The Fifth Point Guard

Rose finished watching the game and turned off the TV.

His three brothers expressed their opinions in turn.

Big brother: "This guy seems to be from China. I heard that people there are good at kung fu."

Second brother: "So, we should recruit more Chinese to enrich our strength."

Third brother: "Derek, just play hard and don't worry about other things. The three of us will take care of it for you."

Rose watched the TV and recalled what Barkley and Smith said.

Maybe we should try to change our playing style?

Or, don't play like this the whole game?

I'm still young now, but what about after a few years of playing?

Will my explosive power still be this strong?

Even STO only started playing such a desperate style in the fourth quarter.

Maybe I should work on my jump shot.

Maybe I should learn the post-up technique.

This time, the "Hurricane" hit Chicago.

James' injury was more serious than imagined.

After expert consultation, James needed a minimally invasive surgery. The surgery itself is not a major surgery, and if he recovers well, it will not affect his future competitive status.

However, because the injured area requires frequent exertion in daily life, recovery will be slower.

According to doctors' conservative estimates, James will not be able to return to the game until after the All-Star break.

In other words, James needs to rest for almost 2 months.

This is a big blow to the Cavaliers.

As soon as he was diagnosed, James called STO.

"Hello, brother, two news, one good news, one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

James' tone was a little low.

Shentong replied: "Good news."

"The good news is that my injury is not serious and will not have any impact on my career."

"Wow, that's definitely good news. Now here's the bad news."

"The bad news is I'm afraid I'll have to rest until the end of the All-Star Game because of where I had the surgery."

Before James could finish speaking, Shentong interrupted him.

"LeBron, you don't need to explain it to me so clearly. As long as your injury will not affect your future playing, that's enough. As for recuperation, you don't have to worry at all. You have to be sure to recover after you recover." Return to the team. I know better than anyone else that you are a guy with a sense of competition and great ambitions. Dajuan, Big Z and others like me and I will help you make up for it. You don’t have to worry about it. You just need to rest in peace and recuperate, and the rest will be left to you. us."

James was moved.

Such a caring boss!

No airs at all.

Don't refuse at all when it's time to shoulder the pressure.

Who else is more suitable to be the team leader than STO?

This kind of charisma and high emotional intelligence cannot be cultivated.

Introduce, it is leadership temperament!

From this moment on, James was completely devoted to Shentong.

It is so difficult to have a close friend in life.

From now on, Shentong will be his boss, and he will be the second child!

Soon, the news spread throughout the league that James had been replaced by Bowen and needed to rest for two months.

Under the banner of STO, the players came out one after another to accuse Bowen of his despicable behavior.

For a time, calls to ban Bowen resounded throughout the league.

Kobe, Carter, Nash, Wade, Francis and others all came forward to evaluate Bowen.

Kobe: "It's fun to play one-on-one with him. He is an excellent defender. I don't deny that, but when I break through, he always habitually raises his knee to hit me, trying to use The knee came to stop me from breaking through. For this reason, I had to always be alert to the risk of injury."

Carter: "After a jump shot, Bowen habitually put his foot under my foot. I quickly changed my focus to avoid this disaster. After landing, I was so angry that I rushed to Bowen to argue with him, but the referee Didn't think I was cool and kicked me out. I hate Bowen."

Nash: "One minute before the end of the third quarter, Bowen took advantage of my unsteady footing during the offense to step out with his right foot and put his right knee firmly between my legs. I immediately fell down in pain. On the ground, but the referee did not call Bowen a flagrant foul or a technical foul. Compared with Horry, I hate Bowen more."

Wade: "You can now put me in the crowd of people who are calling him dirty. He should be suspended and then fined. As a player, he really shouldn't have done something shameless like that. I want to ask Ask him, does he want to take me to Mars?"

Francis: "In an offense in the first quarter, I pulled up and shot under Bowen's defense. The ball was thrown, but Bowen had quietly put his foot under my landing foot. Waiting for me to land from the air Then, I happened to step on it, and I fell to the ground in pain while holding my left ankle."

James, the person involved in the incident that triggered the denunciation, also came forward to accuse Bowen.

"He is really a dirty guy. Did everyone see it? When he was defending me, he not only pushed his knee against my body, but also quietly put his right foot under my left foot. The result was Injuried!"

STO, which received support from many players, cut the scene of Bowen stepping into a video and sent it to the players union, demanding that Bowen be punished for "uncivilized play".

One day after STO submitted the video, the union stated that in order to eliminate Zhengyuan and maintain a good competitive environment in the league, this time it was clearly on STO's side.

Under pressure from players and the union, the league launched an investigation into Bowen's "uncivilized play."

After a 7-day investigation time limit, the league imposed a heavy penalty on Bowen, suspending him for one month and fined him US$500,000!

Popovich complained for his disciple, claiming that Shentong was afraid that the Spurs would have an advantage because of James' absence from the game, and wanted to use other methods to reduce the Spurs' strength.

But STO did not give Popovich any face.

"Does he really think I regard them as my opponents? Don't be ridiculous. I pay more attention to the Heat and Suns."

Popovich, who was ridiculed and slapped in the face, said nothing.

Although Bowen told the media that he was innocent, under the intimidation of the league and the Internet, he obediently paid the fine and said that he would pay attention to protecting players in the future. Only then did the voice of condemnation gradually subside.

STO's leadership qualities were fully demonstrated in this incident.

The loss of James will undoubtedly have an impact on the overall strength of the Cavaliers, but STO will shoulder the heavy responsibility and start his own rampage mode with crazy scoring.

Throughout January, STO scored a single-month record of 40.5 points per game, leaving Kobe Bryant, who ranked second with 33 points per game, behind.

In the face of double teams or even triple teams, Shentong was still able to use his explosive performance to complete the scoring.

Some people joked that there was a "Shen whirlwind" blowing in the league.

STO's popularity is close to that of Michael Jordan at his peak in the league.

In the schedule between losing James and the All-Star Game, the Cavaliers achieved a record of 29 wins and 5 losses, and topped the league with a record of 46 wins and 6 losses!

Some are already discussing the possibility of breaking the Bulls' 72-10 regular season record.

From the perspective of winning rate, the current winning rate of the Cavaliers is 88.5%, exceeding the Bulls' 87.8%, which is theoretically possible.

And after the All-Star Game, James will recover and return, which is another weight for the Cavaliers to break the record.

In order to ensure that he is healthy, James, who was selected into the All-Star starting lineup, has decided to give up participating in the game to ensure that he can return to the team with a 100% healthy body.

At present, James has basically recovered and is undergoing rehabilitation training with Cavaliers' physical coach Derek Miranda.

The Cavaliers team is currently in high morale, has good internal chemistry, and is very harmonious in the locker room.

Whether they can break the regular season record of 72 wins depends entirely on their own performance.

During this period, several important transactions took place in the league.

On January 25, the Kings completed a trade with the Pacers, exchanging "Marksman" Peja Stojakovic for "Beast" Ron Artest.

After the Kings sent away Webb, the method of building a team with Peja as the core did not seem to work. They looked for Artest, who played tough and had first-class defense.

On January 26, the Timberwolves and Celtics completed a major trade involving seven people.

The Timberwolves traded Szczerbiak, Olowokandi, Jones and a conditional first-round pick to the Celtics for Ricky Davis, Mark Blount and Marcus Banke. Si, Justin Reed and a future second-round pick.

Garnett criticized the management for Szczerbiak's departure.

There are reports that Garnett may not renew his contract with the Timberwolves after his contract expires, which has made many teams think.

However, the Timberwolves soon came out to refute the rumors, claiming that they would do their best to keep Garnett and help Garnett sign enough helpers.

On February 3, the Raptors completed a trade with the Knicks in which they traded Jalen Rose and a 2006 first-round pick to the Knicks' Antonio Davis.

Rose finally left the sad place of Toronto, and only the rich and luxurious life of New York could soothe his heart.

It turned out that on January 22, Kobe led the Lakers to face the Raptors at home. Under Rose's defense, Kobe scored 81 points, becoming the second player to score 80+ points after Shentong's 83 points, ranking first in history. three.

At the beginning of the first three quarters, the Raptors led the Lakers by as many as 18 points, but Kobe suddenly used all kinds of martial arts, rushing left and right, attacking from east to west. He actually scored 55 points in the entire second half and led the Lakers. Complete a big comeback in the fourth quarter!

If it weren't for STO's 83 points in the lead, Kobe's 81 points would definitely be more influential.

Rose, who faced Kobe, seemed to have lost his soul after that game.

Trading was a relief for him.

On February 14, four days before the opening of the All-Star Game, the Cavaliers completed a deal with the Knicks.

The Cavaliers traded backup guard Damon Jones to the Knicks for "Penny" Anfernee Hardaway.

Experts generally believe that the Cavaliers are fooling around, but Shentong knows that the Cavaliers actually made money.

Judging from the two players' own analysis, Jones is still in prime condition, while Hardaway is already at the end of his career and is plagued by injuries. Obviously Jones has more combat effectiveness.

But there is one reason why the Cavaliers had to trade Jones.

That's why Jones expressed dissatisfaction with his position as the team's third point guard.

He asked for more playing time, which is a requirement that the Cavaliers, who are currently winning consecutive games, cannot meet.

No one will rashly adjust substitution arrangements and playing time when the team is performing well.

In order to ensure the stability of the locker room, the Cavaliers chose to make this deal that "seemed to be a big loss".

When Hardaway came to the Cavaliers on his first day, Shentong said to Hardaway: "Hey, buddy, you have made a lot of money. At the end of the season, I will give you a trophy, a trophy for standing at the top of the league!"

"Okay, boss."

Hardaway knew that he finally got the upper hand!

On February 18, 2006, the NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off in Houston.

STO once again became the All-Star vote king.

Moreover, this time he broke the highest number of All-Star votes created by himself last season.

A total of 4 million votes!

Once again refreshed the NBA's historical record.

The second place is also Chinese, Yao Ming.

He got 2.34 million votes, but it was 1.66 million less than Shentong!

Seeing the top two votes, it's no wonder that O'Neal, who was ranked third, also said jealously that this year's All-Stars can be called the China Game.

He received 2.19 million votes.

According to fan votes, the Eastern Conference All-Star starting lineup is:

Center: Shaquille O'Neal (2.19 million) (Heat)

Forward: Jermaine O'Neal (1.29 million) (Pacers)

Forward: LeBron James (2 million) (Cavaliers) (withdrew due to injury)

Guard: Shentong (4 million) (Cavaliers)

Guard: Allen Iverson (2.06 million) (76ers)

The Western Conference All-Star starting lineup is:

Center: Yao Ming (2.34 million) (Rockets)

Forward: Tim Duncan (1.51 million) (Spurs)

Forward: Tracy McGrady (1.81 million) (Rockets)

Guard: Kobe Bryant (2.17 million) (Lakers)

Guard: Steve Nash (1.81 million) (Suns)

According to the coach's choice, the substitute lineup is:

east:

Dwyane Wade (Heat), Chauncey Billups (Pistons), Chris Bosh (Raptors), Vince Carter (Nets), Gilbert Arenas (Wizards) , Ben Wallace (Pistons), Paul Pierce (Celtics), Michael Reed (Bucks) (selected as a substitute)

west:

Ray Allen (SuperSonics), Elton Brand (Clippers), Kevin Garnett (Timberwolves), Pau Gasol (Grizzlies), Shawn Marion (Suns), Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks), Tony Parker (Spurs)

Since James withdrew due to injury, Reid, who performed well this season, was selected as a substitute.

According to the schedule, the Houston All-Star Weekend will last for three days, from February 18th to February 20th.

The highlight of the 18th is the Rookie Challenge, the 19th is the Skills Challenge, the Three-Point Shooting Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest, and the 20th is the 55th All-Star Game.

On February 17, basketball stars from all over the United States gathered in Houston to spend three days of fun here.