The Best Point Guard

Chapter 380: Chapter 118: More Interesting Than Little Sheep Su Xi’s Backyard Brawl

During the All-Star Weekend introductions, Su Xi was the last one announced for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Since O’Neal had no objections, even if other players had their own opinions, they could only keep them to themselves.

After a series of dazzling pre-game performances in the home arena, the game officially began.

Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Garnett, Duncan, and Yao Ming versus Su Xi, Iverson, Carter, James, and O’Neal.

The starting lineup was absolutely star-studded.

The battle for the best center.

The clash of the four great shooting guards.

Two super forwards.

And two phenomenal sophomores.

Star power, media traffic.

David Stern sat in the stands, grinning from ear to ear.

After Jordan’s retirement, he had once worried that the NBA’s influence would wane. But looking at this star-studded lineup, a true clash of titans...

After Jordan left, the four young guards had already taken the mantle. O’Neal and Duncan upheld the quality of top-tier matchups, and now, two super-monsters had emerged from the younger generation: Su Xi and James.

’I won’t have to worry about the next ten years.’

BWEEP!

The whistle blew.

O’Neal won the opening tip against Yao Ming.

The ball was tapped to Su Xi, who brought it past half-court. Facing a wide-open defense, he didn’t showboat, instead passing the ball to Iverson. Iverson drove to the basket and threw down a one-handed dunk.

Iverson was in excellent physical condition this year, consistently holding the top spot for scoring champion. Although the 76ers’ record wasn’t great, it didn’t affect his individual performance at all.

On the other end, Tracy McGrady drove to the basket for a self-alley-oop dunk.

Then, Vince Carter threw down a windmill dunk.

Kobe dunked.

James dunked.

Garnett dunked.

O’Neal went coast-to-coast for a dunk.

The two teams turned the All-Star Game into a dunk contest.

Su Xi didn’t participate. He wasn’t very interested in dunking and didn’t do it often in games. The main reason was that his vertical leap wasn’t high enough, so his dunks didn’t look pretty. He was more of a power and overpowering type of player.

Su Xi played for four minutes, picked up two assists, and was subbed out by the head coach. He went back to the bench to slack off.

As he came off the court, he was photographed high-fiving Megan Fox.

Fox was at courtside to watch the game tonight, which had many cameras trained specifically on her.

When Su Xi walked past her, the photographers craned their necks in anticipation. The moment Fox held out her hand and Su Xi high-fived her, the shutters at courtside clicked nonstop.

But to Su Xi, it was just a simple fan interaction.

He returned to the bench, and Little O’Neal sidled up to him. "Jack, Megan Fox is a smoke show. Is she the one who left that hickey on your neck?"

"Nope." Su Xi shook his head, denying it.

’The woman who left the hickey is still lying in bed.’

Jessica Alba’s enthusiasm far outstripped her stamina. After pulling an all-nighter, her body just couldn’t take it.

She was currently resting in bed.

She was watching the live broadcast from her bed and saw the interaction between Su Xi and Fox.

She felt very calm.

She was still in a state of postcoital tranquility.

In reality, she was more open-minded than Scarlett. She was just annoyed with Scarlett, that’s all.

’I can’t handle all his firepower by myself anyway.’

’What’s the difference between sharing it two ways or three ways?’

In her spare time, Jessica loved to study mathematics.

...

Su Xi sat on the bench, steady as a rock, watching his teammates come and go.

The Eastern and Western Conference All-Stars were playing quite cordially. They went back and forth, having a great time.

But during halftime, Arenas and LeBron James exchanged a few words.

"Don’t try to iso on every play. This is the All-Star Game, not Cleveland."

Arenas was a little pissed off by James’s ball-hogging.

In Washington, Arenas was also the undisputed core who held all the power. This was his first time being selected as an All-Star, and he wanted to put on a show too. But when he was on the court with James, James basically never passed him the ball.

It really annoyed him.

Originally, everything had been fun and friendly, a real "you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours" atmosphere.

’You wanna show off, you motherfucker? Well, so do I!’

James had high emotional intelligence. He didn’t confront Arenas head-on, nor did he add fuel to the fire. He smiled, put a hand on Arenas’s shoulder, and said, "I’ll set you up more later."

You don’t hit a smiling man.

Since James took the initiative to say that, Arenas couldn’t keep firing away, or it would make him look petty.

But given Arenas’s temperament, a couple of passive-aggressive remarks were inevitable.

"We’re both sophomores, but look at Little Sheep Su Xi. A Finals MVP doesn’t bother with this kind of All-Star stat-padding."

You don’t hit a man where it hurts most. Arenas’s muttering directly struck James’s most sensitive nerve.

’What? I’m not as good as Little Sheep Su Xi?’

James’s eyes were shooting fire.

But Arenas had already walked over to chat with Su Xi.

Arenas and Su Xi went way back. They had already built a good relationship before Su Xi even entered the league.

Back then, Arenas had a higher status, and he looked out for Su Xi.

But now, Su Xi had surpassed Arenas in every aspect.

But he still showed great respect for Gilbert, which Arenas really appreciated.

Arenas was having a statistical explosion this season. His style of play was becoming more and more mature, and he had already become one of the league’s top-tier scorers, absolutely tearing it up on the scoring charts. Under his leadership, the Wizards had also broken into the top eight in the East. Based on the current trend, making the playoffs was a sure thing.

BWEEP!

The second half began.

Su Xi started and played for two minutes, just going through the motions, then went back to the bench to rest.

He had zero interest in the All-Star Game, to the point where the Denver fans were chanting his name, hoping to motivate the notorious playboy to at least go up for a dunk or two.

Su Xi remained unmoved.

He came off the court to rest.

The atmosphere of the game started to grow serious. You could see with your own eyes that the players on both sides were gradually getting more serious.

Especially Kobe.

This was a peak showdown after the OK Combination broke up. Right now, the Heat’s record was soaring, while the Lakers were struggling just to chase a playoff spot.

Kobe didn’t want to give any ammunition to the people who liked to kick a man when he’s down. He played with extra aggression, racking up points.

In the latter half of the third quarter, he stopped pretending and showed his true colors. Facing James, he got into a full-on defensive stance.

James was caught off guard and was stripped by him twice in a row.

The Western Conference Team took the lead as a result.

Rick Carlisle called a timeout.

He picked up his clipboard to draw up a play.

Arenas was on the side, being passive-aggressive. "A certain ’Chosen One’ can’t handle it in the clutch. He’s good at padding his stats, though. Anyone who didn’t know better would think *he* was the Finals MVP."

Those words made James’s face twitch.

When he was on the court just now, he still hadn’t passed to Arenas. It was Arenas’s own fault for running his mouth earlier.

Arenas never held back with his trash talk.

With that outburst, the entire bench knew about the beef between him and James.

Rick Carlisle frowned. ’Don’t say things that are bad for team unity. No matter what, you’re brothers in the same trench right now.’

So, Carlisle subbed them both out.

He put in Billups, Carter, Pierce, Little O’Neal, and O’Neal.

O’Neal, for his part, was also full of pent-up anger. He didn’t want to lose to Kobe either. Ever since he was traded by the Lakers, he played his heart out every time he faced the Lakers and Kobe. He wanted to make the Lakers regret it, make Kobe suffer, and make Los Angeles rue the day.

BWEEP!

The whistle blew.

The game resumed.

The two sides were locked in a fierce battle once again.

O’Neal immediately went to work on Yao Ming. Yao was an innocent bystander dragged into the fight. He used his increasingly strong lower body to hold his ground against O’Neal, but still allowed O’Neal to complete his spin move.

However, O’Neal could no longer just turn and dunk over Yao like he could in his youth. He opted for a hook shot... but just as he released it, Kobe exploded from the side and viciously swatted the ball against the backboard.

The entire arena erupted.

Kobe blocked O’Neal.

What a sensational play!

After making the block, Kobe let out an excited roar.

It made O’Neal’s eyes go wide with fury, his insides practically exploding with rage.

Su Xi was amused.

He said to Iverson next to him, "You think the OK Combination is going to beat each other’s brains out tonight?"

"Heh heh." Iverson laughed freely as well.

Who doesn’t love to watch this kind of drama unfold?

It’s even more interesting than the free-for-all in Little Sheep Su Xi’s backyard.