Chapter 478: Three Point Champion, Scorpion Tail Dunk
After the preliminary round, the 3 players who advanced to the 3 point contest finals were Chen Yan, Rashard Lewis, and Mario Chalmers.
With defending champion Jason Kapono eliminated early, the rest of the field no longer felt like a threat to Chen Yan. The only question was how high he would push the score.
Lewis shot first.
He opened ice cold at the first 2 racks, clanking shots that normally looked automatic. He finally found rhythm at the top of the arc, but the damage was done. When the timer hit 0, Lewis had only 15 points.
He shook his head as he walked off. A score like that had basically never won this event. The lowest winning total on record was Jeff Hornacek's 16 in the 1997 to 1998 season, and Lewis had not even reached that.
He had already accepted he was done.
Then Chalmers stepped up, and Lewis suddenly felt a pulse of hope.
Chalmers shot second and produced the strangest scoring pattern imaginable.
Rack 1, 1 point.
Rack 2, 2 points.
Rack 3, 3 points.
Rack 4, 4 points.
Rack 5, 5 points.
He climbed the ladder perfectly and finished with 15 as well, tying Lewis.
If Chen Yan scored less than 15, the 2 of them would force overtime.
The crowd laughed at the absurd symmetry, and Lewis stared at the scoreboard like he could will a miracle into existence.
Chen Yan did not plan to give them the chance.
He started calmly, and by the time he hit his first shot at the 4th rack, he had already reached 16.
The contest was over.
With the title secured, Chen Yan stopped chasing numbers and started treating the arena like a playground. He changed his shooting form rack to rack, borrowing the release and posture of different stars. One shot looked like Kobe. Another mimicked Dirk. Then he even copied Shawn Marion's awkward, sideways motion just to make the crowd howl. On the final ball, he flipped it up left handed.
It was not disrespect. This was All Star Saturday, entertainment was the point, and the fans loved every second of it.
Of course, the price of showmanship was a dip in percentage. Even so, Chen Yan coasted to the championship with 21 points.
…
During the trophy interview, a reporter asked, "Chen, you changed your form a bunch in the last 2 racks. We saw Kobe's posture, Dirk's posture, even Marion's. Why?"
Chen Yan grinned. "Because it was fun. And it made the fans happy."
The reporter followed up, "You were scorching through the first 3 racks. You had a chance to break your own record from the preliminary round. Any regrets?"
"None," Chen Yan said easily. "I had a great time. And it's good to leave some room for next time. Makes it easier to break it again."
The reporter laughed. Chen Yan made it sound like the 3 point contest was his personal gym workout, and records were something he could grab whenever he felt like it.
They did not keep him long. The next event was waiting, and he was in it too.
Chen Yan lifted the trophy, posed for a few photos, then headed off the floor.
…
After a short performance and a quick reset, the lights dimmed again.
It was time for the dunk contest.
The 4 contestants were J R Smith of the Denver Nuggets, Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, and the hometown headliner, Chen Yan of the Phoenix Suns.
Chen Yan came out last, and the building erupted so hard it made the other guys glance over with a little envy. Home court did not just exist in games, it existed in moments like this.
J R Smith went first.
He tossed it to himself and hammered a right handed windmill.
Clean, powerful, and a little too basic for a contest. The judges flashed their cards and he finished with 43.
Nate Robinson was next.
He tried a similar self toss into a 1 handed finish, but nerves got him and he missed the first attempt. On the second try he nailed it. The difficulty was close to J R's, but the judges liked the flair and the bounce of the little guy, giving him 46.
Then Chen Yan stepped up for his first dunk.
This era was still limited in creativity. You saw the same few ideas recycled every year, and the winner often came down to power and aesthetics.
Chen Yan did not have that limitation.
He had too many dunk memories in his head, and his current athleticism could actually bring them to life. He came to this contest to do something different.
He palmed the ball with 1 hand beyond the 3 point line, tossed it ahead, and sprinted in.
The crowd saw the self toss and groaned lightly, thinking it would be another recycled routine.
Then Chen Yan caught it in the air, and instead of finishing, he used his hang time to tap the ball off the backboard twice, quick, controlled touches, before slamming it home with 1 arm as he came down.
The arena detonated.
In the booth, Charles Barkley shook his head. "That's creativity and athleticism in the same dunk. You can't fake that."
Kenny Smith nodded. "I was expecting a windmill or a between the legs dunk. This surprised everybody."
The judges did not hesitate.
All 10s.
Chen Yan barely reacted. The dunk that had the building shaking was just an appetizer to him.
Howard went last in the first round.
He tried a self toss off the backboard into a windmill and missed the first attempt. Barkley groaned. "Dwight trying to do too much. Big fella, keep it simple and powerful, that's your lane."
Kenny added, "His jump is fine, the ball just isn't landing where he wants it."
Howard stayed with the same idea and nailed it the second time, adding a small spin into the windmill. For a man with his wingspan and bounce, it looked effortless.
The judges went wild again.
Another set of 10s.
Kenny laughed. "Second perfect score of the night. Dwight is doing it, and you can tell the judges love him."
Barkley's eyes drifted to the crowd. "Look who's here, Shaq and Shaunie. Looks like they're trying to make it work again."
Kenny leaned into the gossip. "Camera also caught Scottie Pippen, and he's here alone. No wife tonight. I wonder if that's got anything to do with Chen."
The tease landed because everyone remembered the trash talk from last month, the line that nearly started a family war.
The dunk contest rolled on.
…
Round 2 started quickly, and J R Smith went first again.
He tried an outside the court alley oop with teammate Sonny Weems, aiming for a behind the back reverse dunk. After multiple misses, he changed plans. By then his legs were fading. He barely forced a 2 handed finish and got 42.
Total after 2 rounds, 85.
He was basically done.
Nate Robinson went next.
He had Wilson Chandler lie down under the basket, then sprinted in, stepped onto Chandler, and jumped to finish.
It was creative, but the judges were not impressed. They gave him 41.
Then Dwight Howard came out for his second dunk, and before he even touched the ball, the crew rolled a raised rim onto the floor.
Everyone understood what was coming.
What they did not expect was the costume.
Howard disappeared into a phone booth, then emerged grinning, wearing a Superman tank top. A teammate handed him a red cloth, and when he unfurled it, it was a Superman cape.
The entire arena cracked up. Young stars, old legends, everyone was laughing.
With the crowd roaring, Howard caught a pass from behind the hoop and threw it down on the raised rim.
Perfect score.
The building was on fire.
And now it was Chen Yan's turn, stepping into the loudest atmosphere of the night.
For his second dunk, he brought out a partner nobody expected.
Yao Ming.
Yao stood under the basket holding the ball high, almost at rim level. The crowd laughed because it looked like Chen Yan could just tap it in. Why even dunk?
Then Chen Yan started his approach and jumped.
It was a full jump, explosive and clean, launched from close range. As he rose, his head nearly reached rim height.
He drifted forward slightly, dipped his head down, then kicked both legs up behind him like a scorpion tail.
Without looking, he threw both hands back and slammed the ball through the hoop.
First try.
The arena erupted so violently that the US Airways Center felt like it shook for a moment.
Perfect score, 50.
If Howard had lit the crowd with a gimmick, Chen Yan lit it with pure skill.
Fans were yelling the same question at each other as the noise rolled through the building.
If he was doing this in the preliminaries, what was he saving for the finals?
.....
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