Chapter 1327 All-Star Weekend

"I didn't do this, Tim, you have to believe me." Li Ba called Duncan immediately.

"roll!"

Duncan hung up the phone angrily.

The league's trade market has not yet closed. After the Timberwolves rejected the Heat, David Kahn received a call from Lakers general manager Kupchak, who also wanted to trade Love.

He was laughed out of anger. He wanted someone, but he didn't have much leverage. A few role players wanted to trade for Love. Are you Lakers so thick-skinned? Do you really think that you are embarrassed because of the support of Nike?

"Feel sorry!"

With a bang, he put down the phone heavily.

Nike can't stand out this time. Stern has already set his sights on Nike. He can tolerate moderate participation, but he will never tolerate things like the last time he threatened a team to trade its core.

So without Nike's help, the Lakers wanted to trade Love, but nothing happened.

"Hammer, if we can't trade Love, can Gao come out?" Kobe called Li Ba.

"Are you crazy? If you can't bring up the bargaining chip, how can Gao come forward?" Li Ba couldn't help but complain.

"Hey, aren't you afraid of us? Or will you trade Drummond to us?" Kobe said excitedly.

He still wanted to work hard and replace Howard. Although the Lakers had defeated the Suns twice this season, he could see that Li Ba did not exert his full strength and the Lakers were not fully sure of the playoffs.

"Giving it to you for free?" Li Ba continued to complain.

"How about we trade future picks?" Bryant suggested.

"Don't talk to me about this. I'm not the general manager. Whoever the Lakers want to trade, please go to Mr. David Griffin?" Li Ba didn't want to pay attention to these nonsense.

"I'll let Mitch talk." Kobe said and hung up.

Soon, the Suns received an offer from the Lakers to trade Drummond with top-three protected first-round picks in 2015 and 2016.

David Griffin took a look at the Lakers' lineup. Kobe and Paul alone could lead the Lakers into the playoffs in the next few seasons. How valuable are these two picks? Aren’t the special top three protections superfluous?

Being rejected by the Suns, the Lakers have given up. The All-Star Game is approaching, the trade window is about to close, and there is little hope of reinforcement.

On the 9th, Duncan made headlines again. His wife revealed to the media that Duncan was bisexual.

"Fuck you, is it true or not?"

After Li Ba saw the news, he wanted to call Duncan immediately to verify.

Then, the next day, before the New Year, some media published a photo of Duncan as bisexual. When Li Ba saw it, his stomach almost broke with laughter.

He called Battle, who was playing in China, and sent him the photo published by the media.

"Hammer, what's going on?"

Battelle, who was playing an away game in Beijing, was startled when he saw the picture. He didn't know why. His English was not very good and he didn't know what it meant.

"Haha, Battle, is this true? The media here in the United States said this was, hahaha, okay, they said this was evidence of Duncan's bisexuality. It can't be true, right?"

Li Ba rubbed his belly and smiled.

Looking at the photo of himself and Duncan, Battle was stunned. I'm not gay.

February 11th, New Year’s Eve.

This day is also the last game before the All-Star Weekend, with the Suns hosting the Lakers.

The Lakers arrived in Phoenix at noon on the 10th. Li Ba entertained guests at Senbei Restaurant. Kobe, Allen, Tony Allen, Howard, and Paul all arrived.

These five people are also the current starters for the Lakers.

Tony Allen was injured at the beginning of the season and has already returned from injury. He was selected to the defensive first team last season. After his comeback this season, he is still in good shape. He is currently one of the best defensive players in the entire league. On the defensive end, he is very good against the Lakers. His contribution is very large and is the key for the Lakers to guard the opponent's outside arrows.

The Lakers dared to trade Artest because of Tony Allen.

Now the Lakers are still one win away from the Suns. If they beat the Suns this time, they can surpass the Suns and have the league's first record based on the outcome between the two teams.

"Your current lineup is already super strong. Kobe, you are so dissatisfied that you still want to strengthen it. Do you want to go to heaven?"

While waiting for the food to be served, Li Ba complained.

There are some things in Kobe's heart that are hard to say. The Lakers must face the Suns in the West, and in this process, the center is the most important, and Howard is obviously not enough to resist Li Ba. This is the Lakers' weakness.

Whether he wants to trade Drummond or Love, it's not that they are stronger than Howard now, but that Howard's desire for victory cannot satisfy him and he cannot devote 100% to the game.

In the competition with a team as strong as the Suns, without a strong desire to win, how can it be possible to win?

Not only him, he also talked with Paul privately, and Paul and he had the same opinion.

On the 11th, in order to coincide with the game time, Li Ba's family had a New Year's dinner at noon, and then Li Ba rushed to the team to participate in team training.

At 7 p.m., the starting lineups for both sides will be announced.

Lakers: Howard, Allen, Tony Allen, Kobe Bryant, Paul.

Suns: Lee Dam, Garnett, Chandler Parsons, George Hill, Kidd.

Harden has not returned yet, and the team is letting him rest for a few more days to ensure a full recovery.

On the TNT live broadcast, Barkley said about this lineup: "The Suns should not have much chance of winning this game. Kidd's condition is not good, and the forwards are too young to take on the task.

In fact, although the Suns still have the best record in the league, unless the Hammer plays a super performance like the first series of the 10-11 season playoffs, it will be difficult for the Suns to beat the Lakers."

"Three consecutive five-doubles? That's too scary. The Grizzlies also stimulated the Hammer that time, and he was directly beaten by three five-doubles. It should be a fantasy to want to play a consecutive five-double again." Kenny Smith said.

This game is indeed as expected by the two. In addition to the inside line, the Suns are still at a disadvantage on the outside.

Parsons and Jimmy Butler took turns to play, but they were restricted by Tony Allen and did not play well on the offensive end.

On the back line, the Lakers also beat the Suns.

Taking advantage of the victory over the Suns, the Lakers regained the top spot in the league before the All-Star Weekend.

On the 13th, Li Ba brought Harden to Houston to participate in this year's All-Star Weekend.

This year's Western All-Star starting lineup is Li Ba and Kobe, Paul, Griffin, Durant, and the substitutes are Howard, Harden, Westbrook, Tony Parker, Randolph, David Lee, and Duncan.

Li Ba arrived late as usual.

The room full of All-Stars saw him come in and all stood up to greet him.

"Tell me, who wants to get that thing this year?" Li Ba asked casually after sitting down.