Legendary star

Chapter 441 The Beauty of Adulthood
"I am willing to give up my starting position to Michael! As the greatest player in NBA history, Michael has no reason to miss the last All-Star Game of his career. This season's All-Star Game without Michael's participation will definitely not be an All-Star Game Complete All-Star!" On January 2003, 1, after the results of the 28-2002 NBA All-Star Game were released, Meng Xu, who was attending the pre-game press conference in Jinzhou, immediately told the media Willing to give up his starting position to Jordan.

This year's All-Star voting, Meng Xu once again became the All-Star vote leader this season with a total of 247 million votes, ahead of Kobe who ranked second by a full 100 million votes.In addition to Meng Xu and Kobe, Tracy McGrady of the Magic, Allen Iverson of the 76ers, Vince Carter of the Raptors, and Ben Wallace of the Pistons.Yao Ming and Steve Francis of the Rockets, Tim Duncan of the Spurs, and Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves have become the All-Star starters of the season.This year's All-Star voting still had a lot of surprises. First, Jordan lost the election, and secondly, Jermaine O'Neal, who changed from center to power forward, lost the starting lineup for this season.But the most surprising thing is Yao Ming. As the No. 29 pick this season, Yao Ming averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in [-] minutes of playing time. He is a strong contender for the best rookie, but with the strong support of Huaguo fans, Yao Ming overwhelmed Shaquille O'Neal, Verratti Divac and other powerful insiders to become this year's All-Star starter.Immediately after the results of the election came out, many people called for reforming the rules of the All-Star voting, otherwise it is very likely that the All-Star starters will be all Chinese, and David Stern has clearly noticed this embarrassment In the current situation, if Yao Ming has Meng Xu's strength and status, David Stern would definitely be happy to see Yao Ming overwhelm O'Neal to become the All-Star starter, but the current Yao Ming is still far behind O'Neal, so David Stern quickly issued a statement that the league is considering reducing the proportion of fans in the vote and considering introducing media votes to determine the final All-Star starting lineup.

Due to the dismal results of the Wizards last season, Jordan missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. During the offseason, the Wizards sent the team's second master Hamilton and several role players, and the All-Star guard Steve was robbed from the Suns. Marbury, but the Wizards' record this season still hasn't improved much, and they have been hovering outside the playoffs. Coupled with the impact of injuries, Jordan decided to retire after the end of this season.Considering that Jordan is already 40 years old, after this retirement, Jordan will really not come back again. Therefore, the top executives of the NBA decided to hold this year's All-Star Game as Jordan's farewell game. Respect for the greatest player in NBA history, Jordan who pushed the NBA to a new height, there are even rumors that this year's All-Star MVP trophy is specially made for Jordan, and Jordan's name has been engraved on it in advance, but some Unexpectedly, in this year's All-Star voting, Jordan ranked No.7 in the Eastern Conference guard position after Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson with a gap of 3 votes. It is a pity that I missed the starting qualification of the Eastern All-Stars. Although according to the current situation, Jordan will definitely participate in the All-Star Game, but if Jordan participates in this year's All-Star Game as a substitute, it is obviously sorry for the league's arrangement for Jordan. Big show.

As Meng Xu, who grew up watching Jordan play and aiming to surpass Jordan, he is naturally unwilling to watch Jordan participate in his last All-Star as a substitute. There are not a few people who have the same mentality as Meng Xu After Meng Xu issued a statement, the two starting guards of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, also expressed their willingness to give up their starting positions and let Jordan start instead of themselves. Another forward, Vince Carter, who was selected as the All-Star starter together with Meng Xu, also expressed his willingness to give up his starting position to Jordan. For a while, the call for Jordan to start the game became the mainstream and consensus of the entire league.

"Hi, Meng, I'm Michael, don't talk, listen to me first, thank you very much for your willingness to give up the starting position for me, but you are selected by the fans, and the All-Star Game is also for them to see, they What I want to see is you, so you can't disappoint the fans who support you just to take care of the dignity of an old guy!" After the away game against the Warriors, Meng Xu, who had just returned to the hotel, received Jordan's Meng Xu received the call, and before he could open his mouth, he heard Jordan beeping. Presumably he also said these words to Carter, McGrady, and Iverson. .

"Michael, the fans have their idols, but I also have mine, and they want to see their idols at the All-Star Game, and I want to see my idol at the All-Star Game, and this is your last It's an All-Star game, and it's the last chance I'll be able to play with you, the last time I'll see you play in the All-Star Game."

"Michael, I have been watching you play since high school. Since then, I have dreamed of playing with you or competing in the same arena. The goal of my life is precisely because of this dream, so I traveled across the ocean to the United States. During the days when you retired, it was the most confusing time in my life. So, for this last chance, for You can retire with glory, I am willing to give up my starting position, not only for you, but also for myself, for Allen, for Vince, for Tracy, for thousands of fans who support you, Michael." After Jordan finished speaking, Meng Xu thought for a while, organized his thoughts, and then said all he wanted to say without any pause.

"Meng, being you and your idol is the proudest thing in my life!"

After a series of communications and the mediation of league president David Stern, Jordan finally accepted the All-Star starting spot given up by Meng Xu. On January 1, the official website of the NBA officially announced the 29-2002 season. The All-Star lineup, the Western All-Star starting lineup is center Yao Ming, two forwards Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, two guards Kobe Bryant and Steve Francis, in addition to Shaw Quayle O'Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, Sean Marion, Gary Payton, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Chris Webber were selected as substitutes This year's Western All-Star, and the Western All-Star coach is currently ranked No. 2003 in the Western Kings coach Rick - Adelman.

For the All-Stars in the East, after Meng Xu gave up his starting spot to Jordan, the five starters in the East are center Ben Wallace, two forwards Vince Carter and Michael Jordan, and two guards. Lacey McGrady and Allen Iverson, in addition to these five starters, Meng Xu, Jermaine O'Neal, Dikambe Mutombo, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce , Stephen Marbury, and Zajunas Ilgauskas were selected for this year's All-Star Game as substitutes. At the same time, three players were selected for the All-Star Game. For the Pacers, it is also the first time in history. once.As for the head coach of the Eastern All-Stars, it is Larry Bird who has been elected as the All-Star head coach twice. The Pacers currently rank first in the league with a record of 7 wins and 35 losses. Therefore, as the head coach of the Pacers, Larry Bird is also the undisputed All-Star head coach in the Eastern Conference.

Due to the special nature of this year's All-Star Game, the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, which has attracted much attention in the past, has very few applicants this year, and the Meng Xu VS Carter Slam Dunk Contest that countless audiences are looking forward to is still not staged. Carter announced successively that he would not participate in this year's full-name dunk contest. Not only Meng Xu and Carter announced that they would not participate in this year's All-Star Dunk Contest, but many first-line stars and many famous dunkers in the league also expressed that they would not participate in this year's dunk contest. Dunk contest.The final sign-ups for this year's All-Star Slam Dunk Contest are Jason Richardson of the Warriors, Richard Jefferson of the Nets, Desmond Mason of the Sonics, and Amaresta of the Suns. Demire four people.

Compared with the few responders in the slam dunk contest, this year's All-Star 3-point contest is even more embarrassing. Meng Xu won the championship of last season's All-Star 3-point contest with a record score and won three consecutive 3-point contests. After the championship, whether Meng Xu will participate in this year's 3-point contest has become the focus of many 3-point players. After all, for many famous stars in the league, it is okay to be a background board and entertain the public , but being defeated by Meng Xu in that way is absolutely unbearable, and he can't bear it, but he can't get him, so there is only one choice left, that is to avoid him, as long as Meng Xu signs up to participate , we will not go, whoever wants to be abused will go.Therefore, after the registration for the All-Star 3-point contest started, no one in the entire league signed up. Even the few invitations sent out by the league, the recipients were hesitant and refused to express their views. They seemed to be waiting for Meng Meng. Xu's attitude, because many media are encouraging Meng Xu to let him participate in this year's 3-point contest, so that he can break the three consecutive three-point competition held by Larry Bird, Craig Hodges and Meng Xu. The first three-point contest championship record.However, Meng Xu obviously has no interest in this. After publicly expressing his tribute to his predecessors, Meng Xu said that he will never sign up for the All-Star Three-Point Contest in the future.After Meng Xu announced his withdrawal, the registration for the All-Star three-point contest immediately became popular, including Ray Allen, Brent Barry, Pat Garrity, Wesley Person, Antoine Walker, David Wesley, Peja Stojakovic and many other 3-point players have expressed their intention to participate in this year's All-Star 3-point contest.

After Meng Xu gave up his All-Star starter to Jordan in order to fulfill Jordan, many NBA celebrities stood up and showed a wave of presence, praised Meng Xu's behavior, and expressed their appreciation for Meng Xu , even the Knicks general manager Isaiah Thomas, who has always looked down on Meng Xu, stood up and issued a statement, saying to Meng Xu through the media: There is a quality called respect, and some honors will last forever!And publicly apologized to Meng Xu for some of the actions he had slandered Meng Xu.

On January 2003, 1, after the All-Star lineup was settled, the Pacers went to Miami to play away against the Miami Heat. In the end, the Pacers easily defeated the Miami Heat 30 to 106, ending all games in January.After the boss of the team, Alonzo Mourning, the inside core, missed the entire season due to the deterioration of his kidney disease, the Heat, which lost their pillars, slipped into the abyss. After 85 games, the Heat only won 1 wins and 45 losses. Has completely missed the playoffs this season.After the doctor announced that Alonzo Mourning would no longer be able to support high-intensity games even if he recovered physically, let alone restore his previous state, the Miami Heat, the former powerhouse in the Eastern Conference, had to inevitably rebuild.

Perhaps it was the league’s compensation for Meng Xu. On January 1, after all the games in January were over, the NBA’s official website announced that Meng Xu and Kobe were respectively awarded the best player in the Western Conference and the best player in the Eastern Conference in January. Players, in the 31 games throughout January, the Los Angeles Lakers achieved a record of 1 wins and 1 losses, while Kobe averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 31 steals, and a shooting percentage of 7.5. %, and the 6.3-point shooting rate is 2.4%. Whether it is the team record or personal data, it can be said that they are impeccable.Compared with the Lakers, the Pacers only achieved a record of 48 wins and 3 losses in 41 games in January. Meng Xu averaged 1 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 32 blocks per game. , Shooting 8.5% from the field and 7.3% from the 4.4-point range, it looks very good, even better than Kobe.However, the Nets had a record of 2 wins and 52 loss in January, and Jason Kidd, the head player of the Nets, averaged 3 points, 43 rebounds, and 1 assists per game. The selection of the best selection is somewhat controversial, but for this obviously tricky selection, few media questioned it. Even the New York Times, which has always been black on Meng Xu, remained silent this time, and Kidd also announced the results of the selection. Later, he also publicly expressed his support for Meng Xu.Although from the beginning of this season, the NBA's best player of the month has been divided into two, divided into the best in the east and the best in the west, so the gold content of the award for the best player of the month has been greatly reduced, but it can be called a small MVP. The best player of the month is also a surprise for Meng Xu.

　Thanks to Xiaoke and Up for the reward, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly ticket of the prodigal son of Xiaoyao Wine, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly pass of Ming 1019, thank you.

　　Thanks to Li Bai for the monthly ticket that may not be too white, thank you.

　　Thank you for the two monthly tickets of [Love Letter of Breakup], thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)