As for Michael Jordan, he was full of energy tonight, racking up 33 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 Steal.
Michael Jordan and Link directly demolished the Hawks' backcourt. Incidentally, Michael Jordan played 41 minutes tonight; if the point difference hadn't widened so much that the latter half of the fourth quarter became pure garbage time, Michael Jordan's scoring tonight would have definitely pushed toward 40 points.
The main reason Michael Jordan was so valiant was that he wanted to be an All-Star starter this year.
The All-Star starters are determined by fan voting. To be honest, Michael Jordan, in his second comeback, is not as strong as he used to be, playing only at an ordinary superstar level. But this is the golden age of guards; if Michael Jordan wants to stand out in the Eastern Conference, having only his past prestige and fame isn't enough.
In the first week of the NBA regular season, although the Washington Wizards achieved a 3-0 record and Link had a representative performance of 51 points, Allen Iverson was too dominant that week and won the Eastern Conference player of the week.
The Western Conference award went to Kobe Bryant.
...
...
In the 11th week of the regular season, the Washington Wizards had three games.
The first game was against the Chicago Bulls. Facing his former team, and in order to become a starter for the NBA All-Star Game, Michael Jordan showed no mercy. At the age of 39, he exploded for 41 points, joining forces with Link's 26 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds to win the game.
The second game was against the New Jersey Nets. The Nets could be considered the Wizards' nemesis, and Jason Kidd is one of the few active Point Guards capable of defending Link. Facing the physically strong, exceptionally athletic, and highly intelligent Jason Kidd, Link only managed 15 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds, along with a season-high 7 turnovers.
Jason Kidd has strong physical confrontation, a super stable lower body, and is fast with quick footwork; it was difficult for Link to shake off his defense with a first step. Trying to overpower him physically was also particularly exhausting unless Link managed to get deep into the post.
Michael Jordan strongly put up 32 points tonight, but they ultimately went down in defeat.
The opponent for the third game was the Detroit Pistons. Ben Wallace's elite help-defense and rim protection severely disrupted the pick-and-roll coordination between Link and Haywood. Additionally, Link's attacks after driving to the basket were frequently contested.
Even though Link recorded 21 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 Steals, the Detroit Pistons won the final match relying on their collective defense.
With a 2-1 record this week, er...
There was no need to think about the NBA player of the week.
The Eastern and Western Conference players of the week for this week were given to Allen Iverson and Dirk Nowitzki.
...
...
The date arrived at January 15, 2002.
This day was the deadline for the 2001-2002 NBA All-Star voting.
Link, whose All-Star votes had consistently been in the top three and top two in the East, naturally didn't need to worry.
At this time, he was soaked in the training hall, polishing his physique and skills.
Although the team's record had slipped a tiny bit during this period, Link's personal abilities were still improving at a visible rate.
Shooting and Finishing category:
[Three-Point Shot] base attribute +2, increased to 84 (93); [Post Fadeaway Jumpshot] base attribute +6, increased to 83 (88); [Driving Layup] base attribute +2 points, increased to 92 (95);
Defensive and Playmaking category:
[Passing] base attribute +2, increased to 89 (95); [Passing Vision] base attribute +5, increased to 93 (97); [Interior Defense] base attribute +5, increased to 85 (92);
Link improved his defensive organization and Passing/handling abilities mainly because he felt that when facing strong defensive teams, his Passing lethality was somewhat weak...
Physical and Athletic category:
[Explosiveness] base attribute +3, increased to 81 (81); [Explosiveness] base attribute +3, increased to 80 (84); [Injury Resistance] base attribute +15, increased to 70 (85).
In addition to the improvement in ability attributes, just last night, Link defeated Nets Harden in the virtual space.
Link discovered...
The superstars in the virtual space also have times when they shoot like bricks, and Link won the duel where Harden was shooting bricks.
Although Harden's defense isn't good, winning against him was truly not easy...
Against small guards, Link could just use post-ups, but Harden has a big backside and thick legs, making it very hard for Link to push forward with a post-up.
The badges awarded for clearing the level were all ones he already had...
But it allowed [Ankle Breaker] to directly upgrade to a 'Gold' badge.
Furthermore, in the five-star rewards, he once again obtained [Dominance Moment: Sharpshooter] Lv1.
This directly upgraded the original [Dominance Moment: Sharpshooter] Lv2 (1/2) to [Dominance Moment: Sharpshooter] Lv3 (0/8), er... the latter meant that to upgrade to Lv4, he would need 8 [Dominance Moment: Sharpshooter] Lv1 badges.
...
...
When the training was almost finished, Link received a call from Michael Jordan.
On the other end of the phone, Michael Jordan was smiling like a blooming flower: "Haha, rookie, your first All-Star Game journey is about to begin. Are you ready? rookie, you've really got something, getting selected as an All-Star starter as a first-year player; you're not much different from me back in the day."
Michael Jordan calling personally wasn't just to tell him he was selected as an All-Star starter.
"Michael, I congratulate you as well," Link said.
Well!
That's right!
Half a month ago, Michael Jordan's votes were still fourth in the Eastern backcourt, but through several recent scoring performances and increased exposure from multiple media interviews, his votes climbed to second in the Eastern backcourt, trailing only Link and ahead of Allen Iverson.
Er...
That's right!
The peak Answer, because of Link's arrival, was about to serve as a backup Point Guard in the All-Star Game.
Of course...
This was also quite normal; after all, Yao Ming had done the same to the three-time champion O'Neal.
The starting lineup voted by the fans:
[Eastern Conference All-Stars Starters]: Link, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antoine Walker, and Dikembe Mutombo.
[western conference all-stars Starters]: Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Shaquille O'Neal.
Compared to the Western All-Stars, the strength of the East's forwards and Center was clearly not on the same level.
However...
Link's unscrupulous system released a main quest at this moment.
[Ding, the Host has triggered a main quest — Win the first All-Star journey of your life.]
[Quest Reward: 2000 Goat Points; 'Badge Experience Gift Pack' x1]