On the night of December 6, 2000, the game between the Spurs and the Magic, although it lost its suspense from halftime, was still the focus of all nine games of the day, and the game also ended up with an average rating of 11%, which was also the highest of all regular season games this season, and even surpassed the ratings of the Spurs and Pacers in the Finals last season. The reason why Hardaway is so popular in the United States is that he relies on his outstanding talent and Lingxiu's style of play, Hardaway has always been the focus of his career on and off the court since he was in college, and even at a certain time, Hardaway's popularity is even higher than Jordan's. Until now, Hardaway still has a very high popularity in the United States, although the state has long since disappeared, and even has become a second-rate star, but Hardaway's sneaker and jersey sales have never fallen out of the top 5 in the United States, and this is under the premise that Hardaway's sneakers are more expensive than Jordan's sneakers.

And this game undoubtedly attracted countless Hardaway fans, and Meng Xu and Maddie's wonderful confrontation in the second half of the second quarter has also become the most exciting shot in this round of the game, one is the league's new star Maddie who shapes his own style of play with Hardaway's idol, and the other is from the body shape to the style of play, and even various passing actions are very similar to Hardaway's Meng Xu, and when the game is over, Meng Xu and Maddie hugged each other, raised their hands and shouted "Penny", at this moment, Including Hardaway, who was lying in bed watching the game after surgery, countless fans in front of the TV were in tears.

"I was very surprised by this game, whether it was Tracy or Meng Xu, their performances reminded me of the omnipotent Anfernee, that very short but very special era." As soon as the game ended, NBA league president David Stern expressed his opinion on the NBA's official website, followed by highlights from Hardaway's career, as well as video clips of Meng Xu and Maddie facing off against each other. And this short clip of David Stern, published in the early hours of the morning, quickly received millions of clicks and comments.

It is rumored that according to the gossip from the NBA headquarters, David Stern is now very regretful that he did not arrange the Spurs' game in the Christmas War. If this showdown between Meng Xu and Maddie was in the Christmas war, then the ratings might be even higher. However, the schedule was already in place before the start of the regular season, and there are no changes that can be made now, so we will have to see if we can do it somewhere else.

"Meng is indeed a special little guy, and after seeing him, I now have the urge to make a comeback again." Jordan, who has not appeared in the media for a long time, also appeared in the TV camera very rarely the day after this game. Jordan's love for Hardaway, needless to say, when Hardaway was still at his peak, there was such a saying in the league that "David loves Hardaway, Jordan loves Hardaway, Johnson loves Hardaway, and everyone loves Hardaway." ”

The game between the Spurs and the Magic has undoubtedly attracted the attention of countless people, perhaps because the league is behind it, and even until the end of this game in the days after the end, there are still media discussions about Meng Xu and Hardaway, Meng Xu and Maddy, Maddie and Hardaway, and those highlights of Hardaway have also been broadcast on TV over and over again, and the momentum is not inferior to that of Jordan after his first retirement.

And when the Spurs played away against the Knicks two days later, on December 8, there were even a lot of fans wearing Hardaway's No. 1 jersey in the Madison Square Square at the Knicks' home stadium. And when Meng Xu walked out of the players' tunnel, Meng Xu, who was booed by the fans in New York last season, received applause and cheers from many New York fans in this game.

This season's Knicks have undergone a lot of changes in the lineup and style of play, Patrick Ewing, who has played for the team for 15 seasons, did not choose to renew his contract with the team after his contract expired this season, but went to the SuperSonics. Although Ewing became the first player in Knicks history to score 22,000+ points and rebound 10,000+ last season, Ewing's condition is getting worse and worse due to injuries in the 9798 season. In this case, Alan Houston replaced Ewing as the new favorite of the Knicks, and in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, Ewing was affected by injuries and did not perform well, and in the battle with the Pacers, Ewing missed the shot at a critical moment and was booed by Knicks fans, which also made Ewing a little disheartened.

At the same time, after the Knicks and Alan Houston signed a 6-year $100 million contract this season, plus the contracts of Latrill Sprewell and Larry Johnson with tens of millions of annual salaries, the Knicks' total salary has reached $75 million, which is almost double the salary cap, and Ewing is also 38 years old this year, and the Knicks don't want to give Ewing a big contract, and finally in front of the Knicks 2-year 12 million and the SuperSonics 1-year 14 million, Ewing chose to join the SuperSonics to assist Ray Allen.

Due to Ewing's departure, the Knicks gave up the team's 15-year combination of internal and external tactics, and completely pushed it to rebuild this season, and established an outside combination with Alan Houston and Sprewell as the core, and at the same time in this offseason, Glen Rice was also taken over from the Lakers, but in the face of this great change in the team, head coach Jeff Van Gundy still seems a little uncomfortable, and it is rumored that Jeff Van Gundy is a coach who will not coach without a strong center, although this statement may be an exaggeration, But judging by the Knicks' struggling performances this season, these rumors aren't necessarily groundless. In the first 16 games of the season, the Knicks are only 8-8 and sit in 8th place in the East.

The team's poor record, coupled with the fact that the team did not renew Ewing this summer, so in the eyes of many fans, the culprit of all this is head coach Jeff Van Gundy, so this season has only been a month, and the voice of Jeff Van Gundy has been heard in Madison Garden Square to step down.

"Jeff is having a hard time." The game has just begun, listening to the shouts in the stands for Van Gundy to get out of class, looking at Van Gundy with a sad face, Popovich is also a little worried about this old opponent, the same head coach who started by relying on defense, Popovich and Jeff Van Gundy still look at each other very pleasantly, and the personal relationship between the two is not bad.

In this game, there was also a group of different fans in the stands of Madison Garden Plaza, these fans wore Meng Xu's No. 5 jersey, waving the five-star red flag back and forth in their hands, and they knew at a glance that they were local Chinese in New York, New York is the state with the largest number of Chinese in the United States, it is said that it has exceeded 1 million, accounting for about 10% of the entire population of New York. With Meng Xu's entry into the NBA, more and more Chinese fans have become Meng Xu's fans, and this season is intensifying.

"The Spurs were 11-4 and the Knicks were 8-8 before this game, and after losing Patrick, the Knicks looked really bad, and maybe after the season is over, Dolan Jr. and Van Gundy will regret the decision they made this summer." Although it is the home court of the Knicks, the commentators on the scene do not seem to be too friendly to the Knicks, especially the Knicks owner James Dolan, and the Knicks' head coach Van Gundy.

"Dolan is a piece of shit, he can give Houston $100 million, but he won't give Patrick 10 million."

"This decision must have been made by Dolan after smoking *big* hemp*, and this addict* will definitely go to hell." When the Knicks' on-site commentary expressed their dissatisfaction with the team's owner James Dolan, the emotions of the fans at the scene were immediately detonated, and the voices of cursing Dolan Jr. were everywhere.

The Knicks are a place that is not bad for money, and after having Olajuwon's experience, most Knicks fans believe that the team will give Ewing, who has fought for the Knicks for 15 seasons, a pension contract like the Spurs did with David Robinson, and then let Ewing retire from the Knicks, but the Knicks' management can't wait for Ewing to retire now, after consecutive playoff losses, the Knicks are in desperate need of a championship, especially the new owner of the Knicks, James Dolan, This famous rich second generation in the United States is even more ambitious to let the Knicks surpass the Lakers and Celtics and become the No. 1 giant in the NBA, so in this context, the Knicks' management also wants to take advantage of Alan Houston, Sprewell and Larry Johnson are still at their peak to bring back a championship for the Knicks. Most of the fans disagree with the management's idea, and there are even many fans who are like the fans of the Magic, directly scolding the team's management at the door of the club for being a river crab * raising * brain * disabled.

Therefore, this game, although it is the home court of the Knicks, the fans on the scene have turned against each other, and every time Meng Xu sends a beautiful assist or scores a goal, there will be many fans on the scene cheering and applauding for Meng Xu. At the same time, with Duncan's almost invincible performance on the inside, the Spurs defeated the Knicks 97-83 on the road. In this game, Duncan scored 33 points, along with 21 rebounds and 5 blocks. Meng Xu contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.

"Mr. James, it looks like the New York fans don't quite agree with your decision yet." Madison Garden Plaza, in the largest box, Peter Holt, the chairman of the Spurs club who came with the team, saw countless fans in the stadium raising their middle fingers at the box where James Dolan was, Peter Holt's heart was also very happy, although everyone is a rich N generation, but for Dolan's arrogant personality, Peter Holt is also very unhappy.

"Hmph." Little Dolan snorted and left without saying a word.