711: 245: Never before has “the best player of today” been such a natural question (asking for monthly votes!)_2 711: 245: Never before has “the best player of today” been such a natural question (asking for monthly votes!)_2 Because so far, more than one person has said in front of the camera that they want the AMVP.
Kobe Bryant was outspoken in an interview yesterday, “I don’t understand why everyone thinks the AMVP belongs to Roger and Shaq exclusively.
I’d love to see Shaq holding the trophy, but I will join the competition.”
Allen Iverson said with a smile, “Why can’t it be me?”
Carter was equally eager for the honor, “Winning the Slam Dunk Contest is great, but the AMVP wouldn’t be bad either.”
Garnett also joined the fray, “I think, to Roger, the AMVP isn’t that important.
What really matters is that he doesn’t want Shaq to get the AMVP.
But what if it’s me who gets the AMVP?
Wouldn’t that be the perfect solution?”
The uniqueness of this year’s All-Star game got everyone serious.
Everyone wanted to prove themselves at the start of the 21st century.
The next day, inside the All-Star game locker room, AI went specifically to Roger’s side, “Hey, I won’t give up on competing for the AMVP.
I won’t just hand over the shooting rights.
Of course, I won’t intentionally avoid passing to you, but I also won’t give up my chances.
We all have the right to compete for the award, right?”
“Of course, AI,” Roger didn’t expect everyone to yield their shooting rights to him.
Ray Allen grumbled discontentedly in the corner, “A bunch of selfish ghosts.”
Jerry Stackhouse was more direct, “I’m going to take the AMVP back to Detroit.
I’m going to do it, I promise.”
“Shut up, Jerry.” Grant Hill shook his head speechlessly.
He was well aware that once Jerry Stackhouse started to miss shots, Roger might not be able to handle that kind of damage.
Great, the locker room was very lively.
But Roger would bet that the West locker room was even livelier.
An hour later, the highly anticipated 2000 All-Star game officially began.
Roger’s plan was to coast through the first three quarters and get serious in the fourth.
Even if this year’s All-Star game was a real fight, it couldn’t possibly be intense all four quarters, right?
However, the intensity of the game exceeded Roger’s expectations.
Right from the start, there were extremely aggressive physical contacts from both sides.
After Kidd brought the ball past half court, he found KG, who was backing down Carter in the low post.
With the West actually having three big men, KG had a significant height advantage at the small forward position.
Carter at this stage wasn’t exactly a defensive stalwart, so after Garnett received the ball, he turned around, blew past Carter, and prepared for a slam dunk.
Usually, in an All-Star game, dunks would be let go.
But Mourning actually took the situation seriously and went for the block!
Garnett was equally unmerciful, dunking the ball powerfully over Mourning in the air!
KG had an unflattering nickname in the United States that’s unfamiliar to Chinese fans: The Ticket.
Yes, it’s quite disagreeable, but it fits him well since he made Minneapolis, a city of extreme cold, into one of the top ten in league attendance.
And this dunk is exactly why Garnett was so popular; the athleticism of a young KG was truly breathtaking.
Alright, the tone of the game had been set.
No one expected Mourning to defend so seriously from the get-go, and even less did anyone anticipate Garnett would still dunk the ball amidst such aggressive confrontation.
The commentator Doug Collins reminded the fans, “Fasten your seat belts, today’s All-Star game is going to be a full-speed ride to the end!”
He was right; the excitement had already started!
Following that, AI scored a beautiful up-and-under layup over Kobe.
You can imagine what the highly competitive Kobe feels like right now.
Therefore, in the next possession, Kobe ignored Shaq’s call for the ball, dribbled against Carter on the right side of the court, and scored with a mid-range fadeaway jumper: “Nice dunk, Vince, but that’s not all there is to the game.
Hiding behind a dunker?”
Good sport Carter also became much more aggressive in such an atmosphere.
“Sports Illustrated” wasn’t wrong; there were too many young and energetic players in this year’s All-Star.
The craftier veterans are even less interested in exerting themselves in the All-Star game.
But this year’s All-Star game had very few old hands.
The few experienced players had agreed with their coaches to play only for a few minutes, like David Robinson, Karl Malone, and Reggie Miller.
Therefore, those left on the court for extended periods were all full of competitive spirit.
This was bound to make this year’s All-Star game filled with real confrontation.
Carter, who didn’t like being just known as a dunker, and the competitive atmosphere, decided to hit back immediately.
He approached Kobe and called for the ball.
Mourning proactively set a screen for Carter.
Carter feinted towards Mourning’s screen and then drove hard to the unscreened side, breaking free from Kobe and pulling off a 360-degree double-hand slam dunk reminiscent of the Slam Dunk Contest!
The crowd cheered, the previous night’s Dunk Contest had left the fans wanting more.
To see Carter’s dunk performance today satisfied everyone.
After landing, Carter looked at Kobe with a smile, “Seems like I got a louder cheer than you.”
Trash talk filled the court, and the game became tense from the first quarter.
The first quarter’s play went on for a few minutes when another commentator, Bob Costas, remarked, “This year’s All-Star game started with an intensity close to a regular game from the beginning!”
Finally, after five minutes of play, both coaches began to make substitutions.
It was expected that the intensity of the game would decrease during rotation time.
Instead, the game escalated even further!
Thanks to T-Mac being in the All-Star a year earlier than in real history by playing alone in Magic and having better stats, his first defense against Kobe resulted in a hard hit leaving Kobe furious!