Cleveland.

James is dining with Rich Paul in his mansion.

In Cleveland, no one else is usually allowed to sit at the Kings' table, with the exception of Rich Paul.

While he was eating, Fu Baoluo's cell phone vibrated. He picked it up and looked at it for a while, a look of delight appeared on his face.

"King, this is great news." Fu Paul put down his knife and fork, unable to hide his excitement.

James looked at him suspiciously.

"Derrick Rose is out for the season, and we have the best chance!" Rich Paul looked really happy, and if he wasn't eating, he would have wanted to pray to God to express his gratitude.

James' face also showed joy, but he quickly regained his composure.

"King, are you unhappy?" Fu Paulo asked with some confusion.

James shook his head: "Of course I'm happy."

After hearing James' perfunctory words, the smart rich Paul gradually realized the problem.

Rose is important to the Bulls, but he is not indispensable. The real foundation of the Bulls now is the iron triangle.

In other words, if the Bulls' previous strength was 98 (out of 100 points), then their current strength is at least 90. This does cause them to lose some strength, but it only reduces them from a championship favorite to a championship favorite. The Cavaliers still do not have an absolute chance of winning.

On the contrary, if the Cavaliers lose to such a Bulls, it will be another blow to James' career.

"King, I have an idea but I don't know whether I should tell it to you." After thinking for a while, Fu Paul spoke cautiously.

"Rich, you know I hate that way of talking the most." James frowned.

"I'm sorry, King, but this is a bold idea."

"If we can beat the Bulls this season and win the championship, it would be perfect. If we can't, then I think we might as well consider joining the Bulls." After seeing James frown again, Rich Paul immediately said that James re-signed a 1+1 contract with the Cavaliers last summer, and the autonomy is still in his hands.

James instantly turned to look at Rich Paul, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Fu Paul, actually let him surrender to the enemy!

He has been wandering around for these years and has never been successful, but one thing he has always been thinking about is defeating Xu Yong and the Bulls.

As for his desire to join the Bulls in 2010, the situation back then was different from now. At that time, Xu Yong and Rose were still young and had not yet achieved success, but now the Bulls are in their heyday. If he joined, he would be ridiculed for the rest of his life.

"King, listen to my analysis first." Seeing that James was getting anxious, Fu Paul hurriedly explained.

"Look, when Danny Rodman was still playing in Detroit, he was obsessed with Michael, but in the end, didn't he join the Bulls? Not only was he not criticized, but he became one of the Bulls' iron triangle and became famous.

Of course, I am just giving an example. You can't compare that guy to the Kings, but if you join the Bulls, what you can achieve is far from what he can achieve. "

James's wide eyes slowly narrowed, but he still felt something was wrong.

"Rose is a time bomb for the Bulls. When he is healthy, the Bulls can win the championship, but after he is injured, the Bulls will struggle. This means two things. First, even if they are lucky enough to make it to the finals this season, it will be difficult for them to beat the Warriors or the Mavericks. Joining them at this time would be like joining a losing team." Rich Paul paused.

"What about the second one?" James asked.

Hearing this, Paul was delighted. Knowing that James was interested, he immediately said, "By this summer, Rose will only have one year left on his contract. If the Bulls fail, then trading him is a must. A one-year contract can be traded away."

James nodded subconsciously, Fu Paul's analysis was still reasonable.

"When the salary cap skyrocketed, what reason did the Bulls have to refuse to complete the roster upgrade?" Rich Paul finally asked.

Although James is currently playing at the power forward position, it's not that he can't play the center position, and Butler can defend the center position, which means that on the defensive end he can still defend against the opponent's center position, which is not a problem at all.

James, Butler, Xu Yong, West, Adams, it wouldn't be too much for this lineup to win eight consecutive championships, right?

James didn't say anything. Obviously what Paul said was very feasible.

Even taking a step back, it would still be feasible even if the Bulls won the championship, because Rose's injury has probably worn out the patience of the management. It was a surprise that the Bulls did not take the opportunity to trade Rose last summer.

As for the issue of historical status, it is unlikely that he can replace Xu Yong, but can he not replace Butler?

He can do everything Butler can do and do it better, and he can also do things that Butler can't do.

But is becoming Pippen his career goal? Obviously not.

But that could be a way out for his career, especially after experiencing the league's treatment of Adidas players this season.

…

Time flies, and it is early February and the All-Star Weekend is here.

It was at this time that an episode occurred. Chris Bosh, who was originally selected for the substitute lineup, will miss this year's All-Star Game due to a calf injury. His position will be replaced by Pistons center "Drummond" Drummond, who averaged 17.8 points and 14.8 rebounds per game this season and is the current league rebounding champion.

Then this year Jimmy Butler is not injured again, and this will be the first time in his career that he will appear in the All-Star Game. At the same time, this is also the first time that three Bulls players will appear in the All-Star Game since Yao Ming retired. This is probably the most exciting game in recent years.

So as early as a week before the All-Star Weekend, the All-Star atmosphere in Chicago had already begun to appear. Not only in the shopping malls around the United Center, but also in other shopping malls and streets in Chicago, promotional slogans had begun to appear, and Chicago hotels had already started to fill up early on.

When the All-Star Weekend really arrived, the streets around the United Center were all congested, and many people chose to park their cars on the roadside and walk to the stadium.

There are not only local fans in Chicago, but also a large number of fans from all over the world.

If the Bulls' popularity before was just a description in words, then the current grand occasion is the best reflection of it.

This popularity was further reflected the day before the All-Star Weekend officially began.

When Xu Yong appeared at the fan carnival, the scene was really surrounded by three circles inside and three circles outside. If the team had not made a plan in advance, this might have been a dangerous situation.

It was in this grand occasion that the curtain of the Chicago All-Star Game officially opened on February 13.

Like other All-Star Games, this year's Chicago All-Star Game also has a main and secondary venue. The main venue is used for individual events and the main competition, while the secondary venue is used to host the celebrity game and the rookie game.

Because Xu Yong had to participate in official activities of AJ and the league, he did not go to the secondary hall on the first day, but waited until the individual competition on the second day to arrive at the United Center.

Before the individual events begin, there is an All-Star open warm-up session, with All-Stars from the Eastern and Western Conferences present.

Xu Yonggang shot a three-pointer at the top of the arc, and someone passed the ball to him in time. When he received the ball, he found that the person who passed the ball was James.

He was really stunned this time.

Is this a misunderstanding?

It was not until James demonstrated the shot that Xu Yong was sure it was for him.

And after Xu Yong shot the ball, James actually picked up the ball and passed it to him again. Is it that the sun is rising from the west? Is James acting as his caddy?

Xu Yong didn't know what was going on, but it felt good. After all, who would refuse a king's service? Even if he was just the "Luoyang Governor" from Cleveland.

Of course, this process did not last long, because Butler, who felt uncomfortable after seeing this scene, also went to the basket, competed with James for the ball, and finally drove James away.

Xu Yong laughed and shook his head. The media reporters are all watching. You really have no respect for the king at all.

After the open training was over, the players began to be interviewed by reporters on the sidelines. Xu Yong was naturally the focus of the reporters' interviews.

"What are your goals for this year's All-Star Game?"

“To provide the fans with the most exciting games.”

"Do you have any thoughts on winning the MVP award again?"

"Yes."

Xu Yong's answer was quite direct. After all, he was destined to be the protagonist in this year's All-Star Game, and as long as he could lead the Eastern team to victory, he would basically be the MVP of this year's All-Star Game.

After the interview, the players did not need to go back to the locker room because the individual events would begin immediately afterwards.

Xu Yong and Butler sat in the first row, with Paul George on his other side.

George's performance has undergone a qualitative change this season. He can contribute 26.4 points per game this season. Now he leads the Magic to sixth place in the Eastern Conference. He has a good chance of leading the team back to the playoffs. He was also directly selected as a starter in the All-Star Game.

And as can be seen from last season's All-Star Game, he is now a fan of Xu Yong.

"Senior, I feel like something's not right about him." Butler leaned over and whispered to Xu Yong.

Hearing his words, Xu Yong turned around and found that James had switched seats with someone else and sat next to George.

Xu Yong also looked puzzled. The most likely explanation he could think of was that James was severely criticized by society after endorsing Adidas this season, and then they came to ease their relationship with him.

"Senior, could he want to come to the Bulls?" At this moment, Butler leaned close to Xu Yong's ear and said.

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

It shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. It’s impossible.

Even if James wants to come, the Bulls won't want him.

Even if the Bulls wanted it, he would object.

After all, with the living example of the Heat's Big Three in front of him, he doesn't want to lose his power just because of 8 points.

But who cares? Others have a warm face, but his butt is still cold.

This year's individual events have attracted a lot of attention because they are rare competitions that have both the three-point contest and the dunk contest worth watching.

During the three-point contest, Curry and Thompson staged a peak showdown. In the end, Curry scored the highest score of the tournament in the final, tying the 28 points that Xu Yong had just set last year, and defeated Thompson to win the three-point contest championship.

"If you participate, I think you should be able to defend your title."

Xu Yongzheng was applauding Curry's performance, and when he turned around he heard a familiar voice.

When he turned around, he found that James had switched seats with George and was sitting next to him.

Xu Yong turned his head and pretended not to hear.

Whether James wants to come to the Bulls is another matter, but easing relations is impossible. After all, who the hell would ease relations with someone who tries to trip over their feet more than once?

After the three-point contest, the dunk contest will follow.

Then Xu Yong watched the dunk duel between LaVine and Gordon on the spot. It was much more exciting and thrilling than what he saw on TV in his previous life. It really deserves the title of the most exciting dunk duel in NBA history.

As for the 2010 Slam Dunk Contest he participated in, there was nothing he could do because his opponent in the final, James, was too weak. Why is it said that great competitions require strong opponents?

Thinking of this, he turned around and found that James was no longer beside him. It seemed that the king's warm face still couldn't stand the temperature of his cold butt.

On the last day of the All-Star Game, Xu Yong still sat in his seat.

Because they were using the same locker room, except for the three players who made it to the main game, the wardrobes of the other Bulls players were temporarily cleared out for the other All-Stars to use.

Anderson's position is now assigned to Paul George.

"I will pass the ball well and play good defense." George patted his chest and made a promise to Xu Yong as soon as he came up.

"Isn't it my job to pass the ball?" Butler asked from across the street, his closet on the other side near the door.

"If you say that, then as a point guard, I have something to say." Wade interrupted with a smile.

There was a sudden burst of laughter in the locker room. It was obvious that everyone’s goal this year was very clear, which was to get the ball into Xu Yong’s hands, and the rest was just to watch Xu Yong’s performance.

Xu Yong couldn't help but smile and shook his head. It looked like he was going to be ready to take 30 or even 40 shots per game tonight.

"I think the person who is most worried right now should be the holder of the All-Star scoring record, because his record is about to be broken." At this time, James spoke.

When this sentence was spoken, almost everyone showed a look of surprise, and George even scratched his ears with his hands to make sure if he had heard it wrongly.

This time, James is publicly showing his goodwill to Xu Yong.

"I think the Emperor shouldn't have to worry about this." Xu Yong looked at James and said jokingly.

This emperor is not that king. Chamberlain is the record holder for single-game scoring in the All-Star Game (42 points), and his nickname is the Emperor of Basketball.

This is also the reason why it is translated as "little emperor" in China. There was an emperor before James, so of course people have to add a "little" to distinguish it, just like Kenyon Martin's son, who is called Kenyon Martin Jr.

Chamberlain's words had already been buried in the ground in 1999.

There was laughter in the locker room again, and it was unclear whether they were laughing at Xu Yong's humor or his teasing.

James was instantly embarrassed. This was the third time he had been rejected by Xu Yong in an All-Star Game.

That night, the All-Star Game was officially staged at the United Center.

Xu Yong was the last one to appear on stage. With the DJ's extended introduction note, Xu Yong walked from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. Just a wave with a smile on his face was enough to make the United Center go crazy.

Feeling the enthusiasm of the fans, he tilted his head and made a listening gesture. The decibels of cheers from the scene instantly became like the steam in a pressure cooker, which was about to overturn the roof of the United Center.

After the entrance ceremony, both sides conducted a brief warm-up, and then the starters were ready to take the stage.

An interesting thing is that this year there are no big men in the starting lineups of both teams, not even a power forward, which means that the pace at the beginning will definitely be very fast.

The game is about to begin and the starting players of both sides will appear one after another.

West: Curry, Westbrook, Kobe, Durant, Leonard;

East: Wade, Butler, Xu Yong, Paul George, James.

During the jump ball, both sides made a joke and let Xu Yong and Curry jump the ball in the center circle. The atmosphere of this year's All-Star Game was still relatively relaxed.

In the end, Xu Yong didn't jump much, he just pushed the ball back to the half court with a light push, and the game officially started.

Wade controlled the ball and advanced to the frontcourt. After signaling to move away, he passed the ball to Xu Yong in the low post.

The Western team didn't double-team, so Durant was allowed to defend Xu Yong in the low post.

After Xu Yong made a back-to-the-basket shot, he turned and leaned back, and Durant separated and stretched out his long arms to interfere.

“Swish!”

However, with a crisp sound, Xu Yong scored the goal despite the defense.

Looking back, Curry was the first to fire from the outside for the Western team. In this shot, Curry's off-ball movement was very beautiful and he basically got complete shooting space.

"when!"

But his shot was ultimately rejected by the rim.

There was an immediate burst of booing at the scene. What kind of Chicago basketball hoop is this? It even has automatic recognition.

The rebound was grabbed by Xu Yong, who passed the ball to Wade who was about to leave the court. The Eastern team quickly launched a defensive counterattack.

At this time, the difference between the All-Star team and the ordinary team came out. The speed was really fast. From Wade advancing to his teammates following up, the camera could hardly keep up.

Wade rushed to the front court and looked back. He had a chance to score directly, but he did not shoot. Instead, he threw the ball into the air and opened his arms to celebrate.

Xu Yong was lifted into the air by the ball and completed an alley-oop slam dunk amid Wade's celebration.

What is this? This is [Xu Wei Link]!

But while they were still celebrating, Durant made a quick pass from the backcourt, and Westbrook had already quickly run down to the Eastern Conference team's backcourt and scored a one-handed dunk.

Even though the fans had foreseen this pace, they still felt it was too fast. If they had played like this throughout the game, both teams might have scored over 200 points.

It is not known whether they played like that throughout the game, but it was indeed the case at the beginning, because right after Westbrook dunked, Butler passed the ball from the backcourt and Wade quickly advanced to the frontcourt.

Moreover, when Wade reached the frontcourt three-point line, he immediately passed the ball to Xu Yong, which showed that he felt that this tactic was slowing down the pace.

Xu Yong was also straightforward. He held the ball with one hand outside the three-point line, made a fake step-by-step breakthrough, and then directly pulled up for a three-point shot.

The ball in the low post at the front is more of a test of the feel. If the feel is right, you can shoot more.

“Swish!”

When the crisp sound was heard, the fans at the scene cheered.

Okay, now you can be completely sure that it is your own basketball hoop.

The Western team continued to play fast, but this time Butler of the Eastern team retreated early to block Westbrook. He defended seriously wherever he was.

In the end, the Western team answered the ball with a three-pointer from the top of the arc by Durant, but unfortunately the basketball hit the rim and bounced out, and the rebound was directly grabbed by James.

James did not choose to pass the ball, but turned around and started a fast break himself.

The Eastern team advanced, and although Xu Yong was also fast-forwarding, he did not follow up very actively, because he knew that a fast-break maniac like James would most likely attack on his own, not to mention that he repeatedly gave the opponent the cold shoulder.

But what he never expected was that when he got to the top of the three-point line in the frontcourt, James actually turned around and passed the ball to the moon.

At this moment, he thought it was still yesterday's open training class!

“Swish!”

He raised his knife and shot again with three points.

My own basket is like the sea tonight.

And even James was passing the ball to him. There was really no one who could stop him from breaking the single-game scoring record tonight.

In the first three quarters, the two sides played a high-speed battle and achieved an extremely high score of 162 to 157, basically starting from 50 points in a single quarter.

The scene of people coming and going is so exciting that it makes people dazzled and feel very excited.

And the most important is Xu Yong. The Eastern team doesn't give the ball to every player, but as long as Xu Yong is on the court and there is an opportunity, he will score every ball.

Xu Yong also proved one thing with practical actions: when four All-Stars feed the ball to the league's No. 1 player, he can produce terrifying statistics.

At the end of the third quarter, Xu Yong made 21 of 27 shots and 5 of 8 three-pointers, scoring 50 points!

What about Chamberlain's All-Star Game single-game scoring record? Does it take the entire game to break it?

You have to know that this is the All-Star Game, and Xu Yong was not on the court all the time. He only played for 27 minutes in the first three quarters.

"I don't know how many points Xu can score tonight, but I won't be surprised no matter how many points he scores." Barkley said this with a twitching mouth, because he knew that in addition to being a very good scorer, Xu Yong also had another characteristic of being very durable.

If they continue playing at this pace, he and even Xu Yong will have a chance to score 70+ in the All-Star Game!

But when the game came to the last quarter, the situation changed.

Because the outcome of the game was at stake, both sides started fighting for real.

Xu Yong's defender also changed from Durant to Leonard, and he was double-teamed.

However, although Xu Yong's scoring momentum was not as fast as in the first three quarters, he still continued to score points.

With three minutes left in the game, his score had reached 60 points, reaching 63 points.

As soon as he received the ball, he was double-teamed by three players from the Western team.

However, this gave the Eastern team an opportunity. Wade and George scored points one after another, and the Eastern team gradually established an advantage.

When the game came to the last minute, the difference between the two sides was only 3 points. Xu Yong received the ball and the Western team did not dare to double-team him. He used a sideways drag step to shake off Leonard and then made a three-pointer.

He hadn't taken a shot for two minutes before that, so his touch might have been a little iffy.

But soon, Xu Yong proved that was not a problem.

With the sound of the basketball falling into the pocket, he also scored the goal that killed the game.

In the end, the score between the two sides was fixed at 192 to 186. The Eastern team defeated the Western team by 6 points and won the battle.

Xu Yong made 27 of 39 shots and scored 66 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Putting aside other things, this scoring record has raised Chamberlain's scoring record by two levels, which really lives up to the words on Jordan's statue at the United Center: The best there ever was. The best there ever will be.