NBA: A collection of super busts

Chapter 107 O'Neal's talent was completely misdirected!

"We should restrict voting! We can't do this." McGrady was unhappy after the final results were announced, and publicly sarcastically remarked, "Why should overseas fans have the same voting rights as us? This is an American and Canadian league!"

We can't let this happen; we can't let foreigners ruin our wonderful weekend.

"We should change the voting weighting rules so that any foreigner can become an All-Star starter. What if an Indian player who can't play basketball comes next time? Should we make him a starter too?"

"I wouldn't want this terrible, identical vote count even if it were given to me! Shaq and I should both be All-Star starters!"

Kidd is never one to suffer a loss; apart from his wife, no one in this world can make him suffer in silence!

"If I were him, I would first focus on how to get the team to win and get them out of the bottom of the league, instead of thinking about anything else. A 15-game losing streak, and then being jealous of those who got more votes than him."

"15-game losing streak, Tracy! How can you sleep? If my team lost 15 straight, I'd rather jump off the Pentagon than worry about my All-Star votes!"

Ye Feng, another All-Star starter for the Nets, also couldn't escape the reporters' questions, but his perspective was completely different: "Actually, I can understand McGrady. I'm not familiar with him, I've never even met him, but I understand him."

"After all, this is the only thing he can pursue this season. What else does he have left? He can't exactly study shamanistic witchcraft or Gypsy astrology to increase his team's chances of getting the number one draft pick!"

"He had no choice and nothing to do, so naturally he could only look for trouble."

"As for his claim about voting weight, that's utter nonsense. The NBA is the most beloved basketball league in the world, a top-tier basketball league, and the ultimate dream for all basketball fans worldwide."

"Now he's saying he wants to play behind closed doors and expel all international players from the league?"

"We don't need a genius brain to know how stupid his words are!"

"You two bastards! Those damn bastards!" McGrady was so angry after hearing their taunts that he almost smashed his TV. "You just wait, don't let me see you again. If I see you this season, I'll definitely..."

"If I see you two next season, I'll definitely kill you two bastards!"

Throughout the Eastern Conference, some people were unhappy about Kidd making the All-Star starting lineup, and naturally, some people were unhappy about Ye Feng making the starting lineup.

Carmelo Anthony, who has secured the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and has a good chance of leading his team to the playoffs again after many years, is furious.

He received 70 votes this time, which seems to place him fourth in the East, but he is still far from being selected.

In addition, he just won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award for January, and he also won it for November.

Unfortunately, Ye Feng snatched the December one away, which made him extremely unhappy.

After all, James is on the other side. Although the Grizzlies have faced a lot of criticism and condemnation after changing coaches, and although their record has dropped from aiming for the top half of the standings to just trying to secure a playoff spot.

But James' performance has been impeccable. His average stats have reached 20 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, and he has already won Rookie of the Month for three months!

Losing to Ye Feng and James in the competition enraged Anthony, who slowly tore the newspaper in his hand to shreds, his face full of anger.

During All-Star Weekend, he's going to settle accounts with those two jerks who always put him down!

A few days later, the league announced the All-Star reserve roster.

In the Eastern Conference, Magloire, McGrady, Pierce, O'Neal, Davis, Reed, and Artest were selected.

The Nets and Pacers became the only two teams in the Eastern Conference with two players selected for the All-Star Game.

In the Western Conference, seven players were selected: O'Neal, Nowitzki, Kirilenko, Allen, Cassell, Peja, and Miller.

Four teams have two players selected: Lakers, Rockets, Kings, and Timberwolves.

Following that, the roster for the All-Star Rising Stars Challenge was also released.

On the rookie team, several highly anticipated top rookies were selected: James, Anthony, Milicic, Ye Feng, Bosh, Wade, Hinrich, Kaman, and Howard.

For the second-year team, Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Manu Ginobili, Tayshaun Prince, Nene, and Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Jaric and Murray are among the nine players selected.

This year's All-Star Rising Stars Challenge is truly star-studded, with many first- and second-year players in top form.

Among the popular players are Ye Feng and Yao Ming, both of whom were selected as All-Star starters.

This match will undoubtedly spark another wave of anticipation and viewing frenzy among Chinese fans.

Then the list of participants for the individual competitions was also announced. The participants for the Skills Challenge and Slam Dunk Contest are: Fred Jones, Jason Richardson, Chris Anderson, and Ricky Davis.

If there's anything disappointing about the Slam Dunk Contest, it's that both Ye Feng and James, two explosively talented and highly anticipated newcomers, declined the league's invitation and did not participate in this year's contest.

James's reasoning was, as always, baffling: "I'm not rejecting the Slam Dunk Contest, I just feel it's not the right time yet. I'm not sure if now is the best time, but I think I will definitely participate when the best time comes. As for when the best time will be, I think it might be in the not-too-distant future."

"I will definitely participate in a dunk contest at least once in my career, but I can't be sure when. I can only say that day may come or may not. I may become the greatest dunker in history, but maybe I'm just waiting for the right opportunity."

The reporters interviewing James were baffled by his words.

What is this guy babbling about?

But when the report was published, the journalists demonstrated their professionalism and their "money talks" mentality.

LeBron James said his eyes were full of longing when the time wasn't right, but he kept touching his ankle, indicating that injuries prevented the "King" from reigning supreme.

"I will definitely participate in the future! LeBron James has already made a promise."

LeBron James stated that the team's record is the more important thing to focus on, and that they need to be fully prepared for the second half of the season.

"It's not a refusal, it's an inability to participate; there might be something fishy about LeBron James' absence from the Slam Dunk Contest!"

The league is pushing Richardson for his third championship! Sources reveal that LeBron James's desire to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest was rejected, saying it won't be his turn until next year.

After reading these reports, everyone can only think that James really wants to participate, but due to his record, injuries, and mysterious forces, he can only do it next year.

His fans could only sigh, lamenting that their favorite star was being persecuted by the league in his first year, and then they turned their anger towards West, Stern, and the already departed Brown.

It must be those three old-fashioned junkies who are preventing him from participating!

Holy crap!

The three old men: ? ? ? ? What's going on? How did this happen to us?

Ye Feng's reason for refusing the dunk contest was much simpler and more direct.

"I'm not interested. I have no intention or plan to participate in the dunk contest. I prefer to dunk over opponents in real games. There's no defense in the dunk contest, so it's not fun."

These arrogant and direct words made many people who originally liked Ye Feng like him even more, while those who didn't like him before now felt that this guy was indeed annoying and too arrogant!

That's the nature of sports leagues; no fan can be liked by everyone. Ye Feng understands this, and that's why he has never pursued becoming a universally loved idol.

There are even people in this world who don't like US dollars, let alone him?

However, while Ye Feng rejected the league's invitation without hesitation, Kidd chuckled and said in an interview: "Next year! Next year I will definitely let Ye participate in the dunk contest, so please look forward to it."

"Okay, I'll find a way to get him to participate in the three-point contest. We'll see each other on the court then."

Amidst this joyful atmosphere, All-Star Weekend finally arrived!

In mid-February, Ye Feng and Kidd, two Nets players who were participating in the All-Star Game, flew to Los Angeles on the West Coast.

As soon as the two disembarked, an airport ground staff member guided them away from the crowd and towards another passageway.

At the end of the passage, a truly enormous creature sat excitedly on a shuttle bus, waving at the two of them: "Hey! This way."

Ye Feng recognized this guy at a glance.

Shaquille O'Neal.

He watched several Lakers games live last year, and they all lost.

Kidd immediately walked over to O'Neal and got into O'Neal's shuttle bus.

"How do I get there?" Kidd asked curiously. "What new gadgets are you planning to come up with this year?"

O'Neal said confidently, "Anyway, we won't be bothered by those annoying media. Don't rush, let's wait a bit longer, a few more guys will be here soon, let's go together."

"Ye, it's our first time meeting, so I don't need to introduce myself, right?" After chatting with Kidd for a bit, O'Neal looked at Ye Feng: "I guess you're completely different from your compatriot Yao Ming. That guy is aloof and unapproachable. Last time I asked him if there was anything he wanted to do, he asked me where the internet cafe was, saying he wanted to play in a CS team tournament."

"Don't worry, my little brother has exactly the same hobbies as us!" Kidd laughed heartily. "Where are we going to play tonight?"

""

"Let me clarify, my tastes are different from yours," Ye Feng said. "I don't like girls whose butts are bigger than their faces."

"Got it!" O'Neal snapped his fingers. "You like girls like Hollywood stars, right? Slim and slender ones."

"I want the kind of thin-shelled walnuts that bear large, slender fruits."

O'Neal lowered his head and repeated Ye Feng's words several times before giving a thumbs up and saying, "I love that analogy! Just based on that, we're definitely going to be good buddies!"

O'Neal's attitude was somewhat unexpected for Ye Feng. He originally thought that this guy who failed to make the All-Star starting lineup would be hostile to him, who was also from China.

But he soon discovered that O'Neal showed no hostility towards him whatsoever, and he didn't even show any hostility towards Yao Ming, who arrived later. Upon seeing Yao Ming and Francis, O'Neal burst out laughing: "I've booked the best internet cafe in all of Los Angeles for you, go and have some fun surfing the internet!"

"As for Steve, come with me!"

"Is anyone else here?" Kidd leaned back in his chair, looking bored. "We've been waiting for half an hour."

"Yes! A lot of people have arrived in the past hour." O'Neal glanced at his watch. "It's all that idiot Kobe's fault! He has absolutely no sense of responsibility as a host, let alone any sense of hospitality. He's a freak!"

"Serves him right for getting harassed; he should be in jail! Damn it, he even said something about Shaq doing it too, but I'm the one who messed with his dermatitis!"

"He's a complete idiot. Even autistic people are more sensible than him. He can't even write by hand without me. He's not cut out to be the Lakers' leader! Skr~skr~"

Once Kobe is mentioned, Shaquille O'Neal's mouth just won't stop. He was chatting with everyone a moment ago, but now it's become a one-man show.

A super long freestyle rap is delivered without any stumbles and is quite rhyming, with no repetition of words, showcasing O'Neal's rap skills.

"Shaq, how about another freestyle rap with a Los Angeles theme?" Kidd finally got a chance to breathe and gave O'Neal a challenge.

"Oh, Los Angeles, it's so beautiful. There are so many girls and sunshine here, and... what else was it again? Hahaha, that's all, I'm not very good at this."

Kidd wasn't about to stop, and then gave O'Neal a few more questions, all of them very simple things, like basketball, the sun, and the like.

But O'Neal stumbled over every single one of them, and his responses were all rather mediocre.

Then, Kidd's map reached its final point, revealing a dagger: "How about we try one with Kobe?"

"Kobe, I'm yours forever! You're nothing but a piece of trash! I'm going to stuff my penis into your vagina, your vagina will be full of my penis, your penis is even worse than Xx's penis, even if you have sex with me, you're still just a piece of trash!"

Good guy.

Ye Feng even wanted to give O'Neal a thumbs up.

So this person only knows how to criticize Kobe, and thinks they're no good at anything else...?

This also shows what the Lakers' internal situation has become.

Shaquille O'Neal's public disdain and even insults towards Kobe Bryant clearly show that he is not worried at all that these words will reach Kobe's ears. Their relationship is probably worse than imagined.

This is also inevitable.

After all, if the previous conflict between the two was just a clash of personalities and a struggle for leadership, then Kobe's comment in the summer of 03, "Shaq did it too," really angered O'Neal, making O'Neal want to kill him. That sentence also signaled that the relationship between the two was completely broken and there was no possibility of repair.

For O'Neal, the truth of that incident was no longer important, nor was the context in which Kobe said those words.

The important point is that O'Neal is married. Kobe's words caused O'Neal's wife to quarrel with him for a long time, and she repeatedly claimed that she wanted to divorce O'Neal.

It was only through O'Neal's desperate efforts that he managed to calm his wife down.

It's not that O'Neal has that much love for his wife or that he's that reluctant to part with her.

If his wife is willing to leave with nothing and not ask for child support, he could even throw her a farewell party, buy her a comfortable first-class seat, and send her to New Guinea to become a tribal elite.

str~

cough cough.

The main issue is that if they divorce, half of O'Neal's fortune will be gone.

Kobe's one sentence almost caused Shaq to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. If he didn't hate Kobe, he would be too magnanimous.

This might also be why he's friendly towards Yao Ming.

He could tolerate Kobe, so what's an All-Star starting position?

Just then, O'Neal waved his hand again: "Here, come on! We can set off right away."

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