NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

After finishing their away game in Indiana, Lin Tian and his team didn't leave but instead stayed there.

Because after this game, the Knicks will have up to two days of rest, and then after those two days, it will be the NBA's annual All-Star Game.

This year's All-Star Game is being held in Indiana.

This All-Star game will allow the Simon brothers to make another fortune. At the same time, this All-Star game is basically the last 'compensation' Stern gave them in the Lin Tian leaving Indiana incident.

We've given you the number one draft pick, we've given you preferential policies, and we've even given you the All-Star Game.

You have to put those things behind you no matter what!

However, when Stern agreed and announced that this All-Star Game would be held in Indiana, he never imagined that it would be Lin Tian's last!
According to his guess, Lin Tian would need to get another super contract before he could retire, it couldn't be now!
Of course, it's not Stern's fault. Who would have thought that Lin Tian, ​​who was not even 35 years old and could still put up a triple-double average and super stats for the season, would suddenly have to retire?

This wasn't a graceful retreat; it was like the sun at its zenith suddenly plummeting and crashing headfirst into Hou Yi's arrow.

Let alone Stern, even Hou Yi would be confused.

I didn't do anything! How come there's not a single sun anymore?

If Stern could have predicted it, he would have insisted that Indiana wait another year and move this year's All-Star Game to New York.

New York is everything!
New York is the place to maximize profits, influence, reach, the All-Stars themselves, and the league's brand!
Compared to New York, Indiana is really just a small county town; it's not even in the same league.

Unfortunately, even if Stern regretted it, it was all over, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He had no choice; the Simon brothers were so excited they were about to pop open champagne to celebrate!
They suddenly became the organizers of Lin Tian's last All-Star Game. They didn't need to calculate how much profit this would generate, how much revenue it would bring to the team, how much attention it would bring to their company, or how much benefit it would bring to Indiana.

Because they know that this thing is not easy to calculate, but the only thing they are sure of is that this year's competition will definitely make them a fortune!
With just this one point, how could the two brothers not be excited to pop in champagne?
Of course, in addition to their excitement, the two brothers also pulled out all the stops and used their extensive network of connections. This time, they were determined to make the All-Star Game a huge success and to raise the bar to the highest level!
This is not just about profit.

These two guys still have a conscience. To this day, they still feel that although letting Lin Tian go was for economic reasons, it was really necessary. But they also feel that they betrayed the team, the fans, the players, and Lin Tian.

They always believed it was their fault.

So this time, they will definitely not let the Indians down again!

This time, let everyone see the passion of Indiana!
Aside from the inevitably magnificent, lively, and ingeniously designed All-Star events and processes, the most important aspect of the All-Star Game is, of course, the star players themselves.

In this year's fan vote, Lin Tian once again unsurprisingly dominated, monopolized, and even tripled the number of votes, becoming the NBA All-Star vote leader for who knows how many consecutive times.

This guy's popularity worldwide has long surpassed that of all other basketball players. In fact, because Lin Tian has done such a good job in crossover projects, his name has even surpassed basketball itself.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Lin Tian is now more important than basketball.

In addition to breaking the record for total votes again and continuing to extend his consecutive record as the top vote-getter, Lin Tian's teammates also benefited from his success and became All-Star starters.

Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire have successfully secured two positions in the Eastern Conference frontcourt. This marks the first time these three players have appeared in the NBA All-Star starting lineup simultaneously, and it is also the first time in Knicks history that three All-Star starters have appeared at the same time.

Besides the Knicks' trio, the other two starters are Yao Ming of the Nets and Allen Iverson of the Magic.

These five players became the starting lineup for the Eastern Conference in this year's All-Star Game.

It was also because of the Knicks fans' fervent efforts that these three players were promoted to the starting lineup, resulting in popular and talented stars like Duncan and Carter only being able to appear on the bench this year. It is worth mentioning that Okur was selected as an All-Star reserve for the first time in his career due to his good performance this year, the Knicks' strength, and the fact that the Eastern Conference is indeed lacking in talent.

Other All-Star selections include Parker and Howard of the Celtics, Roy of the Hawks, and Wade of the Cavaliers.

In the Western Conference, O'Neal, with his overwhelming popularity compared to almost all other Western Conference big men and the scarcity of excellent centers in the league, became the top vote-getter in the West and was selected as an All-Star starter again.

The other four are Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, LeBron James of the Spurs, and Steve Nash of the Suns.

The Suns also became the only team in the Western Conference to have two players start in the All-Star Game.

In terms of bench strength, the Spurs, currently the top team in the Western Conference, are the biggest winners.

With Martin and Bosh both selected, along with James, the Spurs have the most All-Star selections in the Western Conference.

In addition, Chris Paul of the Warriors, Deron Williams of the Hornets, Carlos Boozer of the Jazz, Chauncey Billups and Darko Milicic of the Nuggets were also selected for the Western Conference team.

With this, the All-Star player rosters for both the Eastern and Western Conferences have been finalized.

In addition to the All-Star Game roster, the rosters for various individual competitions and the Rising Stars Challenge were also released almost simultaneously.

It's worth mentioning that, just like in previous years when the Knicks would send a large number of players to participate in various events, this year the Knicks sent players to every event except for the three players who participated in the main tournament.

Nate Robinson was sent to continue challenging for the championship in the Slam Dunk Contest. Of course, in order to limit Nate's shamelessness, the league has changed the rules again, no longer allowing a player to dunk and attempt dunks continuously.

Three times! A player can only dunk a maximum of three times, to prevent a repeat of the embarrassing situation where Nate dunked 20-30 times in a row without giving up!
This year, Nate's biggest rival in the All-Star Game is Dwight Howard from the Celtics.

As one of the tallest participants in almost the history of the All-Star Game, Howard has become a favorite to win this year's championship thanks to his terrifying physical qualities and strong body control.

Then, Lin Tian personally participated in the three-point contest. In fact, Stern also wanted Lin Tian to participate in the skills challenge and dunk contest.

However, Lin Tian refused without even thinking about it.

He's getting old. He can still shoot some hoops to warm up, but what are you expecting Lin Tian to show off his passing and dunking skills?

This time, I'm really too old for it, and I'm completely uninterested.

In addition, Anthony did participate in the Skills Challenge. He is the second tallest player to have participated in the Skills Challenge so far. Previously, almost all the players who participated in this challenge were guards.

The tallest guy was none other than Anthony's opponent in the Skills Challenge: LeBron James!
Besides these two, the other two contestants are defending champion Dwyane Wade and TJ Ford, nicknamed "The Speed ​​Star".

These four guys have one major thing in common: they're all from the 03 generation!
The skills competition directly became an internal team-building activity for the 03 generation.

Then there's the three-point contest that Lin Tian participated in.

As for Lin Tian's opponents, it seems to include Ray Allen, Novak, and Kapono.

But Lin Tian couldn't remember the exact list.

Be confident to the point of not caring who your opponent is.

It's the final season, and Lin Tian wants a perfect ending. To achieve a perfect ending, he must easily obtain everything he can.

In addition, after Lin Tian and Anthony went to participate in the individual competitions, Stoudemire also went to join in the fun.

However, he didn't participate in the dunk contest, but joined the Shooting Stars contest!
The so-called Shooting Stars Contest has four teams participating, with each team consisting of three players: an active player, a retired star, and a WNBA player.

The game involves three players, each responsible for two shooting spots. After making one shot, they move on to the next, with the last shot being a super long-range shot taken from mid-court.

Whoever makes six shots first becomes the champion.

This time, Stoudemire teamed up with retired star Houston and WNBA star Jessica Davenport, the star player of the New York Liberty, to compete.

As for their opponents?
Lin Tian glanced at the list and saw that neither God of Basketball nor the eternal King Chris Bosh had signed up for the Shooting Stars Contest.

If he didn't participate, then it's fair; it all comes down to luck, whoever is lucky and finishes in the shortest time. Otherwise, if Bosh had participated…

To put it simply, one of the very few games in basketball where Lin Tian lacked confidence was when he faced Chris Bosh in the Shooting Stars Contest. That guy was practically a causal weapon.

As long as he participates in the Shooting Stars competition, the team will definitely win the championship!
This guy won three consecutive championships in a game with such high randomness, where the last shot is almost entirely based on luck. His luck and destiny are so strong that even Lin Tian cannot explain them.

Even Lin Tian suspected: Did Bosh's "destiny points" all go into the Shooting Stars category? Otherwise, how could he be so outrageous?
Apart from the individual competitions, no Knicks players were selected for the Rising Stars Challenge this year.

Their rookie this year, Landry, has played a total of 3 NBA regular season games, with less than 10 minutes of playing time in total. He has not entered the team's regular lineup at all, so no matter how dominant he is in the G League, he is obviously not qualified to be selected for the Rising Stars Challenge.

As for second-year player Shannon Brown, his situation is similar to Landry's; he also has very limited playing time and has not been able to enter the team's regular rotation.

Landry could even practice and improve in the G League, but Brown, who was always on the team's roster but never got playing time, didn't even have the chance to dominate in the G League.

The Knicks only have these two players in their first and second years, and with their performance this year, they certainly don't have the ability to make it into the All-Star Rookie Challenge.

If it were the All-Star Game, Stern could have tried to squeeze in two Knicks veterans, but unfortunately, the Rising Stars Challenge, which is even harder to get into than the All-Star Game, simply couldn't get anyone in.

This thing, you don't care about Jordan, Lin Tian, ​​or Shaq, even if the king of the world comes, he can only be selected twice in his lifetime, right?
But the Knicks players were present throughout almost the entire All-Star Game, appearing in every individual event.

On Thursday night, a crazy and joyful party was taking place in a huge villa in Indiana, the same house Lin Tian bought in Indiana years ago.

Needless to say, the dozens of people gathered here are either players and retired legends of the Indiana Pacers, or participants in this year's All-Star Game, or at the very least, participants in the individual competitions and the Rising Stars Challenge.

In short, if a seasoned NBA fan comes here, it's exactly the same as an old lecher visiting a land of women.

There are superstars everywhere!

As the party neared its end and the atmosphere was about to reach its climax, Lin Tian walked to the highest point of the villa, to a diving platform above the swimming pool.

He was also holding a megaphone, or rather, an electric megaphone.

"Hey, hey! Everyone, everyone be quiet." Lin Tian held the megaphone and easily drew everyone's attention to himself.

"I have something to announce here." Lin Tian looked at everyone below and said with a mischievous smile, "I suddenly don't want to retire anymore."

Ok?
As soon as Lin Tian said this, many people below visibly changed their expressions.

I've been waiting for this day for so long, and now you're suddenly saying you're not retiring?

Are you kidding us?

Lin Tian watched everyone's expressions with amusement. Some people's expressions were completely frozen, some were filled with disappointment, and some even showed a bit of fear and apprehension.

But of course, there were a few people whose faces were beaming with excitement.

Lin Tian also saw James tighten his grip on Wade's shoulder, and he also saw Garnett and Pierce start whispering to each other.

Of course, there were also Kobe, Iverson, and others who looked excited, as if they had another chance to beat Lin Tian.

"Just kidding." Lin Tian wasn't exaggerating too much. He paused for a few dozen seconds, looked at everyone's expressions, and regretted not bringing a camera before continuing, "In any case, I will choose to retire after this year."

"What I want to say today is: Are you ready to compete for second place this year?"

"It's not just about being first in the regular season, winning the championship, or being the MVP; it's about everything that's happened these past two days, all the All-Star honors. We're going to sweep it all this year, New York!"

Does anyone have any objections?

"I can't stand to see you win the 3-point tournament! Who do you think you are? I don't think you can win!" A voice suddenly rang out, and everyone turned to look.

Then everyone burst into a strange laugh.

Damn it, it was O'Neal who said that.

"I bet five dollars that Shaq won't finish last in the three-point contest."

"I bet 10 that Shaq will win the championship!"

"Shut up, you guys," O'Neal waved his hand and said, "Steve told me he thinks he can definitely win the championship!"

"I didn't participate either, Shaq." Nash shrugged, feeling a sense of helplessness towards this guy who always wanted to steal the spotlight and be the center of attention.

What could Nash do?

"So who's participating this time? Let me see who's the best fit for second place?" Lin Tian was already sitting comfortably on the diving platform, looking completely relaxed.

"What are you looking at!" Barkley's voice suddenly came from behind Lin Tian. This guy had somehow sneaked up onto the diving platform and rushed over from behind Lin Tian.

Clearly, this was an attempt to push Lin Tian down.

Theoretically speaking, this springboard is only a few tens of centimeters wide. Given Barkley's size and area, if he were to charge at him like that, Lin Tian wouldn't be able to dodge, and he would definitely be knocked down by Barkley.

The players who were watching the spectacle finally cheered in unison; they had been waiting for Barkley to do just that!

At the very least, even if Barkley is incompetent, in a 'battlefield' of this width, you could at least take Lin Tian down with you and jump down together!
Of course not!
What kind of reaction ability and adaptability does Lin Tian have?

As soon as he saw Barkley heading towards him, he ran over!

At the critical moment, Lin Tian grabbed the diving platform and flipped over, falling from the top of the platform to the bottom.

"FUXX!" Barkley watched as Lin Tian simply 'disappeared' from his sight. He knew he was doomed, but it was too late to stop.
His mind tried to brake, but inertia carried him forward. Then, he misstepped and stumbled several times before crashing onto the diving platform in a sorry state. The powerful impact and inertia from his immense weight made it impossible for him to control his body.

"puff!"

A bang!
Like a deep-sea bomb being detonated, a huge splash appeared as Barkley fell into the pool.

"Trying to ambush me?" Lin Tian flipped over and went back up from under the diving platform. Looking at Barkley, who had finally managed to surface, he sneered, "Believe it or not, I'll take your championship ring back?"

Seeing Barkley's disheveled appearance, the stars in the arena once again burst into unrestrained laughter.

As for Lin Tian's provocation and almost declaration of war against the entire alliance?
Let's turn the page as soon as possible.

Otherwise, everyone would be embarrassed.

From this perspective, Barkley saved everyone on the court; otherwise, how were they supposed to face Lin Tian's provocation?
"Going against the direction of the rabbit?" Everyone thought, but very few dared to do it.

Admit defeat? These are all team leaders, top stars, and dominant forces. If they just admit defeat like this, it will make everyone feel bad.

So, at this point, everyone agreed—

Tonight's MVP goes to Barkley! (End of Chapter)