harleyscars Chapter 521 Lin Tian's Duty at the All-Star Game: Treat the Brothers to a Good Meal
Chapter 521 Lin Tian's Duty at the All-Star Game: Treat the Brothers to a Good Meal
In the following days, the remaining roster for this year's All-Star Game was quickly announced. Just as Lin Tian had predicted, the participants for the three-point shooting contest and the skills challenge were all announced immediately.
As for Lin Tian himself, he naturally refused Stern's invitation without hesitation.
Lin Da Guanren has already won the Grand Slam in a single year, so why would he want to compete with young people in this kind of thing?
It would be embarrassing to lose.
As the saying goes, even the best horse can stumble.
The saying goes that as long as I don't participate in the competition, no one can defeat me, and if no one can defeat me, then I am the strongest.
In any case, Lin Tian has always acted with this kind of thought and idea in mind.
In particular, since he had already won the championship, Lin Tian was not afraid of what others might say about him being afraid, cowardly, or timid.
If anyone said that, Lin Tian wouldn't even need to lift a finger; his fans would be there to defend him.
Too scared to participate in the dunk contest?
Check out the greatest dunk champion of all time!
Let's learn about the Battle of the Century in 2000!
Afraid to participate in the 3-point contest? Have you seen the highest score in 3-point contest history? Have you seen the highest consecutive score record in history?
Skills competition? After all these years, no one has been able to match the record Lin Tian set in the finals back then!
The achievements and records Lin Tian left behind in the All-Star individual competitions are enough for others to look up to for a long time!
He really couldn't be bothered to participate!
Meanwhile, the identities of the four participants in the Slam Dunk Contest have been kept secret. The league has taken the suspense to the extreme this time. Not only has the identity of the New York Knicks' participant been kept secret, but the identities of the other three contestants have also not been revealed.
The league provided four silhouettes that were completely unrecognizable and unremarkable, leaving fans to guess who they were.
Then, the league will release information about each of the four players every day, such as whether the player is from the East or West, what position they play, what interesting stories they have, and what achievements they have made.
As more and more information is released, the identities of the participants are becoming increasingly clear.
Three days before the All-Star Game, after all the information had been given and fans had pretty much guessed who the participants would be, the league suddenly announced the identities of three of the participants.
After the list was announced, fans were furious, saying the league was inhuman and was just trying to generate hype.
Why?
Because everyone guessed wrong.
It's one thing to guess wrong, it's just for fun, but the problem is that the fans all feel like they've been tricked.
For example, the first contestant was JR Smith of the San Antonio Spurs.
The league previously described him as a gifted high school player, a guard with exceptional athleticism, playing for a Texas team, and having a "J" in his name.
Fans were astounded! The long-awaited LeBron James had finally arrived! Because it was an all-around matchup!
Then?
JR Smith.
Well, they're all-around performers, but it's completely different from what the fans expected.
For example, the information provided by the league regarding the second contestant is that he has overseas playing experience, long hair, is unruly, and just joined a new team this year.
After a flurry of speculation from fans, the answers came up in all sorts of ways, with some even suggesting it was Steve Nash.
But the league's final answer was: Chris Anderson.
The reaction of most fans to this person was: Who the hell is this guy?
It's no wonder that no one recognizes Anderson. The Anderson of today is not the "Birdman" with tattoos all over his face that he will become in the future. He is just a role player who has just returned from China and is playing as a substitute in the small Hornets team, averaging only 7 points and 6 rebounds per game.
The third person was finally guessed by the fans: Andre Iguodala from Philadelphia.
But even if they guessed correctly, no one was happy.
What's there to be happy about in a rookie on a terrible team who only averages 9 points per game?
The top dunkers they were hoping for, like James, Wade, and even Carter and McGrady, didn't come!
Fortunately, just as fans were venting their frustration and anger through various channels, the league quickly revealed the last mystery.
Well... it's not so much that it's been solved, but rather that it's made the mystery even bigger.
The other three names were announced directly, but for the last spot, the league only provided one last piece of information: a Knicks player.
As for who it is?
When interviewed, Stern said: "I'm sorry, I don't know either. All I know is that we invited many Knicks players, hoping they would participate, but in the end, the Knicks internally said they could only send one person to participate."
As for who the participant will be, they need to conduct an internal selection process, including a Knicks internal dunk contest. The final winner will participate in this year's All-Star Game.
As for who the winner is, when the so-called Knicks internal dunk contest will be held, who will participate, and what the result will be.
Stern said: Go ask Lin, I don't know!
After saying that, Stern was secretly pleased with himself. "You little bastard Lin Tian, causing me trouble, now I'm passing the buck to you! Let's see what you do now!"
What should I do?
Of course, I sincerely thank Stern from the bottom of my heart!
Lin Tian was originally planning to spend some money and hire some online trolls to promote this matter, but he didn't expect this!
Stern did such a good job, directly delivering the buzz and discussion.
This will save Master Lin a lot of money!
Dear Stern! My good buddy!
Having come prepared, Lin Tian remained remarkably composed when facing reporters' questions: "An internal dunk contest? We've already finished it! The winner? Has been decided!"
"Who exactly is it? I can only tell you, it's not me!"
"Alright, alright, I know everyone's pretty curious, and I know you all want to know how everyone fared in this internal dunk contest, and what amazing skills they pulled out!"
"Tonight at 8 PM! Please turn on your computers and log in to the brand new website YouTube, which will be launching tonight! You'll see some content from our Slam Dunk Contest there!"
"If you're interested, you're welcome to upload videos of your daily life, hobbies, life hacks, special skills, funny clips, tutorials, or anything else that doesn't violate the law or ethics!"
"Welcome everyone to join me! I'll definitely be sharing glimpses of my life on this website from time to time."
"By the way, I can give you a sneak peek: our judges for this year's Slam Dunk Contest include Barkley, Ewing, Spike Lee, Carmelo, and myself! Our judging panel is absolutely amazing!"
"See you tonight at 8 PM!"
Lin Tian's GG was incredibly shameless, utterly shameless, and without the slightest embarrassment.
It's about using your NBA platform to promote my own business.
After seeing Lin Tian's actions and watching his interview video, Stern was stunned. How could there be such a shameless person in this world?
It's truly a case of using public office for private gain.
No, there was no fake public office involved at all.
It's all about personal gain; they're using the entire alliance purely for their own benefit.
But Stern had no choice but to suffer in silence. He had made a promise to Lin Tian himself, so what could he do?
What else could he do besides tearfully admitting it, swallowing his anger, and then turning on his computer at 8 p.m. sharp to see what Lin Tian was up to?
Fortunately, regardless of how Lin Tian handled this matter, at least his actions did bring the league's dunk contest to its highest point in recent years.
Everyone's attention was focused on the final dunk contest contestant and the Knicks' internal scrimmage!
I want to see it! I want to see it all! I'm super excited!
Then?
Then at 8 PM, everyone opened the website, and two minutes later, they started cursing.
Because Lin Tian and his team only uploaded a two-minute video tonight.
This two-minute video did absolutely nothing except introduce the contestants and judges!
Nothing at all!
It's just a trailer!
Shameless!
Absolutely shameless!
And what are the consequences of such shamelessness?
Less than five minutes later, several videos appeared on the YouTube homepage.
Most of them were cursing, cursing Lin Tian for being a bastard who was just creating unnecessary suspense and was shameless!
As the number of videos featuring people swearing increased, other types of videos gradually began to appear, and the variety of videos also increased rapidly.
「1万个了！我们的网站已经有1万个视频了！」晚上9点30分，陈士骏兴奋的张开双臂，对着林天道：「我们做到了！我们成功了！1万个视频！只用了一个半小时！太疯狂了！太不可思议了！」
"It's still early." Lin Tian looked at his partner's clueless expression and said softly, "Let's continue with our second video and show the first dunk of these three guys."
"If the number of videos on the website reaches 10 by this time tomorrow, we will release another video. If the number of views of our videos reaches 500 million, we will release a fourth video."
"Remember my words, Lao Li: We will become the most successful video website in internet history. We will rise rapidly within a year, shocking the world. Our users and supporters will be all over the globe in the future!"
"I can't tell you how much money we can make, but you will definitely go down in history. You will become the person who changes the internet ecosystem, creates a brand new internet landscape, and leads the world's internet trends."
"The godfather of the internet? Maybe not, but the godfather of video websites, that's definitely you!"
After Lin Tian finished speaking, he patted Chen Shijun on the shoulder again, then stood up and left Pelinka's club.
He had other things to do; he needed to give the guys who had helped him that night some reward.
Lin Tian had a stack of prepaid cards for a strip club in Manhattan in his pocket, and there was quite a bit of money in them.
Asking for help is one thing, but you still have to give something in return, otherwise who will help you next time?
In this respect, the Americans and China, or rather the whole world, are the same!
A give-and-take approach is the only long-term solution.
Even though these people are all rich and guaranteed to be millionaires, Lin Tian still has to do his job properly!
……
As time flies by, the date for All-Star Weekend is fast approaching.
On a Friday in mid-February, Lin Tian drove a rather inconspicuous black minibus, with his teammates Stoudemire and Anthony, who were also selected for the All-Star team this year, sitting next to him. The three of them waited together outside the New York airport.
As this was Lin Tian's first time hosting, he had to make sure to take good care of those birds and beasts.
There's no way around it; you can't be indebted to someone who pays your respects.
In the past few years, whenever Lin Tian went to the All-Star Game, the local host would always make sure that all the stars were treated very comfortably and thoroughly.
This time it was finally Lin Tian's turn to be the host, and he certainly wouldn't let everyone down.
Even Lord Lin has his pride!
"Where are we going this time?" Before the All-Stars even arrived, Anthony couldn't contain himself any longer. He excitedly and expectantly asked, "Screw your MINI All Yellow?"
Seeing Anthony practically drooling, it was clear he couldn't forget that place. Lin Tian shook his head and said, "That's a place for us brothers to have fun. I'm not going to bring so many bastards there. Let's go to the Hilton Hotel."
"I've already made arrangements with them. Same old rules, the rooftop is ours. The boss will find us girls, and Hilton will handle the setup, drinks, staff, and other equipment. This time, I guarantee everyone will see the allure of New York!"
"Boss, what about you? What are you responsible for?" Xiao Si pondered for a moment and discovered a blind spot: it seems you haven't done anything!
"I'm in charge of picking people up and organizing the event, and also letting everyone know that the reason we had such a great time at the All-Star game is all because of me!" Lin Tian answered Xiao Si's question without the slightest hint of unhappiness or embarrassment, then slapped the steering wheel and said, "They're here!"
"Let's go see our old buddies!"
After Lin Tian finished speaking, he opened the car door and got out first. He walked up to the burly man in front of him and hugged him, saying, "Long time no see, Ben!"
"Boss, I missed you so much! I knew you'd come pick me up. We're best buddies, right? Changxi, look! Look! This is what a relationship is! This is what friendship is!"
"Rasheed and Richard originally wanted to come too, but Larry wouldn't let them. Larry was afraid they'd go too far, so he made them stay in Detroit for extra training. Poor guys."
"By the way, boss, do you remember when we clashed with Indiana in early December? You're not angry, are you? I was already being very lenient with you back then, otherwise I would have given that idiot Ron a concussion on the spot!"
"Really, I still love Indiana, and I love you too! If needed, I'm always ready to bleed and sweat for you!"
"Come on, Ben, just shut up, okay? How stupid do you have to be to think Lin came specifically to pick you up?" Billups rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with Ben, and stepped forward to give Lin a high-five, saying, "Long time no see, Lin! I'm ready to beat you guys in the playoffs!"
"I remember the pain of last year's failure very clearly!"
"You'll be in even more pain this year." Lin Tian laughed and waved to Stoudemire and Anthony behind him. The two immediately stepped forward and led the Pistons duo into their car.
A few minutes later, the two returned, and Anthony muttered, "I thought he was going to be a cool, fierce, and quiet monster, but it turns out he's a chatterbox?"
"When I played against him last season, he scored around 20 points in four games. He's my least favorite defender, bar none," Stoudemire muttered. "But seeing him play against Lin like that, I suddenly'm not afraid of him anymore. I feel like I could beat him to a pulp!"
"Stay in the league a few more years, make a few more All-Star appearances, and you'll discover many more things you didn't know before, like those two guys!"
As Lin Tian spoke, he gestured towards the front with his lip. Stoudemire and Anthony immediately saw Hill and McGrady, who, although they walked out of the passage at the same time, did not say a word to each other, just like strangers.
"Which of you will leave Orlando first?" As soon as Lin Tian saw the two of them, he showed his most vicious side, directly stabbing at their hearts.
"You really deserve a beating, Lin." Maddie pouted, clearly not wanting to discuss this issue further with Lin Tian.
Hill, standing next to him, looked helpless and said, "I'm sorry to him and Orlando. My knee is really bad. I've talked to him many times, but Tracy is determined to leave Orlando."
"Honestly, Tracy, I've been doing alright this season, and I think I'll be even better next year. We could really try again together."
Hill's words were quite sincere, especially in front of outsiders; his sincerity was definitely considerable.
Unfortunately, McGrady didn't reply to him at all. Instead, he looked at Lin Tian and said, "I'm a little tired, Lin. I want to go and rest."
Stoudemire and Anthony glanced at Lin Tian, could only nod, and led the two guys toward the minibus.
"I thought that at least the two of them had a good relationship before." After returning to Lin Tian's side, Xiao Si couldn't help but shake his head.
"Jealousy is something that, once it takes hold, is very difficult to get rid of," Lin Tian sighed, without saying anything more.
But he felt that this was likely McGrady's last All-Star appearance for the Eastern Conference.
If a player of this caliber is traded, there's a 99% chance he'll be traded to another division.
Given McGrady's durability and career trajectory, leaving now is certainly not a problem, but when he returns, he'll most likely no longer be an All-Star caliber player. (End of Chapter)