Champion, please stay!

Chapter 155, Section 153: All-Star Weekend (Final)
Yi Shui then remembered the bet he made with the elementary school student. Since he had won without losing anything, he had long forgotten about it after so many days.

Of course, the money was necessary, and the relationship needed to be long-lasting to avoid potential financial disputes. Even if it was just a casual bet, he told Curry to pay him back when he got his next paycheck.

As the 11th overall pick, Curry's standard rookie season salary was over $160 million, but the Knicks offered him 120% of that, rounding it up to $200 million.

Yi Shui remembers Curry saying that after signing the contract, he received an advance of 30%, and the remaining 1.4 million was paid out in 12 installments during the regular season, amounting to over 100,000 every two weeks. There was no need to worry about Curry facing a financial crisis after repaying the money.

On the court, Kapono, Lewis, and Granger advanced to the final.

Granger ultimately scored 22 points in the final to win the championship, ending Kapono's two-year winning streak.

The final dunk contest... wasn't as exciting as the first two.

This year's Slam Dunk Contest introduced new rules—the preliminary rounds will be scored by 5 judges, while the final rounds will be scored by 100 randomly selected audience members.

The finalists are Nate Robinson, the 06 Slam Dunk Contest champion, and Dwight Howard, the defending champion.

If there's anything to watch in the finals, it's probably just that Howard is wearing the Superman suit again and Spud is wearing the Kryptonite suit.

What's really bizarre is that, as an opponent, Howard even acted as a backdrop for Spud Holmes' dunk, letting Holmes perform a dunk over him...

Ultimately, Spud Jr. won the Slam Dunk Contest for the second time by defeating Dwight Howard with 52 votes to Howard's 48 votes, thanks to his awkward dance after completing the dunk that drew laughter from the entire audience.

That evening, Yi Shui saw the news and heard calls to "cancel the dunk contest" resurface.

Last year, Howard moved out of a phone booth, put on a Superman suit, and capitalized on nostalgia to earn the nickname 'Superman'.

Such great marketing, but Howard himself ruined it this year.

She played a winning hand terribly, just like the Beast in Yi Shui's memory.

The next day, February 18th, was the last day of All-Star Weekend.

In the morning, Yi Shui participated in a charity event with the All-Star team.

Yesterday, he participated in a charity event, playing with children who unfortunately suffer from congenital physical illnesses. It was quite heartbreaking, but seeing the children's genuine smiles because they saw the star athlete also brought him some warmth... Overall, participating in a charity event with more than a dozen athletes from the triathlon is quite normal.

Today, Yi Shui has had his eyes opened!
Yesterday, he and those dozen or so players went to the welfare school. Rather than a "visit," it was more of a visit to show concern and care, allowing the public to see through the lens that there is still a group of people living on the margins of society.

Today, James really acted like a 'king comforting his subjects'; his body language, facial expressions, and words all seemed rehearsed.

Not only that, James's entourage also called everyone in the orphanage together for a speech!
There's even a speech draft! It's obviously not something someone who didn't study much in high school could have written!
Yi Di: King, are you trying to become an internet celebrity?

Yi Shui saw Yao Ming's speechless expression, but when the camera panned over, Yao Ming's expression instantly turned serious, as if he was deeply moved. Yi Shui also reacted quickly, showing a serious expression...

Noticing that Yi Shui seemed to have many questions about being selected for the All-Star game for the first time, Yao Ming leaned closer and said, "You'll be selected for the All-Star game every year from now on, just get used to it."

So this isn't the first time... No wonder King has such high approval ratings among the American lower class. How can people who have received a happy education withstand such a test?

Yi Shui secretly observed the reactions of others. Not everyone had Yao Ming's camera presence. Some people didn't hide their disdain at all, and were even whispering among themselves... No, there was one person who was different. He seemed to be genuinely moved by King's speech!
Yi: Cheeks, no, you actually managed to get teary-eyed listening to this speech?

Yi Shui gained a completely new understanding of Wade...

...

During the daytime activities, Yi Shui opened her eyes wide.

As evening approached, around 7 p.m., the live broadcast of the All-Star Game began.

After the singers invited by the Suns finished their performance, it was time for the players to enter and perform.

Shaquille O'Neal's masked dance troupe is on the move!

Despite his poor dancing skills, O'Neal still managed to get the more than 37,000 fans in attendance cheering and laughing wildly.

Both are Magic's top draft pick centers. Howard also had a pre-game performance last year. Although he created a brand image of being a "live wire" and a "sunny boy", many people said that it was embarrassing to watch and that he was just forcibly imitating Shaq.

Now that the 'real deal' has arrived, compared to last year's Howard, he's really pathetic...

At 8 PM, the 2009 Phoenix All-Star Game will begin!
Eastern Conference starting lineup: Iverson, Wade, Yi Shui, James, Howard.

Western Conference starting lineup: Paul, Kobe, Stoudemire, Duncan, Yao Ming.

Howard beat Yao Ming to win the jump ball, giving the East team the first possession!
As Iverson advanced the ball, he heard the fans in the arena chanting "STAT" and "The Emperor".

The former is Stoudemire's nickname. In the local language of Arizona, a border state in the southwestern United States that blends Latin American languages, it means "country" or "king". The nickname "Little Tyrant" in China comes from this. It is a fitting name based on Stoudemire's playing style.

The latter, of course, is calling out to the Yi River!

Although he is a rookie participating in the All-Star Game for the first time, Yi Shui, as the top vote-getter, has many fans eager to see his performance in the All-Star Game, which is full of star players.

Tonight, there were many more local Phoenix fans at the game than at the previous two days, because two of their players were selected for the All-Star game, and the matchup between these two All-Stars was naturally what they were most looking forward to.

O'Neal is still on the bench. Right now, what I really want to see is—Little Tyrant vs. Great Emperor!

After crossing half-court, Iverson looked at Yi Shui and raised his chin. Yi Shui was naturally happy to take the first shot and waved.

Stoudemire was dumbfounded; the local fans were trying to kill him!

In a regular match, he is definitely not afraid of Yi Shui and is confident that he can crush his opponent.

But one-on-one? This guy's an outside player! He can play shooting guard!

To Stoudemire's surprise, Yi Shui waved and ran towards the inside. He quickly followed and blocked Yi Shui on the right side of the basket.

His shattered mentality has recovered somewhat. Although his interior defense isn't great either, it's still better than defending against drives on the perimeter. He can still hold his own in the low post. He watched two or three games during the Knicks' 7-1 run before the All-Star break and knew that Yi Shui's low post back-to-the-basket skills weren't much better than his. Yi Shui had a high success rate in the low post back-to-the-basket, just like Yi Shui, and only forced his way in when he had a physical advantage.

Although he was not taller than Yi Shui, he had the advantage in strength and explosiveness!
The others pulled away, Howard went out, and Yao Ming followed, making room for Yi Shui and Stoudemire.

Upon receiving Iverson's lob pass, Yi Shui turned his head and said, "You shouldn't have come."

Stoudemire let out a puzzled "Huh?"

Yi Shui hesitated for a moment, realizing he'd forgotten that foreigners didn't read Gu Long's works. He lowered his center of gravity, glanced at the basket, and leaned against Stoudemire.

Stoudemire held his ground against Yi Shui, feeling much calmer. He had the upper hand in terms of strength and weight!
Just when Stoudemire and the onlookers thought Yi Shui was about to show off his skills, Yi Shui turned around and made a powerful jump!

Stoudemire was completely caught off guard, but he reacted extremely quickly, bracing against Yi Shui's waist and abdomen... but he couldn't hold on!
'Inside Dominator' activated, the player receives the ball one-on-one in the paint and jumps to shoot, greatly reducing physical interference... Yi Shui bursts up and slams the ball into the basket over Stoudemire!
The voices of more than 10,000 fans at the scene suddenly stopped, staring in disbelief at the scene before them, but the cheers of more than 20,000 fans suddenly rose and screamed wildly!
Everyone knows Stoudemire's defensive level. While he's not exactly a liability, he's not very effective one-on-one, and sometimes he even hinders the team's defense. Everyone knows that Yi Shui is likely to score.

But I didn't expect him to be this fierce! He dunked over me with a powerful, overpowered move! And the dunk was clean and crisp!

Stoudemire was stunned. He stood there in a horse stance, watching Yi Shui land, and it took him a second to react...

The expressions of the other players on and off the court were also quite interesting, especially O'Neal, whose mouth and eyes were wide open.

As Iverson retreated to the backcourt, he laughed and patted Yi Shui's back repeatedly. He had originally intended to pat his shoulder, but after raising his hand, he lowered it again, feeling that it would be a bit silly. Meanwhile, another person was both shocked and secretly delighted.

King: I wasn't the only one who got dunked on while defending against Yi Shui in the low post!

As the game transitioned from offense to defense, a furious and embarrassed Stoudemire rushed forward and positioned himself close to Yi Shui to establish a clear position!

Yi Shui defended very hard, and his sudden interference on the restricted area line reminded Yao Ming and Howard of their unpleasant experiences of being blocked. However, Stoudemire used a face-up hook shot to put the ball into the basket.

That was a beautiful play, and the fans were cheering. Yi Shui also thought it was amazing, feeling that Stoudemire's hands were among the best of the best among athletic big men in the league today.

But Stoudemire was still internally devastated—why did he even bother with that defensive effort at the start of the game?! Getting beaten by him would have been better than getting dunked on!

Thinking this way, Stoudemire defended in the same manner in the next round.

Yi Shui received the ball, turned around and went straight to the basket. He imitated Kobe's move, took a step and slid under the basket, then dunked the ball into the hoop with a reverse hand.

Kobe, who was being imitated, grinned when he saw Yi Shui's physique and the fact that he could make such graceful movements.

When it was the Western team's turn to attack, Stoudemire continued to face up and overpower the basket. He seized the opportunity, took a step forward to block Yi Shui, and then slammed the ball behind Yi Shui's head towards the basket... This play showcased Stoudemire's explosiveness, defensive reading ability, and footwork, but the way he slammed the ball down with his right hand was a tribute to the elementary school student from the night before last.

He dunked on the neck!

Yi Shui grabbed the rebound and launched a counterattack!
Wade rushed up, and Yi Shui charged into the paint as Kobe retreated. Kobe blocked him out to defend, and Yi Shui lobbed the ball to the left front of the basket. Wade, who had controlled his speed and followed up, slammed the ball in for two points!
After enjoying three rounds of fun, when it was time for the next attack, Yi Shui wisely moved aside, definitely not because he was afraid that if he continued to fight one-on-one, Stoudemire would catch him back.

The veteran stars gave him a starting position to attack, so he had to give them face.

Stoudemire was both unwilling and somewhat relieved about this. He found it difficult to score against Yi Shui from mid-to-long range. He had tried it in the regular season, but Yi Shui's opponents were taller, had longer wingspans, and were better at jumping. While he had the potential to dunk inside, it was difficult, and he could easily get dunked on if he wasn't careful...

Then Wade and Paul went one-on-one, Kobe and Iverson went one-on-one, Yao Ming beat Howard...

Once they enter the rotation, the showdown between O'Neal and Howard will be a superhuman duel, and the clash between Garnett and Nowitzki's styles of play will be a battle between tall small forwards and tall shooting guards...

At the end of the quarter, Yi Shui, who had been substituted after playing for 3 minutes at the start, came back on and faced Nowitzki for two rounds.

The entire first quarter was like a one-on-one show, with fast break dunks and alley-oop plays showcasing physical prowess.

During this period, the Eastern Conference, with its many physically gifted young perimeter players, held the upper hand in the score, leading the Western Conference by 8 points with a score of 37-29.

In the second quarter, both sides started to play seriously.

The Western Conference fielded the OK combination, with Pau Gasol as the setter, Chauncey Billups as the tempo leader, and Roy as the mid-range and long-range receiving pitcher.

Beat up the combination of James, Westbrook, Howard, and Ray Allen!
The Western Conference team is focusing on the triangle offense, and Yao Ming has been revitalized!

When O'Neal needed a rest after seven minutes of intense offense and defense, Yao Ming came on to take over, teaming up with Kobe, Nowitzki, Billups, and Stoudemire. He got three opportunities to receive the ball inside and score six points by making all three.

The Western Conference team led the Eastern Conference team 70-63 at halftime, with a quarter score of 41-26.
Seeing James and Wade forced to shoot from beyond the three-point line, Yi Shuiren, who only played for 4 minutes in the second quarter as a catch-up shooter and fast break attacker, was numb.

No, yesterday afternoon, the trio of James, Westbrook, and Bosh discussed for so long, and this is the only strategy they came up with? Just drive and pass? If they can't break through, they just float around the three-point line and shoot?

However, during yesterday's open training session, it wasn't Yi Jianlian who shouted that he wanted to help Wade win the MVP award, and he didn't go up and give random instructions, so it's unlikely that the other side would listen to him.

In the second half, the trio of James, Westbrook, and Bosh called up Howard and Yi Shui, trying to replicate the rookie team's 'brainless charge' from the day before.

They played alright, but when the Western Conference put Duncan at center, paired with Stoudemire, Kobe, Billups, and Paul, they shut them down again.

With a 36-30 quarter, the Western team brought the score to 106-93.

In the final quarter, the OK duo and the Snake duo, who were already playing with great enthusiasm, led their team to score 40+ points in the quarter again, resulting in a score of 40-26.

Ultimately, the Western Conference team thrashed the Eastern Conference team 146-119. Kobe Bryant, who scored 27 points, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, jointly won the All-Star MVP award.

The two said they had reconciled, but when they raised the trophy together for a photo, they both leaned forward, trying to get ahead of each other.

Seeing the OK duo receiving their awards, David Lee said to Yi Shui, "It's such a pity. If we had won, the MVP should have been you, not Wade, right?"

Yi Shui played 20 minutes tonight. He played 4 minutes in the first quarter, shooting 3 of 4, and then played 16 minutes, shooting 5 of 8, for a total of 8 of 12. He made 2 of 3 three-pointers and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring the highest 20 points in the Eastern Conference.

Yi Shui muttered under his breath, "There's no chance of winning tonight..."

His high scoring and efficiency tonight were simply because he played 'normally' – he countered when he should, shot when he should, and capitalized on opportunities to drive to the basket, effectively using the defensive distraction caused by players like James, Wade, and Howard to draw defenders and score.

不只他，大屏幕上贴出的数据统计表，加内特6投4中拿到9分4板、皮尔斯7投4中拿到8分、大卫-李3投2中拿到5分……表现都称得上高效。

但核心阵容——詹姆斯19投8中，其中三分球7中1；韦德15投6中，其中三分球6中1；波什和雷-阿伦都是10中4；霍华德7中2……

They didn't have a single player with a shooting percentage of 50%, and they dragged the team's overall shooting percentage down to 49%! Meanwhile, the opposing team had a shooting percentage of 61%!

Their lineup was already inferior to the opposing team's. The opposing team had three players stronger than them at the center position. Pick-and-roll and passing would have been a better fit for them, but the 03 class insisted on playing a drive-and-kick game.

And this is what they're talking about, vying for MVP? Who gave these guys from the class of 03 the courage to do that?
James spoke first, setting the tone for the game.

The head coach of the Eastern Conference team is Mike Brown of the second-ranked Cavaliers in the East. Rivers served as the All-Star coach last season and was promoted to the position.

Yi: It seems that to compete for the AMVP in the East, the head coach has to be one of your own.

……

……

February 19th marks the end of the All-Star Weekend holiday.

Yi Shui had a hectic week, signing a new endorsement deal, the "Emperor" series of sneakers scheduled for release in June, and a limited edition of 666 pairs specially made for his birthday. He won the Rookie Game MVP and set a record-breaking 61 points, and scored the highest number of points for the East team in the main game with 20 points...

Although he had many things to complain about, he had a great time overall and made a good appearance. As a result, after the All-Star Weekend, major media outlets in the United States mentioned him multiple times in their summaries.

Domestically, needless to say, he was even more popular than Yao Ming, being the first Chinese player to win the Rising Stars Challenge MVP and the first Chinese player to score 20 points in the All-Star Game...

All-Star Weekend is over, it's just entertainment and sporting events.

This morning at 9 a.m., he left Phoenix with Curry, David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, and several teammates who came to watch the game last night, and flew to Portland.

After having lunch and resting for a while, he arrived at the Rose Garden Arena in the afternoon. He had notified the team's training department in advance, and the trainers had already arranged the facilities according to his needs.

From 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, I spent about 3 hours training, completing the first day of intensive training for "Ambidextrous Fighting".

The training difficulty and intensity were not high, similar to the weightlifting intensity of the 'Repair Card'. In fact, because it was too late, Yi Shui did not have the opportunity to train to the level of training for the '7th day of the Repair Card'.

The main problem is that it's tedious and boring, and the focus on practicing with the non-dominant hand feels awkward... Fortunately, it's only for 7 days! He has plenty of patience!

After a night's rest, the later stages of the regular season began on February 20th!

(End of this chapter)