Chapter 479: Dunk Contest Champion, Chen Yan Did It Too
With 2 dunks completed and the format cutting the field from 4 to 2, Chen Yan and Dwight Howard advanced to the finals together.
Nate Robinson left with a dark face. He had even planned a stunt before the contest, wearing a fluorescent green jersey and trying to dunk over Howard in the finals. Now he did not even get the chance to use it.
…
For the first dunk of the finals, Chen Yan went first.
After what he had shown in the preliminary round, the entire US Airways Center was buzzing. Everyone wanted to see what he still had in the bag.
Chen Yan delivered again, unveiling another move the crowd had never seen.
He took a short run, slammed the ball hard into the floor, then lifted his leg and jumped with the ball's upward bounce, trying to meet it perfectly in mid air.
He jumped a fraction too early.
The first attempt failed.
The idea was brilliant, but the execution demanded precision. The bounce height and jump timing had to match exactly. One small mistake, and the dunk was gone.
Chen Yan had not drilled it much before the contest, but on the second attempt he stayed calm. He caught the rising ball cleanly and hammered it down with thunderous force, crisp and decisive.
After landing, he turned to the camera and posed, deliberately playing to the crowd.
This year's finals were different. The winner would not be decided by judges' scores, but by audience text message voting. Style mattered as much as the finish.
Howard came out right after him.
His dunk was also solo. He ran in from the baseline, tossed the ball softly so it kissed the rim and bounced back, then exploded upward, snatched it, and slammed it through.
Howard's elevation was terrifying. His head was already above the rim. If judges were still deciding, that dunk would have lived in the perfect score range.
After landing, Howard faced the camera and broke into a short dance, leaning into the moment.
At the table, Charles Barkley laughed. "Both of them are really performing tonight. With fan voting, you don't have to worry about what the judges think."
Kenny Smith laughed with him. "That's right. The show is part of the dunk contest."
…
Then it was Chen Yan again.
This was his final dunk of the night, and the entire arena stood up.
Chen Yan waved both hands, and the building responded instantly, a wall of applause and cheers. Home court advantage was real.
His adrenaline spiked under that noise.
Dribble.
Run up.
Takeoff.
Chen Yan spun in the air like a top.
A 360?
No.
A 720.
He completed a full 720 degree spinning dunk, and he did it on the first try.
The booth went silent for half a heartbeat, then erupted.
Barkley could only blurt out that he could not believe what he had just seen.
Kenny was the same, sounding like he had run out of words.
Courtside, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul threw their scorecards to the floor. The cards were only a crowd prop, but the message was clear.
This was beyond scoring.
Even Yao Ming, normally calm, put both hands on his head and shook it, as if asking whether a human being was supposed to spin like that in mid air.
Shaquille O'Neal's reaction was the funniest. He turned around and waved at the fans behind him. "Go home. It's over. Just give him the trophy."
It was exaggerated, but it matched exactly what everyone felt. After a 720, nothing looked bigger.
Howard felt it too, but it was still a competition. He had to complete his last dunk.
He asked the crowd in the lane and baseline area to back up, clearing almost a full court runway. Then he sprinted in, took off from about a step inside the free throw line, and finished the dunk.
It was a legendary dunk in history, but it did not have novelty tonight. Michael Jordan and Rick Barry had already made it famous long ago.
…
While the votes were being counted, Cheryl Miller interviewed Chen Yan and Howard.
Howard grinned. "The atmosphere tonight was unbelievable. I had a great time. This guy is crazy," he said, nodding toward Chen Yan. "Those dunks shocked me, especially that 720. For a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."
Chen Yan smiled. "I came here with 1 goal, to do something different. As for the trophy, I'll let the fans decide."
Minutes later, the results hit the screen.
Chen Yan won with 81% of the vote.
He lifted the first dunk contest trophy of his career.
In the stands, Yui Aragaki could not help blurting out, "He's so handsome."
Beside her, Higa Manami nodded. "He really is."
The 2 Japanese actresses had come to the dunk contest as part of All Star Weekend, but the tabloids did not care about context. Headlines immediately spun it into a story about Chen Yan inviting them, and the rumors spread everywhere.
It only made the situation with Taylor Swift colder.
Chen Yan's mood sank.
The next day at All Star practice, Kobe Bryant noticed it immediately. Kobe had also seen the past 2 days of scandal headlines, and during a break he walked over.
"Don't let that stuff affect what you do on the court," Kobe said. "We're professionals."
Chen Yan was about to nod, but Kobe added, almost casually, "And honestly, this kind of thing is normal. Shaq did it too."
Chen Yan froze.
He had never been so speechless in his life.
Some rumors, once they spread, started sounding like facts. The most ridiculous part was that he had only met Yui Aragaki once, and he did not even have her phone number.
Fortunately, the media's focus that day was not on him.
After the Western Conference practice ended, a familiar face stepped onto the floor.
Shaquille O'Neal, representing the East, arrived at the practice court. Players lined up to greet him, except Kobe.
Then the 2 men locked eyes.
Kobe stood up first, offering the gesture.
Cameras snapped instantly.
The OK duo were about to share a moment, and everyone knew it.
O'Neal gave him full respect and wrapped Kobe in a big hug. After their split in 2004, they were finally embracing in front of the world again.
"Hey man, how you doing?" O'Neal asked.
"Good. How about you?" Kobe answered.
Under the flashing lights, they chatted and laughed. There was a little performance in it, sure, but it was also the start of a real thaw.
Time could sand down even the sharpest edges. The 2 men who once could not stand each other could now talk like old friends, and that alone felt unreal.
"When we got together and saw Phil, I was really happy," O'Neal said with emotion. "So many memories."
Kobe nodded. "Yeah. That hug felt like we were back in the Lakers days."
Reporters immediately swarmed, pulling the old conflicts back into the conversation. O'Neal laughed it off. "There was never some huge personal war. A lot of people just got led around."
For once, Chen Yan was not the center of Phoenix All Star Weekend. The OK reunion stole the whole stage.
And honestly, that was a relief. It meant fewer microphones in his face asking about gossip.
He was about to leave when O'Neal finished an interview, squeezed through the crowd, and walked straight to him.
"Chen," O'Neal said, voice lower. "Enjoy the main game tonight. Don't let off court stuff get in your head."
Chen Yan nodded.
O'Neal leaned in and whispered, "It's just boy girl drama. Relax. Kobe did it too."
.....
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