NBA: Becoming stronger starts with hard work and mastery

The 1998 All-Star Weekend was held at Madison Square Garden in New York! As long as it is linked to the city of New York, basketball-loving celebrities from all over the United States and even the world will flock to it! Although the New York Knicks are not very good in terms of NBA performance, this does not prevent the Knicks from being the most profitable team in the NBA, and it is also the Mecca in the hearts of many NBA players! Of course, the Mecca of New York is not for worship, but for breaking records. Every top NBA player takes blowing up Madison Square Garden as a great pleasure! In this year's All-Star Game, Han Yi is undoubtedly a busy man! He has to participate in the All-Star Rookie Competition and the All-Star Game at the same time. Although these are all honors, they are also tiring! So when the NBA officially invited Han Yi to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Han Yi refused without hesitation!

Han Yi smiled and explained to the reporter: "I think I have dunked enough in actual combat. If you want to see my dunks, you can go to the actual combat!"

"Although the dunk contest show is exciting, how can the dunk show in actual combat be cooler?"

Han Yi's words won the support of many fans:

The dunk contest is really boring. It's just a few dunks. If you want to see dunks, don't you know to watch Han Yi's games?

Isn't this a hundred times better than a dunk contest without any competition?

God knows what David Stern was thinking. One week after Han Yi refused to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, David Stern announced to the media:

"If everyone thinks that the Slam Dunk Contest has no value, then stop it!"

When Han Yi heard the news, he almost spit out his rice:

"No, I don't represent everyone, do I? I'm just talking, don't take it seriously!"

Then, more inside information was revealed. NBA Vice President Thorn answered reporters' questions and said:

"We think all dunks have been done, and there will be no new moves in the Slam Dunk Contest."

And what they said was not entirely because of the comments of fans. The comments of fans are not that important. What really made the NBA decide to temporarily stop the Slam Dunk Contest was last year's 1996 Slam Dunk Contest.

In that Slam Dunk Contest, rookie Kobe easily won the championship. His elegant posture and violent dunks attracted a huge number of fans.

But when you open the list of opponents who competed with him: Devin Ham (yes, the head coach Ham who was just fired by the Lakers), Ray Allen, Bob Sura, Mike Finley, Chris Carr.

It is hard not to doubt how valuable Kobe's dunk contest championship is?

If there were hot searches in 1998, the title of Kobe's worst dunk contest champion would definitely be on the hot search!

The 1998 NBA Rookie Challenge was different from the competition system after 2000. It was not a competition between first- and second-year rookies. Instead, the first-year rookies from the East and the West competed against each other.

Under such a competition system, without the participation of second-year players, the Rookie Challenge has completely become a stage for first-year rookies!

And under this East-West grouping competition system, there is no doubt that Han Yi from the East and Tim Duncan from the West have become the most dazzling new stars in the game!

"From the NCAA to the NBA regular season, to the NBA All-Star Rookie Game, and to the All-Star Game the day after tomorrow, there is no doubt that these two NBA talented rookie insiders will become the rulers of the fourth and fifth positions in the NBA!"

"But who of them will be the final ruler? Can we see the clues in this confrontation?"

The answer is no!

Tim Duncan doesn't like such a noisy show at all. As for Han Yi, although he doesn't hate the All-Star Rookie Game, he was selected with Tracy McGrady and Ben Wallace!

Compared with Han Yi who still has to participate in the All-Star Game, the All-Star Rookie Game is a great stage for McGrady and Big Ben to show themselves!

In the end, the Eastern All-Star Rookie Team defeated the Western All-Star Rookie Team 111:100!

Although the spotlight of the whole audience was focused on Han Yi and Duncan, Duncan only got 16 points and 11 rebounds, which was a mediocre small double-double.

And what about Han Yi?

12 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 4 blocks!

Good guy, Han Yi's die-hard fans shouted good guy,

Han Yi's assists are higher than his points. Who dares to believe this?

Rather than saying that Han Yi played this data, it is better to say that it was played by a guard who is good at blocking shots!

And Han Yi's 13 assists were not avoided at all. He did not pass them to McGrady or anyone other than Ben!

9 times were passed to McGrady, and 4 times were passed to Ben!

Ben Wallace scored 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks!

McGrady scored 41 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists and successfully won the MVP of the Rookie Challenge!

McGrady's graceful figure also shone in front of fans all over the world for the first time on Madison Square Garden of the New York Knicks!

...

When there was no dunk contest the next day, the only thing left was the three-point contest!

But obviously, after the dunk contest, no one wanted to watch the three-point contest!

The news that Jeff Hornacek won the three-point contest was squeezed into the corner of the news page of the American basketball newspaper.

It's right there, if you don't look carefully, you might think it's a comment!

And what's the headline on that page?

"Celtics superstar walks hand in hand with sweet girl Jessica Alba on the street, eats an ice cream together, so sweet!"

...

On the third day, the highlight finally came, the 1998 NBA All-Star Game!

Starting lineups of both sides:

Eastern All-Stars:

PG: Anfernee Hardaway, SG: Michael Jordan, SF: Grant Hill, PF: Shawn Kemp, C: Han Yi!

Western All-Stars:

PG: Gary Payton, SG: Kobe Bryant, SF: Kevin Garnett, PF: Karl Malone, C: Shaquille O'Neal!

The game starts!

It was supposed to be O'Neal and Han Yi jumping the ball, but for some reason, when Han Yi walked to the center of the game, he found that the opponent was Kevin Garnett!

Han Yi shouted to O'Neal: "Crispy Shark, you don't even dare to jump the ball, do you?"

O'Neal didn't say anything, but Garnett had already made a move ready to go, his eyes sparkling:

"Stinky boy, I can't wait to meet you. They all say you have something. I want to see if you can make me happy, happy!"

Han Yi: "Oh!"