The Best Point Guard

The 2006 NBA All-Star Game was held in Houston.

Su Xi, Zach Randolph, Nate Robinson, David Lee, Channing Frye, Ariza, and Tony Battie boarded a flight to Houston.

Su Xi and Randolph were the starters for the East this year.

Initially, the Knicks only had one player on the All-Star ballot: Su Xi. However, Zach Randolph had been put on the ballot while he was with the Portland Trail Blazers. Back then, he was universally scorned and had the lowest vote count. But after being traded to the Knicks and after Su Xi campaigned for him, the family in New York threw their full support behind him. As a result, he was elected to his first-ever All-Star game, and as a starter, no less.

This sent Randolph into a state of extreme excitement. After his recent games, he would always thank the family.

This created a positive feedback loop. By the time voting closed, he was only 200,000 votes behind LeBron James. This gave LeBron quite a scare. Losing to Su Xi by a million votes was one thing—that could be chalked up to Su Xi’s support in Asia. In reality, though, the NBA had changed the voting rules, and the weight of votes from Asia had been proportionally reduced.

But if he lost to Su Xi’s sidekick, that would be a real embarrassment.

What’s more, Zach Randolph was one of those morally corrupt NBA players he had always looked down on.

But now, Randolph had undergone a complete transformation, becoming one of New York’s most beloved big men. He was also the NBA’s poster child for a prodigal son’s return, and everyone was praising him for establishing the "third paradigm" for power forwards in the league.

Meaning... after Duncan and Garnett, there was Randolph.

In terms of pure ability, players like Nowitzki and Little O’Neal would certainly have something to say. But stylistically, this chubby, black big man with long arms and a short neck was truly an anomaly—in a class of his own.

Nate Robinson was there to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest. This 175cm "Little Potato" had the lofty ambition to conquer the sky.

David Lee, Channing Frye, and Trevor Ariza were participating in the Rookie Challenge. The first two were rookies, and Ariza was a sophomore. This was a testament to the fact that the Knicks gave them ample playing time to showcase their skills, and that the team’s developmental pipeline was very healthy. Otherwise, they would never have had the chance to be selected for the Rookie Challenge. After all, only 16 players in total from the rookie and sophomore classes are eligible to participate.

Tony Battie was in Houston to shoot a commercial. His playing time had declined after Zach Randolph joined the Knicks, but his fame across the Pacific hadn’t diminished in the slightest. As the number one "Hu Su Bao," he held a special, almost sacred status in the hearts of Chinese fans. Consequently, many advertisers wanted him for endorsements: he was cost-effective, an NBA player, and his presence immediately made people think of the superstar Su Xi.

When the Knicks contingent arrived in Houston, Su Xi was quickly whisked away by staff.

During the break in the long season, Su Xi had a lot of work to do. He had to shoot three commercials, record a charity song, and participate in official league promotional events, filming all sorts of short clips.

As the face of the NBA, his schedule was a bit packed.

But his busy schedule was precisely what other players envied.

There’s a hierarchy even at the NBA All-Star Game, and players like Su Xi were undoubtedly at the very top of the food chain.

For the first two days of All-Star Weekend, Su Xi barely had a moment’s rest, rushing from one film set to another with a trip to a recording studio in between. It wasn’t until the day of the main game that Su Xi finally had some time for himself.

And during this time, "Family Man" had basically managed to offend everyone he possibly could.

On the sidelines of the All-Star Rookie Challenge, Zach Randolph and Garnett got into a verbal spat. "You’re just a tough talker!" Randolph shouted. "You’re the real cancer on your team. Without you, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have a much better future. You’re just good at managing your image, that’s all. I’ll definitely win a championship before you do!"

The two of them had a war of words in full public view, and it nearly came to blows.

The argument started because Randolph was supporting his "family," David Lee and Channing Frye, while Garnett was cheering for the sophomores, Howard and Okafor. It should have been nothing more than friendly cheering, but Garnett, with his notoriously foul mouth, started directly attacking the Knicks players’ style. He claimed that Knicks forwards only knew how to float around on the perimeter, playing a soft game with no tough-guy grit.

This really set Randolph off.

’Cheer for your guys if you want to, but what the fuck does that have to do with New York? The people of New York are my family!’

’You mess with my family, and you think I’m just gonna let it slide?’

Randolph unleashed a torrent of abuse: "You’re not so fucking tough yourself! Don’t you fucking float around shooting jumpers, too afraid to step into the paint? You’re seven fucking feet tall and don’t even have the balls to play center! You drift around on the perimeter and have the nerve to say you’re a good defender? Good defender my ass!"

Randolph’s trash talk was vicious.

With Randolph spewing such venom, Garnett naturally fired back. His mouth was also one of the filthiest in the league, after all. He immediately attacked Randolph’s weight, saying fat guys have small dicks. He called Randolph the Trail Blazers’ cancer, blaming him for Portland’s failure to make the playoffs. He went on to say that Randolph would corrupt and ruin the Knicks, and that he would never win a championship—he just wasn’t destined for it.

This infuriated Randolph. He shot to his feet to confront Garnett, and as they traded insults, he even threatened to pull down his pants to prove he was definitely bigger than Garnett...

The two were finally separated by O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pulled Garnett away, while O’Neal wrapped his arms around Randolph.

Both men were still cursing and swearing. Luckily, security intervened in time, or they would have started another fight in the player tunnel.