evaluation of Cheng Lanxin in the future. He may not have any outstanding abilities, but he has a good sense. Although he is too obsessed with generating income, he is at least not a villain.

As soon as Wei Yuanli came, he immediately shortened the CBA schedule, lengthened the training time of the national team, cut off the road paved by Cheng Lanxin, and returned to the early 1990s, almost before the liberation.

The two approaches have their own advantages. Wei Yuanli’s words are relatively more friendly to Liu Mang, Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi and others. Wei Yuanli does not need money, and has determined the Blue Association registration fee of 5% of the NBA salary , there will be no other charges, and a positive invitation is sent to Liu Mang and Wang Zhizhi.

When Liu Mang saw the domestic basketball news, he didn't know whether he was happy or unhappy. Anyway, domestic basketball is like that, a group of laymen control the insiders.

But this is a good thing for the NBA. Wang Zhizhi was "unblocked" in China. Although he can't play the role of Liu Mang and Yao Ming, he can still play a certain role. No, the game between the Eagles and the Lakers can also be used. Promote the "Chinese Derby" domestically.

...

In the game between the Lakers and the Eagles, one is considered the strongest in the West, and the other is considered one of the strongest in the East. Moreover, the two teams are very similar, with poor records, and they are ready to go. , The game between these two teams has a very high degree of attention.

The press conference before the game attracted a large number of media reporters.

Liu Mang is actively participating in the pre-match news interview this time.

The media was surprised, but pleasantly surprised!

This sophomore likes to make trouble every time he participates in the pre-match interview!

When the little blacksmith who was being interviewed saw Liu Mang coming to the interview hall, his chrysanthemum tightened.

What is this kid going to do again!

No wonder the little blacksmith is so nervous. Every time Liu Mang participates in a pre-match interview, he will lash out at his opponent and then explode. Although Kobe is not afraid of Liu Mang’s explosion, he is not afraid of the peak Jordan when he comes to the game. The key is the Lakers The team's recent record is very difficult, and it looks like it will be beaten by the Jazz to seventh place in the Western Conference. He still wants to stabilize the team before the All-Star Weekend!

This year is really the first time for Kobe to go forward against the Lakers. O'Neal played on and off in the regular season this year, and the Lakers' record depends entirely on Kobe.

However, Liu Mang didn't come here today to make trouble for the game against the Lakers, he has a major decision to announce!

In the eyes of all the reporters looking forward to Liu Mang's bold words, and in Kobe's nervous and expectant eyes, Liu Mang said: "In this year's All-Star Game, I plan to give up my starting position in the All-Star Game." To the best, most insurmountable, strongest, most powerful Michael Jordan in NBA history, someone who always likes to imitate but can never achieve!"

As soon as Liu Mang said this, the scene fell silent. This... was unexpected! It's not hard to accept, but it's still great news.

An Atlanta reporter said weakly: "Ace, this afternoon, Vince Carter has announced that he will give up the All-Star starter to Jordan."

Another reporter from an unknown location in Georgia said: "Just now Tracy McGrady also announced that he will give up the All-Star starting position to Jordan."

This time it was a reporter from Philadelphia: "Allen Iverson also announced that he would give up the All-Star starting position to Jordan..."

This time it was Liu Mang's turn to be dumbfounded, what the hell? There are still people rushing to make the starter? According to legend, wasn't Carter "forced" to start the game two days before the All-Star Weekend due to media bombardment and fans' dissatisfaction? How is it different from the legend!

On the other side of the interview table, a certain little blacksmith had a gloomy face. What Liu Mang said just now was really intended to let Kobe out of the starting lineup and blow Jordan in front of Kobe.

This Kobe endured it, but later, the four All-Stars in the East started outside to give way to Jordan, Kobe was so angry! He is so envious of Jordan's treatment!