basketball never sleeps

Chapter 335 The Great All-Star Starter

"I wasn't saying anything trash. I was just telling him an obvious fact: Michael Redd is far inferior to me. He only got so many votes because LeBron tirelessly campaigned for him. He and I are not even in the same league. Today's game is the best proof of that."

At the press conference following the Cavaliers' game against the Wizards, Arenas, with a disdainful expression, spoke casually.

"I have no conflict with LeBron. He is excellent, but he doesn't deserve his current popularity, let alone be qualified to comment on players who are better than him. I hope the league can schedule a game between the Wizards and the Cavaliers earlier next season. Only with comparison can everyone recognize who is more deserving, instead of letting someone who doesn't have the guts to participate in the dunk contest use some simple dunks to steal popularity."

Arenas wasn't particularly happy about today's victory; the number 0 general is still in a state of resentment.

Last season he received 140 million All-Star votes, but when All-Star voting ended yesterday, Arenas, who had boasted that he would be the Eastern Conference's vote leader this year, only received less than 80 votes and missed out on starting in the All-Star Game.

Is there no law anymore? Is there no justice left?

Arenas wouldn't normally notice Reed; his pride only led him to focus on those who surpassed him on the leaderboard. He looked down on LeBron James, so why would he pay attention to James's second-in-command? However, under the influence of the media, James recently made the statement that Reed is currently the top shooter in the Eastern Conference.

This angered Arenas, who always considered himself the second-best shooter in the league and the best shooter in the East.

Then look at Reed's 50+ All-Star votes, which immediately allowed Arenas to identify the thief who stole his All-Star votes. I can't beat LeBron, but... no, I can beat him. I'll beat ten of them!

As expected, Arenas exploded in today's game against the Cavaliers, making 7 of 10 three-pointers and scoring 46 points, leading the Wizards to a 13-point victory over the Cavaliers.

As someone who loves to show off and act arrogantly, once he gains power, he will not miss the opportunity to be arrogant. The strong should humiliate the weak!

The Cleveland media holding microphones were all frustrated. The fact that the team lost by a large margin spoke for itself, and they could only swallow their anger and wait to vent it on their own Cavaliers players and coaches later.

But there's never a shortage of clever people in the news industry, and soon someone connected Arenas's breakout with the All-Star voting results that were just announced yesterday.

"So Gilbert, if you don't end up being selected as an All-Star reserve by the coaches, will you still sign up for the Three-Point Contest to participate in this year's All-Star Game?"

Upon hearing this, Arenas's face instantly darkened.

"No, I won't participate in this year's Three-Point Contest because Mo said he doesn't want to participate anymore. Even if I win the championship, it won't make a difference if I sign up again. Only the honor won from a respectable opponent is worth remembering. I'm not saying that other people are not worthy of respect, but everyone knows that Mo is the strongest. I think you can understand what I mean."

Arenas actually intended to try the Three-Point Contest again. Hakeem Olajuwon won two championships during Dan's retirement, which is still a championship. But the problem is that this is the second time he has been asked this question today. The first time was when he was trash-talking Reed during the game and Reed responded to him with those words.

Therefore, we don't care about a three-point contest without Mo!

"As for the All-Star Game, I'd be happy to play if the coaches select me as a reserve, but it would be a good thing if I didn't make the cut. After all, everyone knows LeBron is an extremely good player, and it's a blessing to be his teammate, except for one situation: when the opponent is Mo, hahaha."

The reporters present burst into laughter upon hearing this, since A-Zhan had never been able to beat Mo-Wen in a public match.

Only the Cleveland reporter who asked the question looked even darker.

After the press conference, Arenas wanted to call Mo Wen to talk about this year's Three-Point Contest. Playing around as he pleased, Arenas still wanted to join in the All-Star excitement, but he had already made a tough statement: if Mo Wen didn't go, he wouldn't go either, so Mo Wen had to go.

I tried calling for ages, but the line was always busy.

because……

Mo Wen is comforting Bosh.

That's right. Like Arenas, Bosh, who was an All-Star starter in the East last season, was also dropped from the starting lineup this year, squeezed out by his idol and role model.

While Garnett's departure from the Timberwolves to the Celtics was widely seen by fans as an understandable act of forming a super team out of weakness, the larger Boston market, the Celtics' better record, the greater exposure brought by the Big Three, and the accumulation of both new and old fans all combined to unexpectedly boost Garnett's votes. Last year, he only received a little over a million votes, but this year he has more than doubled his votes, and is even just tens of thousands of votes away from surpassing LeBron James to become the Eastern Conference's leading vote-getter.

If it were just being trampled on by Harden, that would be one thing, after all, there's the idol filter there. Consider Harden's age, and think about the average career lifespan of a center in the league, the old guy probably won't be able to enjoy his success for many more years. What's truly infuriating is that he can't even rank in the top three among Eastern Conference forwards!

The one who pushed him out of the top three was Milicic, who had learned supersonic racing and started his own business.

With a consistent 20+10 stat line, a smooth and elegant playing style, a brand-new championship center, and a handsome white guy, if it weren't for his colorful personal life being photographed so often and his reluctance to become a U.S. citizen, Stern would have already made him the face of the South of the league.

Wade: So love can disappear, right?

What really upset Bosh was that the Raptors had improved a lot this year compared to last year, currently ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference, with all the key players healthy and seemingly on the verge of making the playoffs. However, he received fewer votes than he did last season when the team failed to make the playoffs.

"Why can't we blame you? It's because you created the Big Three with the Heat and SuperSonics, making everyone think it would succeed. After winning the championship, instead of making a firm decision to keep Darko, you put him in the East to annoy people. I think you just wanted him to distract the Eastern Conference teams so you could save energy in the Finals. Thinking about it that way, you're a real beast!"

"Oh, so it really is my fault. So what... what are you going to do about it?" Mo Wen raised an eyebrow and asked back, though he was not in the right.

"Damn it, shouldn't you feel a little guilty for God's sake, you bastard?" Bosh said angrily on the other end of the phone.

"Guilt? For God's sake, everything I have comes from His grace. If I have unintentionally hurt you, God will forgive me. If you are angry about the current situation, you should talk to God instead of blaming me."

"Bullshit, where did you, an atheist, learn these twisted ideas?"

"American history." Mo Wen used only two short words to leave Boshgan speechless.

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore. Just remember that you owe me an All-Star game. Don't even think about renege on your debt next time we go out to eat!" Bosh ultimately couldn't bring himself to say what was on his mind.

After hanging up the phone, Mo Wen chuckled and shook his head. He knew what Bosh was thinking, but the time wasn't right. He couldn't just let Milicic go and then turn around and have the team bring in a new star center. The SuperSonics were getting better and better together, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Bosh: I'm in a hurry!

His phone kept vibrating; the All-Star voting had ended, and as the reigning champion, he naturally received another round of congratulations.

Bosh isn't the first to seek comfort like this; Shaq came before him.

Shaq and Riley had a few more conflicts before, which made Shaq more visible despite his declining performance. But the All-Star selection is not just about who has the biggest name. Otherwise, Dan wouldn't have been unable to make the All-Star starting lineup when he made his second comeback.

After three years of honing his skills, Dwight Howard has begun to challenge for the title of the league's best center. Darko Milicic's arrival may have made him seem less outstanding and dazzling, but the two have different functions and roles. Howard still made a name for himself in the league with his dunks and blocks, and with his 18+14 stat line, he beat Shaquille O'Neal's 13+9, winning more votes to be selected as this year's starter.

Losing a starting spot isn't unacceptable for Shaq. After all, he was a core player and leader in Los Angeles, winning three consecutive championships and three Finals MVP awards. The following year, he lost the All-Star starting spot to a rookie in the voting.

Unlike previous years, this year he might not even make the bench. After adopting a "tanking" mentality, Shaq's performance has declined significantly. His decreased ability and questionable professional attitude mean he himself is no longer confident of being selected as a substitute by the coaches.

Mo Wen didn't know what to say to comfort him. He had walked his own path. He could only advise him not to care about honors and to enjoy life. He still had two and a half years left on his 5-year, 1 million contract. It would be too pretentious for him to complain about being wronged while receiving the highest salary in the league.

If anyone's complaining, it's Wade who's going to start. Wade is 26 now, and 26-29 is supposed to be the peak age for a professional player. Without the Suns' help to get out of this mess, Wade can only use his peak years to accompany Shaq to jail. Looking at it this way, the two are really a perfect match...

Aside from necessary social and media engagements, Mo Wen didn't focus much energy on the All-Star game. Unlike the vibrant Eastern Conference, the popularity of Western Conference stars was stagnant.

Mo Wen, Kobe, Duncan, and Yao Ming were like four mountains pressing down on a group of star players, making it impossible for them to lift their heads. And that was only after Garnett left; otherwise, there would have been five mountains.

Carmelo Anthony seized the hard-won opportunity and successfully snatched the vacant spot. He has been beaming with joy these past two days since learning that he has become an All-Star starter.

Influenced by Milicic, Carmelo Anthony didn't even make it to the All-Star reserve last season, but who would have thought he'd be a starter this year?

Although it was a bit late to offer my congratulations, Mo Wen still sent a congratulatory text message to Sweet Melon as a matter of routine.

However, Mo Wen regretted it as soon as he posted it. It seemed that Melo had already blocked him after he called him after scoring 88 points last time. Sending him a congratulatory text message would be superfluous.

No sooner had the text message been sent than Melon called back within a minute.

"Haha, Mo, how about it? I'm an All-Star starter now. I heard you're good at passing, so I'll have to see if it's true this time."

"Of course, no problem, after all, we're brothers." Mo Wen happily agreed. He had thought he could just coast through the previous All-Star games, but in the end, he always became the main carry. Since Melo had this awareness, he was happy to oblige.

"By the way, are you feeling alright now? I heard that KD was considering withdrawing from the All-Star Game due to health reasons. Didn't you take a break a while ago?"

"It's nothing, it's been fine for a long time. I just had an upset stomach that day. Recently, Answer and I have been training together every day, supervising each other, and we're in great shape."

Are you and the answer key mutually supervising each other's training? Are you also having heroes identify heroes, and good men check out good men?

"That's good. We still have a match later, so you'd better prepare well," Mo Wen said with a smile.

"Huh?" Melon's smugness came to an abrupt halt.

"Our SuperSonics haven't been doing well lately, and the team needs a morale boost. I won't hold back then. You're an All-Star starter now, so this is a fair fight, right?"

"what?"

"Alright, watch your diet a bit lately, and don't get an upset stomach next time. See you at the top in a few days!"

"Dududu-"

Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Melon opened his mouth, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I was so stupid, really. I only knew that he was a seemingly respectable but actually rotten and rotten bastard, yet I actually believed his congratulatory text message and foolishly called him back to brag about it..."

"Damn it! We had an 8-3 record in January, and you're telling me we need to boost morale because of the poor performance? You son of a bitch!"

He just wants to be an All-Star starter, what's wrong with that?!

After dealing with Carmelo Anthony, Mo Wen quickly put the matter behind him and started working hard for the regular season. The SuperSonics' recent record would be considered very good by other teams, with a winning percentage of over 70% and 4 out of 8 wins coming against playoff-caliber teams. But Mo Wen was not satisfied, nor were the media who were watching Mo Wen and the SuperSonics with GOAT standards and championship expectations.

The Celtics, who are getting into form, have only lost two games this month, while the Lakers have also only lost three games despite Kobe playing through a broken finger.

Mo Wen didn't have a good solution either. Small ball tactics can only solve the team's predicament in the paint to a certain extent, but it is not a panacea. Moreover, the team's current level of integration and practice can only allow them to play relatively basic and simple small ball tactics.

The relatively simple tactics have the side effect that other teams can study them quickly. Coaches who are studying the SuperSonics have found their counter-strategies very timely. In a previous game against the Suns, D'Antoni, who has never studied defense, unexpectedly delivered a perfect performance.

In that game, the Suns left Millsap wide open the entire time, but the young man put pressure on himself because his first few shots weren't very good. He got nervous and missed a lot of shots afterward.

Mo Wen was determined to train him, so he forced him to adopt the Mamba Mentality. In the end, Millsap, in a very Mamba-like manner, regained his touch, but the hole he had dug himself could never be filled.

However, Mo Wen can accept or even welcome such a loss. If the team doesn't use the regular season to train and learn from mistakes, then he can't confidently entrust the game to them in the playoffs.

On January 31, the SuperSonics hosted the Denver Nuggets, led by All-Star starting small forward Anthony Carmelo Anthony.

The Nuggets currently have a record of 25 wins and 14 losses, which is their best record at this time since the turn of the millennium, and is also the basis for Carmelo Anthony's surge in popularity this year.

Upon entering, Melon looked at Mo Wen with surprisingly no fear in his eyes; almost a year had been enough for Melon to forget that nightmare.

Now that he's an All-Star starter, it's time to put an end to his mental block!

The referee blew the whistle for the jump ball, and the great All-Star starter Anthony Cameron proudly puffed out his chest...

Five minutes into the game, All-Star Anthony Carmelo, who had gotten up from the ground, resolutely walked to the free-throw line...

With six minutes remaining in the second quarter, Nuggets star Carmelo, having finished his rest, returned to the court and was determined to use his formidable individual skills to tie the score...

At the end of the third quarter, player Carmelo stared at someone's 49 points on the stat sheet and began to question his life choices...

The game ended, and the great current number one player, Seattle's "King" Mo Wen, warmly shook hands with the Nuggets players and highly praised their performance tonight... (End of Chapter)