The All-Star selection will be conducted a week later, during which Hansen and James will make selections live with TNT’s The Big Three.
After this news was announced, this episode of TNT became the most anticipated of the season.
However, during this process, something happened in the League that was neither insignificant nor particularly significant.
It’s insignificant because it didn’t have a major impact on the entire League; it’s significant because it had a devastating impact on the Warriors.
At the end of January, in the game against the Rockets, Cousins performed excellently, contributing a triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists, marking his third of the season and ninth of his career.
His integration with the Warriors was starting to reach its peak.
However, just the day after the match ended, Cousins was diagnosed with a torn left Achilles tendon, ending his season.
In 48 games for the Warriors, Cousins averaged 35.2 minutes per game, scoring 24.2 points, grabbing 11.6 rebounds, providing 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.9 blocks, performing quite outstandingly.
From an emotional standpoint, Cousins, experiencing such a season-ending injury in his contract year, is destined to greatly affect his free market prospects next year; it’s truly a stroke of bad luck;
But from a rational standpoint, Cousins’ injury was highly probable, even expected.
Although his mobility was faster than many expected, making him not seem as incompatible as O’Neal did when he joined The Suns, his weight was unavoidable.
Just like Yao Ming, holding the ground is fine, but truly running puts immense pressure on the ankles and knees, making injury just a matter of time.
As for the Warriors, they received both bad and good news simultaneously.
The bad news is, of course, Cousins is out for the season; the good news is he got injured before the trade deadline, giving them roughly ten days to negotiate with other teams for roster reinforcement, even though this year’s deadline was moved up to February 9.
And this also had an impact on the All-Star game, because Cousins was a starter for The West, and his starting position needed someone from the bench to replace, while his absent spot needed another to fill.
Regarding the starting lineup, this year The Western All-Star coach Antony ultimately assigned Klay Thompson to the starting roster, while Griffin from the Clippers filled Cousins’ position.
With the selection broadcast approaching, the team captains Hansen and James were asked some related questions.
The most attention-grabbing was surely whom he would choose as his first pick.
Facing this question, James’ answer displayed his intelligent wit.
"We understand the League is doing this to make the games more competitive, so I will choose the most suitable lineup to win the game." Dıscover more novels at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵
When reporters further asked whether he would choose Davis as his first pick, he showed his humorous side.
"If AD sends me a fruit basket, I’ll consider making him the first choice," James said with a smile.
The same question was given to Hansen, whose answer was very straightforward.
"If I’m the first to pick, Nikola will be the first selected. If I’m the second to pick, if Nikola is still available, he’ll be my first choice."
This was a show of "affection" between teammates.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the selection broadcast day.
Inside the TNT studio, at a semicircular round table, Hansen and James each sat on one side, with TNT’s The Big Three in between them.
After the show began, Kenny Smith introduced the selection rules.
Selection is divided into two rounds; the first round selects starters, in which the two need to choose 4 people from the remaining 8 starters from the voting results, adding themselves to form the starting lineup.
For the bench players, both will pick 7 players each as their substitutes.
After explaining the rules, Barkley took out a simple coin from under the table.
Classic coin toss, the one guessing right will be the first to choose.
Barkley flipped the coin into the air with his thumb and caught it with the back of his hand, covering it.
Hansen guessed heads, while James guessed tails.
Barkley removed his hand, revealing the bald eagle.
James was lucky enough.
This result instantly raised the suspense of the show.
Because if Hansen started first, given his personality, he would undoubtedly keep his word and choose Jokic first.
However, James left himself an opening earlier, even during the warm-up, saying the answer would naturally be revealed when selecting, so no one knows whom he would actually choose.
James maximized his media persona, just like the Decision broadcast years ago, wearing a contemplative and conflicted expression before making his choice.
Upon hearing James’ choice, Hansen couldn’t help but laugh.
Before the selection, it was uncertain who James would pick, but after the selection, it seemed inevitable.
How could James not choose the strongest presence in the pool?
Moreover, Hansen said his first choice was Jokic, so Davis was still available for him at the second position.
Hansen picked Jokic, but James’ second choice was surprising again; he didn’t pick Davis but chose Curry!