12dz Chapter 140 Slam Dunk Contest: Practicing 3-point shots? Is Wang Xiucheng seriously ill?
Chapter 140 Slam Dunk Contest: Practicing 3-point shots? Is Wang Xiucheng seriously ill?
The next day, at the Cleveland Cavaliers' home arena, the Rockets' mortgaged arena.
The name "Rockets Mortgage" has absolutely nothing to do with the Rockets team; it's the name of a loan company owned by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
The stadium has been packed with people since the morning.
In addition to the All-Star individual events tonight, there are many other official NBA events today.
There's even a limited edition of 75 star player cards available for sale at the stadium's official store.
This caused truck collecting enthusiasts across the United States and even other countries to line up early on.
In fact, the All-Star game is not unfamiliar to Cleveland fans.
This year marks the third time that All-Star Weekend has been held in this city.
Although today is not the main competition, the individual events are more entertaining for fans.
As the game was about to start, Wang Xiucheng, Shen Jing, and Green entered the stadium and sat down at random in an empty spot.
Today, the entire side of the court was empty for NBA players to sit in. Even big names like LeBron James and Stephen Curry were sitting there, and some were even sitting on the floor.
On the other side, there were only celebrities watching the game.
Besides Swift, Depp, and others whom Wang Xiucheng had already met yesterday, there were many new faces today.
Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Emma Watson, Jenna Ortega, and others all brought their friends or family members to the event.
For these celebrities, watching the game live is a show in itself, especially with a new movie being released recently.
In the more distant stands, there were noticeably more fans with Chinese faces today.
Wang Xiucheng had heard Ma Xiaoxuan mention before leaving the United States that several travel agencies in China had launched the "Wang Xiucheng All-Star Tour".
I'll start from China, go to Cleveland to watch Wang Xiucheng's All-Star game, spend a week in New York, and then fly back to China.
Ma Xiaoxuan said the price for this All-Star trip was 188,800 RMB.
Wang Xiucheng was stunned. So expensive?
"Expensive? There's still more demand than supply. The All-Star Game only happens once a year, and there are limited spots. If you don't get one, try again next year, or go to a regular NBA game. Anyway, thanks to you, Houston is seeing a surge in tourists from China."
This is what Ma Xiaoxuan said at the time.
Wang Xiucheng had no idea how many of his fellow countrymen were as wealthy as him in the stadium today.
Soon, after a rather dull opening performance in the arena, the individual events of the second day of this year's All-Star Weekend officially began.
The first competition was a skills competition.
This year, the league has made some intentional reforms, and the three teams selected are all quite sensational.
The first team was called the "Giannis Team," and its members were Giannis Antetokounmpo, Giannis's brother, and Giannis's other two brothers.
The second team was the host team, the "Cavaliers," whose three players were Allen, Garland, and Mobley.
The last team is the rookie team, consisting of Barnes, Cunningham, and Kidd.
During the warm-up of each team, the on-site host took some time to explain the rules.
But compared to the past, there is actually no difference.
In reality, the skills challenge is really long and tedious.
After nearly an hour, the challenge, in which only the host seemed to be having a great time, finally came to an end.
Fortunately, the host team, the Cavaliers, won the championship in the end, which made the atmosphere less tense.
After a brief awards ceremony, the second individual competition began: the three-point shooting contest.
Without Curry's participation, the Three-Point Contest loses its biggest appeal.
In the end, the three-point shooting championship was won by a 2.11-meter center.
It's hard to say whether this is a success or a failure for the event.
Another hour passed.
The competition has finally come to its last and most anticipated event: the Slam Dunk Contest.
Unlike the previous two competitions, where it was difficult to predict who would win, the Slam Dunk Contest was considered the least suspenseful competition from the start.
The odds offered by some betting companies in Las Vegas for the champion have been steadily declining.
By the time the betting closed today, Wang Xiucheng's chances of winning the championship had dropped to 1.15.
This means that if you bet 100 yuan on Wang Xiucheng and win, you can get 115 yuan including your principal and interest.
These odds were never this low, not even when Carter participated in the Slam Dunk Contest.
But the more this is the case, the more excited the fans become about the match.
In fact, most people were waiting for the final dunk contest out of today's three events.
As the staff were tidying up the podium, Wang Xiucheng, who had been sitting in the players' area, finally stood up.
After exchanging fist bumps with Green and Shen Jing respectively, Wang Xiucheng leaped over the crowd and stood on the court.
Instantly, all eyes in the room were drawn to Wang Xiucheng.
Whether it was James Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns who had just won the three-point shooting championship, or any other players who came to show their support, they all spontaneously applauded.
With these players leading the way, fans who hadn't spotted Wang Xiucheng at the stadium before saw him on the big screen, wearing a training uniform, and he actually walked directly onto the field from the players' area.
This left the host completely bewildered. "I was wondering why I couldn't find you. Turns out you were hiding here."
He quickly went to Wang Xiucheng's side and whispered a few words in Wang Xiucheng's ear. Wang Xiucheng then awkwardly ran to the players' tunnel.
Damn it, no one told us beforehand that there would be an entrance ceremony.
James and Curry both collapsed to the ground laughing; this guy always manages to bring joy to people.
O'Neal and Barkley, sitting in the front row of the TNT broadcast seats, were also laughing heartily.
The second-floor stands of the stadium, formerly VIP suites, have now been converted into broadcasting studios for various countries and television stations.
Tencent Sports has one of the best-located live broadcast rooms, offering a view of the entire stadium.
"It's about to start, I haven't been this excited in a long time." Zhang Weiping's voice was still a little hoarse, caused by shouting for a long time during yesterday's broadcast of the rookie game.
Tencent Sports had originally arranged for someone else to broadcast the dunk contest today, but Zhang Weiping refused.
How could I be absent from such an important time?
"I'd like to let you all know in advance that there's a surprise today," Zhang Weiping said into the microphone.
Another guest today, Su Qun, asked, "A surprise? Is it a surprise brought by Wang Xiucheng?"
Zhang Weiping shook his head, refusing to say another word.
Just then, the venue was cleared up, and the huge LED screen standing next to the players' tunnel began to flash as the host introduced the players participating in the dunk contest.
The first player to appear was Steve Kerr-Anthony of the Orlando Magic.
“Anthony is about 1.8687 meters tall without shoes. His short stature is both a disadvantage and an advantage; it makes him very graceful when he flies.”
"Rumors circulate that Anthony's vertical jump is close to 1.2 meters, but I don't know if it's true."
Following Su Qun's introduction, the second player also took the stage: Anderson from the Warriors.
Then there's third place, Obitoppin of the Knicks.
Then the lights on site started flashing, and without any neutrality, they ended up shining all the light directly on Wang Xiucheng as he walked out.
Wearing his Rockets training uniform, Wang Xiucheng waved to the cheers of the fans in the arena.
"Wang Xiucheng is on the field." Zhang Weiping, who had been resting his voice, announced loudly, "Wang Xiucheng is on the field. He is the second Chinese player to participate in the All-Star Game after Yao Ming."
"And it's an even more difficult and more entertaining dunk contest."
Su Qun picked up the conversation: "Wang Xiucheng's stats when he participated in the talent show last year were 191cm tall with shoes on and 191cm wingspan. He has actually grown quite a bit in the last six months."
"Conservatively estimated, Wang Xiucheng's current height is around 196 cm, and his wingspan should be at least 2 meters."
"Furthermore, according to a recent ESPN feature, Wang Xiucheng's vertical jump should be around 1.1 meters."
Instead of stating his own speculation, Su Qun cited data analysis from ESPN's data experts.
In fact, Su Qun believes that Wang Xiucheng is likely already close to 2 meters tall, although there is not much difference between him and 196.
"Now let me introduce the five scoring judges on site, each of whom is a 75+."
"Wilkins, the Smiling Assassin Thomas, and third place went to Drexler the Glide. In his pre-contest interview, he firmly believed that Houston would win its first Slam Dunk Contest title."
"Fourth place, Admiral Robinson, and last place, Dr. J Julius Owen."
Zhang Weiping then said with a smile, "The NBA doesn't shy away from suspicion at all. Of these five people, two have connections with Wang Xiucheng."
Of these five people, Thomas was Wang Xiucheng's captain and coach in the rookie game yesterday, and today he's become a scoring referee.
And Drexler, needless to say, is a Rockets legend, a championship ring holder, and an alumnus of Wang Xiucheng.
If there's anything I'm really upset about, it's losing to Jordan and not winning the Slam Dunk Contest.
After the players and the scoring referees were introduced, the four of them each took a ball and began a short warm-up.
The other three players were just trying out dunks to get used to the position and the lighting.
However, under the watchful eyes of the entire arena, Wang Xiucheng took the ball and stood outside the three-point line to start shooting three-pointers.
Bang!
It didn't go in.
Bang!
It didn't go in.
Swish!
They're in.
The entire stadium was stunned.
what's the situation?
Has Wang Xiucheng gone mad?
Did he think this was a three-point shooting contest?
Curry and James, sitting not far away on the baseline, could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Toping, who was practicing dunks with Wang Xiucheng at one basket, took the ball and ran to another basket to compete for position with Anthony and Anderson.
There was nothing he could do; Wang Xiucheng kept throwing down three-pointers, he had no time to warm up.
Basketballs nearly hit him on the head several times.
Wang Xiucheng must have some serious illness; it's best not to provoke him.
Wang Xiucheng was also a little angry at this point. Damn it, picking up the ball was too much trouble.
Wang Xiucheng immediately spotted Curry and James with bewildered expressions at the baseline.
"Is this kid crazy?" Curry whispered to James.
"Did something happen last night?" James said, covering his mouth with his collar. "Let's get out of here quickly. If the cameras catch us, we'll look really stupid."
"Yes, let's go quickly."
Curry strongly agreed with James's suggestion, so the two of them stood up.
Unexpectedly, Wang Xiucheng ran over at that moment.
Wang Xiucheng even reached out and pulled the two of them up.
To outsiders, it looked as if Wang Xiucheng had pulled Curry and James up when they were caught off guard.
Curry and James were both stunned.
What's this kid up to?
Without wasting words, Wang Xiucheng said directly to the two, "Fetch the ball for me. I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Hurry up."
"Retrieve the ball?"
The two hesitated for a moment, exchanged a glance, and then obediently came to the basket.
They desperately wanted to know what Wang Xiucheng was up to.
Then, what happened next was truly astonishing.
Wang Xiucheng stood outside the three-point line, shooting three-pointers one after another, while Curry and James seemed to be fetching the balls for him like little helpers.
The entire stadium was completely silent; not a single fan dared to make a sound.
The only sounds were the resounding thuds of Wang Xiucheng hitting the rim and the occasional beautiful swishing of the ball through the net.
The five old men on the referee's bench wondered if they were getting presbyopia.
Otherwise, why would you see someone practicing three-pointers at the dunk contest?
Moreover, it was James and Curry who retrieved the ball for him!
O'Neal patted his bald head, unsure what to say to the viewers in front of the TV.
"Welcome to the Slam Dunk Contest. Wang Xiucheng is currently warming up by shooting three-pointers..."
O'Neal simply couldn't bring himself to say that.
Penguin Live Room.
Zhang Weiping, who is about the same age as the 75th generation, is indeed very knowledgeable. At this moment, he cleared his throat in front of tens of millions of fans watching the live broadcast.
"Shooting three-pointers can stretch your arms, waist, abdomen, and legs. It's a great type of warm-up, and it's not as dangerous as dunking. You can try it out anytime."
Wang Meng was dumbfounded. "It has to be you, Coach Zhang. If I dared to say something like that, I would be beaten to death when I returned to China."
Time flew by, and when the five minutes were up, Wang Xiucheng's last three-pointer went right into the net.
Wang Xiucheng clenched his fist and exhaled a breath of stale air.
"I made a total of 42 three-pointers and earned 4200 system points."
After bumping fists with James and Curry, who were still looking completely bewildered, Wang Xiucheng silently sat back down next to Shen Jing-Green in the player area.
James and Curry exchanged a glance, then quickly sat down, covering their faces.
That's so damn embarrassing!
The key is that as soon as Wang Xiucheng called them, they got up to pick up the ball.
Curry even asked the referee for an extra ball to give to Wang Xiucheng.
I thought Wang Xiucheng would say something at the end, but he didn't say a word, making James and Curry look like clowns.
That's why hosts have to be professional; he launched into a passionate commentary as if nothing was happening.
In fact, Wang Xiucheng would shoot three-pointers on the spot, and the reason is very simple.
He received today's system task.
There are two tasks.
[Task 1: Before the end of the dunk contest warm-up, earn 100 system points for every three-pointer made.]
[Task 2: Win the Slam Dunk Contest. Upon completion, you will receive 10,000 system points.]
Wang Xiucheng just made 42 three-pointers, so he has 4200 points.
The second task, winning today's dunk contest, will directly reward you with 1 system points.
It's like meeting a new older sister.
Yesterday, Wang Xiucheng won the Rookie Tournament and also won the MVP award, easily earning 2 points.
I never expected to actually score some points during this trip to Cleveland; it was definitely worth it.
Just then, Cole Anthony came on the field.