NBA: The Basketball Miracle

On February 4, 1998, in a back-to-back away game, the Knicks narrowly defeated the Timberwolves 98:88.

Watching the players walking off the court talking and laughing, Jeff Van Gundy, who was AFK, felt that he had reached the peak of his life!

In his first season after officially taking over the team, he was elected the league's best coach.

In his second season, he led the team to a 19-game winning streak and was also elected the All-Star Game head coach!

There are not many coaches who can achieve such an achievement.

The closer it gets to the All-Star Weekend, the more Jeff Van Gundy becomes arrogant.

The bald young coach feels like he is about to ascend to the sky.

At the same time, after winning this game, the Knicks' record came to 35 wins and 10 losses.

Although the Pacers behind them have caught up, Jeff Van Gundy doesn't care at this moment:

"We must enjoy this year's All-Star Weekend!"

After returning to the locker room, the Knicks players looked relaxed and everyone could start to enjoy the All Star Weekend holiday.

The All-Star Game is held at Madison Square Garden, so even if you want to watch the game live, you don't have to fly back and forth.

"It's hard to understand why there are four Lakers players in the Western Conference All-Star Game!"

"The coach is really generous. If it was me who voted, this wouldn't have happened."

Larry Johnson returned to his seat and made a few more sarcastic remarks.

The Knicks have the best record, but only Lee was selected as an All-Star.

In contrast, the Lakers have four players this year.

"Grandmama" has been performing well recently and had even fantasized that he could be selected for the substitute lineup.

However, when the results were announced not long ago, he was immediately criticized.

This matter has been complained about many times, but Alan Houston didn't care about it. Instead, he laughed and joked:

"Coach Van Gundy was elected as the Eastern Conference All-Star head coach, and we also have two people selected for the All-Star Game. This treatment is already very good."

When they heard this, the atmosphere group also started to make a noise.

Thinking of the situation when Michael Jordan met Van Gundy, everyone couldn't wait to see the fun.

Not long ago, the NBA league just announced the reserve lineups for the Eastern and Western Conference All Stars, and as a result, no one from the Knicks, who had the best record, was selected, which immediately angered the New York media.

The 7 Eastern Conference All-Star substitutes are:

Glen Rice, Reggie Miller, Steve Smith, Rik Smits, Tim Hardaway, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker.

The 7 substitutes for the Western Conference All-Stars are:

Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Vin Baker, Mitch Richmond, Jason Kidd.

The Pacers, Lakers and Spurs all had two players selected for the All-Star reserve lineup.

In the 1998 All-Star Game, the Lakers became the biggest winner.

The four All-Stars also made the fans in Los Angeles very excited.

The local media also borrowed the championship!

O'Neal had just been elected the Player of the Month for January.

The Lakers were gradually getting better.

Even though it's not even the playoffs yet, the Los Angeles media has already started punching the Jazz and kicking the SuperSonics.

The New York media believes that the coaches of other teams deliberately targeted the Knicks, and they should also enjoy the treatment of the Lakers!

Chicago fans are very dissatisfied with the results of this year's All-Star selection, but it is comforting that Pippen, who was clamoring to leave the team some time ago, has recently returned from injury.

No one can escape the law of true fragrance.

As for how Michael Jordan managed the locker room, the media had no idea and could only make blind guesses.

The teammates' conversation went off topic, and some even began to look forward to Michael Jordan scolding the head coach.

Lee quickly spoke up to change the subject:

"To celebrate the three-point contest championship, I'll treat you when we return to New York!"

"oh!!"

The individual champion was loaned out, but no one cared and just cheered.

Everyone knows Lee's strength.

In daily training, his three-point shooting from five positions is incredibly accurate!

After Jeff Van Gundy returned to the locker room, he smiled with relief when he heard the cheers.

The players still loved him very much.

Due to the Magic's poor record, Anfernee Hardaway missed the All-Star Game this year after being squeezed out of the starting lineup by Clay Lee.

This meant that Nike's original promotional resources were unused, and in the end they were all transferred to Lee.

On the 5th, Lee worked with the Nike staff and spent most of the day taking makeup photos.

In order to promote the new Air Foamposite One shoes, Lee will have to wear Penny's signature shoe in this year's All-Star Game.

No one expected that Anfernee Hardaway would miss the All-Star Game.

Fortunately, the alternative plan added the Knicks color scheme and Lee can still take over, otherwise it would be a big loss this year.

The sales of Nike's shoes did not meet expectations, so Lee had to be relied upon to promote the products.

Zoom Flight V sold well, and many fans in New York would buy a pair.

With the promotional photos and an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated, Nike hopes that the sales of this pair of shoes will explode after the All-Star Weekend.

The Sports Illustrated exclusive interview in the afternoon was still held at Rockefeller Center, and the editor-in chief Bill Calhoun was already an old acquaintance of Lee.

The staff knew how to write the article, and the topic the two chatted about had little to do with basketball:

"We may have to move in two years, Lee, don't forget to come and participate in Sports Illustrated's activities when the time comes!"

"Warner has planned a new headquarters building, and we will all have to move there when the time comes. New York is developing too fast."

When Bill Calhoun talked about the new home, he also showed a longing expression, which triggered the memory in his mind.

Lee then remembered the future Time Warner Information:

"Moving to the new headquarters is definitely a good thing. Your website is well run. Other magazines are not so quick."

Lee's words immediately made Bill Calhoun in a good mood.

He had strongly advocated the development of Internet business, and the results were quite good so far.

The 1998 All-Star Weekend was a little different from previous years.

The dunk contest was canceled this year because fans reported that this single event was too boring!

No one likes to watch a dunk contest that is boring.

On February 6, the NBA began arranging for the Eastern and Western All-Star players to take their final photos.

In the afternoon, when Lee saw Michael Jordan, he was in a good mood again.

Pippen's return from injury made Michael Jordan feel relieved.

In Madison Square Garden, the players are all wearing their team uniforms.

The only difference from the regular season is that there is an extra little star on the jerseys symbolizing the All-Star Game.

"Do you want me to give up my seat to you? Lee, this is your home court!"

Michael Jordan, wearing a white Bulls uniform and in a good mood, naturally stood in the center when taking photos, teasing Lee, more of a show-off.

Lee saw that Michael Jordan had already held the basketball and sat in the middle.

For a moment, he was speechless and could only force a smile and said:

"I'm just a rookie player, not a top 50 star, I can just sit aside."

Seemingly satisfied with Lee's answer, Michael Jordan smiled and began to ask everyone to take their seats.

In the end, the Eastern Conference All-Stars' final look was Michael Jordan sitting in the C position with a basketball, Clay Lee and Grant Hill on both sides, and the rest of the group lined up in order of height.

O'Neal became the center of the Western Conference All-Stars' final photo, with MVP Karl Malone standing aside like everyone else.

The All-Stars Weekend was held in New York, and the protagonist was still Michael Jordan.

On Saturday, February 7th, the three point contest and rookie challenge will be held.

However, the media wanted to know more about the internal situation of the Bulls.

When Pippen almost broke up with the team, he actually put on the Bulls jersey again.

Everyone wanted to know the inside story.

As the Bulls' performance improves, there are more and more calls for a three-peat.

Lee now understood what Jeff Van Gundy felt.

It was clearly the Knicks' home court, but Michael Jordan stole the show.

The fence-sitter New York media was also unwilling to miss such hot news.

Ever since Michael Jordan arrived in New York, they almost became his followers.

Lee can be interviewed at any time, but Michael Jordan is different.

In short, during the All-Star Weekend, the real superstar Michael Jordan is online again!

No one paid attention to Karl Malone and no one paid attention to O'Neal.

During the All-Star Weekend, everyone became a supporting role.

In addition, there were rumors that Michael Jordan planned to retire after the end of this season.

For a time, the popularity of Jordan exploded.

On the evening of the 7th, many celebrities came to Madison Square Garden, the most eye-catching of which was Magic Johnson, who was calling his friends in the front row.

Showing their signature smiles, they kept greeting the celebrities present.

With Pacers coach Larry Bird also present, the Magic and Bird duo attracted everyone's attention.

Grant Hill, dressed in a neat suit, sat next to Clay Lee.

The two sat in the front row and chatted casually while watching the Rookie Challenge:

"This is the influence of veteran stars. Many fans grew up watching them play."

Grant Hill received the second most votes this year after Michael Jordan, but when he arrived at the scene, he was still not as eye-catching as Magic Johnson.

"Fans will also get older. Look at this year's All-Star Game. At least young people make up a large portion of the crowd."

Lee was in a bad mood.

These old guys were making their presence felt all the time.

Grant Hill didn't have much idea of competing.

This new generation star who was well-educated just smiled when he heard what Lee said.

It was an unremarkable rookie challenge, and the Eastern Conference rookie team won with a final score of 80:85.

The Cavaliers' "Big Z" Ilgauskas was elected Rookie Challenge MVP and became the first international player in NBA history to win the award.

In the subsequent three-point contest, Lee finally regained his presence.

After changing into a white training suit for the Knicks, Lee stood up and waved on the bench, and the New York fans present began to cheer loudly.

Such treatment made several people on the side feel jealous.

The old guy had already stolen the limelight, and now Lee came out to disrupt the situation.

Jeff Hornacek, Hubert Davis, Dale Ellis, Sam Mack, Glen Rice, Tracy Murray, Reggie Miller.

The seven people around Lee didn't say hello to each other.

Brotherly basketball was not popular in those days.

Reggie Miller didn't even look at Lee.

Every time the Pacers and the Knicks play against each other, although the two are not directly facing each other, the New York media always compares the two against each other.

As Hornacek took the first step onto the stage, the scene began to get noisy.

Perhaps he failed to get into the game early enough, as Hornacek kept missing shots in the first half, and only gradually found his feeling later on.

As the last flower ball hit the right corner, Hornacek, who scored 17 points, shook his head slightly.

Lee smiled as he watched.

Soon, several players came on the court, but their performances were poor, with only Dale Ellis scoring 18 points.

Reggie Miller, the favorite to win the championship, had a poor performance of only 12 points.

Lee, wearing a white training suit, stood up and turned to Reggie Miller who had just come off the court and said jokingly:

"Looks like I don't have to take off my training clothes!"

Without giving Reggie Miller a chance to respond, Lee ran to the left corner with a smile.

As the timing sounded, Lee quickly found his touch after missing the first ball.

With Lee's quick shots and unique shooting rhythm, the cheers in Madison Square Garden became louder and louder.

In the right corner, Lee made all five shots.

After taking the last flower ball, he turned around confidently and waved to the fans.

"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net.

With 24 points, Lee crushed everyone easily, while Reggie Miller, who was eliminated in the first round, looked unhappy and was so angry that he almost left the court early.

Advancing to the semifinals, Hubert Davis suddenly broke out and also scored 24 points.

After Lee scored 23 points, the two finally advanced to the finals.

The New York fans at the scene noticed that Lee still hadn't taken off his training suit and started to make loud noises again.

Lee was the first to appear in the final.

Just like in the previous two rounds, he seemed to have turned into a shooting machine.

Without any hesitation, he shot quickly at every point.

The cheers grew louder and louder, and as the last point in the right corner was hit, Lee put his right hand to his ear with a smile, as if listening.

"Wow!!"

The New York fans who love to watch the fun shouted happily, 25 points, the championship is secured!

Hubert Davis of the Mavericks had a solemn look on his face, and seemed to be under too much pressure at the end.

He kept missing shots and scored 10 points.

Lee returned to his seat and smiled and shook his head, saying that winning the championship was too easy.

Reggie Miller, who was standing by, couldn't stand the newbie's show-off and was about to say something back, but he saw Lee stand up and walk to the center of the field, saying to everyone:

"It seems like you're all here to serve as sparring partners!"

"."

...

https://discord.gg/mjcCSyu7Yr

By the way, don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me :)