NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 284 New York All-Stars

But just when Hawks fans were already looking forward to another winning streak, they suffered a narrow defeat to the Grizzlies two days later in Memphis, Tennessee, failing to secure a three-game winning streak.

This game was exceptionally intense, with neither team scoring more than 90 points. It's hard to believe this was a game from 2015. Keep in mind that the Hawks are averaging over 100 points per game this season, and their offensive efficiency is second only to the Golden State Warriors in the league, yet they only managed 86 points in this game.

The Grizzlies weren't much better, scoring 88 points. But they've always been a strong defensive team; offense isn't their forte. Their style in recent years has been aggressive play and suffocating defense.

"I don't understand offense, and neither do you!"

The Hawks' loss in this game exposed the team's weaknesses to the entire league. These weaknesses include: firstly, having only one true star, Jia Fei, who sometimes appears isolated and helpless; secondly, lacking sufficient height in the paint, making them particularly vulnerable against teams with truly strong interior players; and thirdly, lacking a consistent scorer off the bench, despite having a number of decent role players, they lack a true offensive spearhead.

Fortunately, none of the true championship contenders this season are strong teams in the paint. For example, the Thunder are driven by a dual-core system, and the Cavaliers are a Big Three team, but Love is just a spacer and not a true center like the "Grit and Grind" duo. The Warriors' core is the Splash Brothers, who are also perimeter players. The Spurs aren't exactly a strong team in the paint anymore; while Duncan is still capable, his future is over. The Rockets have Dwight Howard, but what really kills this team is their drive-and-kick offense, their "Moreyball" style, and the current Howard isn't the same player anymore, he's just Howard.

The following day, the Hawks played the Timberwolves in a back-to-back game. Unaffected by their narrow defeat in the previous game, they secured a resounding victory on the road, avoiding a two-game losing streak.

Two days later, the Hawks narrowly defeated the Celtics at Boston's TD Garden, securing their second consecutive win.

With that, all the games before the All-Star break were over, and the Hawks' record remained at 44 wins and 10 losses, still ranking first in the league.

With this record leading up to All-Star Weekend, everyone on the Hawks is extremely satisfied. What more could they want? They're the best team in the league! Their season goal was to advance to the playoffs as a top-4 seed in their conference, guaranteeing home-court advantage in the first round. So, based on their current performance, they've clearly far exceeded their season objective.

Humans are strange creatures; when they see hope, their ambitions swell. Hawks fans previously dared not dream of a championship because the team's raw talent wasn't top-tier in the league. But now, seeing their team become the league's best, it's natural to dream of a title. If even the league's best team doesn't dare dream, does that mean only bottom-tier teams should?

Even with the league's best record, many media outlets still didn't list them as a championship favorite. The reason is simple: this team has too few superstars.

The Spurs have the Big Three (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili), the Cavaliers have their Big Three, the Thunder have their dynamic duo (Durant and Westbrook), the Warriors have the Splash Brothers, and the Rockets have the Harden-Morley duo. The league's top teams all have at least two superstars. Even a team like the Trail Blazers has a duo of Lillard and Aldridge.

Who is the Hawks' second star? Horford? Millsson? Or Teague?

Although all five starters on this team were selected for this year's All-Star game, the general consensus is that Jia Fei is the only true star player on the team.

Even though Jia Fei is only 23 years old and performed well in the playoffs last season, he has never succeeded before, and many veteran legends still don't have absolute confidence in him.

Jia Fei felt that the pessimism from the outside world was not a bad thing. The bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. They were already number one in the league and had been high-profile enough. If they were considered the top favorite to win the championship at this time, it would only attract the attention of the entire league, which was not a good thing.

Develop stealthily and quietly amass wealth; that's the better choice.

On February 13th, the Hawks players who participated in the All-Star Game departed for New York together. Art Mayork was not participating in the All-Star Game, but he always went wherever Jia Fei went.

The Hawks' All-Star roster is indeed the deepest, with all five starters being All-Stars, plus Steve Davis participating in the Rising Stars Challenge. Looking around, it's all All-Stars...

All-Star inflation is coming!

Therefore, the All-Star game is obviously not as prestigious as the All-NBA Team. The All-NBA Team has 15 spots, while the All-Star game has more than 20 spots combined between the East and West.

Big Apple City, Jia Fei is back again!

New York is the city Jia Fei has visited the most, even more than Los Angeles, because his good friend Kemba Walker's family lives there.

When they went to New York for the All-Star Game, Jia Fei and Art Mayork didn't stay in a hotel, but instead stayed at Kemba Walker's house.

Kemba Walker was a little unhappy about not being selected for this season's All-Star team, and he didn't go out during All-Star weekend, instead staying at his home in New York for a few days.

On February 14, Jia Fei, Kemba Walker, and Art Mayork went to Madison Square Garden in New York to watch the All-Star Rising Stars Challenge.

The 2015 All-Star Rising Stars Challenge made a revolutionary change, pitting first- and second-year players from the United States against first- and second-year players from other countries. Undoubtedly, the Rising Stars Challenge would have been more competitive and would have provided a clearer picture of the future strength of American and international basketball.

The reason for this arrangement is that there are more and more international players in the league now. The NBA is still called the NBA, but it's different from the last century. Today's league brings together basketball talents from all over the world.

Jia Fei's teammate, Xiao Hei, represented the International Team. In addition to Xiao Hei, the International Team also included Wiggins, Adams, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gobert, and others, making them a very strong team.

Basketball has evolved rapidly worldwide, and today's US Dream Team can no longer easily dominate opponents as it did in its early days. Of course, whether Chinese basketball has kept pace with the times is another matter.

Ultimately, the International team defeated the American team, and Mousse was awarded the MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge.

At All-Star Weekend, Jia Fei was constantly asked for photos; he has now truly become a superstar. His status as the All-Star vote leader and his two consecutive All-Star starter selections can no longer be attributed to mere luck. He seems to possess a magnetic pull, attracting many beautiful women who give him flirtatious glances, making Kemba Walker and Art Mayok quite envious.

“Jay, if I were you, I probably would have at least 20 girls pregnant with my child by now!” Kemba Walker said with certainty.