Chapter 136 The first round of the All-Star Swift single is online!
After the league's punishment was issued, the conflict at the AT&T Arena came to an end.
On December 16, the NBA officially announced the results of the first round of voting for the All-Star Game.
Chen Yan has once again become the subject of heated discussion among fans!
According to official data released by the NBA, Chen Yan received a total of 525,590 votes in the first round of voting, ranking second among Western Conference guards.
Second only to ‘Black Mamba’ Kobe who received 569,302 votes.
There is no way, Kobe is extremely popular in both China and the United States, but his status cannot be shaken so easily.
The guard with the third most votes in the Western Conference All-Stars is somewhat unexpected. He is Chen Yan’s teammate in the Suns, Steve Nash.
Nash has always been a strong player, and his popularity is almost inferior to that of guard line players with gorgeous styles such as Tracy McGrady and Iverson.
This year, Nash has reaped the benefits of Chen Yan. This situation is a bit similar to Tracy McGrady in previous years.
During the Magic era, McGrady's level and condition were obviously higher than during the Rockets era, but the time when he was most popular and received the most attention was undoubtedly with Yao Ming.
It is an indisputable fact that Chinese players can provide greater exposure for their teammates.
To put it bluntly, the All-Stars are a popularity competition. Whoever attracts more attention will get more votes from their supporters.
This situation also happened to Chen Yan's other teammate Stoudemire. After the first round of voting, he ranked second among Western Conference centers, 5.80,000 votes behind the number one center, Dayao.
Another Chinese player, the United Arab Emirates, also went crazy. In the first round of voting, he ranked third in the Eastern Conference behind James and O'Neal in terms of votes.
If this continues, it is certain that the three Chinese players will gather in the All-Star Game.
The NBA official took a look and found out how good this is!
After the first round of the All-Star Game was announced, president David Stern held an emergency internal meeting to formulate countermeasures.
It is indeed spectacular for three Chinese players to appear as starters in the All-Star Game at the same time, which can attract a wave of Chinese fans, but such a scene will undoubtedly arouse resentment among fans in other regions.
The UAE's current average per game is 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, which is far from the standard of an All-Star player, let alone a starter.
After the meeting, the NBA announced changes to the All-Star voting rules.
In the latest voting rules, the proportion of fans’ votes has been reduced to only 50%, the proportion of votes between players is 25%, and the proportion of media votes is 25%.
In two days in a row, first new rules were introduced, and then the All-Star voting rules were changed. David Stern said that he was really busy...
The introduction of new All-Star voting rules means that if players want to be in the All-Stars, they must not only have fans, but must also be recognized by players and media.
After this rule is revised, it won't have much impact on Chen Yan, but the Arab League may not be able to participate in this year's All-Star Game.
After learning about the new All-Star voting rules, UAE not only did not complain, but was relieved. With his current data and performance on the field, entering the All-Star is actually a kind of pressure.
On December 17, the Suns returned home to face the challenge of the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers are a team on the edge of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and their star player is Danny Granger, who averages about 20 points per game.
If the Suns have a complete lineup, it won't be too difficult to defeat the Pacers. However, five players in the Suns' lineup tonight are suspended at the same time, and three of them are still starting.
Suns coach D'Antoni had no choice but to put fringe players such as Lyndon Johnson III, Banks, and Eric Piakowski into the starting lineup.
At this time, Chen Yan was sitting in the audience watching the game with the other four suspended players.
The NBA has a dress code that requires you to wear formal attire when appearing in public.
Chen Yan is wearing a dark blue suit tonight. The floral decoration on the chest is the finishing touch. He looks very fashionable!
Agent Bill Duffy attaches great importance to Chen Yan's image management and specially hired a professional styling team for him to be responsible for his image in public.
Chen Yan's other four suspended teammates did not pay so much attention to their image. Stoudemire, Laga Bell, Barea and Azubuike all wore black suits and sunglasses.
When five people appeared in front of the camera at the same time, fans couldn't help but joke, is this Chen Yan and his four bodyguards?
When the big screen camera in the stadium showed Chen Yan, all the fans applauded and cheered.
Chen Yan is now very popular in Phoenix, especially after he knocked out three players from the arch-rival Spurs, Chen Yan has simply become a hero in Phoenix.
Soon the fans' eyes returned to the stadium and the game began.
Tonight, Nash took over the offensive burden of the team. He made 12 of 26 shots in the game, including 5 of 8 three-pointers and 6 of 7 free throws. He scored a game-high 35 points!
This is also Nash's highest score in a single game since the start of the 2007-2008 season.
Diaw also recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but the Suns still lost by 17 points in the end. No one could fill the scoring gaps of Chen Yan and Stoudemire, and the loss was expected by everyone.
On December 18, the Suns suffered another defeat in back-to-back games a day later. They lost to the Orlando Magic led by Howard 98-113.
Although Barea, Barnes, and Azubuike returned in one game, it was still difficult to match the powerful firepower of the Magic.
During this period, Dwight Howard was at his peak, averaging 20.5 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
The Suns' interior is always a weak link, and Stoudemire continues to be absent. Howard can be said to have done whatever he wants in the Suns' penalty area tonight. He made 15 of 18 shots from the field and 3 of 8 free throws. With a super high shooting percentage of 83% and
Scored 33 points with an impressive free throw shooting rate of 37.5%!
Nash scored 30 again tonight, but still couldn't lead the team to victory.
After losing two games in a row, a sense of powerlessness arose in Nash's heart. If Stoudemire and Chen Yan didn't come back, Nash felt that he was about to become the leader of the air-killing group!
On December 20, all members of the Suns flew to Chicago for an away challenge.
This was originally a much-anticipated Chinese derby, but it came to nothing due to Chen Yan's suspension.
But it’s not a big problem, because there are now three Chinese players in the NBA, and there are a total of 7 Chinese derbies like this every season.
"Hey! Yi, how are you doing lately? Do you get along well with your teammates?"
During the warm-up period, Chen Yan deliberately greeted Ah Lian in English. He wanted to hear whether Ah Lian's English had improved in the past few months.
Ah Lian smiled and answered Chen Yan's questions in English.
Chen Yan found that Ah Lian's English proficiency improved rapidly. It seemed that he had indeed listened to his advice during this period and worked hard to learn English.
After passing the language barrier, everything will be much easier. The next thing the Arab League has to do is to build relationships with his teammates and integrate into the Bulls locker room. As long as he does these two things, Chen Yan believes that the Arab League can be an outstanding role player in the NBA.
There is no problem.
The game between the two sides started soon.
Arab Lian appeared on the Bulls' starting lineup. There are no inside players on this Bulls team who can compete with Arab Lian. Arab Lian is lucky, as his biggest competitor Gooden was reimbursed at the beginning of the season.
Furthermore, since the start of the season, UAE's performance has been remarkable, and the Bulls are also interested in cultivating him.
This Bulls team focuses on young players. Several starters - Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Hinrich, and Tyrus Thomas - are all under 25 years old.
UAE is young and full of energy, which fits the Bulls' team-building needs very well.
In this game, Chen Yan and Laja Bell are still in the suspension period, but the good news is that Stoudemire is back.
As soon as Stoudemire returned, the Suns' firepower immediately increased to a new level. The connection between him and Nash is the most difficult to guard inside and outside connection in the league.
Stoudemire and Nash connected frequently as soon as they started, and Nash assisted Stoudemire to take off and wreak havoc on the Bulls basket.
At halftime, the Suns suppressed the Bulls youth team 59-49.
In the second half, the Bulls' youth team began to work hard. They wanted to take advantage of their physical strength to close the score in the third quarter and completely overtake it in the fourth quarter.
UAE played an important role in the Bulls' pursuit of points. First, he hit a high jumper from the top of the arc, and then he received Hinrich's assist on the fast break and succeeded in a two-handed dunk!
Chen Yan in the audience could see that Ah Lian was becoming more confident as he played.
Compared with the Bucks in his previous life, the Bulls are a more suitable team for him. The pressure of competition within the team is not so great, and the offensive and defensive rhythm also makes UAE feel very comfortable.
At 3 minutes and 36 seconds into the third quarter, the Bulls chased the score to 74-77.
In the position battle, the Arab League found an opportunity to go down the pick-and-roll. After receiving the pass from Hinrich, he pulled up and dunked. His physical talent was fully displayed!
The Arab ammunition is very fast, and it is suddenly pulled out during the process, which is a bit like a rocket taking off.
Even Stoudemire, who is a master of leaping and jumping, was a bit unable to react, so he could only use a foul strategy to pull him down from the air with both hands.
The referee gave a common foul and signaled the UAE to take two free throws.
After seeing this penalty, Arab League quit.
"This is a physical foul!"
Ah Lian yelled directly at the referee, breaking his previous shy and introverted image.
The referee shook his head and ignored it.
"Ok, ok, if you blow the whistle like that, I will kill him immediately!" Ah Lian showed his domineering attitude and even spoke Chinese.
Chen Yan's KO incident also inspired the Arab League. Chinese players should play their best in the NBA!
Under the repeated bombardment of the youth army, the Bulls completed the lead at the end of the third quarter!
However, Nash and Stoudemire helped the Suns stabilize the rhythm in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Suns narrowly defeated the Bulls on Youth Day 118-114 away from home, ending their two-game losing streak!
The moment the game whistle blew, Chen Yan walked to the bench and celebrated with the players.
In addition to the team's win, Chen Yan also received good news, that is, Taylor Swift's latest single "see-you-again" topped the Billboard chart!
Careful netizens soon discovered that the composer of the song "see-you-again" was written by Chen Yan, and the lyrics were written with the names shared by Chen Yan and Swift.