On Feb. 10, the day after the Hawks slaughtered the Cavaliers at home, all the arrangements for All-Star Weekend were out.

All-Star bench lineup.

On the western side, Rashid Wallace of the Trailblazers; Stephen Francis of the Suns; Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks; Shaq O'Neal of the Lakers; supersonic Ray Allen; Seven of the Kings' Chris Webb were named to the All-Star bench lineup.

Just the next day, February 10, Liu Mang got up in the morning and watched the news online for the first time in a few days to see who was selected as an All-Star, and saw the news that Chris Webb and Stephen Francis withdrew from All-Star Weekend due to injury.

Then David Stern made Marion an All-Star in place of Marbury and Peja in place of Webb in the All-Star.

Liu Mang saw that Chris Webb, who was still alive and well a few days ago and abused his own team, actually "retired due to injury", it was really a slippery play, an all-star position, and he was stunned to play that both of them had the title of all-star player, and forcibly let the Kings have two all-stars.

The Suns should have had an All-Star spot, either Marbury or Marion, the two have similar statistical performances, scoring almost the same, but the rebounding and assist statistics are basically reversed.

On the eastern side, the Eagles' Sherif Raheem; Michael Jordan of the Wizards; Jason Kidd of the Nets; Jamal Mashburn of the Hornets; Paul Pearce and Antoine Walker of the Celtics; Ben Wallace of the Pistons.

When he saw Raheem selected, Liu Mang felt that it was too normal, this year's Eastern All-Star players, who look like interior players, except for Latureve and Ben Wallace, Rahim, there is no serious forward in the All-Star starters.

The back line in the east is just too strong.

But Jordan is seen in the All-Star bench lineup...... Liu Mang felt weird.

Wait, Liu Mang suddenly thought of a question!

I'm an All-Star starter!

Depend on!

This year's Eastern Conference All-Star head coach is not Coach Kruger, but Coach Carlisle of the Pistons! It's impossible to let yourself play casually like last season, and Coach Carlisle hates the Eagles so much that he doesn't want to, how can he let himself play a few more tricks?

Longevity ......

……

After watching the All-Star lineup, many guards in the East missed the All-Star, such as Payton, who was just traded, because there are too many All-Star level guards in the East, although he played well, but it was not convincing.

And Ray Allen is different, he is in the Eastern Guard line, okay, but he didn't have a solid All-Star performance, but it's different when he goes to the West, and there is no one on the Western Guard Line! Ray Allen happily made the All-Star bench.

Liu Mang continued to look at the others.

In the rookie challenge, I really made the second-year lineup.

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

Yao Ming of the Rockets in the first grade; Amaré Stoudemire of the Suns; Nene Hilario of the Nuggets; Jay Williams of the Bulls; Drew Gooden of the Grizzlies; Carlos Boozer, Tyshawn Prince of the Hawks; Manu Ginobili of the Spurs; Caron Butler of the Heat.

The list of the All-Star Game and the Rookie Game was not too unexpected by Liu Mang, in terms of the Rookie Game, in addition to Eddie Curry, who has not yet played the potential, Kwame Brown's life trough continues, and the best rookies in the past two years are basically in this list.

Originally, Liu Mang and Yao Ming both planned to withdraw from the rookie game, but the league did not agree, even if the two went on the court to walk and stand and take a look, it was good to pull the domestic ratings, in order to reassure the two, the head coach of the first-year team was Howard Chen, Chinese, the original videographer of the Rockets, because Yao Ming came, in order to help Yao Ming integrate into American life, the Rockets let Howard Chen, who knows Chinese, enter the coaching staff and be responsible for Yao Ming's diet and health management.

Basically, every CBA to NBA player, the first step to enter the NBA is diet management, and the CBA club is really unprofessional in this regard.

The head coach of the sophomore team is Hawks defensive assistant Mike Woodson.

These two must first respect the decision of how long Yao Ming and Liu Mang will fight, so Liu Mang and Yao Ming did not forcibly withdraw from the game.

……

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

Since Liu Mang and Ray Allen both refused to participate, the league could only persuade two "substitutes" with similar functions, Peja to replace Ray Allen, Antoine Walker to replace Liu Mang, Peja was no longer interested in this event, but it is estimated that for the sake of the All-Star bench, he agreed, and Antoine Walker was very interested in this game, but no one invited him, and this time he was invited and agreed.

In terms of the dunk contest, Liu Mang, Carter, Jason Richardson, Amare Stoudemire, Richard Jefferson, and Draymond Mason participated.

In terms of the Legend Challenge, the active player in the East is naturally Jason Terry, and he will hold an All-Star Weekend at home, which is still a small matter that can be determined, and the West side ...... Liu Mang felt that Jason Terry was going to be played to death, and it was Margety of the Clippers who was selected......

The above list, Liu Mang thinks it's not bad, there are highlights to watch, and the competition is estimated to be very intense.

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

Liu Mang, Payton, Kidd, Marbury......

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

David Stern: What is this going to do! I don't know if these three guys have been unhappy with the master for a long time! Die again......

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

……

……

I got up in the morning and saw the All-Star Weekend game schedule from the news, and then I received a call from my agent, Schwartz told Liu Mang to go to the team to attend the press conference, Liu Mang, Raheem, and Ratliff were selected for the All-Star Game, and there was also a press conference for Prince and Boozer to be selected for the Rookie Game, and Jason Terry and Dominic Wilkins were selected for the Legend Challenge.

It's a pity that the essence of human movies didn't come to the scene, otherwise Liu Mang would like to be close to this team celebrity who is not only a participant on the day of the eventing competition, but also a judge of the slam dunk contest.

It's a bit of a pity.

But thinking of the slam dunk contest, Liu Mang thought of today's newspaper he saw after arriving at the arena, after the slam dunk contest list came out, a little thing happened, according to the source, Carter and the Raptors management revealed that the disagreement deepened!

Carter has been protected since his comeback this year, and his playing time has reached a career low, averaging 27 minutes per game, with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and all statistics have fallen to career lows.

But during this protection period, Carter had to participate in the slam dunk contest that was regarded as a beast by various teams, which made the Raptors management very dissatisfied, and negotiated with Carter many times, but it couldn't stop Carter from wanting to face off with Liu Mang.

In the event of the Slam Dunk Contest, for the team, if the player is still a rookie who is not so famous, the teams are happy and very active to want their own stars to participate, so that the players can be famous, sell tickets, and have live broadcasts.

But for the fame superstars, the team doesn't want them to participate because it doesn't make much sense anymore, and that's the case with the Raptors, who are afraid that if Carter loses? Then Carter's title of "the strongest dunk king in history" may have to be affected to a certain extent, ignoring their box office, and at the same time risking Carter's re-injury after recovering from a major injury.

Although the Raptors claimed that they believed that Carter had fully recovered to the diagnosis before the injury, they were still very worried, just like the media and fans questioned Carter's diagnosis.

The gap between Carter and the Raptors has finally arisen, and with this psychological crack, Carter's career with the Raptors is estimated to have begun the countdown.

But this has nothing to do with Liu Mang, it's not once or twice that the Raptors can't keep their stars, their management has always been quite weird, and the decisions they make are always confusing.

……

Driving home from the stadium, Liu Mang looked at the old bicycle in the garage that was no longer in use, and was covered with a layer of dust.

I couldn't help but fetch a bucket of water to wipe the bicycle, and then found a big cloth to cover the bicycle and move it to the attic to prevent it from being covered with dust anymore, after all, it was an old man who had used it for almost four years.

However, moving to a new home gives everything a new beginning, so let this old guy stay in the memory of just coming to the United States and just entering the NBA for a season and a half!

Moreover, Liu Mang didn't plan to buy a car, seeing the seven cars in the garage, they could summon the dragon, Liu Mang and Levia and Alexia ran three times before driving the seven cars 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...... It's definitely not because of picking......

I have a car, why buy it myself, isn't it a waste to park so many cars without using them......

……

Wipe the bicycle and save it, the time is already noon, Liu Mang returned to the living room, Alexia, who was on winter vacation, was making lunch, Levia was doing it, mainly responsible for "tasting dishes", Dinah was watching TV, and when she saw Liu Mang coming, she habitually jumped up to hug her.

Liu Mang hurriedly hugged the little Lori: "Eh, Dinah, you are eight years old!" Grow up! You can't just hug it! ”

Little Lori didn't care, and said with a fierce expression: "Say it again!" Uncle wasn't there on Dinah's birthday! Excessively! ”

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

This is the fate of a professional player, whether it is his own birthday or his family's birthday, it is likely that he will not be able to pass it.

However, Liu Mang is fortunate that his birthday is August 26, 82, and he celebrated his 20th birthday with three beauties in the offseason, but he didn't invite his teammates that time, mainly because the family is too small, and it is estimated that there will be a party next time.

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

"But Uncle didn't call Dinah!" Dinah looked at Liu Mang with contempt, "It must be that you went out with some woman again." ”

"Didn't Uncle buy you a gift and make it up!"

"Humph!"

“……”

It's really getting more and more arrogant!

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

Alexia is here to cook lunch today, mainly because there are guests coming.

I had already made an appointment, and after moving, Liu Mang also sent the new address to the other party.

This guest is the main interior substitute of the Los Angeles Lakers, and even in the more than 20 games that O'Neal does not play, there is a domestic center who starts most of the time, Wang Zhizhi!

Sometimes making the right choice is more important than having the strength.

When it came to the Lakers, who were the best at cultivating centers, Wang Zhizhi's projection ability and low-post skills were fully developed, and the stars ...... Not really, but it has gradually gained the strength to approach the starting point of the NBA weak team.

And whether it is partnering with Kobe Bryant, who is the best at inside passing, when O'Neal is away, or standing in the bottom corner and waiting for a three-point opportunity when O'Neal is there, 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 rate, Wang Zhizhi played the best performance of his career so far, of course, compared with Yao Ming, the gap between talent and strength is visible to the naked eye, but compared with the previous two years, Wang Zhizhi has played very well this year, at least he has gained a firm foothold in the Lakers.

Humble and funny character, although O'Neal bluntly said that Wang Zhizhi is his favorite teammate, so Kobe Bryant spoke coldly to Wang Zhizhi, but the good thing about the little blacksmith is that even if he hates this guy, if he can help him win, he will endure it, from this point of view, the future triple double king is really the most like the little blacksmith, and a nickname of the triple double king is very similar to the little blacksmith's character, very ninja.

At half past eleven o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Zhizhi took a taxi to the villa, and Liu Mang invited him to come to his house for lunch today.

"Roughly, it's been a long time, how are you doing?" Liu Mang deliberately came to the gate of the wall to pick up Wang Zhizhi.

"Haha, Ace, thanks to you, I've been doing well lately." Wang Zhizhi smiled and came up to hug Liu Mang.

"Huh? Big-by thanks to Dad? Is Dad so blessed? A certain little Lori came out from behind Liu Mang and asked strangely.

Little Lori's Chinese pronunciation is more standard than Levia and Alexia, and it is indeed easier for children to learn language than adults.

It's just that although Dina knows a lot of Chinese, she always understands when she speaks to Chinese.

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

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

Hearing the compliment, little Lori was broken: "Uncle big-by is so right!" ”

Looking at the little Lori who pretends to be cute when there are outsiders, Liu Mang is so painful, and then the next scene should happen......

Sure enough, as Liu Mang expected, Dinah stretched out her hand: "Uncle big-by, Wishing you prosperity, bring the red envelope ......"

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

Wang Zhizhi took a bunch of prepared gifts from the rented car parked in the yard, but Dina still stretched out her hand to ask for a red envelope, and saw Liu Mang and take out an empty red envelope in his pocket, Wang Zhizhi was also happy, took out a few green and oily knives and put them in, and gave them to the little Lori with a satisfied face......

It's just a very simple old lunch, in the NBA, there are too few Chinese, it is not possible to huddle for warmth, but the opportunity to meet and have a meal is also excellent, Wang Zhizhi also brought a lot of gifts in order to thank Liu Mang, most of them were for Dinah, he had heard that Liu Mang had a "daughter".

has been in the United States for so long, Wang Zhizhi thought that Liu Mang had been in the United States for many years, and it was common for Americans to have children in their teens.

Wang Zhizhi is very rich, there is no big surprise that Liu Mang changed to a big villa, he himself is a rich man, his wife is a real estate developer, he originally planned to buy a villa in Los Angeles, the price of Los Angeles is much higher than Atlanta, but because he is not a football star, it is not easy to say where to move in the future, so the rented villa has a monthly rent of more than 10,000 yuan, and the house is more luxurious than Kobe Bryant and O'Neal's, and it is bigger than the villa where Liu Mang lives now, and the gifts bought for Dinah do not look cheap......

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

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

……

……

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

Many teams have already finished their half-season seasons, and even some of the team's All-Star Stars and players who participated in All-Star Weekend events have already arrived in Atlanta.

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

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

The Hawks hosted the league's most popular Los Angeles Lakers, which was regarded as the "hot performance" of the All-Star Weekend, Liu Mang and Kobe Bryant were the All-Star votes in the East and West, and Kobe Bryant was the total vote king of this All-Star, and this game was regarded as the warm-up game of the All-Star Weekend, not without reason.

In addition to this, the league has other purposes, which is to start warming up for China's All-Star Weekend live broadcast, China's strongest player, and the strongest player in the United States, although Liu Mang and O'Neal are not on the right position, but Kobe Bryant is regarded as the first person in the guard position this year, and it is similar.

In addition, there is also Liu Mang and Wang Zhizhi's "China Derby", although Wang Zhizhi can't catch up with Yao Ming's popularity, he was once banned in China and scolded for "treason", but everything is based on strength, Wang Zhizhi has gained a firm foothold in the Lakers and played very well, with such strength, the newly appointed director Wei Yuanli of the Blue Association canceled the ban on Wang Zhizhi, and is also ready to invite Wang Zhizhi to play in the Harbin Asian Championships in the summer.

Who will have a hard time with political achievements, Wei Yuanli made it clear that as long as Wang Zhizhi is "patriotic", he can accept his return.

The new official took office three times, and Wei Yuanli and his predecessor Cheng Lanxin's approach was completely different.

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

As soon as Wei Yuanli came to power, he announced the policy of the national team's first performance, and the CBA was stifled as soon as it began to develop.

Although Cheng Lanxin is known as a vampire, his approach seems to be more in line with the development of a normal league, that is, to make money, the NBA has developed, isn't it also because the Magic Bird War has begun to make money, can make money, there will be higher salaries, more children are willing to play basketball for a living, and more parents are willing to let their children play basketball.

Chenglanxin has paved the way for the development of CBA from semi-professional to professional, trying to cancel the relegation and relegation system, maintain the value of the league team, make more money, etc., just about to start.

In this regard, Chenglanxin is still doing a good job.

Just like a magazine's evaluation of Chenglanxin in the future, it may not have any outstanding ability, but the awareness is good, although it is overly obsessed with generating income, but at least it is not a villain.

As soon as Wei Yuanli came, he immediately shortened the CBA schedule, made the national team's training time longer, and cut the road paved by Chenglanxin all of a sudden, returning to the early 90s, and almost returning to the pre-liberation period.

The two have their own benefits, Wei Yuanli's words are relatively more friendly to Liu Mang, Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi and others, Wei Yuanli doesn't want money, and the Blue Association registration fee of five percent of the NBA salary is determined, and there are no other fees, and he also sends a positive invitation to Liu Mang and Wang Zhizhi.

When Liu Mang saw the domestic basketball news, he didn't know whether he was happy or unhappy in his heart, anyway, domestic basketball is like that, a group of laymen are in charge of insiders.

However, this is a good thing for the NBA, Wang Zhizhi was "unblocked" in China, although it can't play the role of Liu Mang and Yao Ming, but it can also play a certain role, no, the game between the Hawks and the Lakers can also be promoted in China with the "Chinese Derby".

……

The game between the Lakers and the Hawks, one is regarded as the strongest in the West, and the other is regarded as one of the strongest in the East, and the two teams are still very similar, with poor records, and they have a posture to be ready to go, and the game of these two teams is very concerned.

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

Liu Mang actively participated in the pre-game news interview this time.

The media was surprised, but pleasantly surprised!

This sophomore, every time I participate in a pre-game interview, I love to do things!

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

What's going on with this kid!

Don't blame the little blacksmith for being so nervous, every time Liu Mang participates in a pre-game interview, he will scare the opponent in a wave, and then break out, although Kobe Bryant is not afraid of Liu Mang's outbreak, compared to the outbreak of a game, he is not cowardly when Jordan comes, the key is that the Lakers' recent record is very tricky, and he is about to be killed by the Jazz to seventh in the West, and he still wants to stabilize the team's situation before the All-Star weekend!

This year is really the first time that Kobe Bryant has resisted the Lakers to move forward, and O'Neal in the regular season this year has stopped and stopped, and the Lakers' record is supported by Kobe.

However, Liu Mang is not here to do things for the game with the Lakers today, he has a major decision to announce!

In the eyes of all reporters who were looking forward to what Liu Mang was going to say, and in Kobe's nervous and expectant eyes, Liu Mang said: "In this year's All-Star Game, I am ready to give up my All-Star starter position to Michael Jordan, the best, the most unsurpassable, the strongest, the most powerful, and someone always likes to imitate but can never reach it!" ”

As soon as Liu Mang's words came out, the scene was silent, this ...... It was unexpected! It's not hard to accept, but it's still very exciting news.

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

Another Georgia reporter who doesn't know where said: "Tracy McGrady also announced just now that he is going to give up the All-Star starting position to Jordan. ”

This time it's a reporter from Philadelphia: "Allen Iverson also announced that he is going to give up the All-Star starting spot to Jordan......"

This time it's Liu Mang's turn to be stunned, what's the matter? There are still people rushing to get the starters? Legend has it that two days before the All-Star Weekend, due to media bombardment and fan dissatisfaction, Carter was "forced" to start? How different from the legend!

At the interview table on the other side, a small blacksmith had a gloomy face, Liu Mang's words just now really wanted to give up the starter and choke Kobe Bryant, and blow a wave of Jordan in front of Kobe.

This Kobe Bryant endured it, but later, the four All-Star starters in the East gave way to Jordan, and Kobe Bryant was simply angry! Jordan's treatment, he is so envious!