Chapter 98 Are you all here to be a sparring partner (daily chapter)

On February 4, 1998, in back-to-back away games, the Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 98:88.

Watching the players walking off the court talking and laughing, Jeff Van Gundy, who hung up, felt that he had reached the peak of his life!

In the first season when he officially took over the team, he was elected as the best coach in the league. In the second season, he led the team to a 19-game winning streak and was also elected as the head coach of the All-Star Game!

Not many coaches can achieve such an achievement. As the All-Star Weekend approaches, Jeff Van Gundy becomes more and more arrogant. The bald young coach feels that he is going to heaven.

At the same time, after winning this game, the Knicks' record reached 35 wins and 10 losses. Although the Pacers behind them had already caught up, Jeff Van Gundy didn't care at this moment:

“Be sure to enjoy this year’s All-Star Weekend!”

After returning to the locker room, everyone on the Knicks team looked relaxed, and everyone could start enjoying the All-Star weekend vacation.

The All-Star Game is held at Madison Square Garden. Even if you want to watch the game live, you don't have to fly back and forth.

“It’s hard to understand why there are four Lakers players in the Western Conference All-Stars!”

"The coach really gave me face. If it were me who voted, this situation would not have happened."

Larry Johnson returned to his seat and said something bitter again.

The Knicks had the best record, but only Li You was selected as an All-Star. On the other hand, the Lakers had four players this year.

"Auntie" has performed well during this period. I originally imagined that I could be selected for the substitute lineup. After the results were announced not long ago, I immediately became a lemon.

This matter has been complained about many times. Alan Houston didn't care about it. Instead, he laughed and joked:

"Coach Van Gundy was elected as the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, and two of us were selected for the All-Star Game. This kind of treatment is already very good."

As soon as they heard this, the atmosphere team also started to cheer. Thinking of the situation when McNamara met Van Gundy, everyone couldn't wait to watch the fun.

Not long ago, the NBA just announced the reserve lineups for the Eastern and Western Conference All-Stars. As a result, no one from the Knicks, who had the best record, was selected, which immediately angered the New York media.

The seven Eastern Conference All-Star reserves are:

Glenn Rice, Reggie Miller, Steve Smith, Rick Smits, Tim Hardaway, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker.

The seven Western Conference All-Star reserves are:

Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Vin Baker, Mitch Richmond, Jason Kidd.

The Pacers, Lakers, and Spurs all have two people selected to the All-Star reserve team.

In the 1998 All-Star Game, the Lakers became the biggest winners. Four All-Stars made the fans in Los Angeles so swollen that the local media also loaned the championship a chance!

O'Neal has just been elected January's Player of the Month, and the Lakers are getting better.

Although it's not the playoffs yet, the Los Angeles media has already begun to punch the Jazz and kick the SuperSonics.

The New York media believes that the head coaches of other teams are deliberately targeting the Knicks, and they should also enjoy the treatment of the Lakers!

Chicago fans are very dissatisfied with the results of this year's All-Star selection, but the consolation is that Pippen, who was clamoring to leave the team some time ago, has recently returned from injury.

No one can escape the law of true fragrance. As for how McQueen managed the locker room, the media has no idea and can only make wild guesses.

The teammates chatted more and more, and some even began to look forward to the drama of Maikun angrily criticizing the head coach. At this time, Li You hurriedly changed the subject:

"To celebrate the three-point contest championship, I'll treat you to a treat when I return to New York!"

"oh!!"

Everyone didn't care about winning the single championship, they just cheered along.

Everyone knows Li You's strength. In daily training, this five-point three-point shooting is ridiculously accurate!

After Jeff Van Gundy returned to the locker room, he smiled happily when he heard the cheers. The players still loved him very much.

Due to the Magic's poor record, Anfernee Hardaway completely missed the All-Star Game this year after being squeezed out of the starting lineup by Li You.

This made Hook's original promotional resources useless, and finally all of them were transferred to Li You.

On the 5th, Li You cooperated with the hook staff and took makeup photos for most of the day.

In order to promote the new Air Foamposite One shoe, Li You will have to wear "Penny" signature shoes in this year's All-Star Game.

Unexpectedly, Anfernee Hardaway missed the All-Star Game. Fortunately, the alternative plan was to add Knicks colors, and Li You could match it, otherwise he would have suffered a huge loss this year.

The sales volume of Brother Hook's shoes did not meet expectations. At this time, he had to rely on Li You to carry the goods. The "Big Eyes" sold well. In New York, many fans will buy a pair.

With the promotional photos and Sports Illustrated interview, Hook hopes that sales of this shoe will explode after the All-Star Weekend.

The Sports Illustrated interview in the afternoon was still at Rockefeller Center, and editor-in-chief Bill Colhoun was already an old acquaintance of Li You.

The staff all knew how to write the article. The topic the two talked about had little to do with basketball:

"We may have to move in two years, Li, don't forget to come to Sports Illustrated's event then!"

"Warner has planned a new headquarters building. We will all have to move there by then. New York is developing too fast."

When Bill Colhoun talked about his new home, he also showed a longing expression, which triggered the memory in his mind. Only then did Li You remember the future Time Warner information:

"Moving to the new headquarters is definitely a good thing. Your website is doing well. Other magazines don't move so quickly."

Li You's words immediately put Bill Colhoun in a good mood. He advocated launching an Internet business, and so far the results are pretty good.

The All-Star Weekend in 1998 was a little different from previous ones. The slam dunk contest was canceled this year because fans reported that this single event was too boring!

No one likes to watch a boring dunk contest.

On February 6, the NBA began to arrange makeup photos for Eastern and Western All-Star players.

In the afternoon, when Li You saw Michael Jordan, he was in a good mood again. Pippen's return from injury made Michael Jordan relieved.

In the Madison Square Garden Arena, the players all wear their own uniforms. The only difference from the regular season is that there is a small star on the jersey to mark the All-Stars.

"Do you want me to give up my position to you? Li, this is your home court!"

Wearing a white Bulls uniform, Michael Jordan, who was in a good mood, naturally stood in the C position when taking photos, teasing Li You, and more of pretending

Li You saw that Maikun was holding the basketball and sitting in the middle position. He was speechless for a moment and could only say with a smile:

"I'm just a rookie player, not a top 50 star. I can just sit on the sidelines."

Seemingly satisfied with Li You's answer, Michael Jordan started to greet everyone to their seats with a smile.

In the end, the final makeup of the Eastern Conference All-Stars became Michael Jordan sitting in the C position holding a basketball, Li You and Grant Texier were on both sides, and everyone behind them was arranged in order of height.

The C position of the Western Conference All-Stars' makeup photo became O'Neal, with MVP Karl Malone standing aside like everyone else.

All-Star Weekend is held in New York, and the protagonist is still Michael Jordan.

On Saturday, February 7th, the three-point shooting contest and rookie challenge will be held that night.

However, the media wanted to know more about the internal situation of the Bulls. When Pippen almost broke up with the team, he actually wore a Bulls jersey again. Everyone wanted to know the inside story.

As the Bulls' record improves, there are more and more calls for three consecutive championships.

At this time, Li You felt what Jeff Van Gundy felt. It was obviously the home court of the Knicks, but McDuck stole the show.

The clumsy New York media is not willing to let go of such hot news. Ever since Michael Jordan arrived in New York, he has almost become his follower.

Li You can be interviewed at any time, but Michael Jordan is different. In short, during the All-Star Weekend, the real superstar Michael Jordan is online again!

No one paid attention to Karl Malone, and no one paid attention to O'Neal. By the All-Star weekend, everyone became a supporting role.

Coupled with rumors that Michael Jordan planned to retire after this season, the popularity of McDuck exploded.

On the night of the 7th, many famous people came to Madison Square Garden, and the most eye-catching one was Magic Johnson, who was greeting his friends in the front row.

Showing their signature smiles and constantly greeting celebrities present, and with Pacers coach Larry Bird also present, the two Magic Birds attracted everyone's attention.

Grant Hill, who was wearing a straight formal suit, sat next to Li You. The two sat in the front row and chatted casually while watching the Rookie Challenge:

"This is the influence of veteran stars. Many fans grew up watching their games."

Grant Hill was second only to Michael Jordan in votes this year, but when he arrived at the scene, he was still not as eye-catching as Magic Johnson.

"Fans will also get older. Looking at this year's All-Star Game, at least young people account for more than half."

Li You is not in a beautiful mood, these old guys are showing their presence all the time.

Grant Hill didn't have much in the way of competition. This new-generation star with a good tutor just smiled when he heard Li You's words.

An unremarkable rookie challenge, and in the end, the Eastern Conference rookie team successfully won 80:85.

"Big Z" Ilgauskas of the Cavaliers was elected the Rookie Challenge MVP and also became the first international player to win this award in NBA history.

In the subsequent three-point shooting contest, Li You finally regained his sense of presence.

After changing into a white Knicks training uniform, Li You stood up on the bench and waved, and the New York fans in attendance began to cheer loudly.

This kind of treatment also made a few people on the side feel jealous. The old guy had already taken away the heat, but now Li You also came out to disrupt the situation.

Jeff Hornacek, Hubert Davis, Dale Ellis, Sam Mack, Glenn Rice, Tracy Murray, Reggie Miller.

The seven people around Li You didn't even say hello to each other. Brother basketball was not popular these days, and Reggie Miller didn't even look at Li You.

Every time the Pacers and the Knicks play against each other, although the two do not face off directly, the New York media always compares the two.

As Hornacek made his first appearance, the scene started to get noisy.

Perhaps it was because I didn't get into the groove as early as possible. In the first half of the race, Hornacek was banging, but it wasn't until later that I gradually found the feeling.
To be continued...