Chapter 486: Chapter 146: I Want to Duel Him One-on-One!

For example, if Jordan was willing to just be a pure off-ball shooter and defensive powerhouse, who among the defensive mid-range shooters would be better than him?

Such an extreme situation is unlikely to occur, but it’s also not like the purely entertaining All-Star Games 25 years later.

Zhang Hao felt that all of his teammates wanted to overpower the opponents!

"These days, without convenient long-distance social networking, if the media or the league wants to create a rivalry atmosphere between two players, even if those players know what’s written isn’t true, they won’t think positively about it. Moreover, players these days care a lot about their reputations..."

Zhang Hao was calmly analyzing, but the fighting spirit within him was growing stronger. The first to notice was his teammate, the Magician.

Zhang Hao was quite indifferent to the possibility of not having much chance to shine during this All-Star weekend. The reason the Magician didn’t say much to Zhang Hao was that he knew, at this moment, facing such a game, as a rookie, Zhang Hao wouldn’t stay calm.

Soon, his temporary teammates also noticed Zhang Hao’s eager demeanor and the fighting spirit emanating from his gaze.

"This kid wants to steal the spotlight again..." Malone immediately felt displeased but looked towards the opponent’s bench and thought, "Forget it, this kid has a decent shot and he’s starting, plus the head coach is from their team. Better cooperate well and beat the other side first!"

David Robinson had a similar thought.

Players like Stockton, Olajuwon, and Barkley, who didn’t have strong feelings about Zhang Hao, thought it was reasonable for a rookie like Zhang Hao to display such fighting spirit due to his polite and calm demeanor off the court.

Zhang Hao’s on-court performance earned him the top All-Star votes as a rookie, and compared to last season’s Grant Hill, Zhang Hao’s team was performing much better, making his All-Star vote king title feel well-deserved.

The young All-Stars were mostly simply infected by Zhang Hao’s fighting spirit. Looking at the veteran superstars on their side, then at the veteran superstars on the other side—We will eventually replace them!

After such thoughts emerged among the Western Conference All-Stars, that mental feeling was reinforced, and Zhang Hao also received a prompt.

"Heart Return (Silver) passive effect triggered, teammates’ recognition of Zhang Hao’s high fighting spirit increased, past negative emotions towards Zhang Hao decreased..."

"Uh... I just simply want to play a game..."

...

At 7:58 PM, amid the indiscriminate cheers of the fans, the starters of both teams took to the court, and the starting list was displayed on the big screen.

The Eastern Team’s starting lineup was Anfernee Hardaway, Jordan, Pippen, Grant Hill, and O’Neal.

The Western Team’s starting lineup was the Magician, Drexler, Zhang Hao, Barkley, and Olajuwon.

At this moment, Zhang Hao realized that except for Ewing, all the protagonists from the past five years’ finals were in this starting lineup!

The Magician vs. Jordan in ’91, Drexler vs. Jordan in ’92, Barkley vs. Jordan in ’93, Olajuwon in ’94, and Anfernee Hardaway and O’Neal vs. Olajuwon in ’95.

"I don’t know which year I’ll play in the finals... Fat O, come to the Lakers, although it might not be fun..."

Glancing at O’Neal, who didn’t seem to enjoy playing in the All-Star game, Zhang Hao went to the scorer’s table to grab some chalk, and as he was applying it, he saw Jordan with a stern face approaching the scorer’s table, feeling impulsive...

He grabbed a handful of chalk, tossed it into the air, and walked onto the court without looking back!

Jordan was just about to show some care for the "student," putting on a stern face while thinking about how not to appear arrogant when he wanted to speak... a mouthful of chalk drifted over!

The fans in the audience saw Zhang Hao throw the chalk and immediately burst into loud cheers!

Since they spent so much money to watch the game, most of them carefully read the All-Star player pamphlets given out with the tickets, and quite a few were familiar with Zhang Hao from watching his games, especially memorable was when Zhang Hao tossed chalk before certain games!

Every time Zhang Hao threw the chalk, it meant something was going down!

Some fans noticed Jordan getting innocently caught in the chalk cloud and started laughing...

It took Jordan a moment to catch his breath and come onto the court, feeling his ears burning with embarrassment!

"This kid, I’m definitely going to teach him a lesson!"

On the other side, Zhang Hao was standing on one side of the midline, seeing Olajuwon, who almost choked Jordan with a handful of chalk, having an even better impression of him.

Olajuwon felt inspired and bypassed the center circle when entering the court, went up to Zhang Hao, and patted his shoulder: "Want to do the jump ball?"

"Ah... okay."

Zhang Hao did not refuse, going to the center circle to face the still-not-fat O’Neal, eager to try.

"96’s ability evaluation, 132 kilograms... darn, how does he still look so slim? No, compared to Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, he’s already quite large, just compared to the future he seems slim..."

The fans saw the huge size difference between Zhang Hao and O’Neal... it’s not that Zhang Hao is short, there were quite a few centers with his height back then, but O’Neal was just massive!

O’Neal also evaluated this new All-Star vote king, and currently disliked those highly popular first or second-year players, the younger the more annoying.

But regarding Zhang Hao, he was still full of interest.

Indeed, he plays well, this can’t be denied.

Zhang Hao clearly felt the opposing atmosphere between the two teams, which excited him.

Soon, at 8 PM, the game began.

The referee blew the whistle for the start of the game, and Zhang Hao immediately jumped with all his strength... Lost!

O’Neal’s legs seemed like they had springs installed!

Although O’Neal’s jump rating was only 92, his super explosive power gave him a faster explosive jump speed than Zhang Hao! The key thing was physique; O’Neal was taller and got to the ball first!

It wasn’t very surprising; Zhang Hao quickly retreated on defense, keeping up with Pippen on the side of the midline.

The Eastern Team didn’t initiate a fast break at the beginning; although they could cooperate, starting with cooperation needs teamwork understanding.

Drexler went to guard Anfernee Hardaway, the Magician followed Jordan, Olajuwon returned under the basket to guard O’Neal, and Barkley followed the spreading Grant Hill.

Jordan attacked at the start, and without discussion, the Eastern Team decided to let Jordan first go one-on-one against the Magician. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

And the Western Team was also ready to create an opportunity for the Magician to face off against Jordan in return.

However, Jordan didn’t call for the ball to go one-on-one with the Magician; after entering the three-point line, he made a gesture toward Pippen. Pippen was surprised but immediately went to cooperate with Jordan...

Zhang Hao had a bad feeling, and sure enough, it ended up with him facing off against Jordan!

Jordan stood in the left elbow area, just inside the free-throw line in the three-second zone, his favorite mid-range post-up spot, bumping against Zhang Hao to call for the ball!

The fans were surprised, and even more so were the players on the court!

After Jordan received the pass from Anfernee Hardaway, Olajuwon took the initiative to leave O’Neal and double-teamed.

At that moment, Zhang Hao, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, waved backward: "Hakeem, step aside, I want to go one-on-one with Jordan!"