The referee reacted and quickly rushed to Green's side and pushed Artest away.

Artest turned his head in confusion at this time, and looked down to find Grimm lying on the ground without moving, showing a surprised expression.

There was no clash on the court this time, because the fact that Green was knocked out was too much of a psychological shock to the Warriors players, and no one would think that Artest would give himself such a blow.

The game entered a technical timeout, and finally the staff brought a stretcher, directly lifted Green, who was still in a coma, and went to emergency medical treatment.

This elbow is enough to go down in the history of NBA crimes.

The referee then gave a penalty, and Artest was ruled guilty of second-degree malice and was ejected directly.

Green's unexpected departure also made this Christmas game less suspenseful, although Curry had an explosive single quarter of four three-pointers in the third quarter, but the Bulls finally defeated the Warriors 105-91.

So you say that Green's status in the Warriors is really not high, but he is very important to the Warriors, especially when there is an outside target this season, he is the core of the Warriors' five small tactics, fighting positional battles, and it is not easy for the Warriors to win against the Bulls.

According to the statistics after the game, Xu Yong had 40 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Rose had 18 points and 3 assists, Butler had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists, and Adams had 11 points and 16 boards.

Curry had 26 points, 3 boards and 7 assists, Thompson had 21 points, Barnes had 14 points and 4 boards, Andre Iguodala had 12 points, 4 boards and 5 assists, and Bogut had 5 points and 9 boards.

After the match, Xu Yong and Artest attended the post-match press conference together.

When the reporters saw Artest appear, they all showed surprised expressions, and the Bulls' arrangement was really unexpected.

After just a few brief regular questions, the reporter took aim at Artest.

"You elbowed Draymond [Green] on the right cheek during the game, why did you do that malicious move?" A reporter from TNT asked Artest a question in an unceremonious tone.

"No, I didn't mean to." Artest's answer stunned everyone present.

"I was excited, I knew I hadn't done a dunk in a competitive game for two years, and then I went into a celebratory frenzy, and I felt somebody pushing me in the back, I don't know who, I just wanted him to stay away, and it ended up unfortunate, but I definitely didn't mean to."

The reporters in the audience looked at each other, if they didn't know Artest's "brilliant" resume in the past, they would have believed it.

But it's hard to tell what's wrong with Artest, because what he describes matches the details that happened during the game.

The reporter saw that Artest's answer was not leaky, and then turned the finger to Xu Yong.

"Xu, what do you think of this malicious clash that happened in the game?"

Xu Yong glanced at the reporter who asked the question, and replied very calmly: "Ron, I'm sorry, it's Charity, World Peace, he raised money for the Children's Mental Health Association, and held a charity auction of the championship ring he won in 2011, and donated all the $650,000 he received to children's charities, he is a good person now, not a person who will deliberately hurt others, so I also think it was just an accident." ”

The reporters exchanged heads and ears, and then found that what Xu Yong said was indeed true.

So maybe it's possible that things were really like Artest described, but Green pushed Artest when he wanted to serve, so it led to this accident?

After the game, fans were also arguing fiercely on social media.

"Artest definitely did it on purpose, he was the maker of the Auburn Hills brawl, he was a violent girlfriend, he was a grumpy guy!"

"I don't agree with you, people change, since he came back from suspension, he hasn't had a fight with his opponent, it's definitely an accident."

"I agree, Artest is still the 2010~2011 Kennedy Award winner, and what Xu said is all true, he is now a peace lover." From the review of "KBforever".

"Go to the special peace lovers, go see the video brother, the action of his elbow strike, even in MMA, is quite explosive!"

"So people are celebrating, why are you pushing people?"

"He deserves it, I repeat, he deserves it, he first offended Xu, and then kicked Adams in the crotch, and if he wasn't killed, I think he was lucky to go shit!" Comment from "KBfnas".

"Whether Artest's actions were intentional or not is still controversial, but he really didn't have to wash his kick Adams, this is for cutting off his children and grandchildren!"

"That is, the abuser has become a victim? Do you believe it or not, if you let the two go to the Octagon and fight, Adams can beat Green to death? ”

"Should I say it or not, Adams is really hard, he was kicked in the crotch for a few minutes and then relieved, his girlfriend is so happy."

“…… Brother, you have some peculiar thinking? ”

……

After the press conference, Xu Yong and Artest went back to the locker room together.

"Ron, no matter how the alliance punishes you, I will bear all your losses." Xu Yong turned his head to Artest and said.

"No, I don't think that kid is happy, I've never seen anyone do that kind of (egg chasing) action." Artest looked shameless, even if it was the duel between him and Big Ben back then, it was face-to-face, and it was impossible to go to the other party's next three roads.

"I'll pay." Xu Yong stopped.

"We still have a long way to go." He continued.

Artest heard Xu Yong's words and nodded.

Seeing this, Xu Yong smiled and pulled his shoulders and walked towards the locker room together.

Because Ross is the top salary, it involves super luxury tax, which is more troublesome to deal with, but Artest's base salary is also a matter of his words.

Leaving Artest, even if he doesn't need to make a move in the future, is a huge psychological deterrent to the opponent, especially after the events of this night.

The day after the game, the Warriors announced Green's injury, the good news is that he only suffered a slight concussion, the bad news is that he needs to rest for 10~15 days, as a key figure in the Warriors, his absence is bound to have a huge impact on the team's record.

On the same day, the league set up an investigation team to investigate the incident during the game.

Two days later, the league penalized Artest based on the results of the investigation, with a seven-game ban and a hefty $100,000 fine.

Judging from the severity of the punishment, the investigation team should have adopted Artest's explanation, and did not characterize it as a malicious incident, you must know that since Auburn Hills, the alliance has always dealt with the fights and brawls that occurred in order to reshape its image.

Naturally, the Warriors were outraged by the Warriors and appealed to the league, arguing that Artest's suspension was too little.

But in the end, after negotiating with league officials, the Warriors withdrew their complaint.

The Warriors did not officially give a specific reason, but according to people familiar with the matter, it is likely to be related to Green's previous chasing of Adams.

The aftermath of the Christmas war was not over until then, but it was in a way the beginning of a feud.

Because the two sides are not only the pillars on the court, but also the dream of the Warriors to hit the longest winning streak in history has also been shattered here.

Shortly after the end of the Christmas War, the league announced the results of the first round of voting for the 2016 All-Star Game.

For the first time since Xu Yong entered the league, he was not elected the first round of votes, and the first round of votes belonged to Kobe.

With Kobe Bryant's announcement of retirement and the start of the [retirement tour] with passive attributes, fans' enthusiasm for the Black Mamba is unprecedentedly high.

However, the good news for the Bulls is that Adams is at the top of the vote for the first time, with the exception of Xu Yong and Butler, and he is now ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference frontcourt behind Xu Yong, James, Anthony and Paul George.

This season, Adams has set career highs in all statistics, averaging 11.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, shooting 61.3% from the field, including the third in rebounds in the league and the first in the league in rebounds.

If it weren't for the league's elimination of the All-Star voting for the center position, he would have gone straight to the starting lineup in this first-round vote.

According to the old Jammys, counting Rose and West, the Bulls have assembled their five-star lineup again.

It is worth mentioning that this year's All-Star Game was held in Chicago, and this is the third time Chicago has hosted this event, the last time was in 1988, when Jordan was only in the fourth grade.

……

Time flies, it's a month later, and the time has come to the end of January.

The first of several important things that has happened in the league over the past month is that the Warriors suffered a losing streak, losing back-to-back losses to the Nuggets and Trail Blazers in early January, and then Green announced an emergency comeback after just six days of rest, and then the Warriors rebounded from an 11-game winning streak.

In the words of fans, through a set of control group trials, a striking fact is that Green is more important to the Warriors than James is to the Cavaliers.

The words are not rough, which is why Xu Yong knows that the Warriors' behavior towards Green has been repeatedly indulged and tolerant, because when Green is there, he can really help the Warriors win.

Then, after back-to-back losses to the Mavericks and Heat at the end of January, the Warriors started the season with a 28-game winning streak, but it was already worse than the Bulls' record at the same time last season, which also forced the management and coaching staff to reconsider their season goals.

Because during the 28-game winning streak, the biggest voice from the outside world was that the Warriors would do what they failed to do last season, setting a record of 73 wins, but now the situation is completely different.

Or in other words, Artest's elbow made the history known to Xu Yong move towards a new fork in the road.

The second thing is that the Cavaliers are starting to play a winning streak, and they have opened up the gap with the teams behind the Pacers, Raptors, and Heat, and are chasing the Bulls.

Seo was right, James got used to the penalty and started to play some good games, and the Cavaliers' Big Four looked like they were finally on the right track.

Or this development also proves one thing, if he hadn't been a Nike darling in the first place, with privileges, he might have become a "".

The third thing is that Kobe Bryant's retirement tour has reached an unprecedented level, and as long as there is a Lakers game, fans have stopped paying attention to the outcome of the game, but only to Kobe Bryant himself.

When Kobe Bryant visited Boston, the Celtics presented a "green old floor" that represents the team's highest honor before the game, which is the highest respect for the opponent.

"I can't imagine what it will be like when Kobe Bryant starts the last game of his career." When O'Neal said this on TNT's show, his expression was both happy and jealous, he thought that he would be tied if he won the same championship as Kobe, but the fans told him that it was not like that at all, and he still lost after all.

Finally, in the week leading up to the end of the month, the league announced the starters, substitutes, and individual events of this year's All-Star Game.

Western starters: Curry, Westbrook, Kobe, Durant, Leonard;

Subs: Lillard, Klay Thompson, Harden, Draymond Green, Aldridge, Howard, Cousins

Eastern starters: Wade, Butler, Xu Yong, Paul George, James;

Subs: Paul, Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Anthony, DeRozan, Bosh, Adams

In the individual event, Curry and Thompson, the splash brothers, will continue to compete, but Xu Yong will not continue to participate.

Last year's defending champion Zach LaVine will continue to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, while his main opponent is Aaron Gordon from the Magic.

After the list was announced, fans were also looking forward to Xu Yong's performance in the main game, because this was the first time he played an All-Star game at home since entering the league.

According to the past practice, the stars who play at home will be given the most balls, not to mention Xu Yong's current league status.

On this day, as usual, Xu Yong went to the locker room to change his jersey and prepare for training.

But at this moment, Xibodu went to the dressing room with a solemn face and called Xu Yong out directly.

Xu Yong could sense what was going on, but he didn't ask on the way.

When he arrived at the coach's office, Thibodeau locked the door, stopped talking, and finally sat down in his position, then he said, "A bad news." ”

Xu Yong looked puzzled, now that the Bulls have a good momentum, why did they suddenly respond to bad news.

"Derek has a torn meniscus in his left knee."

Thibodeau's tone was very heavy, and Xu Yong's heart trembled after hearing it.

Rose has changed his style of play and is still injured?

"He's been a little too hard this season, he's trying to help the team so much." Thibodeau sighed.

Xu Yong was stunned when he heard this.

It seems unreasonable, but it is justified at this time.

The reason why Rose fought so hard was not only because he wanted to help the team, but also because of his bet with Raunsdorf.

This is Rose's biggest motivation and biggest hidden danger, and he was already unable to play because of knee pain when he played the Cavaliers before.

"Where is he now?" Xu Yong asked.

"The infirmary, I just came from over there."

"Tom." Xu Yong said and got up.

"Derek's injury, I'll go back and inform the others."

Thibodeau glanced at Xu Yong and nodded.

Leaving the coach's office, Xu Yong took a deep breath and walked towards the medical room.

As he entered, he saw Rose staring at his left knee with red eyes.

And in addition to Rose, Hinrich turned out to be there, looking at his appearance, he should also be treated, and he happened to meet Rose.

"You talk." Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and saw that it was Xu Yong coming in, and Xin Liqi got up and said.

"Kirk, wait for me at the door." Xu Yong kept Xin Liqi.

Sinrich nodded, and left the infirmary, closing the door with him.

"I'm sorry, Xu, I've dragged you too much, too much." Rose looked up and saw that it was Xu Yong, and he kept apologizing as he opened his mouth.

"Don't say that about Derek." Xu Yong walked to the edge of the bed and sat down.

"No, it's really me dragging you down, if you change to someone else, you can win more championships." Rose said something that seemed familiar to Seo Yong.

"I'm just a liability, you should let them trade me." Then he looked down at his knees and muttered to himself.

"yes, I can still have them trade me, it's not the trade deadline yet, I'll call Gal right now." Rose rummaged around for his phone.

"Stop, Derek, stop!" Xu Yong drank him, and he felt that Rose's emotions were now on the verge of collapse.

"You know that's impossible." Xu Yong's next words made Rose stunned, and then the whole person was like a deflated ball.

Yes, he's so big on a contract, and he's got a year and a half, and he's injured, especially now it's mid-season, and it's not going to be what the team wants.

Seeing that Ross was less emotional, Xu Yong continued: "Since you can defeat it once, you can also defeat it a second time." ”

Rose has survived both seasons, and now it's only one season, not to mention that Rose's injury this time is different from the previous reason, this is not the kind of injury that will continue to erupt.

Rose looked at Xu Yong, he didn't know what to say for a while, Xu Yong was like his life-saving straw, every time he wanted to give up, it was Xu Yong who saved him again and again.

"And ......," Xu Yong's expression suddenly became serious, "Don't say that like just now, I stopped them from trading you, and you will make me feel that my choice is wrong." ”

"I didn't mean that......"

"Whether it means that or not, we made the decision, and since we did it, don't regret it, but overcome it, maybe you're optimistic, you're recovering from injury better than expected, and you can come back in the playoffs?" Xu Yong's face softened.

Hearing this, Rose nodded, finally not so depressed anymore.

"Trust me, I'm going to win that bet no matter what, that's my promise." Xu Yong then looked at Rose and said word by word.

"Recuperating, remembering what I said, being positive and optimistic, is the only thing you can do right now." Xu Yong said and got up and patted Ross on the shoulder.

Rose didn't know how to respond, so he nodded again.

Xu Yong then left the infirmary, and after leaving the door, he motioned for Hinrich to go with him.

The reason why he didn't let Hinrich go first was because he had told Thibodeau that he was going to inform Rose of his injury.

When he stepped around a corner, he let out a long breath.

With a torn meniscus, surgery and a recovery period, Rose is unlikely to make the playoffs, and what he just said just now just made Rose more optimistic.

Rose's injury has a great impact on the Bulls, Rose can contribute 18.4 points per game this season, and no one can replace him.

And more importantly, Hinrich is not capable now, and the Bulls' point guard is suddenly dependent on the newly signed Dellavedova.

Although Dellavedova fights, its ability is limited.

"Xu." At that moment, Hinrich suddenly stopped.

Xu Yong looked back suspiciously.

"I'll go apply for a deal." Hinrich spoke.

"What?" Xu Yong thought he had misheard.

"I'm retired at the end of the season, and it's the same everywhere, and I'm out of contract, so it's okay to change to a league-average point guard." Hinrich said seriously.

What he said is really not impossible, his previous contract with the Bulls is five million a year, and with an addition, such as Calderon on the Knicks' side, it is completely suitable.

Xu Yong was a little moved, a player is willing to sacrifice himself for the team, which is really rare in the NBA, and it can only be said that Hinrich deserves to be the soul of the Bulls.

"Kirk, don't do that stupid thing, that doesn't change anything." He continued.

Hinrich's one person and one city, and he was traded out in the last six months, which is the "bad end" of his career, and this regret will be a lifetime.

And like he said, there really can't be anything that can't be changed, Hinrich's trade value is too limited, how much can the old Calderon bring to the Bulls?

As for the others, Hinrich can't change them either, so the gains outweigh the losses.

"But ......"

"We've got Randy [Foye], who can play in the No. 1 position, and we don't need to be too good at playmaking." Xu Yong made a joke at the end.

Hinrich could only smile wryly and nod.

Although, it does seem to be the same, the Bulls' real ball-handling organization Butler, just like Ron Harper back then, the role of the point guard is more of a porter and defense, and now there may be one more room to open up.

So the promise that Xu Yong said to Ross is not without a chance to do it.

They ended up back in the locker room.

Most of the people in the locker room were already here by this time, and they were all talking and laughing.

The All-Star Game is a carnival for the fans, and it is also a rare break for most of the players, who will get a long vacation without participating in the All-Star Game.

After making sure everyone was there, Xu Yong gave Xin Li Qi a look, and Xin Li Qi turned around and closed the door to the locker room, and then walked back to his place and sat down.

After hearing the movement, the team members all looked at the door one after another, and they all looked at Xu Yong with puzzled eyes on their faces after seeing them.

"The bad news is that Derrick has suffered a torn meniscus and will miss the rest of the season." Xu Yong didn't drag the mud and water, and said directly.

His words made many people's faces change, although Rose is no longer the Windy City Rose, his importance is self-evident.

There was even a look of boredom on someone's face, after all, Rose had too many injuries.

'Injuries are something that no one wants to go through and it's inevitable in the season and I know it's going to weaken us, but I would say it doesn't change our goals.

After glancing at his teammates, Xu Yong then said what he had said to Ross earlier:

"I'm going to lead everybody to defend their title, that's my commitment."

(End of chapter)