Chapter Eighty-Three: The All-Star Game Ends

The basketball is still flying in the air, and Kobe Bryant has landed. Forrest Gump didn't look at the basketball flying in the air, he turned his body, facing the audience, facing the camera, raised his right hand high, and stretched out three fingers.

Swish~~~~

As if reflected, the crisp sound of wiping the net came from this time with incomparable firmness.

This is Kobe Bryant, a black mamba full of poison, who may have been hiding in a dark corner of Yīn for a long time, and if you ignore his presence because of the darkness, no amount of howling will save your life when your body is infused with deadly venom.

However, no matter how much venom the black mamba has, there is still a limit after all. Just like no matter how much he can jump, he can't compete for rebounds above the heads of two dozen centers, although Kobe Bryant's shooting rate exploded in the second half of the third quarter, scoring 17 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, but after all, it is impossible to guarantee a 100% shooting rate.

Just invest as much as you want, can't you invest?

There are people on the inside who grab rebounds, and they just grab them and then shoot.

LeBron's assists rose rapidly, and the ball of the Eastern team fell into the hands of LeBron James in the second half of the third quarter. And because of the psychological advantage in rebounding, the stars of the Eastern team play very relaxed, and the first choice when they get basketball is often to shoot directly.

Even if they can't shoot, Zhang Kong and Howard, two super blue wrenches, will snatch control of the rebound under the basket. When Howard gets offensive rebounds, he sometimes chooses to attack directly, and more often than not, he chooses to pass back to James to keep him on the ball.

When the third quarter ended, James's statistics had come to 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists.

At the same time, the eastern forces also led by a clear margin, 107 in the east and 95 in the west. In the third quarter, the score was more than 100 points.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Western Army still wanted to do another back-to-back battle, but at the critical moment, the Eastern Army withstood the offensive of the Western Team, and James also broke out his dominance and scored consecutive points at the last critical moment, allowing his score to exceed 30 at the same time, but also withstood the final counterattack of the Western Army.

In the final five minutes, the game began to return to flat, and Zhang Kong was substituted. The East was unable to extend its advantage again, and the West obviously had no way to recover the score in one wave, and the difference between the two teams was pulled and pulled in the confrontation, and finally maintained the 10-point position.

139 in the East: 129 in the West, won by 10 points, while LeBron James also scored 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists for a luxurious double-double quasi-triple-double.

James received the All-Star MVP trophy from David Stern, and David Stern's face was full of smiles during the trophy handover. James has always been his blockbuster star, and from the beginning, James entered the league with the title of the next Jordan.

Jordan, is David Stern's most luxurious creation. It is precisely because of Jordan's appearance that the NBA can go out of the United States and have a vast influence around the world. Today, although basketball is only ranked third in the United States, it has long surpassed ice hockey, rugby, and baseball in terms of worldwide influence, and has become the second largest sport in the world after football, which is not available in sports such as boxing, ice hockey, baseball, and rugby.

There is no doubt that Jordan's role in the spread of influence is irreplaceable. His elegant style of play, his way of playing beyond the constraints of gravity, as if he would never grow old, have left one deep imprint after another in the hearts of those who watched him play, even if it was worn down by the years.

However, Jordan was able to spread his influence and popularity to the whole world, and David Stern's vigorous promotion was also a factor that could not be ignored, without David Stern's promotion and support, Jordan would not have reached that height in history, and he might have been humiliated for a lifetime in front of the Pistons Bad Boy Army. Stern put Jordan on the altar, and Jordan used his influence as a god to promote the NBA to the world.

But after Jordan, the NBA's development fell into shackles. Over the years, NBA stars have continued to emerge, and they do have a lot of fans. But when it comes to influence and promotion of the NBA, no one can compare to Jordan's chances.

Over the years, the league has been hyping the topic of the next Jordan, and a slightly talented outside player will be crowned the next Jordan and Jordan's successor as soon as he is discovered. On the one hand, the media needs Jordan's influence to stimulate sales, and on the other hand, David Stern does want to create another Jordan.

Because of this, he pushed Kobe Bryant into the All-Star Game when he was still a rookie season, allowing him to directly face Jordan. This is not because Kobe Bryant had a lot of ability at the time, but because in Stern's opinion, he is too similar to Jordan.

Whether it's height, position, the way he plays, or even sticking out his tongue when dunking, he comes from a middle-class family and has been well educated since he was a child, all of which are in line with David Stern's requirements, and he has always been committed to transforming basketball into an elegant sport that can be accepted by the upper class.

However, since the 'Eagle County incident', David Stern's heart for Kobe Bryant's promotion has faded.

Even though some time has passed since this incident, the damage to Kobe's reputation in the 'Qiangjiān case' is too great, and this incident has made David Stern, who originally pushed Kobe, fall into passivity and be disappointed in Kobe. After the 'Eagle County Incident', the league's push for Kobe Bryant did not weaken, but it changed direction. And, David Stern no longer expects Kobe to be the next Jordan, but at least he can be a superstar.

And it just so happened that the 03 platinum generation began to explode. It seems that he can't wait to take over the dominance of the 96 Golden Generation in the Alliance, and the Alliance has been in a state of chaos for a while. This makes David Stern very satisfied, after all, there are enough stars, there is plenty of competition, the league is interesting, the audience is willing to pay to watch the game, and the TV broadcasters are willing to give a lot of money.

However, he still hopes to create another Jordan, after all, there are many stars in the league now, but none of them can reach the influence of Jordan at the beginning.

James is the new generation of idols he pushes after Kobe.

Stehn is pleased with Stene's consistent positive image off the court, and his performance on the court has been on the rise. This makes David Stern very optimistic about James' future, for which he has even hinted more than once that the referee will take care of James on the court, and his five-step layup skills are developed in such an environment.

Although some people ridiculed James as David Stern's godson, Stern didn't care about this on a psychological level, and if James's push was ultimately successful, then those voices would have vanished like yesterday's yellow flowers.

All James lacks now is a championship.

James got the MVP of the All-Star Game, looking at James, who was surrounded in the center and towering under the spotlight, smiled faintly and shook his head to get out of the way. Next time, he won't give up this honor so easily.

Source: Forrest Gump