Chapter 793: Happy David Stern and Nervous James!
The final result of the starting and substitute players in the 2009 All-Star Game shocked many people.
Iverson, the current scoring leader of the East, was not selected, and Roy, who is very popular in the West, was not selected. In addition, there are a lot of players in the East and West who can average 20 or even 25 points per game who were not selected. The shock caused is incredible.
Iverson is the scoring leader of the East this season. He is second only to Yes in the league scoring list this season. While his scoring data is excellent, the team's record is also good. The Pistons are now ranked ninth in the East. The competition from seventh to tenth in the East is very fierce. Although the Pistons are not in the playoffs now, they can be regarded as playoff teams.
That's it, but they were not selected in the end!
In addition to Iverson, another controversial player who was not selected in the East was Daniel Gibson, the starting guard of the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers' record is currently the best in the league. Daniel Gibson can average 20 points per game. In the eyes of many people, he has a very good chance of entering the All-Star Game. Many people say that the Cavaliers are likely to have all five starters enter the All-Star Game this year, so that James will know what it means to turn the lottery into the top of the list after he leaves, and the garbage teammates into the Big Five.
Many netizens want to see this, but it is obvious that the coaches who voted for the substitutes do not seem to like to see this kind of thing that is purely for disgusting James.
There are also Ray Allen, the third and fourth in the Eastern Conference, and Baron Davis. Ray Allen has always been a veteran All-Star in the league. He has both strength and popularity. He can be seen in almost every All-Star Game, but this year, he was not selected.
And what about Baron Davis?
This season, his data in the Celtics did drop compared to the Warriors, but it is normal for his shots to drop around the Big Three. His performance has improved. The main reason why he came to the Celtics and the Eastern Conference is that the competition among guards in the West is too fierce. He came to the Eastern Conference to enter the All-Star Game, but he probably never dreamed that the Eastern Conference has now become a terrifying place where even Iverson and Ray Allen can fail.
Another controversial Eastern Conference player who was not selected is Joe Johnson, the head of the Eastern Conference's sixth-ranked Hawks. Joe Johnson's data this season is also very beautiful. This so-called civilian version of Yes can contribute 21+5+5 this season, which is a very outstanding data!
Combined with his Hawks' good playoff record, this civilian version of Yes has a chance to enter the All-Stars.
In addition, there are Andre Iguodala, the leader of the 76ers, who are ranked eighth in the East, and Granger, the leader of the Pacers, who are ranked tenth in the East, both of whom are players with excellent data and records.
This is the controversy in the East after the All-Star results came out. Compared with the controversy in the East, the controversy in the West is even greater.
Kidd, the second-in-command of the Los Angeles Lakers, who are ranked first in the West, and Randolph, the third-in-command, are fully qualified to enter the All-Stars this season. If Kidd has not recovered from the storm of public opinion that he was pitted by Rondo and turned from a master of Kidd to a person who cannot attack Kidd, and his reputation in the league is still underestimated, then Randolph's reputation is really rising. After winning Duncan in the playoffs last year, Randolph's reputation as a rotten tofu and a big brush has changed. In addition, Randolph's data of 21 points and 12 rebounds this season is really quite brutal, not to mention that the Lakers are still ranked first in the West this season!
There are also the second-in-command Afflalo of the Mavericks, the second-in-command of the second-in-command of the fifth-in-command of the Grizzlies, the third-in-command of the third-in-command of the fifth-in-command of the Western Conference, Gasol, the second-in-command of the sixth-in-command of the Western Conference, Stoudemire, and the third-in-command of the sixth-in-command of the Western Conference, Marion, all of these players are eligible to enter the All-Star Game.
Of course, the second-in-command and third-in-command of these Western teams have the strength of the All-Star Game and are eligible to enter the All-Star Game, but after all, they are all second-in-command and third-in-command, and there are controversies, but the controversy has not exploded so much.
The real explosive controversy is those who were not selected as the team's leaders.
The biggest controversy is of course Rudy Gay, the leader of the Timberwolves, who are now the seventh in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves have performed very well this season, and have changed from a team that has been in the lottery for a long time to a team that can rank seventh in the Western Conference.
Such performance is of course related to the growth of Yi Jianlian, the tactical core of the Timberwolves. Yi Jianlian, as the tactical core of the Timberwolves' tactical system, is very important. This season, Yi Jianlian's data is averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists per game, which is already an all-around offensive inside player at the All-Star level.
But apart from Yi Jianlian, the Timberwolves can be so strong this season and it has a lot to do with the team's leader Rudy Gay. Rudy Gay's average of 22 points and 8 rebounds per game this season does not seem to be that outstanding, but he also has 2 steals and 1.5 blocks. His scoring at critical moments is second only to Yes in the entire West!
Before the league announced the All-Star reserve lineup, many people thought that Gay would definitely be selected.
But in the end, Gay was not selected.
In addition to Gay, the team leader who was not selected in the end, there is also Aldridge, the leader of the Trail Blazers, who is now the tenth in the West. A Western team leader who can average 22+9 and lead the team to a 50% winning rate, and Nick Young, the leader of the Los Angeles Lakers, who is now the eleventh in the West. The Los Angeles Lakers are also a team with a record of more than 50%, and they are also super team killers. This season is extremely bright, and Nick Young's average of 27 points per game is also quite outstanding.
In addition, Chris Paul, the leader of the Thunder, who is ranked 12th in the West and has a record of more than 50%, has 23 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. As a traditional point guard, this is a terrifying and incredible data. After Chandler, the Thunder can still have a winning rate of more than 50% in the extremely competitive Western Conference. Chris Paul's ability to lead the team is really incredible.
There is also Mike Beasley, the leader of the Western Conference, who is ranked 15th. This super rookie with the nickname of the Oakland Saint, although his team's performance is a bit worse, but what is the difference in data, popularity, and reputation? And what does the poor performance of the Warriors have to do with Mike Beasley?
It can be said that there are too many fish that slip through the net in the All-Stars of the East and West this year.
So the terrifying momentum caused by these fish that slip through the net even David Stern, who is criticized every year for the selection of the All-Stars, is quite surprised.
After the All-Stars are announced every year, the league's choice will cause controversy.
As the president of the league, he is not afraid of such controversy. On the contrary, he likes such controversy.
As the president, what he fears most is no controversy. No controversy means that there are only 24 players with All-Star quality in the league, and there is less than one player per team on average.
This is very dangerous!
This means that the league's competitiveness has dropped to the extreme, which means that his league is already weak and the games will become less exciting.
Unlike this season, looking at the newspaper in his hand, even David Stern didn't know that there were so many people in his league who were complained about by the media.
In addition to the 24 players selected for the All-Stars, there are no less than 25 players who were complained about by the media!
What does this mean?
This means that his league has at least 50 All-Star players!
Add to that some All-Star players who have All-Star quality but have not been noticed by the media because of their low profile and other reasons, such as Ginobili and Parker, and his league probably has no less than 60 players with All-Star quality!
What a grand scene!
In other words, in his league, each team has more than 2 All-Star players on average!
This season's NBA is considered to have created several miracles, that is, the degree of fierce competition is rare in history. The competition between the East and the West is fierce at the same time. There are ten teams in the East that are qualified to impact the playoffs, and there are twelve teams in the West that are qualified to impact the playoffs.
The Rockets, who ranked first in the league's record last year, can only rank ninth in the West in such a fierce atmosphere.
Even though there are many reasons for the Rockets' poor record this season, McGrady's hand, Artest and Ariza's departure, the team's bench strength has been greatly reduced, but there is no doubt that the strength of this team is still strong. Yao Ming and Roy are superstars, and Gerald Wallace and Scola are quasi-All-Star players.
The Rockets are like this in the West, not because they are not good enough, but because other teams in the West and other teams in the league are better than the Rockets!
The Rockets have two superstars and two quasi-All-Stars.
The Lakers, ranked first in the West, have three superstars and two All-Star players. The Mavericks, ranked second in the West, have one superstar, two All-Stars, and three quasi-All-Stars. The Nuggets, ranked third in the West, have one superstar, two All-Stars, and three quasi-All-Stars. The Spurs, ranked fourth in the West, have two superstars and two All-Stars. The Grizzlies, ranked fifth in the West, have one superstar, two All-Stars, and two quasi-All-Stars. The Suns, ranked sixth in the West, have one superstar, two All-Stars, and three quasi-All-Stars. The Timberwolves, ranked seventh in the West, have three All-Stars and two quasi-All-Stars. The Supersonics, ranked eighth in the West, have one superstar, two All-Stars, and one quasi-All-Star.
The Rockets' lineup of two superstars and two quasi-All-Stars is indeed very strong, but it is not that strong in the West.
Of course, even if he is not a basketball professional, David Stern knows that the team's record cannot be calculated in this way. The Rockets' tactics have changed a lot this season. In the previous schedule, they lost to many Eastern teams. The next record will definitely rise, but it is unknown to what extent it will rise.
In short, the unprecedented controversy caused by the announcement of this year's All-Stars is what David Stern wants to see.
Seeing David Stern smiling while looking at the newspapers in his hand that were criticizing the league, the assistants beside him were a little surprised.
Didn't the president notice that these people were scolding him?
Scolding him, he still smiled?
Isn't the president... stupid?
After the league announced the All-Star lineup, it seemed that the whole world was criticizing the unreasonableness of the NBA All-Stars, criticizing Sun Yue, Rondo and other not-so-good players who occupied an All-Star position.
But as the players who were wronged, Iverson and Ray Allen didn't really care about the All-Stars.
Iverson now has only one pursuit, that is 30,000 points!
After renewing his contract with the Pistons and breaking his dream of pursuing the championship, Iverson's goal is only the score he has pursued all his life!
Now, he has nothing but scoring, scoring, and scoring!
And what about Ray Allen?
After losing the championship to the Supersonics in the finals last year, his only pursuit now is the championship!
Iverson and Ray Allen don't care about the All-Stars, which is a minority after all. Most of the All-Star players who were not selected still care about it.
Even those players who were selected for the All-Stars care a lot.
Of course, what matters is not the All-Star spot, but which team to go to...
As a last-minute All-Star, James's All-Star qualification this year was somewhat humiliating. It was fine to be a substitute, but David Stern called his name last.
This made him the target of crazy attacks by Celtics fans, Iverson fans, 76ers fans, Hawks fans, and even Cavaliers fans.
Their idol was not selected, and they all thought it was James who squeezed him out. Who else should they attack if not James?
And he does have a lot of black spots.
Those who criticize him don't even need to prepare, they can all say black things, and they all have reasons.
After being criticized for so long, James has actually let it go a lot. He really doesn't care so much about the criticism of these fans and local media. Now he cares more about which team he will go to!
Ye's team, Yao's team, he doesn't want to go!
Unfortunately, there is no James' team in this world.
At the same time, he is also quite scared. What if Yes and Yao Ming don't want to choose him, and in the end, he has no one to choose until the last one, and he is finally assigned by the league, what should he do?
He is really worried that Yao Ming and Yes will not choose him, and when he is the only one left, the two will choose to remain silent, and the league will eventually assign him.
That would be a shame among shames!
James is now worried about his experience in this year's All-Star Game.
And Yes in Seattle has boarded the plane to Oakland with his teammates amid controversy.
On January 21, 2009, the Seattle Supersonics visited Oakland to challenge the Golden State Warriors, who ranked 15th in the West. The Seattle Supersonics easily defeated the Warriors 132 to 121. The Seattle Supersonics won the longest five-game winning streak of the season, and Beasley scored 46 points in this game against Ibaka, who is very similar to his good brother Durant. After this game, Beasley scored 20+ in 43 consecutive games, and his average score per game reached 30 points.
Despite such an outstanding season performance, Beasley's expression is still humble, and Yes even saw Beasley's face after the game because the team lost.
Rose is also, Beasley is also, today's young people are really amazing.
Yess admired Beasley's back.
"Alas, I have to pay the mortgage again..."
The gloom on Beasley's face made Yess admire him, and also made the Warriors fans at the scene feel very distressed, and the Warriors players on the court respected him very much.
On January 23, 2009, two days after the Sonics defeated the Warriors away, the Sonics defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 114-107 in Los Angeles away, and the Seattle Supersonics' winning streak continued.
Almost at the same time, the league announced that it would invite Yess and Yao Ming to go to New York on January 24, 2009 to participate in the 2009 All-Star player selection meeting.
For a while, the media who had been complaining about the missed All-Stars put aside all the disputes and all looked at this novel All-Star player selection meeting!
"Who will be selected first?"
"Who will be selected first?"
"Who will be selected last?"
These questions are all traffic!