Chapter 1 Spurs vs. Pelicans

After the Spurs and Pelicans game, the other games also ended one after another.

With this game day over, there were still two days left until the All-Star Game, and the league entered a break.

This year's All-Star Game was different from previous years, as it would be jointly hosted by Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.

The main game would be held at Madison Square Garden, while the individual contests would be held at Barclays Center.

Not long ago, the league also announced the All-Star reserve list and the list of participants for the individual contests.

The reserve players selected in the East were: Irving, Wade, Rose, Howard, Teague, Horford, and Millsap;

The reserve list in the West: Harden, Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Paul, Anthony Davis, Bosh, and Pau Gasol.

As in previous years, the East was still picking generals from among the short ones, while the West was particularly crowded, with gems everywhere.

Aldridge, Cousins, Lillard, Duncan, and others were not selected.

The pattern of a strong West and a weak East was still quite obvious.

In terms of individual events, the dunk contest this year was still dominated by rookies, with Plumlee, Antetokounmpo, Oladipo, and LaVine competing.

In the three-point contest, the Splash Brothers were both participating, along with Matthews, Korver, Morrow, Redick, Lillard, and a crowd of other sharpshooters, making the competition fierce.

However, the most watched individual event tonight was not these, but the skills challenge.

Speaking of this individual event, it was very interesting.

Originally, the league planned to invite some young players to participate, but a member of the organizing committee was a Pelicans fan, and he tried to invite Tang Tian.

Tang Tian would have to go to the main game for three days, and it would be boring to just stay there, so he agreed.

The person didn't expect Tang Tian to really agree, so he tried to contact Irving, Harden, Curry, and others who were going to participate in the main game.

Moreover, when inviting them, he specifically said that Tang Tian had agreed. As a result, the list for this year's skills challenge was more luxurious than ever before.

Tang Tian, Irving, Curry, Harden, Westbrook, Walker, Wall, and Lillard.

This lineup was definitely star-studded.

This was also the most anticipated individual event of this year's All-Star Game.

On February 13th, Tang Tian, Davis, and Jokic took a plane to New York together.

Due to his outstanding performance, Jokic was also invited to participate in this year's rookie game.

When they arrived in New York, the three of them separated. Tang Tian had to participate in Nike's All-Star promotional activities, and as the protagonist of the event, he certainly couldn't be absent.

After the event, he pulled the苦练 (ku lian) brothers together for a gathering at a bar.

After the summer training, they rarely saw each other for a season except during games. The All-Star gathering had become their tradition.

Thompson said noticeably more than last year, and even invited others to smoke cigars together.

Irving was also talking and laughing, but when he wasn't speaking, he was staring blankly, as if he had something on his mind.

Walker spoke the least this year, and his expression looked a little bitter.

Butler and Tang Tian hadn't changed much from last year.

Their different states also reflected their situations.

The Warriors were ranked first in the league, and Thompson finally felt proud, and was selected for the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

James' arrival increased the fans' doubts about Irving, and he was the kind of person who cared about external evaluations, so naturally he would have more thoughts.

The worst was Walker. The Bobcats returned to the playoffs last season, but the boss didn't strengthen the team in the summer, and even let go of McRoberts, who performed well last season.

As a result, the team's record declined this season, and now it was difficult to even get into the playoffs. He was once again out of the All-Star Game.

The Bulls' record didn't fluctuate much, and Butler's progress was also within his own expectations.

As for Tang Tian, his mentality was relatively peaceful, and it had been like this for the past few years.

"Kemba, I'm going to use the dance you taught me at the All-Star Game, so don't charge me a copyright fee."

Tang Tian saw that Walker was depressed and spoke to him.

"What dance?"

Walker just nodded, but Thompson on the side was full of curiosity.

"You'll know when the All-Star Game comes."

Tang Tian kept it a secret.

The few of them then talked about tomorrow's skills challenge.

The most important thing in the skills challenge was the final three-pointer, and Tang Tian had a good chance.

"Tang, you have to beat that guy Stephen."

Thompson showed his plastic friendship with Curry in front of Tang Tian.

Tang Tian smiled.

He was already a superstar, so winning or losing this kind of game didn't matter. The main thing was to have fun.

They finished drinking and went out of the private room, still talking about their interesting experiences.

"Crash~"

"Where did your eyes go! Can't you see me coming out?"

As they were talking, the sound of glass breaking suddenly came from the front, followed by a burst of cursing.

Tang Tian looked up and then saw a female black waitress, who must have collided with someone coming out of the private room. The glasses in the tray were broken, the drink was spilled all over the floor, and also on the guest's clothes.

A white man next to her was apologizing non-stop, and judging from his dress, he was the leader of the waiters.

This scene was not uncommon and could be seen everywhere in bars.

The few of them glanced at it and turned back to continue walking.

But Tang Tian noticed that Walker's eyes were lingering on the black waitress.

Tang Tian also took another look.

The waitress in front was facing sideways, but turned around at this moment. Not to mention, she was quite good-looking, and considered outstanding among black people.

He looked again at Walker's unwilling eyes.

Tsk!

They had made eye contact!

Walker was a pure virgin. He took him to the bar last time, and he didn't want the meat that was offered to him. He didn't expect to meet someone he liked this time.

"Call your boss over here. How can this high-end bar hire black people!"

The white man who had been spilled with the drink must have been drunk. Unsatisfied with cursing, he reached out to hit the waitress.

But as soon as he reached out, his hand was grabbed.

Walker made the move.

"Who the hell are you?"

The white man looked at Walker unhappily, with a mouth full of alcohol.

But he obviously didn't speak with as much confidence as before, because Walker was wearing a gold necklace around his neck, and looked like a rich man at first glance.

"Did you just say 'black'?"

Walker was already in a bad mood, and now he directly pressed the white man against the wall.

Although Walker was a short guard, that was compared to the NBA. In front of ordinary people, he was a real strong man.

Tang Tian and Thompson also stood behind Walker to support him.

This was a high-end bar, and there would be security checks when entering, so they didn't have to worry about the other party suddenly pulling out a gun from his clothes or something.

Looking at the group of tall and strong men in front of him, the white man obviously chickened out.

"I said her, not you."

He said with some lack of confidence.

"All black people can't be called that name. Apologize to her, otherwise I'll send you to the hospital directly."

Walker had also drunk a little wine, and coupled with his bad mood, the situation was such that he might really send the white man to the hospital.

"Yeah, look at my fist, it's as big as a sandbag."

Tang Tian very cooperatively rolled up his sleeves in the back.

Seeing Tang Tian take the lead, Thompson and the others also put on fighting poses.

Thompson had a dark face.

Irving casually picked up a plate from the ground.

Butler simply took off his clothes, revealing mountains of muscles under his clothes.

Although their scary poses were not very professional, and even a little funny.

But actually having Butler was enough. Butler's ferocious face was really a bit scary.

Speaking of their苦练 (ku lian) five brothers, Butler was most like Anthony of the Feng Chen Four Heroes, because he came from the slums and had that gangster temperament.

"He bumped into me."

At this moment, the waitress also mustered up the courage to say.

Tang Tian looked back at the waitress, she was quite special.

Ordinary people would definitely cry and ask not to make things worse in this kind of scene, and to keep their job.

Unexpectedly, this woman had quite the personality.

Tang Tian then turned to look at the white man.

"So what if I bumped into her? I'm a guest, I'm paying to spend money. She's a waitress, she..."

"Bang!"

"Cough cough!"

Walker directly exerted force and slammed the white man against the wall.

Tang Tian grinned. Walker didn't hold back. If it was any harder, the white man's ribs would be broken.

"Apologize."

Walker spat out a word, straightforward enough.

"I apologize, I apologize!"

Before Walker could speak again, the white man completely chickened out, held back his cough, and said quickly.

Walker released the white man.

Butler had an expression that said he would beat you if you dared to move.

Dare not move, dare not move.

The white man apologized to the waitress, and then slipped back to the private room in a sorry state.

"Kemba, why don't you take her downstairs? She probably can't work today."

Tang Tian saw that things were basically resolved and gave Walker a crazy hint.

"Thank you, I..."

"Kemba rarely stands up for others. I think you should buy him a cup of coffee."

Tang Tian then said to the waitress.

The waitress nodded.

"His name is Kemba Walker, he's a basketball player, the kind that makes a lot of money."

Tang Tian knew that Walker wasn't good at talking, so he was helping in various ways from the side.

"I'm Gilly."

The waitress said, reaching out to Walker.

Walker reached out shyly.

The two shook hands, and although Gilly's face was black and you couldn't see if she was blushing, she was a little shy.

Well, not bad, it looked exactly like love.

"Guys, didn't we say we were going bowling? Let's go!"

Tang Tian pulled Butler and Irving out.

Thompson had a high EQ, said hello, and followed along.

"Tang, when did we say we were going bowling..."

"Don't ask, asking means Walker's luck with women has arrived."

Tang Tian directly blocked Butler's mouth.

Butler reacted and laughed along.

Tang Tian was really energetic as a matchmaker tonight.

When they got to the door, Tang Tian suddenly remembered something, asked Thompson and the others to wait at the door for a while, and then went to the front desk to ask the waiter to call the bar owner over.

"I have a hundred thousand to give to him."

Walker was his brother, and he decided to help to the end.

A hundred thousand US dollars should be able to settle the matter just now and there wouldn't be any follow-up.

The owner came down in a short while, and came over to greet Tang Tian excitedly when he saw him.

After chatting for a while, he realized that this guy was a Knicks fan, knew him, and was also considered half a fan of his.

After talking about the conflict in front, he turned around and asked which private room the guest was from, and after checking the identity, he patted his chest and said that he could completely handle it.

He didn't want any money or anything.

It seemed that the white man was just an ordinary guest.

Tang Tian and the others were staying at the same hotel.

When Tang Tian got up the next day, he went to Walker's place and knocked on the door, but there was no one there. It seemed that things went pretty smoothly last night.

It seemed that he had helped out last night.

The first day of the All-Star Game was the celebrity game and the rookie game. The few of them didn't participate, but this day wasn't idle either.

They participated in the All-Star interaction with fans, signing jerseys and stuff, which was a part that everyone who came to the All-Star Game had to participate in.

Walker didn't come with them, but they saw Walker at the scene, with that Gilly from last night, looking radiant.

Tsk!

Tang Tian smelled a sour smell of love from far away.

This guy had been single for almost five years from college until now, and he still remembered what Walker said after winning the championship at UConn.

"I want a real love, just like playing basketball, I don't want it to be just a temporary thrill."

See, in the end, it was still just a temporary thrill!

But he was really happy for Walker from the bottom of his heart.

He was already preparing for pregnancy, and Walker was still single. He was still thinking that their sons and daughters could get married in the future.

Well, his son, Walker's daughter.

The few of them chatted for a while, and also knew some more information.

This Gilly and Walker both grew up in the New York neighborhood, and had a lot in common.

And she also liked to street dance, and the two of them went to a street dance party last night.

The two of them looked so sweet, it seemed that they had taken a step in one go, they weren't looking for a girlfriend, they were directly looking for a wife.

After chatting for a while, they continued to participate in promotional activities.

Tang Tian and Thompson were together.

After signing for a batch of fans, Tang Tian looked up and saw Curry and Durant together not far away.

Durant was absent from this year's All-Star Game due to injury, but his injury recovery was good, and he also came to this All-Star Game.

Seeing Curry and Durant chatting happily, it seemed that their relationship was good.

"Tang, have you ever thought about coming to Golden State after your contract ends?"

Thompson suddenly asked at this time.

Tang Tian looked back at Thompson in confusion.

"I know your contract will expire in 2016, and I also know that the new labor agreement is likely to increase the salary cap significantly. You can join us."

Thompson continued.

Tang Tian smiled after hearing this. Thompson knew quite a bit about the free market.

However, the news of the league's new broadcast agreement had already been revealed before, so it wasn't too strange.

Recruiting him to the Warriors?

The idea seemed good. He and Thompson were friends, and he and Curry were also quite aligned. If the three of them were together, they could directly give the NBA a grand finale.

"This... is this considered recruiting?"

Tang Tian said with a smile.

Thompson nodded.

In addition to participating in the game, another very important thing for the stars of All-Star Weekend was to recruit players for their mother team.

"Haha, Klay, you're not good at this. My team hasn't lost a few games less than yours, and I still have a 2-year contract. But if you don't renew your contract in advance, I would like you to come to the Pelicans. I need you to partner with me on the wing."

Tang Tian said with a smile.

Thompson was the best 3&D, definitely the most suitable for him.

Thompson laughed after hearing this. He knew that Tang Tian was politely rejecting him.

It seemed that the two of them could only be opponents in this lifetime, and could not be teammates.

Lin Hai Ting Tao