"COME ON, BROTHER, DON'T FROWN, IT'S JUST A REGULAR SEASON LOSS, THE SEASON IS STILL LONG." On the Lakers' flight back to Los Angeles, O'Neal looked at Kobe, who was sullen after the loss.

"Shaq, you need to know one thing. If you can play the first record in the league this season, no, as long as it is the first record in the West. You're the regular season MVP! Don't you want to be an MVP at all? ”

Kobe's words made O'Neal stunned, he really didn't think about MVP. It's a time of great stardom, and he doesn't think the 24-year-old has a chance to be crowned the Most Valuable Player of the regular season.

"Is there a real chance?"

"Of course! The U.S. media won't give Jordan another MVP unless he wins more than 72 wins. This year's MVP is bound to go to players other than Jordan. You must know that most of the MVPs are judged by the regular season record, and the importance of playing the best record in the regular season is important, and we remain the first in the league to the end of the season, and the MVP is in your bag! ”

Reasonable! O'Neal's eyes lit up, didn't he come to Los Angeles just to get honors? MVP is second only to championships.

"Got it." Shaq looked straight, and he decided that he was going to play the next game.

"Boss, the results of the first round of All-Star voting are out!" Jack-of-all-trades Fisher pulls out the newspaper and hands it to Kobe.

Western center Hakeem Olajuwon 710,000 votes, Shaquille O'Neal 650,000 votes, and David Robinson 370,000 votes.

The starting center in the West will certainly be produced between Olajuwon and O'Neal, and although Olajuwon is temporarily ahead, O'Neal has a good chance of overtaking.

It was also surprising that David Robinson could get 370,000 votes for the season reimbursement.

Western Conference forward Charles Barkley 920,000 votes, Sean Camp 860,000 votes, Karl Malone 650,000 votes, Kevin Garnett 240,000 votes.

The popularity of the Houston Big Three and the last Western Conference champion SuperSonics is still hot, and fans prefer these two big forwards to Utah's Karl Malone, and Garnett's popularity is also very good.

Western Conference defenders Gary Payton 600,000 votes, John Stockton 520,000 votes, Kobe Bryant 480,000 votes, Clyde Drexler 450,000 votes, Jason Kidd 440,000 votes, Eddie Jones 180,000 votes, Mitch Richmond 170,000 votes.

Kobe Bryant's votes are the third highest among Western defenders! Only 40,000 votes behind Stockton! As more and more people recognize Kobe Bryant as a rising star, there is a good chance that he will surpass Stockton and be selected as a Western Conference All-Star starter.

But from the votes, it can also be seen how fierce the competition for Western Conference guards is, with Payton Stockton in the front, Drexler and Kidd in the back, these players are all absolute All-Star strength.

The votes of Eddie Jones and Richmond really reflect the importance of the ball market, with Eddie Jones currently averaging 16.9 per game, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals.

Richmond has 25.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals, just looking at the data, the gap between the two players can be seen to be very large, but in the big ball city of Los Angeles, the support of fans, their votes are much more than Sacramento. That's why today's stars like to run to the big cities.

Charles Barkley is the king of the Western Conference votes, with 920,000 votes so far, far more than any other player.

The Eastern vote king is Jordan, who won the fourth crown, with 1.23 million votes in the first round leading the whole league, the only one! Jordan won his fourth championship and finally didn't lag behind Grant Hill in the All-Star vote.

Eastern center Patrick Ewing has 670,000 votes, Alonzo Mourning 490,000 votes and DiCambe Mutombo 270,000 votes.

Eastern frontcourt Grant Hill ranked second in the league with 930,000 votes, followed by Scottie Pippen with 840,000, Dennis Rodman with 440,000 and Chris Webb with 190,000.

Hill and Pippen are already firmly in the front court of the East, and there is no other player who can pose a threat to them.

Eastern backcourt Michael Jordan 1.23 million votes, Anfernee Hardaway 560,000 votes, Allen Iverson 230,000 votes, Joe Dumas 210,000 votes, Tim Hardaway 200,000 votes.

The three popular kings of the league, Jordan, Hill, and Penny. This time the number of votes for Penny Hardaway dropped significantly, because O'Neal took away a large number of fans who love Magic, coupled with a poor team record and injuries, it is understandable that Penny's popularity has dropped significantly.

The current All-Star selection method is 12 in the Eastern Conference and 12 in the Western Conference, of which 5 starters are voted on by fans, and 7 substitutes are selected by the head coaches of each team.

Therefore, the current voting popularity value does not represent the final candidate, the starters will be according to the fans' favorite, but the substitutes will be selected under the professional judgment of the league's head coach, and try to avoid the defeat of some stars in the small ball market.

For example, Glen Les of the Charlotte Hornets, you must know that his average of 26.8 points per game is the third highest in the league! Second only to Jordan's 30.5 and Malone's 27.4.

But he couldn't even see a shadow in the voting in the Eastern frontcourt! This is the sadness of the small ball market.

This year's All-Star will be in Cleveland Superstars, with the Rookie Challenge on Feb. 7, the Slam Dunk Contest on February 8, the Three-Point Contest, and the All-Star Game on Feb. 9.

All-Star Weekend will begin with a month to go.

The Rookie Challenge and Slam Dunk Contest Kobe Bryant is definitely going to participate.

But in the main game, Kobe Bryant is not 100% sure that he will be selected. Kobe Bryant felt that the All-Star must also be a hard honor, and wondered if the level of achievement in life would increase after being selected.

The only players who rookie All-Star selections have been Hill and O'Neal in recent years. Earlier, it was Jordan Bird, the Magicians.

Not 100% superstar embryos, and with super popularity, it is impossible to be selected for the All-Star Game in the rookie year.

Kobe Bryant's strength is there, but his popularity is really not as good as those chosen ones who have attracted a lot of attention since his college days, and the popularity of the champion show and the No. 13 show is not at the same level.

If Kobe Bryant wants to be selected for the All-Star Game, the easiest way is to continue to play a wonderful performance to attract fans and strive for starters.

Major League Basketball also has a tradition of seniority, and it is difficult for rookie players to be selected as All-Star substitutes by league coaches. Allen Iverson in the last generation's fourth season, only selected as an All-Star in the 99-00 season, and he was also selected as a starter, you must know that Iverson's popularity and strength in the first three seasons are completely worthy of a substitute, that is, the league coaches like to choose some familiar faces, so they have been selected continuously.

Kobe Bryant was selected as an All-Star in the 97-98 season in the second year of his career, and he was also a starter.

Why? At that time, Kobe Bryant was still playing off the bench, and Bryant only started a total of 7 games in the first two years of his career.

It is the big ball city of Los Angeles, coupled with Kobe's gorgeous style of play that is loved by fans, as well as the hat of Jordan's successor and the hat of the slam dunk contest champion, which made fans put a substitute student on the top of the All-Star starter.

In this life, Kobe Bryant estimated that if he was not selected as a starter, eighty percent of these coaches who lacked morality would still not choose themselves as All-Stars. So canvassing is a must!

How to canvass? On the field, of course! If Kobe Bryant didn't have that 55 points, he would definitely have a lot less votes now, so the performance on the court is the best way to attract popularity, and in Los Angeles, if you play well, you won't have to worry about not having fans like it.

Especially in the next consecutive home games, there is no shortage of strong opponents and live broadcasts in the United States, and Kobe Bryant plans to make some big news.

Why don't you have a home game of seven consecutive 40+?