Legend of Tomorrow

On January 31, the Suns lost to the Knicks 101-105 at home.

Knicks owner James Dolan has always been willing to spend money. After the failure of last season, he first hired Isiah Thomas to join the management and become the team's new manager, and then supported him in a series of transactions and drastic adjustments. line-up.

In October 2003, the Nets bought out the remaining contract of former star center Mutombo, who subsequently signed a two-year, $8.7 million contract with the Knicks.

In the summer's four-way trade, the Knicks also introduced white forward Keith Van Horn, who was once known as the Second Generation Bird.

The Knicks also have the lone wolf Marbury who has established his core position; Alan Houston, the team's second leading scorer with an average of 18.5 points per game; Antonio McDyess, who is in good shape after returning from injury; 11+8 Excellent blue-collar Kurt Thomas.

The Knicks' lineup looks very strong, currently ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Marbury had a hot hand against Guo Xu, making 11 of 22 shots, 5 of 9 three-pointers, 8 of 8 free throws, and scored 35 points and 8 assists.

Guo Xu made 13 of 27 shots, 4 of 10 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 36 points and 8 assists.

Stoudemire's absence has reduced the Suns' offensive power inside, and Nene does not have the domineering attitude on the offensive end. So Stoudemire's nickname in his previous life was Little Bully, but Nene still didn't even have a nickname until the end of his career.

Marion, the second leader of the Suns, was sleepwalking throughout the game, making 3 of 15 shots, 1 of 5 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 13 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals.

In this game, Guo Xu passed Marbury during a counterattack, bounced the ball to the ground without anyone defending him, and completed a self-throwing and self-dunking two-handed dunk, once again proving his jumping ability.

On February 1st, the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest officially sent an invitation to Guo Xu, hoping that he would replace the injured Stoudemire to participate in this competition. Guo Xu happily agreed on the phone.

No problem. Thank you for thinking of inviting me. I'm very willing to participate.

No, we should be the ones thanking you...

Stoudemire will definitely have to wait for the All-Star Game before returning, and will miss the entire All-Star Weekend. He will also not play on behalf of the second grade in the Rookie Game.

Guo Xu's agreement to appear was tantamount to saving the slam dunk contest, which made league officials breathe a sigh of relief. If he also refused, no big-name stars would be willing to participate this year, and the gimmick would be seriously insufficient. Just because of Guo Xu's popularity, even if he is not good enough, NBA officials will bribe the judges to let him enter the finals.

At least four deductions.

After Carter participated in the dunk contest in 2000, the annual dunk contest on Star Weekend became tepid. Even Jason Richardson won the dunk champion a record three times, but it did not attract many fans.

If a slam dunk contest wants to attract fans, a beautiful dunk is only one of the elements. What is more important is that the people participating in the dunk contest must be famous.

Regardless of Richardson or Nate Robinson, their popularity in their previous lives was not high, and their ratings and attention could not increase. Robinson is the worst. In his previous life, he never even signed a mid-level contract and wandered to many teams.

The first person officially invited was LeBron James, who is the target of strong support this year. Stern hopes that he can win the slam dunk contest to increase his exposure and quickly win over a large number of fans. However, James, who can jump with his head above the frame, Refused.

As soon as the media reported that Guo Xu was going to participate in the dunk contest, fans became excited. He is the regular season MVP and has two championship rings. He is the biggest star to participate in the dunk contest since Jordan won the championship in 1988.

Even when Jordan participated in the slam dunk contest, he was not as famous as Guo Xu. After the regular season of 1987-88, Jordan won the MVP for the first time in his career and did not win a championship.

Guo Xu has previously participated in the three-point contest and the technical challenge, and won championships in both. As long as he wins another slam dunk title, he will have all the honors in the individual challenge. This is an unprecedented record.

Many people immediately called on James to compete with Guo Xu, and also compete with Ricky Davis, who was sent away by the Cavaliers. This would be more interesting, but James did not respond at all.

Because James is afraid that he can't win and is timid before fighting. He is very aware of his own strength and his jumping ability is top-notch, but he lacks creativity in dunking and lacks body flexibility. He will never be able to dunk as beautifully as Vince Carter or Jason Richardson.

Many people may not know that James once won the dunk contest.

In 2003, James secured his spot as the No. 1 high school student in the United States, was selected as the McDonald's All-American High School Student, and participated in the High School All-Star Game.

This is a competition for all high school students across the country to challenge James, including a dunk contest. Compared with the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, the High School Slam Dunk Contest is no less exciting. Many future NBA stars with amazing talents, including Kobe Bryant, have participated in this event.

At that time, everyone wanted to unseat the leader. It's not just about being competitive. If you can beat James, you will get the attention of all the media in the United States, and overnight, you will become a household name.

Some of James' competitors later left their footprints in the NBA, such as Hairless Man Villanueva, Rockets swingman Vaughn Weaver, and the amazingly jumping combo guard Shannon Brown, etc.

In the dunk final, although Brown scored 90 points on both the second and third dunks, the first dunk was too complicated and failed to dunk and was awarded zero points. This allowed James to win the championship easily and steadily.

What is steady and steady action? Among the three dunks in the finals, James' highest-scoring dunk only had 84 points. It was straight forward without any tricks at all. The commentator praised him in terms of height and intensity, deliberately avoiding the grace and difficulty of the movements.

To be fair, LeBron won the slam dunk championship just because he jumped high. Jr. Giddens, who also participated in the competition, commented: However, for high school students, jumping high is enough.

In the NBA, it is not enough to jump high just to win the slam dunk contest.

In Guo Xu's previous life, no matter how much the fans expected, no matter how much the media deceived him, or how his competitors excited him, James would stand still. Wilkins, Jordan, Kobe, Carter... among the dazzling list of contestants in the slam dunk contest, only James is missing.

It's okay if James doesn't participate. What's ridiculous is that in an interview in 2014, he seriously told reporters: If I participate in the dunk contest, I believe I can win the championship.

In the 2015 All-Star Game, James said in a roundtable interview: When I first entered the league, I did think about participating in the dunk contest, that's for sure, but it didn't happen, and I don't know the reason. There were several times when I wanted to participate. , but it didn’t happen in the end. If I could participate in the slam dunk contest, maybe everything would be cool.”

He also said: I can no longer jump as high as before. I regret not participating in the dunk contest.

Are you sorry? How many times have your die-hard fans begged you? The translation process is the following vernacular.

My slave, please kindly request the Holy One to come out of the palace to participate in the slam dunk contest.

I'm a little tired.

My slave, please kindly request the Holy One to come out of the palace to participate in the slam dunk contest.

I did think about it, just wait. I don't want to go this time, although I don't know the reason.

Slave...

I can definitely do it, but I'm already old. Alas, I regret it so much.

The emperor said that he had the ability to be the dunk king, but because he did not have Baozhu, Jia Liu, Chunxi, or San Dezi, Fa Yin, Yi Fei and others to accompany him, he ultimately failed to make the trip.

Well, that’s it, believe it or not.