Basketball miracles

Chapter 91 [Let's see who can fly better; the loser will be embarrassed.]

During the meet-and-greet event between the star player and the fans, Xiao Tu received the most autographs, including a large number of female fans.

Some bold female fans weren't content with just getting autographs; they also asked for hugs, and one even went up and forcibly kissed him. This blonde girl was quite pretty, so Xiao Tu decided to ignore her; he'd avoid anyone ugly.

Those Eastern Conference superstars who questioned the league's unscrupulous methods of promoting newcomers and manipulating Xiao Tu's votes remained silent. The gap in popularity between them and Xiao Tu was enormous, even larger than the total number of votes.

This is the All-Star Weekend held in the East, how could it be faked? Did Xiao Tu pay a lot of local female fans to come and ask him for autographs?
Compared to Xiao Tu, they are not like celebrities.

Ultimately, beauty is beauty, and ugliness is ugliness. People in all countries judge celebrities based on appearance, and for an unattractive celebrity to gain popularity, they must excel in terms of achievements.

Xiao Tu not only has an explosive playing style, but also impressive achievements and a great image. Many fans expect him, along with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to lead the Lakers to a record-breaking championship, creating a historic event in NBA history that no other team's star can match.

In addition, almost all Lakers fans ranked Xiao Tu ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, believing that he was stronger.

Chamberlain's previous comments about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all nonsense, but he believed that Abdul-Jabbar's age should allow younger players to step down, a view that fans agree with.

Tickets for the Market Square Stadium were sold out on Saturday night.

Fans knew the dunk contest was short, yet tickets still sold out in a day. They were all there to see Xiao Tu's performance; his boastful remarks yesterday didn't even cause much controversy.

TBS radio broadcast the Slam Dunk Contest live, with commentators Dick Stockton and Tom Heinson. Having watched many of Xiao Tu's performances, they both believed the Slam Dunk Contest champion was a foregone conclusion.

Heinson said, "I believe the audience is looking forward to Shaw's performance. He said yesterday that the others are here to compete for second place."

Stockton laughed, "I think he's the only person in the world who dares to say that dunking from the free-throw line is easy. He did it in a Snickers commercial, and the movement was very smooth. It's said that he dunked it many times, and the director chose the best one to cut into the commercial."

Heinson said, "If anyone else can dunk from the free-throw line, it's definitely the grand finale. It's outrageous that Shaw planned to dunk in the preliminaries."

Hynesson, a retired Celtics legend, didn't want the Lakers to beat the Celtics. But he's always admired Xiao Tu's dunking ability and is willing to be a "Xiao Tu fanboy."

The dunk contest adopted a rotating dunk format, and Xiao Tu was scheduled to perform last.

When the players came on stage, Xiao Tu received a standing ovation, demonstrating his unparalleled popularity.

Jordan made a dazzling entrance wearing several large gold chains and a custom-made Air Jordan outfit by Nike. He was the second most popular player in the Slam Dunk Contest, averaging over 27 points per game in his rookie season.

There were a lot of participants in the Slam Dunk Contest, including Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving, Darrell Griffiths, Larry Nance, Terrence Stansbury, Michael Jordan, and Xiao Tu.

The rules of the competition are different from those of the future Slam Dunk Contest. They are very complicated and consist of three rounds, with each player dunking three times in each round.

The previous champion and runner-up, Larry Nance and Dr. J Irving, automatically advanced to the second round.

In other words, a player needs to dunk at least six times to win the championship, while Xiao Tu needs to dunk nine times.

Chicago Bulls forward Orlando Ulrich, who was supposed to participate, was excluded. If it weren't for Xiao Tu, Stern would have been a huge supporter of Jordan and the Bulls this season. Now, the commissioner completely disregards Ulrich; he's not even considered for a spot in the dunk contest.

Jordan has received a lot of publicity, with some media outlets claiming he can rival Xiao Tu in terms of jumping ability.

In the first round, players held back because advancing depended on a total score based on three dunks. If they used all their special moves, what would they use in the next round? What about the final?
The first player's first dunk earned applause from the fans, but Xiao Tu felt he didn't even qualify for a future dunk contest.

Jazz shooting guard Griffiths casually executed a running start and a dunk, earning a whopping 46 points. Xiao Tu was stunned, feeling that the judges' brains were full of garbage.

46 points? That's it? That's it?
Where did they find these random people to rate the videos? I don't recognize any of them.
A notable characteristic of this year's judges is that none of them were particularly good at dunking when they were players. The situation was similar to last year, since the Slam Dunk Contest champion title was only awarded last year.

Even for Jordan, the first dunk was just an ordinary one. Jordan took a running start on the right side, jumped at a 45-degree angle with his feet on the restricted area line, and slammed it home with both hands. His jump height, distance, and movement were all insignificant; his head was far from the rim.

Xiao Tu had read many posts online before, and this seemingly ordinary dunk might be considered unrepeatable.

In a parallel universe, despite the existence of video footage from the 1985 Slam Dunk Contest, casual fans firmly believe that the jumping ability of those legendary players far surpassed that of Zach LaVine, Vince Carter, and others. Perhaps they believe that basketball hoops in the past were much higher than those in the future, at least 3.5 meters tall.

Pacers shooting guard Terrence Stansbury's first dunk was a perfect 50 points, a simple 360-degree one-handed dunk.

His body felt light and airy, his jump was too short and his movements weren't fluid enough; it wasn't even as impressive as Xiao Tu's 360-degree dunk in a real game. Yet, the fans in the arena gave him the loudest applause, because this was his home court.

Standing at 196cm and weighing 77kg, Steinsbury was the 15th overall pick in this year's draft, selected by the Mavericks and traded to the Pacers. Because he's like a walking skeleton with almost no physical strength, he can only serve as a substitute for the Pacers. Aside from the occasional fast-break dunk, he's practically useless.

His participation in the Slam Dunk Contest was like a small consolation from the league for the Pacers. The Pacers hosted their All-Star Game at home, yet had no players selected for the Eastern Conference All-Star team – a truly embarrassing situation.

Even with good player stats, they can't be selected; the Pacers have a terrible record, ranking last in the Eastern Conference.

Xiao Tu was the last to appear, wearing the purple and gold Adidas signature shoes, the "Jumper Xiao 1". His appearance on the court immediately drew applause from the entire stadium.

Adidas felt there was no need to give Xiao Tu a complicated nickname; the term "Air Jordan" best reflected his characteristics. The company deliberately compared him to Nike's Air Jordan, to see who could fly higher, and whoever lost would be embarrassed.

Jordan stood on the sidelines with a serious expression, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment. He too wanted the most applause and to become the most popular star in the league, believing himself to be the stronger player.

When Jordan saw Xiao Tu's preparation for his first dunk, he immediately became less confident.

Is this guy crazy? Is his first dunk going to be a jump shot from the free-throw line? If he does that, what will he dunk next?
Xiao Tu first waved to the fans, enjoying the applause, then dribbled the ball and made a long run-up in the backcourt. He quickly dribbled to the three-point line, gathered the ball, took three steps, and, judging the distance perfectly, took off with his right foot outside the free-throw line.

He didn't step out of bounds at all; it was the most standard free-throw line dunk in history.

His movements were very fluid, with a strolling motion in the air, and his right hand clenched tightly as he fell from the height!

The entire stadium rose to their feet and cheered, many shouting out in disbelief.

In the Snickers commercial, Xiao Tu dunks from the free-throw line, which many people doubted was real. However, this dunk is 100% real; five other people have dunked on that same rim at the perfect height before.

Xiao Tu's dunk is bound to leave Jordan with nowhere to run today.

His movements resemble those of a future James White, jumping further and with more flair than Jordan's classic free-throw line dunk.

Jordan's most famous dunk was the free-throw line dunk in 1987. It didn't have any particularly brilliant creative elements; he also won the Slam Dunk Contest again in 1988 with a free-throw line dunk, the motion being essentially the same.

Xiao Tu had considered using the windmill dunk for his first dunk, but after practicing too many advanced dunks, he changed his mind.

He's too tired of the ordinary windmill dunk. Wilkins didn't even make the Eastern Conference All-Star team this year; his team's record is terrible and his popularity is low. There's no need for him to target him specifically.

Stockton sighed, "Stansbury's dunk was 50 points, the first 50 points of the day. Shaw got 50 points because the maximum score is only 50."

Heinson laughed and said, "This is only his first dunk. I'm curious to see what amazing performances he will have next. Will every dunk be more difficult than a free throw line dunk?"

Stockton said, "He said in an interview that all the other moves were things no one had ever dunked before, only the free-throw line dunk didn't need to be kept secret. I think he might not be joking, let's witness a miracle together today."

(End of this chapter)