บท 87: All-Star Voting Results
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Two games after O'Neal's return, Kobe quickly followed and rejoined the Lakers' starting lineup.
In reality, for Kobe's injury, it would have been best for him to rest another week to fully recover. But Kobe simply couldn't wait any longer. During the games he missed, it seemed like Los Angeles fans had almost forgotten about him.
This is no exaggeration. Wang Chong performed exceptionally well in these games, without any flaws in his gameplay. Moreover, Wang Chong, whose offense was mainly based on mid-range and long-range shooting, was even more compatible with O'Neal than Kobe. After all, at this stage, Kobe, wearing No. 8, scored a significant number of his offensive points by dribbling to the basket.
Although Kobe's efficiency was somewhat low after his return, with a shooting percentage hovering around 38% over several games, the Lakers finally had their OK combination back together. Their fighting power skyrocketed as they went on a five-game winning streak, defeating several strong teams including the Timberwolves and Pacers.
February arrived, marking the NBA's annual All-Star Weekend! At the end of January, All-Star voting officially concluded, and once again, O'Neal failed to surpass Yao Ming in the vote count.
The five players selected as All-Star starters from the Western Conference are Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming. Garnett was elected as the Western Conference leader with 1.78 million votes, closely followed by Kobe with 1.76 million votes.
O'Neal ended up with 1.45 million votes, just 30,000 shy of Yao Ming's 1.48 million. However, even a 1-vote difference is still a difference. He did receive significantly more votes than the other starting player, Francis, who only had 970,000 votes, nearly 500,000 less than O'Neal. But Francis participated in the voting as a guard, and among Western guards, his number of votes was second only to Kobe.
This marks the third consecutive time Francis has been selected as a Western Conference All-Star starter. Although his selection is partially due to being on the same team as Yao Ming and having the support of some Chinese fans, it's not solely because of that. At least back in the 01-02 season, when Yao Ming had not yet joined the league, Francis was already a Western Conference All-Star starter.
Wang Chong received a significant number of votes in this All-Star Game, surpassing 800,000 votes—more than James, who garnered 760,000 votes in the Eastern Conference, ranking seventh in the Western Conference overall standings.
However, as a forward, Wang Chong's competitors were Garnett and Duncan. Garnett was the top vote-getter in the Western Conference, and Duncan also had 1.68 million votes, second only to Garnett and Kobe. Wang Chong had no chance at all.
The Eastern Conference All-Star starters are guards Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, forwards Vince Carter, Jermaine O'Neal, and center Ben Wallace. Vince Carter, famously known as "Half Man, Half Amazing," won a massive number of fans with his jaw-dropping slam dunk contest performance during the 2000 All-Star Game. He was directly elected as the All-Star vote leader with an astonishing 2.12 million votes.
After the All-Star starters were determined, in early February, the league also announced the All-Star reserve members selected by coaches' votes.
There was no suspense—Wang Chong, James, and Anthony, three rookies who had outstanding performances in their debut season, were all eliminated and missed the All-Star Game.
This isn't surprising at all. The All-Star Game involves a degree of social etiquette. Even the head coaches who hold significant power within each team in the league must give face to the league's established stars and avoid letting rookies who have just arrived steal the spotlight.
A rookie should have the awareness of a rookie and simply perform well in the Rookie Challenge.
As such, the only event for the rookies from the 2003 class who performed well in the regular season—including Wang Chong, James, Anthony, and Wade—to participate in during All-Star Weekend is the Rookie Challenge.
Some of James' fans are very dissatisfied with this outcome. Last year's No. 1 pick, Yao Ming, was selected as an All-Star in his rookie season and even became a starter in the Western Conference. Our James is the "chosen one," a superstar destined to dominate the league's future. How could he not be as good as a big guy from Asia?
Not to mention Yao Ming's rookie season—even in his second season, Yao Ming, who has averaged 17+9 so far, is still much inferior to James' 20+5+6.
But the selection of All-Stars isn't determined solely by these statistics. Just like assessing historical status, flashy stats can only be one reference point and not the only criterion.
No matter how unhappy James' fans are, the fact that their idol can only play in the Rookie Challenge is an established fact that cannot be changed.
In the few games before All-Star Weekend in February, the Lakers easily won a series of consecutive victories, as their opponents were generally not very strong before the All-Star break. Teams such as the 76ers, Magic, Heat, etc., were all teams hovering outside the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Although the 76ers have "The Answer," Allen Iverson, they are completely different from the team that reached the Finals two years ago and even managed to steal a game against the peak OK combination.
The departure of head coach Larry Brown and main center Dikembe Mutombo left the 76ers without their defensive system.
Although Iverson, who averages 26.4 points per game, remains one of the league's best scorers, injuries, the team's poor lineup, and tactical system still make the 76ers' record a mess.
In the game against the Lakers, Iverson scored 39 points and 6 assists but still lost to the Lakers, who had both the OK combination and the addition of Wang Chong.
The 76ers lost, so the Magic and the Heat were even less of a challenge for the Lakers.
McGrady averaged 28 points per game this season and is set to win his second scoring title, but the Magic have the worst record in the league. Basically, McGrady just takes care of his own stats while the Magic struggle, and neither side is really affected.
However, during the game, Wang Chong had a brief one-on-one battle with McGrady and got to experience firsthand how strong McGrady was at his peak.
When Durant entered the draft, his draft comparison was McGrady, but the playing styles of peak McGrady and peak Durant are completely different.
McGrady is far inferior to Durant in static talents such as height and wingspan, but his dynamic talents are definitely top-notch in the league, especially his explosiveness in driving to the basket and coordination in dribbling and ball-handling—almost the best in the league today.
When Wang Chong was defending McGrady, the opponent only needed one step to easily get past him. With only a low-level Death Coil Badge, Wang Chong could not keep up with McGrady's speed.
The result of this game was similar to the one against the 76ers. McGrady scored 35 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, but the Magic lost more miserably than the 76ers.
As for the Heat, it was also the second encounter in the regular season and the second matchup between Wang Chong and Wade. The latter made 7 of 12 shots, scoring a team-high 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, slightly higher than Wang Chong's 16 points and 4 rebounds.
But the Heat lost to the Lakers 79:98 and had no power to resist at all.
The Lakers ended all the games before the All-Star Weekend with a series of exciting wins. Next up is the much-anticipated All-Star Weekend!
End of this chapter
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