Chapter 720 [Tired Weekend, Sensitive Topics]
"Take two days off? This is the All-Star Weekend. You are the head coach of the Western Conference. How can you only be here on the last day?"
When David Stern received the call from Yang Rui, he couldn't believe what he heard.
In the history of the NBA, there is no precedent for asking for leave when not sick. Even if players are injured and unable to play, they must try their best to participate in activities and accept interviews.
Yang Rui explained: "What should I do if it's such a coincidence? February 26 is the Oscars ceremony, and I agreed to attend. If I don't go, the three female stars will have no female companions."
"Uh..." Star Weekend and Oscar got together. Stern read the news. The entertainment industry has recently been hyping Yang Rui. His girlfriend, Stana Katic, was nominated for Best Actress.
Yang Rui continued: "Even if I participated in the Star Weekend two days ago, does the league expect me to say a lot or steal the spotlight from the rookies on the sidelines? The coach has never been the protagonist of the Star Weekend. If I go for an interview on the third day, can I Create some buzz, otherwise reporters will just ask boring questions."
Stern thought for a moment and agreed to Yang Rui's request. Praising players is much more important than praising coaches. The most attractive fans are always those who go out to play and score beautiful statistics.
Yang Rui's absence would be more topical than his presence.
On the 25th, the rookie game started first.
Jeremy Lin is a popular star, an all-star who is not an all-star. There were so many media interviewing him before the game that the NBA had to prepare a special conference room for him. This was a treatment that only president David Stern could enjoy in the past.
However, Jeremy Lin did not play much time. He only played 9 minutes and scored 2 points and 1 assist.
It's not that O'Neal deliberately didn't use him, but that he didn't play well. Once he didn't have the ball and didn't play pick-and-rolls, he couldn't perform. The All-Star Game is a chaotic battle, and it is impossible to arrange special tactics for him.
Jeremy Lin's Shaq team lost, and Griffin was also on the team, scoring only 10 points.
The Barkley team easily won 146 to 133. No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving scored 34 points and 9 assists, making 8 of 8 three-pointers and winning the VP.
In the challenge game the next day, Lakers insider Kevin Love defeated Curry and unexpectedly won the new three-point king.
Curry scored a high score of 23 points in the preliminaries, but he performed abnormally in the finals, scoring only 16 points, and was beaten by Love with 17 points.
The slam dunk contest championship was won by Jazz fringe power forward Jeremy Evans. This was his only chance to show his face and shine. Apart from dunking, he had no merit.
On the same day, Yang Rui attended the Oscars. There were three female stars and one male companion. This was the first time in the history of Hollywood red carpets. It was difficult not to attract attention. Countless films were shot.
The Oscar red carpet is actually divided into two channels, one is the celebrity channel and the other is the guest channel.
People often refer to the "red carpet" as the celebrity aisle closer to the press box. This passage passes through the media area, making it convenient for celebrities to be interviewed and photographed by reporters. It is guided and organized by dedicated personnel. The guest channel that is far away from the press box is on the outside of the celebrity channel. It has no special guide and is larger. It can be said to be crowded with people when entering, and the team is loose. It is usually the background for celebrities to appear.
In previous Oscar reports, reporters twice saw Yang Rui being discovered by reporters in the guest aisle and shouted out to return to the celebrity aisle. This time he made a high-profile appearance.
Stana will definitely not win the award, she is just a running companion. No one is optimistic about her, including herself. She is a female star in commercial films, and she cannot compare with Meryl Streep, the strong and tender heroine of the biographical movie The Iron Lady. Acting.
Stana is satisfied if she can be nominated once, because DiCaprio has been nominated n times and has not won yet.
Gravity's performance was amazing. Yang Rui didn't know how Facebook tackled the problem. They earned over $700 million in global box office and received ten nominations. The movie was released two years earlier than his previous life, and its popularity has not diminished at all. The plot is extremely simple, but it is a hit.
The audience went crazy, and the critics even applauded.
Everyone said they were mesmerized by the dreamlike and wonderful space scenes created by director Alfonso Cuaron.
As the director of this phenomenal blockbuster, Alfonso Cuarón currently holds two Best Director trophies, the Golden Globe Award and the Directors Guild of America Award, known as the "Oscar bells", and is only one step away from the statuette. .
In the end, Gravity won seven awards including Best Director, Best Visual Effects, and Best Soundtrack as expected. Although it missed out on Best Picture and Best Actress, it was still the biggest winner of the night.
After the awards, there was a delicious Oscar dinner for the big stars. Michelin chefs used 7,500 shrimps, 6,500 Oscar-winning breads, 2,250 French dessert macarons, 1,400 bottles of champagne, 800 crab claw dishes, and 400 pounds of top-quality Wagyu beef. , 350 pounds of tuna and smoked salmon, 250 lobsters and 10 kilograms of caviar as ingredients.
In addition to the classic and must-have dishes, such as salmon and caviar dishes in the shape of a statuette, endless statuette chocolates that can be taken away, and 4 unique cocktails, there are more than 50 dishes on the menu, leaving guests with endless aftertaste.
Yang Rui attended the dinner, and then sent his girlfriends home. Without stopping, he took four bodyguards with him and flew to Orlando on a private plane in the early morning, arriving more than five hours later.
He checked into the hotel to rest, and began to participate in activities in the afternoon, leading the Western Stars team to train and accepting interviews with reporters.
After this set of procedures, Yang Rui created a big topic. Many reporters asked him about the Oscars. Some reporters boldly raised sensitive topics and questioned him about not caring about the NBA All-Stars and asked him to express his feelings.
Yang Rui brushed it off casually. He really didn't care about the All-Star Game. It was obviously a game held to make money. It had to rise to the level of professional ethics. Is it interesting?
If NBA professional ethics were so important, there would be no shutdown. If the management staff of each team were so humane, players would not change teams in large numbers every year and be bought and sold like commodities, and coaches would not dismiss classes at any time and lose their jobs.
In the All-Star Game, Yang Rui tried his best to arrange tactics suitable for the team's lineup, including two sets, run-and-gun and pick-and-roll. Point forwards and so on are not considered. In the West, apart from big men, they are guards.
The Western Conference lineup looked extremely unreasonable, but it still beat the Eastern Conference 152 to 149, and once led by 22 points.
Both teams played at a fast offensive pace and focused on performance. The overall speed of the Eastern Conference was obviously not as good as that of the Western Conference.
Kobe arrived in Orlando without participating in the game. When he was a guest commentator, he said: "Durant's sharp offense is the hardest to guard."
Durant scored 36 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and won the All-Star VP trophy for the first time in his career. He spent most of his time as the No. 2 player in the Western Conference and was indeed too difficult to guard.
Kobe also expressed regret that he could not participate in the All-Star Game. If he participated, his total All-Star points would exceed Jordan.
It's a blessing in disguise. In Yang Rui's previous life, Kobe suffered a broken nose and concussion from Wade in the All-Star Game. Now that he has saved his nose, it won't be too late to surpass Jordan next year.
On the Eastern team's side, James had 36 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and Wade had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. However, he missed the vp due to the loss. Although Howard was playing at home, his performance was even worse, with only 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
Howard tried very hard to perform, but used the wrong method. He played 31 minutes and made 4 of 9 field goals, 0 of 4 three-pointers, and 1 of 2 free throws.
Howard, who wasn't even sure of his mid-range shot, actually made four three-pointers. Isn't this an undercover job? Also taking the live treasure route, he is really not as good at performing as O'Neal was back then.