Chapter 314: All-Star MVP Jack Fan

Fan Xi felt Howard was extremely childish.

I've played like this, and you want to sub in to pick peaches? Is that possible?

However, Chris Paul was instigating this possibility. He had been discussing it in a low voice with D'Antoni, thinking that if the West continued to lead, they could sub him and Howard in to harvest the victory.

When Paul said this to him, D'Antoni felt a numbness in the back of his head; he didn't expect Paul to be able to say such things as a matter of course.

This was indeed a person who would stop at nothing for victory; Paul was a paranoid. But his paranoia was different from Kobe's and Fan Xi's. Fan Xi and Kobe, even at the most dangerous moments, wouldn't use any underhanded tactics. But Paul, his dirty moves were too many. In the active league, he was probably the dirtiest point guard... without one. Moreover, he liked to mess with other people's mentality.

Now, he was doing this to mess with Fan Xi's mentality.

He wanted to make Fan Xi go crazy, wanted to make Fan Xi experience the behavior of falling short and having peaches picked by others.

However, D'Antoni was still hesitating, and Kobe stopped him with a firm look.

Kobe knew very well what kind of personality Fan Xi had; offending Fan Xi was equivalent to throwing stones at the head of a hungry lion on the African savanna.

D'Antoni got Kobe's hint, and he breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't continue to discuss with Chris Paul.

At this time, Fan Xi also handled Dwight Howard.

He said to Howard: "Since you chose to be a prostitute, don't think about your reputation anymore. From the moment you caused trouble in the team and forced the management to let you leave, you could no longer get Orlando's support."

"Now, be your Lakers player and strive for what you want. The All-Star Game doesn't belong to you, and tonight, it doesn't belong to you anymore."

Fan Xi said this to Howard and returned to the bench. He sat there like a boss. He didn't greet anyone, but the momentum was there; everyone knew he had become the backbone.

Just like when taking the group photo before the game started, Kobe handed the flower ball to him.

Although many people were unconvinced, although many people felt Fan Xi's seniority was shallow.

But now, the person leading the West to confront the Eastern coalition head-on was Fan Xi.

With several Lakers players watching from the sidelines, only he had this ability and courage.

D'Antoni looked at Fan Xi sitting like a boss; he didn't even walk over to arrange tactics.

The game had been handed over to Fan Xi.

The East side conducted a decent analysis, and finally they subbed out Chris Bosh and subbed in Stoudemire to enhance the attack.

But this was just changing the soup without changing the medicine.

Beep!

The whistle blew.

The game continued.

James jumped for a mid-range shot, Clang!

Missed.

Marc Gasol got the ball and passed to Fan Xi. Fan Xi handed it to Tony Parker. Tony Parker brought the ball into the half-court, and Fan Xi wandered quickly.

Parker's breakthrough space was opened up by Fan Xi's off-ball movement. He entered the paint like a broken bamboo, and under the double-team of Stoudemire, passed the ball to Marc Gasol, and Gasol hit the floater.

Very easy, very calm.

Fan Xi stirred up the Eastern defense.

His existence made all Eastern perimeter defenders uneasy.

Under his leadership, the West was more like a team than the East, and it was one with high tactical literacy.

Compared to the multi-line slashing on the East side, the tactical level was much more complex.

It was very difficult for Spoelstra to crack it for a while.

This was just an All-Star Game.

It wasn't the playoffs; before both sides set up their formations, they had already conducted dozens or hundreds of deductions.

Changing sides to fight again, Derek Rose missed again. The black and white bears' presence in the paint was too strong; Rose's layup missed the rim, and the rebound was grabbed by Durant. Durant sprinted to the frontcourt with the ball himself.

Afterwards, he passed to Fan Xi, Fan Xi passed back to him, back and forth, and Durant was open.

Swish!

Three-pointer hit.

Fan Xi added an assist.

The point difference expanded further.

"You're right, you really did it. Tonight I have no chance to hit a game-winner against you."

On the way back to the half-court, Fan Xi spread his palms and said to Wade with a face full of "helplessness."

This trash talk hit the vital point directly; Wade was very uncomfortable, uncomfortable to the extreme.

He had previously said to Fan Xi, "You have no chance to hit a game-winner again," meaning Fan Xi couldn't win the game again, and now, Fan Xi repeating this sentence was telling him: the point difference is too big, there is no need to hit a game-winner against you at all.

Wade asked for the ball from Rose, he played Fan Xi one-on-one, and Fan Xi followed like a shadow.

Wade finally leaned back and shot after shaking off a step in the post... very beautiful technical presentation... unfortunately, the shot was a little bit short on power.

Clang!

The basketball bounced off the rim.

Zach Randolph grabbed the rebound.

He passed to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi brought the ball across half-court; he didn't run off-ball anymore; he wanted to crush Wade directly with one ball.

Wade flew over, and the two carried out a cruel offense and defense.

Wade used his defense to the extreme. In a state of extreme focus, Wade was also a superstar who was both offensive and defensive in the league today.

Under his defensive confrontation, Fan Xi's steps were a bit difficult.

However, Fan Xi still used a behind-the-back dribble to shake off a bit of space in the cracks. He raised his hand to make a shooting motion, and Wade immediately stuck to him... his defense was very seasoned.

However, this was exactly what Fan Xi wanted.

In this desperate situation, Fan Xi suddenly leaned back and forced the ball out. When he released, his feeling was very good.

He turned around, and before the ball entered the rim, he raised his hands high.

Wade was still surprised.

Swish!

The basketball fell through the net in response.

Boom!!!!

The Amway Center seemed to have experienced an explosion, and the sound waves rolled in instantly, like an expansion and eruption.

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

Under the huge shock, the 20,000 fans in the arena bowed down.

"Kill the game!"

Shaquille O'Neal made the final decision, although there were still four minutes left in the game.

However, Fan Xi's shot was completely above the defense; he was unreasonable, just like a steel gun in the middle of ten thousand armies, directly piercing the heart of the enemy commander.

Wade was a bit stunned at the time.

Could it be that God was on his side again?

It was hard for him not to suspect this. You know, he had already defended to the extreme.

"Is Jack paying tribute to Arenas? Or is it that he already knows the Clippers just signed Arenas? Now the Clippers are really an old man's team, a bunch of players who have been bosses gathered in the lineup. And Jack finally welcomed a real thorn; Gilbert actually dared to bring a handgun..."

Charles Barkley realized he had gone off-topic and hurriedly pulled it back: "This is Jack's fourth three-pointer in a row. It completely changed the game situation. The East went from an absolute lead to being completely behind in just a few minutes. I have to admire Jack's ability to seize opportunities. Facing such an opponent, even if you don't make mistakes, it's very easy to step on a pit."

Barkley also began to close the coffin on the game.

They knew the tone of the All-Star Game too well.

When the West irreversibly expanded its lead, and Fan Xi hit such a god-like shot.

The Eastern team organized resistance.

Rose and James cooperated, but James's layup was disrupted by Zach Randolph.

He went to the free-throw line and only hit 1 free throw.

Afterwards, the West fought more and more bravely, and Fan Xi's shot brought a great boost to the West's morale.

Tony Parker hit a 3-pointer outside the three-point line.

The point difference expanded to double digits.

One minute later, the point difference expanded to 14 points.

The East called a timeout.

Spoelstra subbed out the Miami-Chicago coalition.

Although for the participants, this was a thrilling encirclement battle. But in the eyes of the audience... this was just a wonderful and fiercely contested All-Star Game.

The audience didn't quite understand the internal confrontation and metaphors on the court.

But for Fan Xi, he won a great victory.

If he entered the finals, no matter whether he finally faced Miami or Chicago, he would establish enough psychological advantage.

Kobe Bryant was very regretful.

He felt he should have stood by Fan Xi's side at that time; this way, the Lakers would also establish such an advantage.

This was a very important leading battle.

Chris Paul was once again clever but mistaken by cleverness.

The East subbed out all the main players, and the main players on the West side played two more rounds, expanding the point difference to 17 points before returning to the bench.

In the last 38 seconds, both sides played very peacefully, without the previous tension.

Everyone was waiting for Fan Xi to repeat as All-Star MVP.

When the final whistle blew.

David Stern hadn't walked onto the court yet, and the fans at the Amway Center couldn't wait to shout Fan Xi's name: "Jack! Jack! Jack!"

Orlando was very loving to Fan Xi; Fan Xi, a leader from the West Coast, enjoyed the home cheers on the South Coast.

This made him flattered.

In fact, he didn't expect such a result either.

He originally thought he was just here to play a bit part, but...

Fan Xi now had 25 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

Although his scoring wasn't the highest, who would think the All-Star MVP was someone else?

All this had to be attributed to Deron Williams's provocation and Chris Bosh's sneak attack, right?

Perhaps, also have to thank Chris Paul for instigating the Lakers to stand by and watch.

Theoretically, the most powerful Los Angeles coalition wasn't formed.

"This is Fan Xi's second season, and also his second All-Star MVP. I have never seen such a legendary star. In my impression, even Michael Jordan's first two seasons weren't as exciting as Jack's. So, can Jack's ceiling really reach Michael's level?"

Kenny Smith couldn't help but raise such a conjecture before the award ceremony.

After all, the atmosphere had been built up to this point.

However, besides Kenny Smith, no one felt this way, although Fan Xi was really crazy now. But Michael Jordan, yeah.

Fans in front of the TV didn't dare to compare Fan Xi with Jordan.

Because, Fan Xi wasn't even the best player in the league right now.

Most importantly, Fan Xi's shortcomings seemed too many.

"This is unrealistic; Jack still has many places to prove. Moreover, even if his physical fitness is already very good, there is still some distance from Jordan, and even from Rose and Wade. If you want to talk about historical superstars, either physical talent reaches the extreme, or technology reaches the extreme, at the same time focus, willpower... leadership ability are all indispensable."

Shaquille O'Neal had the capital to speak, because he was considered a top-ten superstar in history.

In his peak period, he was a god-slayer, a Buddha-slayer; the league even modified the rules for him. Fan Xi at least hadn't shown such dominance so far; he didn't have the energy to make opponents lose confidence before the game.

His victory was more of a "subordinate defeating the superior."

Subordinate defeating the superior was very legendary.

But, when commenting on historical superstars, the reference coefficient wasn't high.

Fan Xi didn't expect that before the award ceremony, the TV commentator was discussing his historical status.

However, David Stern soon came to the center of the court with a passionate smile.

Then, he read out the MVP winner of this year's Orlando All-Star Game with a standard official statement.

No suspense.

It was the name that more than 20,000 people had been shouting.

Jack Fan!

Fan Xi!

Fan Xi walked to the court, shook hands with David Stern, and took the trophy. He would also get a cash check reward next.

Although for NBA superstars, this money didn't count for much, it was a year's salary for a working-class person.

Fan Xi took the microphone.

He delivered his award speech.

He said.

"This is the second time in my career I've won this trophy. Originally I didn't plan to take it, but..."

Fan Xi shrugged his shoulders and said: "You know, once the competition becomes intense, I urgently want to take the victory. Time and time again, tonight was no exception."

Fan Xi was a bit pretentious.

But the cheers on the scene were in waves.

He succeeded in being pretentious.

"I thank the comrades who fought side by side with me, Kevin and Russell from Oklahoma. They are superstars of the new generation. I am very grateful to maintain friendship and competition with them. If I meet them in the playoffs, I won't hold back. Of course, they definitely won't either; they have long been planning to kill me."

Fan Xi said it very easily. When the camera shot to the sidelines, Durant and Westbrook were also full of smiles.

"And Zach and Marc from Memphis. They are the most powerful inside combination in the league. They proved that in today's faster and faster league, the twin towers can still control the game. I am very grateful to them, but I don't hope to meet them in the playoffs. Playing against them consumes too much stamina."

Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph on the sidelines also shook their hands repeatedly; clearly, they didn't want to play in the playoffs with Fan Xi either. Fan Xi was a lunatic.

"Tony Parker, a great point guard, he grasped the essence of tactics, he made the ball flow smoothly. I welcome him to join the Los Angeles Clippers after this contract ends. You will have many good friends here. You know, they affectionately call us the Old Man Club, or the Former Superstar Club."

Fan Xi's talk made the whole audience laugh. Tony Parker raised his eyebrows; this romantic French man was clearly planning the feasibility of a trip to Los Angeles.

"Blake, my little brother. I am very happy that he found his place in Dallas. He is a person destined to become a leader and a superstar. He possesses explosive energy as soon as he steps on the court. And Kevin, I firmly believe he will succeed in Minnesota..."

Fan Xi thanked every opponent since the second half.

Although, calling Griffin his little brother made some people feel weird: Griffin was the 2009 number one pick, you are the 2010 undrafted player, you call others little brother?

... ===== CHAPTER 315 =====