"What?!"
The moment that comment appeared, everyone was stunned.
"Wait, hold on. If I remember correctly, in the first round of voting, Howard had 336,000 votes, while Blake Su only had 253,000. Now Howard has gained another 710,000 votes and is still firmly at the top, which is already impressive.
But Blake Su's votes have skyrocketed by 1.12 million, directly overtaking Howard. He has surpassed 'Superman' by more than 200,000 votes.
And keep in mind, Blake Su is just a rookie center, while Howard has dominated the Eastern Conference All-Star starting spot for years as a superstar center. The contrast is insane!"
"It is not just Howard. Blake Su has also surpassed LeBron, Rose, Wade, Durant, Anthony, and a whole group of superstars!"
"Hey, am I the only one who noticed that Blake Su is only about 1,000 votes behind the current vote leader, Kobe Bryant?!"
"You are not seeing things."
"Come on, Kobe has five championships and has won back-to-back Finals MVPs over the past two years. He is widely recognized as the best active player and the undisputed king of popularity.
When it comes to fan support, even LeBron, Rose, and Wade cannot compare to him.
And yet... Blake Su, as a rookie, has actually closed the gap to just 1,000 votes behind Kobe in the second round of All-Star voting.
At this rate, when the third round results come out, will Blake Su surpass Kobe and take the top spot?!"
"The key is, Blake Su is a center. Centers have never been that popular in All-Star voting. Just look at Shaquille O'Neal.
That makes Blake Su's popularity even more ridiculous!"
"A rookie surpassing the best active player to become the All-Star vote leader? That is terrifying!"
"My god, Blake Su's popularity is on another level!"
"Popularity comes from strength."
"The strongest rookie in the league, the 'monster rookie'. He truly has both talent and popularity!"
"..."
Blake Su's explosive rise in popularity shocked fans everywhere. What they did not realize was that as time went on, his popularity would only continue to grow.
In the second round of voting, the Eastern Conference top ten remained the same as before: Howard, LeBron, Wade, Rose, Stoudemire, Rondo, Garnett, O'Neal, Ray Allen, and O'Neal.
The Western Conference was similar: Kobe, Blake Su, Durant, Anthony, Paul, Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Bynum, Duncan, and Nowitzki.
It is worth noting that in the West, aside from Kobe and Blake Su, who both surpassed one million votes, the next highest was Durant with only 827,000.
In other words, there was a clear gap between Kobe and Blake Su and the rest of the Western stars.
That gap directly reflected the difference in popularity.
...
As for Blake Su, when he learned he was only 1,000 votes away from the top spot, he was very satisfied, and his determination to perform well in every game grew even stronger.
The vote leader position had to be secured. Only then could he complete the random mission and obtain the [Injury Reduction Candy].
The next day.
The Suns hosted the Clippers at home.
Blake Su played, but Alvin Gentry gave Nash, Carter, and Curry all rest days, leaving Blake Su to carry the team alone.
The game began.
With Blake Su as the Suns' only major threat, Griffin and the rest of the Clippers defenders focused entirely on him, while George and the others did everything they could to create space for him.
The game quickly turned into a battle centered entirely around Blake Su.
By the end of the first quarter, Blake Su had gone 5 of 8 from the field, scoring 12 points along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, giving the Suns a 3-point lead.
In the second quarter, after rotations,
by halftime, Blake Su had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, and the Suns still led by 4 points.
In the second half, the Clippers tightened their defense on Blake Su even further. They were willing to leave one Suns player open just to have two defenders stick to him relentlessly.
As a result, Blake Su had to focus more on facilitating the offense.
Late in the third quarter, he used his shooting threat to draw a three-point foul and calmly made all three free throws. However, he only scored 8 points in the quarter, though he added 5 assists and 5 rebounds.
Even so, the Clippers managed to take a 4-point lead.
In the final quarter, fatigue began to catch up with Blake Su, and his performance declined.
In the end, the Suns failed to complete the comeback, losing at home by 3 points and suffering their third straight defeat.
At the commentary table,
Van Gundy chuckled.
"Tonight, Blake Su recorded a 30-plus triple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. Every major stat category led the team.
To put up numbers like that while facing constant double teams from the Clippers is truly impressive."
"Yes," Mike Breen added.
"Before Blake Su arrived, even with players like Nash and Carter, the Suns were close to tanking. Tonight, Gentry rested Curry, Nash, and Carter all at once.
The rest of the roster is honestly hard to watch.
And yet, even with such a depleted lineup, Blake Su carried the team to the very end.
If he had not spent the entire game handling the ball, driving, defending, stealing, rebounding, and exhausting himself, they might have even pulled off the comeback.
But the result is not the key.
What matters is that Blake Su, this all-around, era-defining center, is gradually reshaping the league's understanding of traditional centers. He may very well usher in a new era for the position."
A new era for centers.
That level of praise was incredibly high for a rookie like Blake Su.
But coming from a seasoned commentator like Mike Breen, it was a genuine acknowledgment of his ability.
...
The next day.
The Suns, who had recently achieved a 23-game winning streak, were now on a three-game losing streak. It might seem like big news, but those who understood the situation knew it was completely reasonable.
So, not many people paid attention. Although a few "haters" tried to stir things up, they were largely ignored.
Instead,
at 12:00 PM, the NBA officially announced the latest Player of the Week awards, which drew significant attention.
In the East, it went to LeBron James of the Heat.
In the West, it went to Kobe Bryant of the Lakers.
After six weeks, the Western Conference Player of the Week was finally no longer Blake Su, ending his streak at six consecutive awards.
Due to a system database update, the announcement, originally scheduled for the previous day, had been delayed by one day. Despite the Suns' three-game losing streak, their record for the previous week was 2 wins and 2 losses.
That still fell short of the Lakers' 3 wins and 1 loss record. Moreover, Blake Su had rested for one game, so even though his performances in the other two games were solid, he could not retain the award.
Kobe had finally broken the streak of Blake Su monopolizing the Western Conference Player of the Week.
However, despite finally winning the award, Kobe was not happy at all.