The Strongest Bishop in the NBA

When the All-Star Weekend voting was in full swing, Wang Xiao also received an invitation letter from the league. The NBA hopes that he can serve as the head coach of the East team in the All-Star Game.

According to NBA regulations, the head coach of the All-Star Game must be the head coach with the best record in the East and West.

The head coach of the Cavaliers with the number one record in the Eastern Conference is Mike Brown. He served as the Eastern Conference head coach in the 2009 All-Star Game last year, so this time he is automatically disqualified, and the position of the Eastern Conference All-Star head coach is natural. It is the turn of Wizards head coach Wang Xiao, who ranks second in the Eastern Conference.

In the same way, the Lakers currently rank first in the Western Conference. Their head coach Phil Jackson also served as the Western All-Star head coach last year, so this year's Western Conference head coach should be Portland, which currently ranks second in the Western Conference. Trail Blazers coach McMillan.

The All-Star Weekend is a stage for fans and players. There is no such thing as a coach. Even the two head coaches of the All-Star Game are basically just showing off off the court. Need to do something else, it's just an exhibition game, not many people will care.

But after all, it was an All-Star game, and Wang Xiao had no reason to refuse. Even if it was an exhibition game without the head coach, it would be nice to get acquainted with each other, so Wang Xiao readily accepted the invitation.

In fact, the records of the Eastern and Western teams are different. The second-ranked Wizards are only one game away from the third-placed Magic. There is still nearly a month before the official start of the All-Star Weekend. There is a possibility of being overtaken.

It stands to reason that the alliance should not have issued an invitation so early.

However, after the discussion in the meeting, the president of the league, Stern, decided to invite Wang Xiao in advance.

As for the reason, it is really too simple.

Huge Chinese market.

Yao Ming's success in the NBA has allowed the NBA to taste a lot of sweetness, and it has also made Stern more aware of the great potential of China's vast market.

Because of this, in 2007, both Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue participated in the election, and Yi Jianlian became the second high-ranked Chinese player after Yao Ming.

It is a pity that neither Yi Jianlian nor Sun Yue is the second Yao Ming. Their level is too far behind Yao Ming. Injured in the game, then reimbursed for the season, the entire 09-10 season will not be able to play.

A year later, Yao Ming will be 31 years old. After suffering serious injuries, no one can be sure whether he can continue to show a high level of competition.

Under such circumstances, the league urgently needs a representative figure of Chinese basketball to appear in the NBA and continue to attract the attention of Chinese fans.

At this time, Wang Xiao appeared, with an almost legendary resume.

In his early 30s, young, sunny and inspirational.

He coached a team for the first time in his career, but he was able to lead a team from the bottom of the league to the third place in the Eastern Conference's second league.

Although the head coach cannot be compared with the players in terms of attention, it can more or less alleviate the problem of the lack of Chinese faces in the current NBA league.

However, before the start of the All-Star Game, the Wizards' record was overtaken by the Magic, but it did not happen.

As Wang Xiao made Curry take on more responsibilities on the court, Curry played better every game, and his scoring average improved again, from 25 points per game to 27 points per game, although his shooting percentage dropped slightly. , But compared to the various targeted defenses he encountered on the court, this drop in shooting percentage is completely within an acceptable range.

Curry's outstanding performance also allowed the team's record to continue to advance all the way. In the second half of January, the Wizards only lost 3 games, namely the away game against the Lakers, the away game against the Celtics, and the home game against the Mavericks. the match of.

The astonishing winning percentage keeps the team in the second place in the Eastern Conference. The gap with the Magic has not narrowed, but it has widened the game. Now the Magic want to surpass the Wizards, at least they have to win consecutively Three games, and the Wizards have to lose three games in a row.

But as time enters February, there are only four games left before the start of the All-Star Weekend, and it is almost impossible to overtake.

The fact is the same, the Wizards only lost one of the four games, and the Magic won all four games, still one win away from the Wizards.

In this way, Wang Xiao, as the head coach of the team with the second-ranked record in the East, is well-deserved to be the head coach of the All-Star Weekend.

In addition to Wang Xiao participating in the All-Star Game as the head coach of the Eastern All-Star Team, the Wizards also participated in the All-Star Weekend.

At the beginning of February, the league announced the list of substitute players for the All-Star game. According to regulations, all the All-Star substitutes are decided by the head coaches of the 30 teams in the league. With an explosive performance averaging 27 points, he was successfully elected as a substitute player for the All-Star Game.

In addition to the All-Star Game, Curry will also participate in the Rookie Challenge and the three-point contest as a first-year rookie.

Speaking of the Rookie Challenge, the Wizards are definitely a big player in this year's Rookie Challenge.

Curry and Harden were selected as first-year rookies to participate in the Rookie Challenge without any suspense. In addition, Danny Green, who has been the team's starting shooting guard and performed well in defense and three-pointers, also Selected to the first-year rookie camp.

Another rookie, Beverly, has slightly poor statistics because of the lack of playing time in the Wizards. On the other hand, because the Wizards already occupy the roster of three first-year rookies, adding another one may make other rookies dissatisfied. So it wasn't selected.

Instead, it was Jordan Jr. who was selected for the second-year rookie challenge list.

The first two years of Jordan's career were originally quite bleak. Due to poor skills and free throws, Jordan's average per game in the first two seasons of his career was only about 4 points and 5 rebounds. Until the third season, the Clippers started Center Chris Kaman was injured, so he got the opportunity and successfully grasped it, and gradually became the main center of the Clippers.

Since being traded to the Wizards by Wang Xiao, Jr. Jordan has always been the team's first choice as an inside substitute.

Among the team's three centers, Jordan has the best potential and development prospects. Heywood suffered a major injury and his athletic ability has been greatly reduced, and he is in a contract year. It is not suitable for him to want a big contract after this season. long-term development.

Although McGee is not inferior to Jordan in terms of height, wingspan and jumping, and his talent is not bad at all, he suffers from memory loss, which has greatly affected his development.