The longest river

Chapter 180 Jordan Wins Second Place in Voting

When O'Neal left the game, the Lakers substituted Campbell in and also replaced Fox with Kobe.

Judging from Kobe's light and quick steps when he came on the court, he must be overjoyed right now.

Kobe did not demonstrate the puppy walk technique that Yang Shuai taught him on the court. Just as Yang Shuai said, it's not something you can learn in a day.

But Kobe showed his offensive desire fiercely after he entered the game.

Moreover, even though he can't beat Yang Shuai, his increased weight this season has greatly enhanced his offensive power, making Williams no match for him.

Under his leadership, the Lakers' offense was actually better than when O'Neal was on the court.

This drew cheers from the Los Angeles fans at the scene.

A player's ability is one thing, but whether they dare to play is another.

Although Harris's furrowed brows revealed that, from a coach's perspective, Kobe's performance in this segment was actually unsatisfactory.

Because he had a strong desire to score points after coming on, he basically ignored his teammates.

From a fan's perspective, when Yang Shuai was aggressively attacking, not only Shaq, but no one else on the Lakers dared to step up except Kobe, and he did.

However, as demonstrated by the Lakers' 4-5 run after O'Neal's injury during their 11-game winning streak, without O'Neal as a cornerstone, Kobe's style of play could rack up stats, but it wasn't enough to lead the team to victory.

Moreover, Yang Shuai's performance fully demonstrated the "cold-bloodedness" Richards described.

The big brother who was so warm and considerate last night directly called out Kobe on offense, using him as the Lakers' weak point on the court, and he was swearing at him all the while.

Everyone else on the court thought the two must have some kind of grudge between them, and it seemed to be even bigger than the one between Shaq and O'Neal.

However, Kobe was already used to it; Yang Shuai would spray even dirtier spittle when they played one-on-one.

Moreover, he was particularly stubborn. When Jones saw that he couldn't guard Yang Shuai, he wanted to set a screen and let him guard him instead, but Kobe didn't say a word and took the initiative to guard Yang Shuai himself.

So this segment ultimately turned into a scene where Yang Shuai and Kobe were trading points.

The fans at the scene were thrilled, and cheers erupted one after another.

Harris's furrowed brow remained furrowed, because although the Lakers played a lively game, they didn't actually close the gap; instead, the score continued to widen.

Of course, this part is not important, because the key figure in deciding the outcome of the game was still O'Neal.

In the second quarter, both teams' starters returned, and Yang Shuai continued to target O'Neal on the offensive end.

After Harris returned, there were defensive adjustments. O'Neal was instructed to switch onto Wallace when encountering pick-and-rolls, and Horry was asked to cover for Young.

This did indeed prevent O'Neal from being repeatedly hit in the face by Yang Shuai's mid-range shots. But it was also during this period that the Trail Blazers, who hadn't quite figured out their spacing tactics after playing for so long, suddenly grasped the essence of this system.

Because Sabonis mismatched Horry in the paint, forcing the Lakers to double-team on the strong side, the Trail Blazers' inside and outside game immediately connected.

Just like when the Pacers played the Knicks, they didn't rely solely on spacing; they used a combination of low-post tactics to dismantle the Knicks' defense.

Moreover, Sabonis was able to fully utilize his low-post playmaking ability at this time, making the Trail Blazers' offense more efficient than at the start of the game.

On the defensive end, Carlisle persisted with a strategy of double-teaming and fouling O'Neal, trapping him in an offensive quagmire.

One of the main reasons why O'Neal was swept by the Rockets was the Rockets' defensive strategy against him.

With Hakeem Olajuwon on the Rockets and Domantas Sabonis on the Trail Blazers, the defensive strategy of preventing O'Neal from launching an attack on the first touch of the ball would make him struggle.

This is also why Yang Shuai previously said that O'Neal needed a superstar point guard to save him.

Even if the defense recovers quickly when caught in a pincer movement, opportunities will still arise at other points.

But Jones, who should have taken on that role, was completely overwhelmed by Yang Shuai's aura, and no one else could step up.

Just like in the first quarter, the Lakers struggled even more on both offense and defense when O'Neal was on the court.

At halftime, the Trail Blazers led the Lakers 54-40.

In the second half, the Lakers, thanks to their roster depth, narrowed the score to single digits during the third and fourth quarters when their bench players were in position.

However, in the decisive final quarter, Harris, not wanting the Trail Blazers' spacing system to continue operating, switched back to the defensive strategy he had adopted at the start of the game.

Then Yang Shuai sealed the victory for the Trail Blazers with one mid-range shot after another.

Kobe scored 20+ points tonight, but could only sit on the bench and clench his fist in the final moments, watching the Lakers lose with a sense of injustice.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers 103-90 on the road.

Before the game, many questioned whether the Trail Blazers could handle tough games, but they responded directly with a blowout victory against the top team in the Western Conference.

Post-game statistics showed that Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points, Shaquille O'Neal contributed a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Jones scored 11 points.

开拓者队这边萨博尼斯16分10板5助攻，华莱士19分，杨帅得到了全场最高的40分。

It's worth mentioning that Yang Shuai made 10 mid-range shots tonight, and 9 of them were made against O'Neal.

Last season, Yang Shuai had a memorable moment where he trained O'Neal and then stepped over him. Today, he used a different method to shoot O'Neal to death.

Yang Shuai, Sabonis, and Carlisle attended the post-match press conference together.

“We all know what Shaq can do, so what we need to do on the defensive end is make him uncomfortable.”

"Hansen came to me and said he could handle Shaq, and then we all saw what he did."

Carlisle's personality is completely different from Bird's, just like his tactical style—practical yet with a touch of humor. "Playing with Hansen makes the game easier."

When interviewed, Sabonis emphasized his composure and pragmatism.

Once the microphone was in Yang Shuai's hands, a barrage of questions from reporters followed.

Yang Shuai's 40 points is his highest single-game score this season, and also his highest score as a Trail Blazers player.

"I don't know, I just got a lot of open looks and then I made them all."

When asked about his outstanding performance tonight, Yang Shuai answered calmly.

Yes, that familiar scent instantly filled the press conference venue.

It's noticeable that Yang Shuai, who seems to have learned everything without a teacher, has become increasingly adept at showing off after playing alongside Bird for a season.

Then, he also brought up Kobe's performance.

"Kobe was impressive tonight. He's a tough opponent to beat, and I believe he will become the Lakers' star player in the near future."

After the game, he confirmed that Harris was indeed biased against Kobe, and it was truly rare for a player who scored 25 points to end up on the bench.

However, Yang Shuai's answer caused a stir among the reporters.

Kobe, in his second year, had expressed his desire to be the leader more than once, but no one took his words seriously.

I didn't expect Yang Shuai to have such a high opinion of Kobe.

At the end of the interview, unsurprisingly, Yang Shuai was asked questions related to Shaquille O'Neal.

After all, Yang Shuai had taken the initiative to befriend O'Neal before the game, but he still humiliated O'Neal once again during the game, which once again showed that Yang Shuai was narrow-minded.

Everyone here plays in the NBA, and they're all star players. We see each other all the time, so there's no need to make it a life-or-death struggle.

What would Shaq do to improve your relationship?

This is a reporter from ESPN.

"He doesn't need to do anything."

Yang Shuai's answer aroused the curiosity of the reporters in the audience.

"Because nothing he does will make a difference, I will never improve my relationship with a racist."

To make his stance clear to reporters, he used the word "never ever".

This caused another stir among the reporters, but many of them looked at Yang Shuai with admiration.

The NBA is a business league, and principles are a very valuable thing here, which 20-year-old Yang Shuai now possesses.

Of course, many people think Yang Shuai is too young. Never say never, because no one can predict what will happen in the future, and how long can Yang Shuai stick to his principles?

Time flies, and it's already the end of January. The final votes for the 1998 NBA All-Star selection were released at this time.

Compared to last year, the total number of votes this year has dropped significantly, with no one receiving more than 200 million votes.

Or rather, last year's vote count was because Jordan led the Bulls to 72 wins and the championship, which attracted non-basketball fans to vote.

The most representative example is Jordan. Last year, Jordan received 245 million votes, but this year, with the added boost of "possible retirement", his final vote count was only 102.8 million.

This number of votes also made Jordan the runner-up in the 1998 All-Star Game votes.

The top vote-getter was Yang Shuai, who received 140 million votes.

This number of votes surpassed Hill's 135.8 million votes in 1996, making him the second-highest vote-getter in NBA history.

Moreover, this number of votes once again refutes the widely circulated claim in the media that "Yang Shuai was selected as an All-Star starter because of the large number of overseas votes."

According to their logic, with the votes falling in North America, Yang Shuai should have received far more votes than others, but in reality, he only received about 300,000 more votes.

Furthermore, you also have to consider that Yang Shuai is already the youngest Finals MVP, and his stats have increased significantly this season with the Trail Blazers.

Therefore, the conclusion that can be drawn is that Yang Shuai's popularity in the NBA, even if it has not surpassed Jordan's, is already approaching Jordan's level.

This is what Vaccaro meant by the advantage of youth: youth means countless possibilities.

Of course, the higher the popularity, the greater the criticism.

The Chicago Times wrote that Yang Shuai did not deserve such a number of votes because he had only won a team championship and had never proven that he could lead a team to victory.

Fox Sports' front-page headline read, "Jordan is the real vote king," in reporting the All-Star voting results.

However, Yang Shuai probably didn't have time to read the news right now, because as soon as the results of the vote-winning contest were announced, a bunch of system notifications popped up in his mind.

Whether it was jealousy, anger, or joy for him, his rivals provided him with a significant emotional boost.

Adding to his achievements in the competition over the past month, he has accumulated more than 6 points.

This time, he redeemed one C-grade and one B-grade dynamic vision enhancement pack at once.

After the exchange, his rebounding and catch-and-shoot abilities improved to some extent.

Most importantly, his passing ability has reached a maximum of 81.

(End of this chapter)