459 Chapter 457. This Is Strange

It's almost the All-Star Weekend, and when the All-Star starting roster was announced, the enthusiasm of the fans finally began to rise.

Every year, the league will make some changes on the All-Star Weekend. Some new items really make fans complain. For example, last year’s mixed shooting competition for men and women, as long as you go to a top shooter in the NBA, there is basically no suspense. Top players in the WNBA No matter how accurate the shots are, they cannot be compared with NBA players. They may shoot slowly one by one. Female players are no worse than male players, but the gap in this game is too big.

But there are some changes every year, and the fans are also looking forward to it. For example, this year, the league has made some troubles and created a legendary challenge, which is the 3V3 bullfighting contest!

There are only two teams, each team has a retired NBA star, a WNBA superstar, an active player, and a Hollywood movie star as a substitute, each team has four people.

The retired star, because the All-Star Weekend was held in Atlanta, so Dominique Wilkins, the essence of human movies, was invited to play and join the East team.

On the Western side, the Eagles also spent a lot of money and invited Magic Johnson to participate.

The WNBA superstar, the Eastern team was the MVP of the WNBA last season, the superstar of the Houston Comets Shel Swopes, two Olympic gold medalists, two WNBA regular season MVPs, the first four years of the WNBA's establishment in 1997 The championship can live.

Originally, the Hawks wanted to invite the number one superstar in WNBA history, former European women's basketball overlord, also a superstar of the Houston Comets, and Cynthia Cooper, known as the female Jordan who won the WNBA championship MVP for the first four years, but Cynthia- Cooper is 40 years old and can't move anymore. When he participated in the first year of the WNBA, he was almost 35, and he was still the number one in the world. The title of female Jordan is well-deserved.

Cooper could not be invited, so he settled for the next best thing and chose last year's regular season MVP Swopes.

The WNBA star of the West team is last year's championship MVP, the super center Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks, a tall black woman of 1.95 meters.

Movie stars, as in the past, are kept in a state of secrecy. Like last season's All-Star Weekend, Will Smith joined, which shocked everyone.

Active players are still waiting to sign up or designate someone to participate.

In addition to the 3V3 bullfighting competition, an All-Star Skills Challenge was also held, inviting the league's best players in ball handling, shooting, and passing to participate.

That said, but the invitees include Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Shaq O'Neal...and Payton, Liu Mang, Marbury, Iverson, Garnett.

This lineup, to be honest, is really interesting. The fans were overjoyed when they saw it. If O'Neal, Kidd, and Parker really participate, this game will be interesting. The skills of the three players, O'Neal probably can't handle the ball. Not bad, but the shooting of the trio...

The next few games were really suspenseful games. Garnett's skills were no worse than those of guards, especially shooting.

However, this is just a gimmick. After so many gimmicks in the league, the fans have almost understood that these people may not have participated in the end.

The invitees for other competitions have also been announced, and it is beyond the league's control whether they will participate or not.

The slam dunk contest, the most watched game, invited Jason Richardson, last year's slam dunk king, Vince Carter, the number one dunker in history, Liu Mang, who claimed to challenge the number one dunker in history, and the hot and violent rookie of the Suns this year Power forward Amare Stoudemire, Drummond Mason of the Bucks, Tracy McGrady of the Magic, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers... Anyway, the league invited all over .

However, among these people, only two people are looking forward to, that is, the duel between Carter and Liu Mang!

In the three-point contest, Liu Mang, as the champion of last year's three-point contest, was naturally invited to participate this year. Unlike the slam dunk contest, which may win the championship and not participate in the second year if he doesn't want to dunk it, the defending champion of the three-point contest must participate according to the usual practice. This one is not tiring, and there is no possibility of injury like the slam dunk contest.

After announcing the All-Star starting lineup and newly added items on the afternoon of December 30, the league officials sent official invitation emails to each team.

When Liu Mang received all the invitations for the original double events, the newly added skills challenge, and the 3V3 bullfight, he was speechless. For the 3V3 bullfight, Liu Mang refused decisively. Yes, the league invited Liu Mang to participate because Liu Mang is a player of the Eagles. This All-Star Weekend will be held at the home court of the Eagles. Of course, it is the "inheritance team" of the team's famous players and the hottest stars of the current team. Interesting, but unexpectedly Liu Mang refused directly.

Liu Mang also refused the three-point contest. According to the usual practice, he had to participate, but Liu Mang was self-willed and wanted to break the rules.

In the skill challenge, Liu Wei really wanted to see who would participate. Liu Wei accepted the slam dunk contest, and the duel with Carter! Excited to think about it.

Some players have also started submitting registrations, and a section has been opened on the official NBA website to record the list of registrations for this All-Star Weekend in real time.

In fact, even the most inconspicuous event of the All-Star Weekend is a good opportunity for one or two hundred countries around the world to broadcast live and become famous. Therefore, when ordinary players are invited to participate in the game, they agree directly without saying a word.

On December 31, the morning of the game against the Clippers, Liu Mang got up and habitually turned on the computer in his room to watch the news. He accidentally saw it from the registration list for the "Legend Challenge" on the official website. Jason Terry's name...

...

...

At 1 pm Los Angeles time, the Eagles arrived at the Staples Center on the bus prepared by the Clippers. The game started at 6 pm. Los Angeles is almost in the westernmost part of the United States. It's all "very early", but in fact the Eastern teams have finished their games, and the West Coast games may not have started yet.

After getting off the bus, many Eagles players were discussing where to go tonight. Los Angeles is a good place...

On Liu Mang's side, Jason Terry and Jason Terry got off the bus last, and their bags were all carried by the rookie. Prince was in charge of their bags, and the two were discussing the All-Star Weekend.

"Jason, what kind of bullfight competition are you going to participate in? What's so good about that kind of competition!" Liu Mang asked curiously.

"Ace, didn't you still participate in all the competitions last year, and you will participate in the dunk contest this year." Jason Terry complained when he saw Liu Mang's exaggerated tone.

"I didn't know at that time that I would be selected for the All-Star Game, otherwise I wouldn't be so tired." Thinking about it, Liu Mang felt that he was really not too tired last year. In order to make himself famous, he was really crazy. Who knew that he was directly selected It's the All-Star game, and now I think about the fact that I wanted to make myself famous, it's so stupid.

"I'm 100% unable to make the All-Star this year. There are too many star guards in the Eastern Conference. If it is possible to go to the Western Conference, Sharif is lucky. I will definitely be in the All-Star." Jason Terry sighed, and then his tone was resentful Said: "This is our own team hosting the All-Star, how could I watch you participate with Sharif and Theo, leaving me alone..."

The biggest difference between the west and the east is that the inside is king in the west. The strong teams basically have super insiders. Even the eighth and ninth Rockets and the Suns have Yao Ming and Stoudemire, so there are different players in the west every year. Few outstanding insiders fail to be selected for the All-Stars, and the outsiders in the West are often defensive, such as Doug Christie of the Kings and Bowen of the Spurs, it is extremely difficult to have a chance to be selected for the All-Stars.

The East is completely the opposite. Except for the fixed center position in the All-Star starting lineup, the two forwards are all on the outside, and no one even thinks it is wrong to play a guard. The outside stars are overcrowded.

"It has nothing to do with me, I'm the starter of the All-Star." Liu Mang turned to hate.

"Get out!" Jason Terry was so sad and angry.

The two walked out of the parking lot fighting and saw Coach Kruger calling again.

"Jason, you came at the right time. The boss has confirmed that he will tell the league to give you the spot for the East Team of the Legend Challenge." Coach Kruger said after seeing Jason Terry.

"Huh... finally able to participate in a game." Jason Terry heaved a sigh of relief.

Now that I met the coach, let’s go to the training ground together. The Staples Center is different from the home arena of many teams. This arena does not belong to the Lakers or the Clippers. Both teams are leased, so inside Without conventional facilities, the Staples Center is very expensive, and there is no open space for the team to arrange a training ground.

The training ground arranged by the Clippers for the Eagles is in a public basketball stadium in the Los Angeles Convention Center, across the street from Staples. After the boss went to actively fight for it, 41 afternoons per year are given to the Clippers' home game opponents for free. Their own training ground is the Playa-Vista training hall, a training hall sponsored by Playa-Vista.

As soon as the three of them walked out of the parking lot, a skinny black child, about ten years old, walked over with a box hanging on his chest.

The child came to the three of them and asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you need to shine your shoes?"

What is this for?

American begging?

Liu Mang and Coach Kruger looked at each other and said, "We don't need it."

Liu Mang just wanted to leave directly, but Jason Terry responded: "Well, it happens that the shoes are a little dirty, boy, please wipe them for me, they need to be cleaned!"

"Sir, make sure to wipe it clean!" The child excitedly came to a place where no one would be blocked by the wall, opened the box, took out a small folding stool for Jason Terry to sit on, and then took out a small wooden stake for Jia Sen-Terry put his foot on it, covered it with leather paper around his ankle, and began to wipe.

In fact, Jason Terry's leather shoes are not dirty, and Boozer is a reliable shoe shiner, but when the children went to place stools and boxes, Jason Terry deliberately stepped on each other, which made the shoes dirty .

After the child finished wiping, Jason Terry gave him 10 dollars. The child was just asking for change. Jason Terry said it was a tip. He is an NBA superstar and he had to give a tip...

After the child left, Jason Terry said with a smile: "Seeing such a young child come out to earn money, I couldn't help but want to give him money, but I didn't want him to feel like alms, so I delayed it for a while. "

Watching the child leave his sight, Liu Mang muttered, "It's really weird."

"Hey, Ace, does it seem so strange to you that I do something good?" Jason Terry said dissatisfied.

"Ah?" Liu Mang was stunned when he heard Jason Terry's words. Seeing Jason Terry's dissatisfied face and coach Kruger with the same thoughtful expression, Liu Mang said: "No , I mean this thing is too weird! Coach, you think so too!"

"That's right," Coach Kruger nodded. "This is the employee parking lot of the Staples Center. In theory, people who do business like this are not allowed to come, and the security guards don't care. It's a bit strange."

"Then why don't we ask the security guard?" Liu Mang suggested.

Anyway, the training this afternoon is not a big deal, and the game tonight is quite easy. It's not that the Eagles look down on the Clippers... well, they just look down on the Clippers. Their boss is too picky!

Because the Clippers renewed their contract with the 1998 No. 1 pick this year, their salary exceeded $30 million for the first time in team history. Last season it was only $29 million, far below the league average. This year it reached $31.3 million.

Such a salary is basically equal to Garnett plus four base salaries...

To say that the Clippers' lineup is actually not bad, although the salary is so low, it is mainly because the Clippers have seven players who are still on rookie contracts. Lie Miller, Lamar Odom, etc., who can't renew their contracts for less than 8 or 9 million, the Clippers are planning to give up directly. They are so willful and don't care about those teams that have worked so hard to show bad drafts but get parallel imports. How angry the management is.

The Clippers currently have a salary of more than 5 million, and there is only one player, the No. 1 pick in 1998 who executed a qualification offer, with a salary of 6 million dollars. Next season, Sugar Man will also become a free agent.

The Clippers are so willful, with players they can do whatever they want.

And because the Clippers have a wave of rookies in recent years who are powerful and star-strength, they are basically in the third and fourth grades, and they are all fighting for the ball, playing opportunities, and performance opportunities. The Clippers have "surpassed" the Grizzlies, ranking second to last in the West, second only to the Nuggets, the king of the West.

However, this is also a competitive mechanism. With so many star battles, the one who can finally win and be renewed by the Clippers can be regarded as the best of the best, which laid the foundation for them to enter the playoffs for a while.

But now they are still "selecting the best among the best", it is really difficult for the Eagles to regard them as opponents.

So, now that the Eagles are really free, they can go shopping, practice shooting, and go to the Staples Center to warm up at five o'clock before they can play games.

Liu Mang's proposal made the two very interested, and they went to the security guard to find out the situation together...

...

This is a story of a back injury, and it is probably a similar experience that many black players in the NBA have.

The child is Jimmy Butler, born in a place called Tomball in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. When he was a baby, his biological father ran away from home, leaving him and his mother, but this It wasn't the end of Butler's miserable childhood. His mother was a teenage drug addict. When he grew up, her mother traded all kinds of unspeakable things for money to have fun.

Last year, when he was 13, his mother needed money and took him to Los Angeles to find his father, but she couldn't find him, and in a fit of rage, she abandoned him.

Then he lived in this neighborhood, relying on cleaning cars and shoes for people, coming and going, and it has been half a year.

In the past six months, someone wanted to give him money, but he didn't want it. He had no father since he was a child, and his mother didn't care about him. Self-reliance and self-improvement.

This kind of quality makes people who know him respect him very much, even if he is a scrawny, malnourished child who looks only 10 years old at the age of 14.

However, he was often chased away by the security guards of various shopping malls and office buildings because of this business of shining shoes and cars on the side of the road. I felt the same way, I saw a child who was self-reliant and did not steal, rob, or accept handouts, so I didn't drive him away, and even let Jimmy Butler sleep in a security booth at night...

...

Jimmy Butler!

Liu Mang was shocked the first time he heard this name, thinking it was the same name, but when he heard that it was from Houston, he was not calm. It would happen that the same name and the same place were born but not the same person, the chance is too small !

Liu Mang remembers that Jimmy Butler seemed to be very pitiful when he was a child. Later, when he was 14 years old, he was adopted by a Los Angeles junior high school coach and brought him into the American basketball world.

This is also the case in the United States. Children in their teens who have not read much can go directly to junior high school and high school. Of course, there are probably only some junior high school students in the United States who can't even write in their mother tongue...

Liu Mang was more surprised than moved, and Coach Kruger was thoughtful.

Surprisingly, Jason Terry, who was usually thick and carefree, yelling that I want to make a lot of money, actually burst into tears! I was crying so hard!

"What's wrong with you, Jason? This is not like you!" Liu Mang took out a tissue from his pocket and gave it to Jason Terry.

"Ace, this child is so similar to me when I was a child, but I still have parents anyway, this child is so pitiful!"

It turned out that it was a tragic memory of my childhood. It is said that 60% of black people are addicts. The chances of NBA players having addicted parents are too high.

Happy families are all the same, but unfortunate lives are in different forms. Just meeting someone with similar experiences, Jason Terry couldn't help crying.

A tough man also has a tender side. Jason Terry, who has played in the NBA for 20 years, is also considered a kind of tough man.

Coach Kruger did not speak. After listening to the story, when Jason Terry and Liu Mang were telling their similar experiences, Coach Kruger asked the security guard a few words, and then left...

My Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva actually has 21,000 words today, and I recommend it a lot~

Monkey King went to borrow a plantain fan from Princess Iron Fan, and Princess Iron Fan said: "The old cow doesn't come back every day. If you can extinguish the fire in my heart, I will borrow the fan to let you extinguish the fire in the Flame Mountain." Sun Wukong: Sister-in-law, I am already a monk, so I must not break the precepts, but I know a friend who is a goblin, and I will definitely help you get rid of the fire. Princess Iron Fan acquiesced, but after a while there was a howl of pain~~ May I ask who did Wukong invite?