NBA: A collection of super busts

Chapter 106 All-Star Voting Results Announced

This thing wasn't hard to find; they didn't even need to look for it. When Jefferson and the others came in, several of them were holding newspapers with the All-Star voting results on the front page.

Ye Feng immediately took one.

On the Eastern Conference side, Ben Wallace is definitely the biggest beneficiary of the East's weakness, since the East really can't find a decent center.

Aside from him, the best center in the entire East might be... Magloire.

In this situation, fans either didn't vote or had to vote for Ben Wallace, who dominated the voting, receiving 77 votes, ranking second in the East, and even getting more votes than O'Neal and Yao Ming.

Even more outrageous is that the second-highest number of votes for the center position was Alonzo Mourning, who was already out for the season and undergoing a kidney transplant...

"I've found a way to get Jason into the All-Star starting lineup," Ye Feng said upon seeing this. "Let him play center! Can he be worse than that guy with the afro?"

"Why don't you just let me play in the WNBA? I can average 50 points per game there."

The crowd at the scene exclaimed, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Apart from the center position being too outrageous, the other positions in the East are not too bad.

Carter is the player with the most votes in the entire league, having received more than 90 votes. At this rate, he will most likely remain the league's top vote-getter this year.

The other position in the forward line belongs to Ye Feng, who received 70 votes. Although he has no chance of surpassing Carter, he is quite solid in the forward position, leading third-placed Jermaine O'Neal by 13 votes. As long as he maintains his current exposure and performance, there is absolutely no problem for him to secure his starting position.

Even if he can't maintain his performance, it's okay.

There are many others!

In the backcourt, Iverson received 76 votes, slightly less than Ben Wallace, but his position was still quite secure. McGrady followed closely behind with 58 votes.

In fact, considering his playing style, ability, and statistics, he shouldn't have received so few votes.

His problem is that the Magic have performed terribly this year! The team has only won 5 games so far, ranking last in the league, and is the number one contender for Emeka Okafor.

The fact that he can still rank second among backcourt players with such a record speaks volumes about his popularity.

"I despise that bastard!" Kidd grumbled. "When the forwards are strong, he's a defender; when the defenders are strong, he becomes a forward. Shameless! He has no shame! If it weren't for that super-strong forward suddenly appearing this year, he definitely wouldn't have come to my defense to torment me!"

"That forward should have been the one to mess with Duncan and Garnett!"

Ye Feng finally understood: "Jason, you mean it wasn't McGrady who ruined you, it's that the Eastern Conference forwards are too strong?"

"yes!"

"So that means I'm the one who hurt you?"

Kidd got what he wanted and immediately said with a smile, "That's right! You're the one who ruined my life! Now you owe me a starting position!"

You're in charge of getting me a starting spot! Even that big guy could get Francis a starting position.

"Making me a starter won't be difficult at all, right? I'm way better than that lone wolf Francis!"

"Francis was already an All-Star starter before Yao Ming entered the NBA, okay?" Ye Feng said, looking at the guy's shameless face. "People rely on themselves!"

"I don't care!" Kidd shrugged, displaying his shamelessness.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

"Have you no shame?"

"I want to be an All-Star starter."

"Listen to me, just play well, and you'll definitely be an All-Star reserve." Ye Feng rolled his eyes. This Kidd, he'd been waiting for him all along. This wasn't a celebration for him becoming an All-Star starter; it was moral blackmail.

"No, I want to start!" Kidd looked like a child at this moment.

"Listen to me, starting lineups and stuff are all just speculation. You can't control that. There's a lot of shady stuff going on here! We'll just be substitutes."

"How about we check out the Western Conference starting lineup?" Haslem immediately came over to help his older brother out of the predicament when he saw that Ye Feng seemed to be in trouble.

"Alright!" Ye Feng didn't give Kidd any more chances to retaliate and immediately shifted his gaze to the second half of the newspaper.

The battle for the center position in the West is fierce. Yao Ming received 54 votes, while Shaquille O'Neal received 52. The gap between the two is negligible, and a sudden surge could lead to a reversal and a comeback at any time.

While the two players in the center position are evenly matched, with the suspense likely to continue until the final day, the forward and guard positions are almost entirely predictable.

Garnett and Duncan were far ahead, with nearly double the number of votes received by third-place Nowitzki, not to mention Peja and Malone, who were behind them.

In the backcourt, Kobe and Francis left their opponents far behind. Nash, in third place, only received about half the votes of the other two. It's worth mentioning that Ye Feng's old friend James ranked fourth, going toe-to-toe with Nash.

"Looking at it this way," Ye Feng said deliberately, "this year's All-Star starter voting isn't very suspenseful! Of the 10 positions, only the pairing of Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal is truly neck and neck; the rest are clearly divided in terms of strength and weakness, and the results are obvious at a glance."

"What do you mean there's no suspense? What do you mean there's a clear distinction between strong and weak teams!" Kidd immediately objected: "At least the Eastern Conference backcourt is very suspenseful!"

""

Jefferson, now aware of Ye Feng's actions, joined the fray: "McGrady can't catch Iverson anymore, the gap between them is too big, and the Magic's record is just too bad."

"What? McGrady and Iverson!" Kidd knew these guys were deliberately messing with him, but what could he do when he needed their help? Now that Jefferson had come in, he had a chance to shift the focus: "Richard, what's your ranking again? I don't see your name! Do I have to turn the page to find it?"

"Not bad! More than 300 votes more than Boozer, and almost 1000 votes more than Mashburn, exciting! The battle for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 7th best forwards in the East is in full swing!"

"Let's see Jason's ranking!" Jefferson didn't respond at all. After all, it was only natural that he couldn't make the All-Star team, and he didn't feel bad at all. But if Kidd couldn't make it, the old guy would definitely be unhappy.

"Why can't I find it?" Ye Feng asked. "Is it on the second page?"

Kidd, enraged, pointed at a name: "Where are you looking?! Third! Third in the backcourt! Less than 5 votes behind McGrady's damn number!"

"Less than 5, less than 5." Ye Feng chuckled. "I do have some connections, but..."

"You choose the place!" Kidd, ever the opportunist, immediately said, "Tonight we'll go to Brooklyn, or Manhattan, or anywhere else, it's up to you!"

"It's only tonight, the All-Star voting goes on until February."

"Damn it!" Kidd spat. "When have I ever mistreated you guys?"

"That's true." Ye Feng stopped teasing Kidd and said with a smile, "After training, let's go see a friend of mine, the new reporter who came with me to report on the team."

"He can write more articles praising you, showcasing many passages about our close relationship and excellent feelings. Then you can add a few sentences in Chinese and record some New Year's greetings videos in Chinese, wishing everyone a Happy New Year or something. This will give you a lot more Chinese fans."

"That's good enough for you to make the All-Star team!"

"I love China!" Kidd exclaimed. "Every Chinese person is my good friend!"

"If you could donate some sneakers, basketballs, or sports equipment, your vote count would be even higher. You know, there are some children in parts of China who can't play basketball."

"No problem!" Kidd patted his chest and said, "It's just a small amount of money. I love helping kids."

"Ye..." Jefferson rubbed his hands together and walked over at this moment: "I also had a sudden idea..."

""

"Forget about it, Richard." Ye Feng spread his hands. "I can't let you push me out of the picture."

"But I support doing charity! So, you and Jason can do the charity work together this year. Then you can fully support me and help me get votes to make me an All-Star starter."

"By this time next year, when you're more popular, how about we both be starters again?"

"Richard, you're always prepared!"

"Sure!" Although Jefferson hasn't started signing big contracts yet, he's already a genuine millionaire, so donating some money to charity is no problem for him.

"Well..." Ye Feng looked at the Nets players who had all arrived and said with a smile, "Who still has dreams? Who still wants to join?"

"Me!" Haslem will always be on the front line supporting Ye Feng.

As for the others, although they all knew Ye Feng was joking, they were still willing to join in the fun.

No one would refuse to have a few more fans on the other side of the ocean and help a few children.

"Then I'll have someone contact your agent to see how things go. Don't worry about the rest!"

"Alright, training!"

After the order was given, the Nets quickly got to work. They were especially energetic during training today, and everyone was in top form.

Their performance in the days that followed was equally astonishing.

Their winning streak lasted for 11 games before they finally started losing.

Even so, it was enough for Kidd to win Player of the Month at the end of December!

This month, Kidd averaged a triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists per game, and also recorded a triple-double in five single games, which can be said to have brought his playmaking ability to the extreme.

Ye Feng seamlessly integrated into the Nets during his first month with the team, averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds per game with a field goal percentage of 59%, the highest among all players in the league who scored over 20 points!

Playing with Kidd, he was so full he was burping.

As a result, Ye Feng beat Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game that month, to become the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for December.

However, this perfect state began to decline after January.

Ye Feng lacks a true scoring specialty and killer move. He can't maintain an average of 20 points per game just by relying on his explosiveness. In addition, the Nets team does lack a truly unstoppable offensive weapon.

Especially when facing top defensive teams, they lack players who can ignore defense and score unstoppably.

At least half of this team's offense relies on Kidd's assists and passes. There are many finishers who can finish plays, but Kidd is the only one who can create plays. There are no other players who can steal plays from the opponent.

Under these circumstances, the Nets' record declined significantly in January, and the players' statistics also declined significantly.

They were invincible in December, but only managed a record of 6 wins and 6 losses in January.

After January, although they were still second in the East, the gap between them and the first-place Pacers had reached 4 games!

However, there is also good news for the Nets.

That is, thanks to the efforts of Ye Feng and Duan Zai, and the fact that Kidd and others made real money and their "quiet and careful" charitable acts were exposed, Kidd finally succeeded in surpassing McGrady in the second stage of voting and became the second in the East.

At the same time, Jefferson also pulled ahead of Mashburn and Boozer, securing his position as the seventh-ranked forward in the Eastern Conference.

Well, this is completely useless.

By February, although the Nets' record still showed no signs of recovery or a comeback, everyone was no longer anxious.

Because the All-Star Game is coming soon!

Each team will get 3-5 days of rest through the All-Star Game, and can take advantage of this weekend to relax.

Therefore, all teams tend to relax a bit during this period. Everyone just wants to take it easy at this time and think about everything else after the All-Star Game or even after the trade deadline!

Therefore, this stage of the competition is widely regarded as the least exciting stage of the entire season.

Too relaxed.

It was in this relaxed atmosphere that the final starting lineup for the All-Star Game was announced.

In the Western Conference, Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal battled it out until the very end. When the final All-Star voting results were announced, Yao Ming received 147 million votes, while O'Neal received 145 million votes!

The difference was absolutely minuscule; this gap is arguably the smallest margin of error in NBA history for All-Star starter votes.

However, after losing to Yao Ming again, O'Neal's attitude was quite good. He generously congratulated Yao Ming and said:

See you in the playoffs!

Apart from this position, there were no changes in other positions in the West. Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, and Francis all made it into the All-Star starting lineup, and all of them were far ahead of the third place in their respective positions.

In the Eastern Conference, Carter and Ben Wallace received 212 million and 195 million votes respectively, becoming the two players with the most votes in the entire league.

One of them is incredibly popular, while the other is truly unrivaled. It's just that NBA rules require voting for a set of players, not just a few.

In the East, there's really no other center who can match him. You can't exactly drag Mourning out of his hospital bed, can you?

Even Pat Riley wouldn't do something like that.

Then there are Ye Feng and Iverson. Their selection was not surprising. Ye Feng received 168 million votes, leading Jermaine O'Neal by 15 votes, while Iverson's 173 million votes also far exceeded those of other guards in the East.

Kidd, thanks to the widespread popularity of a video of him practicing eating soybeans with chopsticks in China in February, finally surpassed McGrady and received 1.4 million votes, becoming the last starter in the Eastern Conference.

For the Nets, this result is certainly a win-win situation, but for others, it's not.

As soon as the All-Star voting results were announced, people immediately jumped out to protest.

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