All-Star Game (4000)

After getting involved with Li Yanhong, Li Ruping immediately headed south to find a man named Zhang Xiaolong.

Li Ruping used her financial power to find Zhang Xiaolong, and unsurprisingly, his VX chat software was quickly acquired.

Although Li Chen also owns Tencent stock, that's not a reason for him to give up VX.

But this is not the end, only the beginning. Li Chen, with his prophetic abilities, is investing in various ventures.

In New York, USA, around 10 a. m. the next morning, Li Chen had just finished his strength training for the day when Dolan called him into his office.

Dolan didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point about renewing his contract for next season.

He took out a check, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Li Chen, saying generously, "Chen, I am extremely satisfied with your performance. I hope you can sign a long-term contract with the Knicks for at least three years. This is a blank check; you can fill in any amount you like."

Dolan's move surprised Li Chen; he was also astonished by Dolan gesture.

He thought about it for a moment, then declined Dolan's offer. He returned the blank check and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Dolan, I cannot renew my contract with the Knicks."

Dolan was slightly stunned, and asked incredulously, "Why? Chen, I'm not kidding you, you really can write down any number you want on this blank check."

Li Chen shook his head again and said, "Mr. Dolan, this isn't about money."

Dolan was somewhat surprised; to be honest, he couldn't quite understand what Li Chen was trying to do.

A moment later, Li Chen told Dolan the reason.

Dolan was somewhat surprised to hear Li Chen's reason; he hadn't expected Li Chen to want to buy an NBA team after retiring.

Therefore, in order to garner votes, he had to travel between different teams, using himself as a bargaining chip to win votes for himself.

Yes, to become the owner of an NBA team, you not only need to have money, but you also need the consent of more than half of the owners of the other 30 teams to own your own NBA team.

It must be said that Li Chen is truly a business Wizards.

Subsequently, Dolan persuaded 10 NBA owners to commit to an agreement with Li Chen, in which Li Chen would sign a three-year maximum contract with the Knicks.

The following day, the Knicks' official website announced that Li Chen would play for the Knicks for the next three seasons, a piece of news that greatly excited Knicks fans.

The Knicks underwent a dramatic transformation this season after Li Chen joined, becoming one of the most promising teams to win the NBA championship. How could they not be excited?

On the next game day, the Knicks, in their pursuit of a 35-game winning streak, were defeated by the Rockets in a last-second loss on the road.

The Rockets were very strong in the preseason with the addition of Tracy McGrady this year. As for the Playoffs?

Tracy McGrady is a typical example of a regular season champion but Playoffs bronze-level player; otherwise, he wouldn't have been eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs with the Orlando Magic.

Moreover, his physical condition was truly indescribable.

Although the Knicks lost, Li Chen scored 45 points in this game, which means that Lady Luck has switched her affections and is now beckoning to the Rockets.

After that, the Knicks lost to the Bucks again.

Li Chen was tripped again during this match.

The player who tripped and injured the foot was Bucks rookie Pachulia.

The incident began when Li Chen dunked over Pachulia during an offensive play.

Young Pachulia harbored resentment, and thus, evil thoughts took hold.

Li Chen hadn't expected that Pachulia was a foot-stepping fanatic in his youth.

However, Li Chen's random S-rank Skill in this match was the S-level support skill [Gorgeous], which increased his coordination by 50%, and he didn't suffer any major injuries.

It's worth mentioning that this foot-stepping incident also cemented Li Chen's reputation as Melancholy Soul-Destroying Kick.

Because Li Chen kicked Pachulia again.

The media finally realized that this guy definitely did it on purpose.

Bowen almost cried. I said he did it on purpose back then, and none of you believed me. Now you know, right?

But Li Chen refused to admit that he did it on purpose, insisting that it was just a coincidence.

Young Pachulia wasn't as lucky as Bowen; the kid went straight to becoming a king without an O.

However, Li Chen was not criticized by the fans; instead, they cheered and praised his performance, saying he played well and beautifully.

Li Chen will also miss all the remaining matches in January.

Without Li Chen's passing, the Knicks were instantly reduced to a second-rate team, suffering a five-game losing streak.

They lost to the Pelicans 88-82, the Chicago Bulls 86-84 and 88-86 in two consecutive games, the Raptors 98-81, and finally suffered a crushing 61-91 defeat to the Pistons.

Meanwhile, NBA All-Star voting has begun. Li Chen has a large number of fans in China, New York, the largest city in the United States, and some fans in Los Angeles, which has given him a commanding lead of 100,000 votes over other players in the first round of voting.

When Li Chen returned on February 6, the Knicks had lost eight games in a row.

When Li Chen returned to the court, he was greeted with cheers from the Knicks fans.

Li Chen did not disappoint the fans.

Under his leadership, the Knicks were like a completely different team.

They defeated the Kings 120-115 in succession.

They defeated the Suns 121-114.

They defeated the Jazz 110-99.

They defeated the Miami Heat 121-116.

They defeated the Celtics 112-111 with a last-second shot.

When voting closed on February 16, Li Chen led with 3 million votes, becoming the top vote-getter.

It's worth mentioning that Li Chen and Avril had a great Valentine's Day, and in the end, Li Chen managed to tame Avril completely.

The NBA All-Star Game was held in Denver on February 20.

Before the game even started, Li Chen spotted Kobe he hadn't seen in a long time.

After Li Chen walked over, he slapped him hard on the shoulder.

Kobe froze for a moment, then slowly turned around, saying expressionlessly, "Oh, it's Li Chen!"

At this moment, Yao Ming and Li Chen waved to him.

After greeting Yao Ming, Li Chen looked at Kobe and gave him a half-smile.

That's right, Kobe hasn't answered his calls for the past two months. No! To be precise, his calls have never gone through.

Li Chen figured Kobe must have blocked him.

But before Li Chen could even utter a word of mockery towards Kobe turned the tables and took the initiative.

"Chen, why don't you answer my calls? It's always like this."

Li Chen was stunned when he heard Kobe's question, and then his lips twitched violently.

He never expected Kobe to be so shameless; Kobe had blocked him, yet now he was accusing him of being the villain.

Li Chen was too lazy to argue with Kobe, who was so petty and concerned about saving face. After all, these people were there, so he decided to give him some face.

Meanwhile, seeing that Li Chen didn't mention the Lakers' record this year, Kobe breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking that he could remove Li Chen from his phone's blacklist tomorrow.

The starting lineups for the first All-Star Western Conference:

Eastern Conference Head Coach: Van Gundy (Heat)

Eastern Conference Starting Lineups: Li Chen (Knicks), Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers), Carter (Nets), James (Cleveland Cavaliers), O'Neal (Heat)

Eastern Conference reserves: Gilbert Arenas (Wizards), Jamilson (Wizards), Wade (Heat), Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers), Little O'Neal (Pacers), Pierce (Celtics), Wallace (Pistons).

Western Conference Head Coach: Popovich (Spurs)

Western Conference Starting Lineup: Tracy McGrady (Rockets), Kobe (Lakers), Garnett (Timberwolves), Duncan (Spurs), Yao Ming (Rockets).

Western Conference reserves: Ginobili (Spurs), Lewis (SuperSonics), Stoudemire (Suns), Allen (SuperSonics), Marion (Suns), Nash (Suns), Nowitzki (Mavericks).

Because the Knicks swept the Suns, causing the Suns' record to drop to second place, Popovich got an All-Star head coach.

The NBA has a rule that a head coach who was an NBA All-Star in the previous season is not allowed to serve as an All-Star head coach for the next consecutive season.

Therefore, the head coaching position in the Eastern Conference went to the Miami Heat, who were ranked second this year.

The vibrant scene of the 2005 NBA opening ceremony seems to be right before my eyes. It was a night full of passion and energy, with fans from all over the world gathering here just to witness the grand opening of the season.

Inside the Pepsi Center, golden lights illuminated the stands, where spectators, dressed in jerseys of their respective teams and with colorful face paint, raised their beers and shouted loudly, preparing for the intense competition to come.

As the players took to the field one by one, their individual promotional videos were played on the big screen in the stands.

The fans looked at their hero with eyes full of respect and anticipation.

The starting whistle blew, and the players instantly got into the game.

They ran around the court, the basketball flying in their hands, and every basket sparked a roar of cheers from the crowd.

They poured their sweat onto the court, igniting the entire stadium with their passion.

The atmosphere in the stands heated up as the game progressed.

The fans jumped up and down, raising their hands high and cheering wildly for their chosen team.

The colorful banners and slogans shone brightly under the lights, adding more color and vitality to the stadium.

This match was supposed to be an entertainment game, but only two people took it exceptionally seriously.

This is the original Los Angeles duo from the early morning.

Kobe's actions stemmed from his personality, while Li Chen's were driven by Popovich, the head coach of the Western Conference, and he wanted to embarrass Popovich.

At the end of the first quarter, the Eastern Conference led the Western Conference 40-28.

This left fans somewhat bewildered; was it truly a case of the West being stronger than the East?

Why do they have this misconception that the Western Conference is being crushed by the Eastern Conference?

Even Van Gundy of the Eastern Conference was stunned; Li Chen was just too strong.

He scored 9 points on just three shots, but also had 8 assists.

Seeing this, Western Conference head coach Popovich's eyebrows twitched wildly; he had a bad feeling.

He was certainly not worried about this trivial, staged NBA All-Star game.

His concern was what would happen if they made it to the NBA Finals and then faced Li Chen's Knicks again.

He now regretted his decision; clearly, this Eastern Kid held a grudge.

This made him seem like he was on steroids every time he played against the Spurs, making him exceptionally terrifying.

Since the 2003 Western Conference Finals, the Spurs have not won a single game against the Clippers, led by Li Chen, and they haven't even beaten the Knicks this season.

However, he quickly shook off this feeling of regret because he believed in Duncan, believed in Parker, and believed in Ginobili.

A short while later, the second quarter began.

Li Chen wasn't sent onto the court at all during the second quarter because Van Gundy was genuinely afraid to let Li Chen play, fearing that Li Chen would go on a scoring spree and completely ruin the game. In fact, this is an unspoken rule of the NBA All-Star Game.

After the start of the second quarter, the Western Conference rallied and the Eastern Conference was quickly overtaken.

At halftime, the Eastern Conference was actually trailing the Western Conference by 10 points, which sparked discontent among fans who supported the Eastern Conference.

After the start of the third quarter, Li Chen finally returned to the court.

He immediately set the pace of the game very fast as soon as he entered the field.

He could tell from the second quarter that Van Gundy was intentionally keeping the game close, waiting for the fourth quarter to decide the winner.

But... this is not what Li Chen wanted.

As soon as Li Chen entered the game in the third quarter, he turned off the pass button and went into "unbeatable mode," hitting consecutive three-pointers Pull-up Jumper.

Li Chen's incredible performance, sinking ten consecutive three-pointers, brought the All-Star game to a climax ahead of schedule.

The third quarter became Li Chen's personal showcase, which greatly displeased the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

They started refusing to pass the ball to Li Chen, but Li Chen's random S-rank Skill in this game was [Rebounding Monster]. If you won't pass the ball to me, then I'll just grab it myself.

The Western Conference -All-Star Player were also dissatisfied, and they began to take things seriously, targeting Li Chen.

On the Western Conference side, Kobe and Yao Ming exchanged a glance, and both saw the same emotion in each other's eyes: Li Chen was furious.

No one in the Western Conference can defend Li Chen one-on-one. As for double-teaming, if they can successfully contain Li Chen, that's fine, but if they can't even stop him with a double-team, then it's too embarrassing.

No matter how much Popovich lashed out, these stars treated him like he was talking nonsense and ignored him completely, since they weren't part of the Spurs.

On the Eastern All-Stars side, James is the smartest one. He pays close attention to Li Chen, knowing that Li Chen was once fouled by Bowen, and there's a rumor that this was Popovich's idea.

So he knew that Li Chen wanted to embarrass Popovich, so he simply passed the ball to Li Chen as soon as he received it.

Seeing that James had betrayed them, the other players realized there was no point in resisting Li Chen anymore, so...

At the same time, seeing how vengeful Li Chen, Van Gundy didn't want to provoke him, as he didn't want to become the second Popovich, so he didn't substitute Li Chen again.

When the game ended, the Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western Conference 143-110.

In the Eastern Conference, Li Chen scored 35 points, 25 assists, and 10 rebounds, while other players also scored 20+ points, and James even managed 30 points.

Meanwhile, some Eastern All-Stars players also realized why the Western Conference offense was so fierce last season—it was all because of that bastard Li Chen.

This guy's pass was absolutely amazing, it made them very comfortable.

The MVP of this NBA All-Star Game was undoubtedly Li Chen.

When David Stern presented him with the MVP trophy, he muttered, "Look what you've done to this All-Star game."

"Aren't the fans happy? Isn't that enough?" Li Chen replied in a low voice.

David Stern "..."

After the All-Star Game concluded successfully, Li Chen returned to New York and dialed Kobe's number again. The call went through smoothly, leaving him somewhat speechless.

In their next game, the Knicks went on a ten-game winning streak to finish February's schedule.