The longest river

Chapter 123 A Bloodbath Caused by a Woman

"Positive energy from Scottie Pippen +1314".

Yang Shuai's classmate's classic catchphrase: Jordan never won a championship without Pippen, while James has never needed any specific player to win a championship.

Although he knows that most fans, including himself, don't quite agree with this statement, it's still very appropriate to use it on a night when Pippen is absent.

To his utter surprise, Jordan did not have any negative feelings towards him.

In other words, Jordan thought what he said was right?

He felt he couldn't live without Pippen?!

At that moment, Yang Shuai suddenly felt a touch of dark humor.

While fans were arguing about whether Jordan couldn't live without Pippen, Jordan himself believed that he indeed couldn't live without Pippen.

Although this feeling of being inseparable from him is not the same as the sentiment held by LeBron fans that they can't win a championship without Pippen.

Because this conversation took place right in front of the Bulls' bench, Yang Shuai unexpectedly received positive energy from Pippen.

Pippen seemed to enjoy it.

"This game is very meaningful for us. It reminds us that the Bulls are not an invincible team, and all the players, including myself, should be aware of this."

At the post-game press conference, Jordan looked very serious.

Last summer, in order to alleviate the patellar tendinitis that had plagued him for the previous season, he reduced his weight from 217 pounds to 209 pounds (94.8 kg), leading the Bulls to a 12-game winning streak at the start of the season.

He scored 50 points in that winning streak against the Heat simply because Heat players revealed before the game how disrespectful the Bulls were to them when they swept the Heat last year, and he did it to shut them up.

Everything looks the same as last season; they are still toying with their opponents.

Including before the Christmas game, they achieved a nine-game winning streak.

But tonight, the Pacers made him feel threatened.

This has nothing to do with whether Pippen is absent or not. He thinks that even if Pippen could play, the Bulls would still likely lose the game.

The Bulls' mentality had become a bit arrogant, and this loss has finally brought them back down to earth.

“I don’t remember what he said, but he played very well, and I’m glad that the league has such a newcomer.”

Jordan also highly praised Yang Shuai's performance.

"Negative energy from Michael Jordan +1314".

"Ah!"

Yang Shuai sneezed suddenly after taking a shower.

That old guy is cricketing behind his back again.

After showering and changing, Yang Shuai and Miller went with Bird to attend the press conference.

"This is just a regular season game."

Bird couldn't hide that familiar scent the moment he opened his mouth.

Moreover, only when he says these words can people feel comfortable.

"Hansen won us the victory tonight, he gave us hope."

When the microphone was given to Miller, he didn't even mention himself, even though he scored a season-high 35 points that night.

Because he knew very well that without Yang Shuai, even if he scored 45 points, they might not be able to win.

"I look forward to playing against them in the playoffs."

Yang Shuai's comments were more about looking ahead.

As Bird said, it was a regular season game, and one that Pippen didn't play, so even if it was a Christmas Day game that would go down in history, there was nothing to be proud of. It was more about giving the Pacers confidence.

Yang Shuai's expectations stem from the fact that the playoffs don't start tomorrow, and he still has plenty of time to improve his one-on-one defense to its maximum of 99.

He would be more confident facing Jordan then than he is now.

There is a rest period of about three days after the Christmas battle.

At the same time, All-Star voting also officially began on this day.

It is worth mentioning that this year, for the first time, the NBA opened All-Star voting to Asian countries, including China, Japan, and South Korea.

This is part of Stern’s overseas program, which he first launched in 1994 and opened to four countries: Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The league's move sends a clear signal and draws attention to Yang Shuai's performance in this All-Star voting.

However, shortly after the All-Star voting began, an event quickly attracted public attention.

In summary, it was "a bloodbath caused by a woman".

According to Dallas media reports, the "3J duo" got into a fight because they both fell for R&B singer Tony Braxton, which led to the Dallas Mavericks putting them on the trading block.

The report also mentioned many details, such as Braxton being supposed to go on a date with Kidd, but running off with Jackson that night.

Braxton's own response left plenty of room for speculation about the story: "I at least know them, and whether the dating is real or not, I wouldn't go around telling everyone."

Yang Shuai learned about this while cosplaying as a prince and an elf queen with Taylor, who took it as a flirtatious little story.

This news has even reached Hollywood, which shows how popular it is.

However, he felt that this was a bit far-fetched.

It's possible for two people to be interested in the same woman, but for three people... that's even more absurd than George and Hibbert falling out over who slept with the same woman first.

In contrast, the ball possession issues that were already apparent during last season's matchups were actually the reason why the "3Js" were put on the trading block. However, the Mavericks' management made a ruthless move; selling all three of them suggests they're not planning to survive.

But this is good news for the Pacers.

Basically, the Pacers contacted the Mavericks almost immediately after the news broke.

Their target, of course, is Jason Kidd.

The Pacers had a great start to the season due to the schedule, but their record fluctuated afterwards, mainly due to problems at the point guard position.

A point guard like Best, who is 1.8 meters tall, is still too easy to be targeted in high-intensity games.

You have to understand that this is an era where guards frequently use back-to-the-basket moves.

The Pacers offered a package around McGee and draft picks.

However, the Mavericks actually want Yang Shuai.

From a trade value perspective, this is a negotiable trade. Although Kidd's stats this season are only 9.9 points and 9.1 assists, his on-court value is no less than Yang Shuai's.

However, the Pacers rejected the proposal outright.

Putting aside off-court matters, Yang Shuai's defense against Jordan during the Christmas Day game was unparalleled in the entire league; that was the Pacers' only hope of defeating the Bulls.

Moreover, the Pacers' management fired Brown for Yang Shuai, so there's no reason for them to give up halfway.

However, this lack of negotiation between the two sides ultimately led the Pacers to quickly withdraw from the race to sign Kidd.

Not long after, the Mavericks made a trade with the Suns, sending Kidd to the Suns in exchange for Michael Finley, A.C. Green, and Sam Cassell.

This trade has nothing to do with the Pacers, but it does show Yang Shuai's current trade value.

It's worth noting that, based solely on last season's stats, Finley, also from the 1995 draft class, was even better than Yang Shuai, Green was a starting-caliber player, not to mention there was also a quality sixth man, Cassell.

Of course, Yang Shuai, who had started practicing one-on-one with Miller again, didn't have time to care about these things.

As January progressed, Yang Shuai improved his one-on-one defense to 98, but he also encountered a similar problem to last season: he began to be targeted by opponents.

When he came on as a substitute, the opponents started to double-team him.

In this era, being double-teamed is a privilege reserved for superstars.

However, considering that he was traveling during off-peak hours, this is completely understandable.

After all, it was Bird who first disregarded martial ethics and engaged in this kind of competition similar to the story of Tian Ji's horse racing.

This places new demands on Yang Shuai's passing ability.

Originally, Yang Shuai's plan was to improve his ball handling and penetration skills after improving his defense, but now plans have changed.

Fortunately, Jordan's game during the Christmas Day game earned him nearly 2 points, joining Kobe and Shaq in the competition for the top spot, allowing him to accumulate around 5 points at this point.

So he directly redeemed a B-level dynamic vision enhancement pack, raising his passing ability to 70.

Although his passing ability is only at the starting level, it is basically sufficient for him to "travel off-peak".

Of course, that takes some time to train.

However, in the subsequent game against the Spurs, Yang Shuai suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain and needed to rest for about two weeks, which forced him to postpone his training plan.

This injury was sustained during contact, but it was mostly due to his weight gain and switching to low-top shoes during the offseason.

Getting fat overnight always comes at a price, but fortunately, Yang Shuai's physical training is adequate, so the price is within his tolerance.

During the time that Yang Shuai was recovering from his injury, following Kidd, the Mavericks traded away Jim Jackson, Mashburn, and even Cassell, whom they had acquired earlier, which seemed to be a case of "what's the use of trying."

Moreover, all three of them came to the East.

Cassell was traded to the Bucks, Jim Jackson went to the Nets, and Mashburn went to the Heat.

Riley has struck again, and the price he paid for Mashburn was Kurt Thomas and Sasha Danilovich.

After PJ Brown joined the Heat, Thomas lost his starting position and was also plagued by injuries.

As for Mashburn, he averaged 23+ points per game for the Mavericks in the past two seasons, but his stats dropped to 10 points this season due to issues with ball possession.

So this is another classic Riley-style bottom-fishing trade, similar to last season.

The Heat's starting lineup became stronger than ever after the trade: Tim Hardaway, Dan Mali, Mashburn, PJ Brown, and Mourning.

Similar to the Knicks next door, this is another All-Star caliber roster.

Putting the outcome aside, Riley's series of 2K-style trades to join the Heat live up to his reputation as a "master strategist".

The East has now entered an arms race phase.

The Pacers have already lost out by failing to acquire Kidd.

Time flies, and it's already the end of January. Yang Shuai has recovered from his injury. He didn't miss any training during his recovery phase and finally improved his one-on-one defense to 99.

The competition in the East also reached a fever pitch at this time.

Apart from the Bulls, who are in a league of their own, the Heat, Knicks, Pacers, Hawks, Pistons, and Hornets are all in the same predicament as last year, with the winning margins narrowing to two or three games.

Moreover, this situation has come even earlier than last year, and the All-Star Weekend hasn't even started yet.

The final All-Star Weekend votes were also released at this time, and the results caused an uproar.

Yang Shuai has been selected as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team!

(End of this chapter)