After winning the championship, there was nothing left to miss about this city.
After selling his house in Phoenix and making a fortune, Wei Guo immediately returned to China.
Every summer, Wei Guo dedicates himself to charity work, which takes up almost three-quarters of his off-season. He is a carefree rich kid with no bad habits, and he doesn't gamble, gamble, or go to bars... Apart from charity work, Wei Guo doesn't seem to know what else to do.
This is also because Wei Guo is lazy enough; the last Olympic Games were last summer.
Wei Guo declined the Basketball Association's invitation and did not make it into the national team.
Fortunately...
Led by Yao Ming, the Chinese men's basketball team still made it into the quarterfinals.
Wei Guo had a career plan. He only wanted to compete in one Olympics. Coincidentally, the 2008 Olympics were held in China. Wei Guo's plan was to retire completely after competing in that Olympics.
......
When the Wei brothers were bored, they started a sports brand.
They're all rich...
Saying they are as rich as a country might be an exaggeration, but the combined assets of these brothers are indeed more than many small countries can match.
Originally intended as a hobby, Wei Dafa unilaterally made Wei Guo the brand ambassador without paying him a single penny... without considering Wei Guo's feelings. Yet, this hastily created brand became one of the world's top five sports brands in just one year.
Doing charity work isn't as tiring as you might imagine.
Some fans might see their idols working hard on charity events and think it's just a staged photo op.
Wei Dafa couldn't stand Wei Guo's leisurely lifestyle... so he came up with a bad idea. Since Wei Guo was doing charity work, Wei Guo would definitely not object to this.
Country D has a sports brand, Adidas... It's one of the world's top sports brands. They've signed many basketball stars, the most prominent being the Adidas Five. These five players are all in their prime: Tim Duncan of the Spurs, Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves, Tracy McGrady of the Rockets, Gilbert Arenas of the Wizards, and Chauncey Billups of the Pistons.
Wei Dafa then contacted the president of Adidas and arranged an event with them.
The activity was simple: Weiguo would find four players to play a friendly match against the Adi Five Tigers.
It was this unintentional act that helped many fans turn their fantasies into reality. Fans often say, "How strong would it be if the five peak Adidas players formed a team?" Well, here it is!
After the finals, Wei Guo was bored out of his mind.
The old father assigned him a task, and Wei Guo readily agreed... It was called making shoes on a rainy day, since he had nothing else to do anyway.
As for who to choose as teammates?
Wei Guo believed that no one would refuse him, and it didn't matter if they were former teammates... It would be better to find someone he had never played with before, and he couldn't find too strong a player. If Wei Guo brought together O'Neal, Kobe, James, and Nash to form a team, with Nash at point guard, Kobe at shooting guard, James at small forward, Wei Guo at center, and O'Neal at center, even the peak Adidas Five would have to surrender on the spot.
Wei Dafa has already said that he will cover the expenses of this match, and all proceeds will be donated to charity.
If Wei Guo really brings these guys in as teammates, the game will be more attractive to fans than the All-Star Game, and the revenue will be maximized. But a game with no suspense doesn't seem very interesting.
While Wei was still hesitating...
Garnett suddenly declared that he hoped Wei Guo could find some of his strongest teammates for a real match.
Such an excessive demand must be met by Weiguo!
......
A week later, the five Adidas Tigers arrived in China as promised.
This match was held in eastern Guangdong Province. It was a friendly match with a public welfare nature, so it wasn't very formal. However, there still had to be referees, and they had to be professional referees brought in from the United States. Why bring in referees from the United States? It's because people like Garnett are uneducated... Most of them don't understand Chinese. If the referees were from China, communication would be more difficult.
Accompanying the Adidas Five were four friends invited by Wei Guo: Iverson, Carter, Kobe, and James.
These four players teamed up with Wei Guo, but the lineup wasn't very reasonable. Iverson, Carter, and Kobe's positions overlapped a bit, but that didn't matter. As long as it looked cool, that was all that mattered.
Originally, they wanted Nash to play point guard, but considering that Nash might not have as many fans as Iverson, Wei Guo gave the computer to Iverson instead.
In that case...
There was no specific position assigned to the five people.
Why is this friendly match considered less than professional? Because there were no substitutes... no coaches... the game was divided into two halves, each half lasting 20 minutes, and there were no foul restrictions, since each side only has five players. If they really fouled out, a real game wouldn't be able to continue.
They are all respectable players, and they wouldn't do something as tasteless as intentionally committing a foul.
To summarize...
It's about having professional players play a pickup game.
The Suns won the championship two weeks ago, and it's been tough not having any games to watch.
This is likely the most-watched pickup game ever, broadcast in over thirty countries worldwide. Ticket sales are probably the smallest source of revenue. Economists have analyzed that this game could generate over 100 million in revenue. Wei Guo has stated that all proceeds from this game will be donated to charity, and he welcomes public oversight.
......
Red Team: Iverson, Kobe, Carter, James, Wei Guo
Blue Team: Billups, Arenas, McGrady, Duncan, Garnett
......
This is an All-Star game, and the pre-game warm-up was already incredibly exciting.
Carter showed off a 360-degree spin dunk, Kobe showed off a between-the-legs dunk, and James showed off a rim-level slam dunk. When all eyes turned to Wei Guo, Wei Guo smiled, grabbed a basketball, took a running start, stepped onto the free-throw line, and jumped... his body gliding lightly forward for a short distance.
"Bang!!!"
The seemingly effortless dunk left Duncan and his teammates on the other side speechless.
The ten players on the court are all dunkers. Vince Carter, the "Half-Man, Half-Amazing," and Kobe Bryant, the "Black Mamba," have both won the Slam Dunk Contest. Tracy McGrady's dunks are elegant and graceful. Tim Duncan's windmill dunk has a difficulty rating of five and a half stars. Even Allen Iverson, who is 1.83 meters tall, often performs powerful dunks in games.
However, there are definitely no more than 5 people who can dunk from the free-throw line.
The difficulty of Wei Guo's dunk lies in its ease; he simply takes a step and jumps, giving the impression that he doesn't exert any force. Legend has it that Chamberlain could dunk from a standing position at the free-throw line. Whether Chamberlain could do it or not, nobody knows... but Wei Guo can definitely do it.
It wasn't a formal competition; they even skipped the jump ball.
after all...
No one could win the jump ball against Wei Guo.
Arenas and Weiguo discussed it and decided to use a shooting contest to decide which team would inbound the ball first.
Of course, they can't stand at the free-throw line to shoot like on a pickup court. These are professional players, and the game hasn't even started yet. They're at their most energetic. If the ball is decided by free throws, it would take more than ten rounds for each player to take one free throw before the winner is decided. They have to shoot from much further away from the basket.
The final rule was that the shot would be taken from midcourt, and the opposing team would decide who would take it.
This gives the Red Team a clear advantage, since the Blue Team has Duncan and Garnett, two of the greatest power forwards in history who rarely shoot three-pointers, let alone from mid-court.
so...
First, the blue team designates a player from the red team to shoot.
We absolutely cannot let Wei Guo shoot; his three-pointers from mid-range are more accurate than his mid-range shots. After discussing it, Duncan and the other four decided on the shooting order: James - Iverson - Kobe - Carter - Wei Guo.
In other words...
If James misses a shot and neither does the Blue Team player, then it's Iverson's turn, and so on... If James hits a three-pointer from midcourt and both the Blue Team players make it, then it's Iverson's turn again. If James hits a three-pointer from midcourt and neither of the Blue Team players makes it, then the Red Team inbounds the ball first.
It's easy to understand.
The person with the biggest complaints about the order of appearance was James, who frowned and asked, "Is my shooting that bad? Why am I the first one to go out?!"
"Don't you know how bad your shooting is?"
Wei Guo put his arm around Kobe's shoulder and laughed loudly, "Which of these four guys is a worse shooter than you?"
James couldn't refute it...
The starting lineup given by the Red Team is: McGrady - Arenas - Billups - Garnett - Duncan.
This is the Red Team's confidence; they won't bully the Blue Team... The players who go first are all good shooters. If this round goes all the way to Duncan, then the Red Team will have to inbound the ball first.
James is standing in the center circle!
The host said, "The Red Team and the Blue Team will decide possession by shooting a three-pointer from midcourt. James will be the first to step up. Let James hear your cheers."
"James!"
"James!"
"James!"
A total of 30,000 spectators attended the event, and their cheers were deafening.
This atmosphere...
It was even more exciting than the Cavaliers' home arena.
Reaching out to the fans, James launched this long-range three-pointer in his signature pose.
"Whoosh!!!"
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
Let's take the lead!
The crowd's chants grew even louder: "James! James! James!"
The blue team looked at each other in dismay. Even James, the red team's worst shooter, had hit a half-court three-pointer. This was not a good thing... Duncan comforted them, "McGrady, don't feel pressured."
"I don't feel any pressure."
McGrady joked, "But if all of us make those shots, are you confident you can beat Wei Guo?"
Three-pointers from mid-court seem difficult and require some luck, but for these top professional players, the probability of making them without contact is still quite high... Take Reed of the Bucks, for example. When watching him play, fans feel that Reed's three-pointers are unreliable and he often takes wild shots.
However, during training, Reed could easily make 70 or 80 out of 100 three-pointers.
The host said, "The first player for the Blue Team is McGrady. Let him hear your cheers."
"McGrady!"
"McGrady!"
"McGrady!"
The support is no less than that for James.
McGrady and Yao Ming were teammates, and coupled with his drifting playing style, he had a deep fan base in China.
McGrady first raised his hand, signaling the audience to cheer louder, and then shot a three-pointer from mid-court.
"Whoosh!!!"
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
then...
Iverson vs. Arenas, Kobe vs. Billups.
Four players hit three-pointers from midfield in succession, it seems everyone was in good form tonight... I thought I was going to use this fun method to decide possession, but I didn't expect it to create a tug-of-war.
Carter was the fourth player to take the field for the Red Team!
Carter's Slam Dunk Contest title is part of his fame, but fans who know him well know that he also has a very consistent three-point shot. The fact that he was placed before Wei Guo on the Blue Team says it all.
Carter wasn't under much pressure. He walked to midcourt, first enjoying the cheers from the fans, and then took a shot.
"bang~~~"
It's time to strike.
"Oh no!!!"
Carter exaggeratedly scratched his head and pounded the floor, seemingly unable to accept missing the shot.
This amused the audience...
Carter missed his shot, which relieved Garnett, who wasn't even good at three-pointers, let alone a mid-court three-pointer like this.
No need to take action...
The outcome was already predetermined.
Although he missed the shot, Garnett walked with ease, patted Duncan on the shoulder, and said, "Tim, now you're the hope of the whole village."
McGrady's words proved prophetic.
It was supposed to be a joke, but nobody expected... the Blue Team would actually have to rely on Duncan to fight against Wei Guo.
Duncan asked helplessly, "If I give up now, is there still a chance?"
"No!"
McGrady and the other three answered at the same time.
Wei Guo makes his appearance...
The audience all stood up and cheered. Wei Guo was the center of attention wherever he went, especially since this was his home ground.
More than a decade later, when Duncan recalled this friendly match, he said that what impressed him most was the three-pointer during the pre-match game, where Wei Guo stood with one hand on his hip, seemingly unaware of who his opponent was.
Wei Guo was not a person who liked to show off.
He simply put his left hand on his hip, raised an eyebrow at Duncan, and launched that long-range three-pointer with only his right hand.
"Whoosh!!!"
The basketball went into the net.
It's Duncan's turn...
An unexpected scene unfolded: Duncan raised both hands, took the microphone from the host, and said in broken Chinese, "I surrender!"
......
The game officially begins, with the red team attacking first.
Iverson dribbled the ball up the court and passed it to Kobe. Kobe drove along the baseline, jumped, and completed a layup in mid-air.
The player moved from the left side of the basket to the right side...
"Bang!!!"
A perfect reverse dunk.
One shot ignited the entire arena... This level of excitement is comparable to the All-Star Game. Moreover, the game has just begun, and everyone is not yet too competitive. They are putting on a show for the fans first, and then going all out in the second half. This is what everyone agreed on beforehand. In other words, even if one team is leading by too much, they will let the other team win.
Try to keep the point difference within 5 points in the first half.
Blue team, attack!
The lineups were all hastily put together and they had never played together before. Even though the five Adidas stars were all endorsed by the same company, they didn't have much interaction beyond filming commercials.
Before the match, we just formed a small group to discuss tactics, but we didn't train together.
so...
In the beginning, the attacks were mostly individual defenses.
Billups dribbled the ball up the court and found McGrady first.
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