The Best Point Guard

On commentary, he said if he had this lineup, they could sweep the entire league and be crowned the best team in history.

He all but said he could beat Su Xi to a pulp, humiliating him over and over again.

People like him are just unrealistic, always lost in daydreams.

Isaiah Thomas, legs crossed, was much more practical. He conspired loudly with Zach Randolph, "Zach, this year’s MVP is definitely yours. The guys going in now are all just working for you. They’ll definitely go all-out against the West, because they don’t know how to just put on a show. That way, the lead will get bigger and bigger. You’ve already set a new record by dropping 32 in the first half—how can you not get MVP?"

O’Neal sat nearby, with only one thought on his mind: ’How can people be this shameless?’

The Knicks were just too shameless.

Little O’Neal was thinking the same thing.

But, since Little O’Neal was close with Su Xi, he wouldn’t say it out loud.

O’Neal was now terrified of getting involved in any way. He was afraid Zach Randolph would pull his pants down to prove to the whole world that fat guys could swing it too.

The game continued.

Just as Isaiah Thomas had predicted, this group of players got on the court and went all-out, playing for keeps. The Western Conference Team still had some sense of decorum; none of them were going full-throttle. After all, it was only the first half—no need to ruin the friendly atmosphere.

But the Eastern Conference Team threw sportsmanship out the window.

First, they let Randolph go crazy stat-padding. Now, they had the Pistons’ contingent of hard-nosed players, plus James and Wade, executing on defense and the fast break. The lead instantly widened.

They still seemed unsatisfied, insisting on pushing the lead beyond 11 points.

They were also trying to capitalize on the opportunity Isaiah Thomas had created, fantasizing that they could get more playing time in the second half.

But was Isaiah Thomas the kind of man who keeps his word?

No matter how big a lead they built, he wasn’t going to let them play more.

If the trophy didn’t go to one of his own, then what was the point?

This was just how Isaiah Thomas operated.

No principles.

Only his guys.

Seeing how shameless the Eastern Conference Team was, the Western Conference Team started to get fired up. Popovich even put Duncan, Garnett, and Nowitzki all on the floor, along with Kobe and Tracy McGrady.

With these five firing on all cylinders, the Eastern Conference’s defense, no matter how strong, began to buckle.

The lead began to shrink.

Isaiah Thomas put on a convincing show from the sidelines, shouting encouragement. "Come on! You have to hold them off!"

Ultimately, they couldn’t.

When the first half ended, the Eastern Conference Team was only ahead by 12 points, 77-65.

This left Isaiah Thomas very disappointed. He even told them dejectedly, "Hey, I gave you the opportunity. You’re the ones who couldn’t seize it."

This infuriated James and the others, but it wasn’t like they could just assault the coach like Randolph had done.

Even if that guy Isaiah Thomas seemed far more punchable than McMillan.

During the halftime break, the NBA squeezed in the Slam Dunk Contest.

This year’s Dunk Contest was short on stars, featuring mostly role players. Nate Robinson, Warick, Iguodala, and Josh Smith were all first or second-year players.

The judging panel was a bit of a thrown-together crew, too, composed entirely of Houston Rockets legends: Moses Malone, Drexler, Tomjanovich, Hayes, and Kenny Smith.

The Dunk Contest itself was short on highlights and long on gimmicks.

Nate Robinson ultimately won the title of Dunk King.

He brought out a couple of assistants for his dunks.

For the first dunk, he had Zach Randolph bend over, balancing the ball on his butt. When Nate Robinson came flying in, Randolph used his butt to pop the ball into the air... Randolph, truly showing off his dance background, pulled it off on the first try. He successfully launched the ball with a twerk, and Nate Robinson grabbed it, flew over his body, and finished the dunk.

The technical difficulty of the dunk was so-so; the real highlight was launching the basketball with a butt.

After the dunk, an ecstatic Randolph completely stole the spotlight. He ran to the side of the court, lifted his jersey to reveal a message written underneath: "Fat guys are big, too!"

This left the fans in the arena and watching at home completely dumbfounded.

When it came to pure showmanship, Randolph, in his first-ever NBA All-Star appearance, was already leagues ahead of O’Neal.

O’Neal would never dare to write something like that.

What if some girl had loose lips?

Nate Robinson’s second dunk was a familiar one: he tossed the ball up from behind the backboard, caught it, did a half-cradle, and slammed it into the rim.

He made it on the first attempt as well.

Both dunks received a perfect 50.

One could only imagine how easily impressed the judges were this year, and just how low the overall quality of the dunks was.

For his title-winning dunk, Nate Robinson called out former NBA player Spud Webb. Nate even put on Webb’s old Hawks jersey, then proceeded to jump over his head—one five-foot-nine player leaping over another—to complete the dunk.

points.

Nostalgia won the day.

Iguodala, who had made it to the final round, was clearly not happy with the result, but what could be done?

After all, those guys from the Knicks just knew how to put on a show.

Nate Robinson raised the trophy. He was very emotional, thanking a long list of people, from his college professor to his father, his girlfriend, his son... In short, he was a man full of gratitude.

Then, he started wishing for Zach Randolph to win that night’s MVP award.

This was because they’d made a deal: if Randolph got the MVP, he would have to treat their whole crew when they got back to New York. If Randolph didn’t, and Nate Robinson won the Dunk Contest, then Nate would have to foot the bill.

Even though Nate Robinson had made an easy $200,000 in Portland, signed an endorsement deal with a third-tier Chinese sports brand, and received prize money for becoming the Dunk King, spending his own money couldn’t possibly be as fun as spending Zach Randolph’s. Randolph’s salary was much, much higher than his own.

Therefore, he had to root for Randolph.

...

The second half began. Isaiah Thomas once again gave the Pistons, James, and Wade their chance, letting them lead the charge.

The Western Conference had also learned to throw sportsmanship to the wind, keeping their three big forwards in with Kobe and Tracy McGrady to continue their assault.

After all, with Nate Robinson having so publicly backed Randolph for MVP, how could the players on the other side just ignore it?

They had to support Tracy McGrady; he was one of their own.

Besides, Garnett hated Randolph’s guts; there was no way he’d let Randolph get what he wanted.

Both sides were now playing for real, and the game grew incredibly intense.

The Eastern Conference’s shooting touch was a little off, but they were attacking the basket relentlessly.

The West played a more disciplined game on both ends of the floor, so they slowly chipped away at the lead.

The lead shrank to single digits.

Then it slowly dwindled from there.

By the time it was down to just six points, Randolph couldn’t sit still any longer. He stood up.

Just then, Garnett happened to be walking past and unleashed a taunt: "Looks like fat guys can’t get ’big’ after all. You dare to go in now? Can you even get it up anymore?"

This immediately set Randolph off.

He spun around and slapped O’Neal on the shoulder. "Bro, you’re just going to take that? What kind of man are you?!"

Huh?

O’Neal thought, ’What does this have to do with me?’

"You’re the biggest damn big man in the league! If we don’t teach Garnett a lesson right now, everyone’s gonna think we can’t get ’big,’ that we can’t get it ’up’! We have to go after them! Shaq!"

Randolph encouraged O’Neal with his simple, unvarnished words.

The moment O’Neal heard this, his blood began to boil. There were lines you just didn’t cross, and Garnett had been way too disrespectful.

"Let’s do this!"

WHOOSH! O’Neal shot to his feet. The two big men had united.

BEEP!

Isaiah Thomas immediately called a timeout, just as Wade was bringing the ball past half-court to set up the offense.

Isaiah Thomas announced a wholesale substitution—five players out, five players in.

In came Su Xi, Arenas, Vince Carter, Randolph, and O’Neal.

As the East sent out this lineup, the West made a few adjustments of their own, swapping in Shaun Marion for Nowitzki and Yao Ming for Duncan.

Although Popovich was angry, he didn’t want to waste his San Antonio Spurs players’ energy on this. He was not about to let Duncan go to war with O’Neal.

The game resumed.

Su Xi got the ball and passed it directly to Randolph.

Randolph caught the ball and immediately drove inside, backing down Garnett like a wild boar.

Garnett was forced to retreat step by step. Randolph suddenly came to a screeching halt. Just as Garnett pressed up against him, Randolph executed a pump fake. It baited Garnett into raising his center of gravity, and Randolph turned and stuffed the ball to O’Neal.

O’Neal caught the ball and viciously slammed it through the hoop... BOOM!

A monster dunk.

This was a moment of perfect synergy between the big men.

Randolph let out a roar and once again lifted his jersey.

Tonight, he was the brightest star on the court.