Shock! James officially announced his participation in the dunk contest!

When this news appeared in the news media, most people's first reaction was that it was fake! Which bad media used James to hype the All-Star Game?

But with ESPN's report and James' post on his personal social media that "Yes, I will keep my promise", the popularity of this year's All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, or this year's All-Star Game, instantly exploded.

Whether you like it or not, James' popularity in the NBA is second only to Kobe, and he is truly the second-best player in active service.

Moreover, there has been no famous superstar participating in the dunk contest for many years, and James' sudden participation has increased the highlights.

Of course, what is more important is that after James made this decision, his image has become taller in the hearts of both James fans and Comey fans.

It's not just about responding to challenges and fulfilling promises immediately, but also about the fact that in the minds of American fans, this is a standard American hero script: the successor of American basketball flexes his muscles and beats up his opponent after facing the provocation of a rookie.

Isn’t this the most classic superhero scene in Hollywood?

Because of James' decision, Xu Yong naturally became the target of condemnation by many James fans on social media.

So much so that in real life, Xu Yong would also be asked by reporters about things related to the dunk contest.

"I'm looking forward to it." Xu Yong tried his best to suppress his excitement.

Just as he had thought before, he felt that provoking James would not work.

Who would have thought that his casual words, which were not even meant to be a provocation, would actually encourage James to actually participate.

Now he didn't know whether he should doubt that his understanding of James was wrong, or should thank Windhorst for his assist.

But like he said, he is looking forward to the dunk contest.

Of course, there is still more than a month before the dunk contest, so he doesn't have to rush to prepare for it now, and he can't pay attention to it now.

In the game that just ended with the Magic, the Bulls suffered a crushing defeat.

Howard was unstoppable in the interior, scoring 20 points, 23 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks, and he made Noah pull his pants pockets.

Moreover, Howard only took 7 shots in the whole game, and he did not occupy the ball but also frantically restrained the opponent.

Facts have proved that as long as Howard doesn't meet Yao Ming, he is the league's top center.

The Magic team's star-studded team is still fresh in the memory of James fans. Even future James fans will recall it as an unbearable past of "the peak beast bullied my young James."

After the game, Xu Yong found Noah and asked him: "Train with me."

Basketball is a team sport. Even strong players like Jordan and Kobe cannot perform well when their teammates perform poorly.

And judging from the current situation, there is a high possibility that the Bulls and Magic will meet in the playoffs.

With Noah's current condition, if he really meets this opponent, he might be swept away.

Noah agreed readily, not realizing what a crazy decision he had just made.

It was not until the next day that Xu Yong's phone call woke him up from his sleep. When he walked out of the room and saw the dark night and quiet streets in a daze, he picked up his mobile phone to check the time and realized that something was wrong.

"Did you remember the wrong time?" Noah called Xu Yong back to confirm.

"I have completed the warm-up run." Xu Yong answered him in the affirmative.

After hanging up the phone and swearing, Noah still drove to Xu Yong's home.

The lights on the first floor came on. When Xu Yong came to check on the door and saw the other party sweating profusely, he confirmed that Xu Yong was serious.

"This is crazy." After coming to his senses, he still felt that what was happening before his eyes was incredible.

"Now, you have seen Chicago at four in the morning." Xu Yong said with a smile.

He was making a joke. In 2007, Kobe won the scoring title for the second consecutive year. A reporter asked him why he was so successful. Kobe's answer was, "Have you ever seen Los Angeles at four in the morning?"

Noah smiled bitterly. He was really careless yesterday.

But since I'm here now, and he promised it himself, I have to persevere.

This persistence lasted for a week.

Finally, Noah, like Harden at the beginning, couldn't hold on any longer.

Now he can be sure of two things. First, what Kobe meant by that sentence was that he had seen Los Angeles at four in the morning, not that he saw it every day.

Second, Xu Yong is not a human being, especially when he learned from Xu Yong that the other party had been practicing like this for almost five years.

Of course, he also knew why Xu Yong dared to say "We will not lose" and succeeded in doing so.

Even without that steal that led to overtime, Xu Yong could still help the Bulls win the game.

Basketball is a five-person sport because it lasts 48 minutes, but when it comes to the real decisive moment, it actually depends more on the individual.

It's like, if basketball only had a ten-minute quarter, then the Chinese men's basketball team at its peak would not even be inferior to the Dream Team.

After realizing this, Noah really admired Xu Yong.

Of course, no matter how much he admired him, he really couldn't hold on any longer because his body was already starting to warn him.

Xu Yong didn't make things difficult for him, but instead made a request to him.

"Let me have a bullfight. If you win, you will have fulfilled your promise. If you lose, you must agree to one of my requests."

Xu Yong’s request was simple, but having suffered a loss once, Noah was much more careful this time.

But in the end, he found that he seemed to have no power to choose.

Moreover, he may not lose in a bullfight. Xu Yong is indeed strong, but no matter how strong he is, he is only a forward, while he is an inside player.

On the offensive end, he can rely on his body to back up, and on the defensive end, Xu Yong may not be able to break through him easily.

Seeing Noah nodded, Xu Yong did not hesitate and drove Noah to the United Center.

It was still dawn at this time and the United Center had just opened. Apart from the security guards, no one else had arrived.

The two had done physical training before, so they didn't need to do anything to warm up. They just turned on the lights and started working.

Xu Yong gave Noah the first attack.

Noah attacked Xu Yong with his back turned.

At first he was cautious about Xu Yong trying to steal the ball, but after finding out that Xu Yong had no such intention, he simply lowered his center of gravity and focused on back-to-the-basket play.

Then he discovered something horrible, he couldn't even push Xu Yong!

Finally, he helplessly turned around and tried to hook the shot, but it naturally hit the basket and bounced out.

After the serve, Noah shook his head and then pressed forward to prevent Xu Yong from making a three-pointer.

Although he failed to score, offense is not his strong point, his strong point is defense.

However, something unexpected happened again to Noah. Xu Yong had no intention of shooting from the outside, and he didn't even pose a three-threat.

After dribbling the ball on the spot, Xu Yong chose to break through Noah head-on.

Noah's defensive ability is indeed excellent. He blocked Xu Yong's breakthrough route with a sliding step.

Xu Yong did not slow down and change direction, which made him hang on Xu Yong.

The two fought all the way to the penalty area.

At this moment, Xu Yong landed with a heavy step and gave Noah a hard confrontation.

Noah was actually almost losing his balance due to the confrontation.

By the time he reacted, Xu Yong had already used his left foot as his pivot foot and made a turnaround jump shot towards the free throw line and sent the ball steadily into the basket.

Xu Yong leads 2-0.

And this round has been going on.

Xu Yong did not use too many technical things, he was more of a physical confrontation with Noah.

On the last ball, Xu Yong broke through and forced Noah away. He jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

21 to 0.

Noah supported his knees with his hands, breathing heavily, and looked up at Xu Yong in disbelief.

Although he watched Xu Yong complete many dunks over other players during the game, watching others and experiencing it yourself are two completely different things.

Even though the two are in the same team, they are also in the starting team during normal training. This is the first time he has directly felt Xu Yong's power confrontation.

Xu Yong's resistance was even stronger than he had imagined, much stronger.

In fact, it is not Noah's fault for misjudgment, because Xu Yong's current weight is much lighter than when he was in the NCAA. He weighed 109kg when he played power forward in the NCAA, and 103kg when he took the physical test. Now, he weighs only 100kg.

The purpose of losing weight is naturally to cooperate with the team.

Most swingmen start out as shooting guards because they are light in weight when they first enter the league. McGrady, George, DeRozan, and Butler are all like this without exception.

But Xu Yong has enough weight and confrontation ability, so he would be best suited to play as a small forward. However, the Bulls have Deng, so he can only lose weight and play as a shooting guard.

However, although he lost weight, his resistance did not weaken because he gained muscle while losing weight.

Specifically, his current body fat percentage has dropped from 7% when he was drafted to 6.7%. Although it cannot be compared with Jordan's peak period of 4%, it is already very strong.

In comparison, Noah weighed 101 kg when he was drafted, and now he weighs only 105 kg.

Xu Yong looked at Noah.

"What do you want me to do?" After seeing Xu Yong's eyes that contained disappointment yet a hint of expectation, Noah stood up and said resignedly.

Xu Yong smiled, patted Noah on the shoulder, and then motioned for the two to sit down and chat.

Winning is certainly not Xu Yong’s main goal.

After training with him these days, he can already feel that Noah has been completely conquered by him.

His purpose was clear from the beginning. He wanted Noah to become stronger, not wait until later, but now.

If Noah wants to become stronger, and be willing to become stronger, he must realize the problem himself.

This is also the reason why he did not use any technique but confrontation in the bullfight just now.

The problem with Noah is that the current confrontation is too poor.

Whether it's Howard of the Magic or O'Neal of the Cavaliers, if they really meet in the playoffs, they will both suffer.

"Gain weight and muscle?" Noah looked at Xu Yong.

"And it's a large scale." Xu Yong nodded.

"But that will affect my shooting feel." Noah said. Of course, he is also gaining weight, but the increase is relatively small.

Hearing this, Xu Yong smiled, then looked at Noah seriously and asked, "Do you think your current shooting still has room for improvement?"