However, Stern hadn’t finished speaking. After a pause, he continued: "...and from the Miami Heat, player number 3, Dwyane Wade, congratulations to you both!"
Wade was stunned; it’s like joy fell from the sky. He was mentally preparing himself to give Zhang Yang a hug after he raised the cup, forgetting about the award issue. He played really well tonight, and Zhang Yang’s last game-winner earned his full recognition. He didn’t expect to share the AMVP!
The director had just instructed a subordinate to display Zhang Yang’s stats on the big screen. Hearing Stern’s words, he was momentarily taken aback and quickly told his subordinate to put up Wade’s stats too.
Zhang Yang played all 48 minutes, hitting 20 of 31 shots, including 5 of 7 from three-point range, plus 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 50 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block.
Wade played 36 minutes, hitting 10 of 16 shots, along with 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 25 points, 4 rebounds, 15 assists, and 2 steals.
Wade hadn’t recovered from the shock when Zhang Yang came to him, gave him a big hug, and pulled him over to Stern’s side. Only then did Wade react.
The two of them took the trophy from Stern together and raised it high.
Unlike the future joke of stealing the spotlight, Stern still needed to be in the shot, but he stepped back two steps, leaving the focal point of the camera.
Hearing the roaring cheers from fans on-site, shouting ’D-Wade’, ’The Flash’, ’Jack’, ’bad boy’, Stern internally shouted "Oh yeah."
If the Western Team had won, Stern planned to give the award to Iverson and Kobe. Initially, because of the ’Four Great Number 3 Players Showdown’ topic, he planned to award Iverson and Paul if the Western Team won. But Paul wasn’t quite there in the All-Star Game; it wasn’t about ability, Zhang Wei might not be stronger than Paul, but he hadn’t achieved significant honors.
Giving it to numbers 3 and 24 was also fine. The 96 Golden Generation teaming up to defeat the new generation would also be a great story.
Now that it was the Eastern Team that won, naturally the award would go to the two number 3 players who had proven their leadership and personal honors were up to par, and they successfully led the Eastern Team.
The league’s two of the Four Great Number 3 Players, two of the three players to win FMVP during their rookie contracts, teaming up in the All-Star Game to beat the Western Team, one scored 50 points in a single game, another 25+15, they took the AMVP together...The topic was fully maximized!
The next morning, Zhang Yang’s plan to return to Charlotte early was disrupted. He had to do exclusive interviews with two media outlets, Court TV and Sports Illustrated, which he couldn’t refuse. He also did a photoshoot for the cover of Sports Illustrated and the headline photo for the Los Angeles Times.
After hustling the entire morning, he barely managed to catch the 1 PM flight back to Charlotte.
This All-Star Weekend trip significantly boosted his fame and popularity across the U.S. and even worldwide!
This year’s Rookie Game wasn’t the most all-time popular for this event; last year’s when Zhang Yang scored 82 points was.
This year’s three-point contest also wasn’t the most popular ever; 2000 when Carter succeeded the title of "Air Apparent" was.
The All-Star Game itself wasn’t the most popular ever; the 2003 game when Jordan announced he’d retire and never return was.
But the overall heat of this year’s All-Star Weekend set a new high in history, most directly reflected in the ratings, with the three-event comprehensive ratings setting a new record.
The one benefiting most from this popularity wave was certainly the NBA itself, but among the players, it was Zhang Yang.
In three events, he was the focal point in two, with the Rookie Game MVP trophy named after him, and he set the All-Star Game single-game scoring record to win the AMVP.
After getting home, his mom, who came back with him, helped put his first AMVP trophy into the cabinet in his study.
After placing the trophy correctly, Yang Jing regrettably said, "It’s a pity, the trophy awarded on-site last night is more memorable, but you gave it to Wade."
Zhang Yang: "He deserved it. Without him spearheading, I couldn’t play the whole game or score 50 points."
Yang Jing: "Yangyang, you really admire Wade, huh?"
Zhang Yang: "Yes, I like his performance on the court. He’s like a fearless warrior."
His parents and younger brother stayed at Zhang Yang’s place for a while before leaving. His dad had been in New Orleans since last Friday and had been out for three days, so he had to return to work.
His mom also needed to schedule appointments for learning design and for his brother’s early education teacher.
Previously, with no time or energy to learn new things, now with more time, his mom picked up her past hobby of learning fashion design.
Knowing that his mom once had a dream to be a designer, Zhang Yang felt like he was setting them back again...
After his parents left, Zhang Yang took a shower, changed clothes, and went to the yard to read in the warm spring sunshine.
Doing this was a way to adjust his mindset, to help himself detach from the All-Star weekend state.
Playing in the All-Star Game, the feeling from teammates, to put it simply—fulfilled his most perfect vision of a team.
Having the world’s best center, a penetrator who could help him achieve anything, the best mid-range shooter, and the strongest shooting power forward...
In his first two All-Star Games, he didn’t need to make any adjustments because in both cases he was a supporting character, just there to make up the numbers, winning or losing wasn’t much related to him.
But this time, all teammates launched the offense around him, he was the core scorer, and the feeling was naturally very different.
At this time, looking at some science and math professional books provided an excellent effect, quickly making him feel frustrated, completely breaking up any All-Star Game memories.