NBA villain

Chapter 389 Fly to Houston

The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in an away game. Before the All-Star Weekend, there are only two games left, one at home against the Grizzlies and one at home against the Clippers.

The Warriors won both games and won a three-game winning streak before the All-Star Game.

As this issue of the All-Star Game approaches, the list of participants in the All-Star competitions has also been released.

This year, Yang Di, as a third-year veteran of the league, no longer participated in the All-Star Rookie Challenge.

Among the Warriors, Danny Granger followed Yang Di's footsteps and entered the Rookie Challenge and became a member of the first-year rookie team.

In addition, the first-year rookie team also includes No. [-] pick Andrew Bogut, Chris Paul, Nate Robinson, Deron Williams, Jasco Weisius, Channing Frye and others. The second-year team is composed of Nelson, Devin Harris, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Dwight Howard, Mason Okafor and others.

In addition to Danny Granger, among the Warriors, there is also Baron Davis, who followed Yang Di once and was once again selected for the All-Star Game as a substitute.

The Western All-Star starters are Kobe, McGrady, Yang Di, Duncan and Yao Ming, and the bench lineup is Nash, Baron Davis, Sean Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett , Tony Parker and Ray Allen.

The Eastern All-Star starters are Iverson, Wade, James, Jermaine O'Neal, O'Neal, and the bench lineup is Billups, Vince Carter, Bosh, Hamilton, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace , Ben Wallace.

In addition to the fact that the Pistons were selected as four players at once, which caused an uproar, the loss of captain Elton Brand and Grizzlies star player Paul Gasol was also surprising.

Brand led the Los Angeles Clippers this year to the best start in history and an unprecedented high record. In the West, they are second only to the Dallas Mavericks and ranked fifth in the West. At the same time, Elton Brand played In his personal peak season, he averaged 24.7 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 52.7%. He ranked among the top ten in the MVP competition list.

As for Paul Gasol, the same reason as Brand, led the Grizzlies to the sixth place in the West, far surpassing the Timberwolves, Supersonics and other teams.Although the personal data is slightly inferior to Garnett and Ray Allen, but with an average of nearly 4.6 assists per game, he still has his merits.

Many media used poor selection to describe this time the Western Conference All-Star election, mainly due to the rise of Yang Di and Davis, which made the competitive pressure here more intense.

As for players with poor records but relying on the impressions of the past few seasons to enter the All-Star Game, there will be players in every season. After all, the league is still mainly commercial. The goal is to promote the league, develop the league, and package it better. The original star players are their usual practice.

"If you were in China, you would already be a starter like me."

Yang Di smiled and contacted Paul Gasol on the Internet. Paul Gasol is a very interesting player who values ​​collective honor far more than individual honor.

"Spain, Europe and other places don't pay much attention to basketball, and the support they get is small, which is also reasonable."

"I saw your news two days ago. I didn't expect that you were finally selected for your national team. This year, representing China in the World Championships, we have another strong competitor in Spain."

On February 2th, there were only two games in the entire NBA, a Bulls vs. 16ers at home, and a Suns vs. Houston Rockets at home.

As a result, they were all thinking about the All-Star weekend. The players of the 76ers and Rockets had no intention of fighting. One lost 84 to 117 to the Bulls by 33 points, and the other lost to the Suns 75 to 109 by 34 points. Played 19 minutes, scored 6 points in single digits, had no rebounds, and looked like a match-fixing.

At this time, Yang Di flew to Houston with Byron Davis and Danny Granger.

"O'Neal missed this All-Star Game due to injury, and Gilbert Arenas replaced him and became a new member of the Eastern Conference." Baron Davis is well-informed and always pays attention to the dynamics of the All-Star Weekend .

"Arenas is strong, the statistics are good, and the Wizards have a good record. It is reasonable for him to enter the All-Star Game." Yang Di has a deep memory of the man who scored 48 points on his head. He came to defend, and it must have little effect.

"President David Stern handpicked it."

The three of them got off the plane together, surrounded by many accompanying staff members, several of whom were specially provided by the Warriors for Yang Di, Baron Davis and Danny Granger during the All-Star Weekend. service personnel.

Yang Di wore a simple sweater jacket, paired with denim trousers, and Nike sneakers, like a college student who just left the rivers and lakes.

Walking out of the airport, I suddenly felt a gust of cold air.

"It's still cold in Houston!"

In February, Yang Di only dressed according to his own preferences. Now feeling the cold air in the southern country, he couldn't help thinking that he should wear a down jacket.

The All-Star organizing committee arranged for Yang Di, Baron Davis and Danny Granger to pick them up in supercars.

Yang Di got into the car and asked curiously: "Didn't we drive the car for ourselves this year? I remember when we were in Denver last year, we drove the car for ourselves."

The driver who picked him up was an authentic black man, but he spoke calmly, and said with a smile: "Probably because he is worried about the traffic conditions in Houston. After all, every All-Star player is a valuable asset to the league."

Yang Di couldn't help admiring in his heart, the people selected by the organizing committee are different, they speak so well.

Danny Granger, who got in the car on the other side, couldn't help taking a few photos. He thought this arrangement was reasonable. At least he could make a sports car. Last year, only all-star players were equipped with sports cars, like them For rookie players, they can only take their own taxis or apply for a special car to pick them up. Where as it is now, they are treated equally.

Yang Di chatted with the driver.

Yang Di asked: "How many NBA players are here now? Where do we all live?"

"I have received two waves. I don't know exactly how many people came, but the place to live must be a hotel that has been arranged. Many star players bring their family members, so they don't choose to live in hotels. I might as well book some rooms outside, but recently there have been a lot of tourists, and the rooms are not very easy to book.”

"Which team do you support? The East, or the West?"

"I am a native of Houston, and I must support the Western All-Stars, after all, it is held at home."

"So you want Tracy to be the MVP too?"

"Of course, why not? Tracy's career needs this personal honor."

(End of this chapter)