Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 524 The Slam Dunk Contest Begins! Guaranteed to be something you've never seen before.

After a long and tiring day, everyone went to the Rising Stars Challenge together in the evening to join in the fun. Lin Tian went to cheer on his younger brothers Anthony and Smith, and also to show his face to the New York fans, supporting the event as the host.

However, since Wade, James, and Anthony from the second-year team were all selected for the All-Star Game, they consciously just coasted through the Rising Stars Challenge, casually dunking a few times to warm up, and then didn't really try to steal the spotlight from the rookies who didn't make it to the All-Star Game.

It's important to understand that many rookies may only have this one or two opportunities in their entire careers to shine in front of fans worldwide. This stage may not mean much to top rookies and players with superstar potential, but for rookies whose talent isn't top-tier, this is their best chance.

Therefore, this stage is given to the person who needs him the most.

The best players that night were Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith.

These two completely turned the night into a dunk contest.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" A flurry of slams.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" A flurry of smashing ensued.

These two players successfully set the tone and pace of the game with their repeated dunks, which can be considered a warm-up for tomorrow night's dunk contest.

Because several of the top second-year students were in a relaxed state, the first-year team ultimately defeated the second-year team to win the match.

As for the final MVP, it was Andre Iguodala who put up a well-rounded stat line of 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists tonight.

This Philadelphia rookie, who wasn't very well-known before, has made a name for himself thanks to his outstanding performance in the Rising Stars Challenge. Fans are even more excited for tomorrow night's Slam Dunk Contest!

Of course, there's another reason to look forward to the dunk contest.

That's the Knicks' internal dunk contest, and it's not finished being updated yet.

According to Lin Tian's announcement, they will update the final episode of the Knicks' internal dunk contest after the rookie game ends tonight.

There are 3 dunks left.

Who will represent the Knicks – Wallace, Stoudemire, or Smith? And who will be the biggest winner tomorrow night?

To be honest, when fans discovered that Lin Tian didn't actually intend to participate in the dunk contest and was only a judge, they were quite disappointed and unwilling to accept it.

At least 30% of the earliest videos on YouTube were criticizing Lin Tian.

But as the show progressed, Spike Lee's high-quality editing and the insertion of highly entertaining segments such as Anthony giving 2 points for his antics and Anthony missing his dunk actually sparked a heated debate about the last spot in the dunk contest!

Everyone is incredibly excited to see who will ultimately represent the Knicks.

There are even many fans analyzing it there.

They reasoned that after everyone had finished deducting points, Lin Tian would likely suddenly spring into action, take off his jacket, and casually say, "How about I give it a try?"

Anyway, the final episode was full of suspense, and everyone wanted to watch it.

Even Stern couldn't have imagined that Lin Tian and his team would turn a single dunk contest spot into such a spectacular event, raising the popularity of this year's dunk contest to a very high level due to this incredibly novel format.

Or rather, since the epic battle between Lin Tian, ​​Carter and Richardson, the combined popularity of the Slam Dunk Contest in recent years has never reached the heights of this year!

We still need to do something!

Or... after that bastard Lin Tian retires, we could just poach him and get him a job in the league?

Given this kid's cunning and utterly shameless nature, it wouldn't be so bad to let him take over my position!

Could the NBA really reach another peak under this kid's leadership?

As Stern drifted off into his own thoughts, the night finally came to an end, and Stoudemire, who emerged victorious, became the last Slam Dunk Contest participant to be announced in NBA history!

It's worth mentioning that after the Knicks' internal dunk contest ended, Lin Tian uploaded another bonus video.

This Easter egg is quite simple, so simple that it's just one sentence.

"I'll be by Amar'e's side the whole time during tomorrow night's dunk contest. We'll be teaming up for four dunks! And I promise, the way we dunk tomorrow will be something no one has ever heard of or seen before! It's absolutely a dunking style that has never appeared in a dunk contest before! Stay tuned!"

Lin Tian's words reignited the fans' appetites, which had just cooled down after their meal.

Cooperating once is perfectly normal.

But it can be done four times?

How do you play?

What kind of amazing tricks can these two pull off together?

Besides passing the ball and having Stoudemire leap over the bar, what other tricks can they pull off?

In particular, a format never before seen in the history of the Slam Dunk Contest?

If someone else had said that, the fans would have just laughed it off.

What did Lin Tian say?

That's completely different!

Given Lin Tian's personality and history of creating drama, fans believe that since he said he would cooperate four times, it would definitely not be a simple or perfunctory collaboration!

If he says it never happened, then it definitely never happened!

At the same time, some fans were initially worried that Stoudemire might have used some amazing dunking techniques because he participated in the team's dunk contest in advance, which would have resulted in not having enough moves. But after Lin Tian said this, these concerns immediately disappeared.

Expectation!

I can't wait!

That night, the fans were full of anticipation, the stars were indulging themselves, and Stern was in a state of excitement.

The only slight regret is Lin Tian.

He had originally planned to cleverly bump into any of Olsen's friends to see if there was a chance to reminisce about what happened last night.

Unfortunately, the two girls were clearly ashamed to face their hometown folks, so they checked out and disappeared somewhere.

I was somewhat disappointed.

What a pity, what a real pity!

However, Lin Tian's disappointment only lasted for one night. The next morning, when the league organized the stars to participate in various activities again, Lin Tian discovered where the two girls had gone.

New York University!

This was the headline of several newspapers.

"Nationally renowned actresses, entrepreneurs, and the most talented twin girls will be attending New York University this September!"

I'm going to study in New York.

Going to school is great.

Lord Lin has a thing for female students.

No, pshaw!

I like knowledgeable female students.

That evening, the Olsen twins were not present at Madison Square Garden to watch the game. Without their presence, the sidelines were missing a beautiful sight. In the individual competition that night, the Suns emerged as the biggest winner.

Nash won the Skills Challenge, while Quentin Richardson took the 3-point title.

Finally, here comes the most eye-catching, exciting, and anticipated match of the night!

The Slam Dunk Contest is finally here!

To be honest, the players who participated in this year's Slam Dunk Contest can't be described as having achieved great success or having high popularity. Although Stoudemire was selected for the All-Star Game, he is just a small Kalamy in the All-Star Game and is not worth mentioning.

The remaining three are either rookies or have been playing minor roles for several years.

Originally, this was supposed to be an unremarkable dunk contest, just like the previous two years when Mason and others dominated and won the dunk championship, making people feel drowsy and ordinary.

But this year, thanks to Lin Tian and the Knicks' overall antics, the anticipation for this dunk contest has been artificially inflated.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating what Stoudemire would pull off!

"Amare! Amare! Amare! Amare!"

"Lin! Lin! Lin! Lin!"

At the same time, the home-court advantage became fully apparent. The entire Madison Square Garden was cheering for Stoudemire and Lin Tian, ​​shouting at them, "New Yorkers, we're looking forward to your players winning the dunk contest!"

What followed was a series of pre-game programs, the host's warm-up, and so on. Then, Chris Anderson was the first to step onto the court.

This guy had his teammate move a chair to sit under the basket, then he sprinted and jumped from the front, received the ball passed to him by his teammate, and then leaped over his teammate to slam the ball into the basket with both hands!

40 points!

An unremarkable dunk, with rather ordinary creativity and styling.

The fans at the stadium clearly didn't approve of the shot, and some even booed.

Then Iguodala and JR Smith also took to the court, scoring 47 and 45 points respectively.

To be honest, the first three dunks were quite boring, only below average for a dunk contest. The fact that the fans weren't yelling "Damn it, refund us!" was only because of Stoudemire and Lin Tian's reputation.

Everyone's waiting for their performance!

Finally, it was time for the most anticipated contestant of the night.

Stoudemire walked onto the court with a basketball, and then he pulled Lin Tian, ​​who was sitting on the sidelines, up.

The fans in the stadium immediately erupted in excited shouts, chanting the names of the two players.

Even the star players in the front row couldn't help but sit up straight; they were also curious.

These two made such a big fuss before the match, what kind of tricks will they pull today?

If we do something really boring, we'll just make a fool of ourselves.

Similarly, the fans watching on television unconsciously leaned forward, filled with anticipation.

"They're here! The most anticipated players of the night, or rather, the pair! Lin and Amare, what kind of interesting things will they come up with? I'm really looking forward to it!" Barkley said excitedly as soon as the two entered the ring, "How will they coordinate?"

"You don't know?" Kenny looked at Barkley with disbelief. "Didn't you participate in their internal selection trials? Don't you know what those two guys' special skills are?"

"I swear, I really don't know! I asked, I even wanted to get involved, but I was rejected."

"Not even me, Carmelo and the others were kicked out of their training sessions," Barkley shrugged. "It's very mysterious! So, I'm really looking forward to it!"

Barkley's words made the already excited fans even more eager.

How exactly do you deduct it?

On the court, Stoudemire stood on the left side, and Lin Tian stood on the right side.

Judging from their positioning, it seems that Lin Tian passed the ball to Stoudemire for an alley-oop.

To everyone's surprise, the basketball was in Stoudemire's hands!

"Amar'e has the ball? Who's going to dunk? Who's passing the ball to whom?" Barkley couldn't help but ask, "Or is Lin going to imitate the defender and do a real poster dunk?"

Just when everyone was filled with anticipation, Stoudemire suddenly started.

He threw the ball towards the backboard with one hand, and the basketball bounced and flew towards Lin Tian on the other side.

Stoudemire suddenly accelerated and charged towards the basket.

"Snapped!"

With a muffled thud, Lin Tian headbutted the basketball, which flew precisely towards Stoudemire. Stoudemire leaped into the air, grabbed the ball, and then, with a 360-degree spin and a layup, slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, Stoudemire completed this 360-degree spin and reverse dunk!

"A header pass? It was actually a header pass?" Barkley exclaimed incredulously. "That was incredibly creative! Lin can actually play soccer? His header was spot-on, both the placement and the power were perfect!"

"Charles, what surprises me even more than Lin playing soccer is that you actually know about soccer?" Kenny said, looking at Barkley. "Your analysis sounds very professional!"

"It just sounds professional," Barkley couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know anything about football, I'm just talking nonsense."

"Looks like we'll have to interview Kobe or Steve Nash later, maybe they can give us the answer." Kenny shook his head and laughed at his partner's candor, saying, "I've heard they're both very good at soccer."

"I believe Steve is good at soccer, but Kobe?" Barkley scoffed. "He's someone who was rejected in Italy because he was so bad at soccer and could only play goalkeeper. What does he know about soccer?"

While the two were chatting idly, Nash, who was sitting quietly in the front row watching the dunk contest, couldn't help but shiver.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like he had lost something, like something that should have belonged to him had completely disappeared.

It feels like a piece of my soul is missing.

The judges on site have now started scoring.

50 points!

The first 50 points of the night have been achieved!

Lin Tian made it more difficult for Stoudemire to dunk.

Originally, when Stoudemire and Nash teamed up for the dunk contest, this dunk was a simple dunk where he caught the ball and spun 180 degrees. But after Lin Tian and Stoudemire teamed up several times, Lin Tian had Stoudemire change the dunk to a 360-degree reverse dunk.

As the difficulty increases, scores will naturally follow as well!

I, Lin Da Guanren, although I plagiarize, I actually made it more difficult for myself!

If it's even better than the original, then it's not plagiarism, so what is it... um... what is it?

Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway. Nash can't beat himself, and he doesn't like being a troll.

It's perfectly safe. Today, I, Lin the Great, will take your money. What are you going to do about it?

In the second round, the other three players completed their dunks one after another. Anderson missed several dunks in a row and was disqualified, receiving only 33 points as a consolation prize, becoming the first person to be eliminated.

Then JR came on the court. This guy threw the ball towards the basket, ran to the side, caught the ball in mid-air, dribbled it behind his back, and then glided to the other side of the basket for a dunk.

With his standard height of 198 cm and a rather impressive gliding technique, this shot was met with thunderous applause, earning him 49 points! His total score reached 94 points.

Next up is Iguodala, who scored 47 points on his first spike. If he can score 48 points or more on this spike, he will advance directly!

Iguodala didn't disappoint. He had his teammates pass him the ball from the side, then sprinted down the middle, jumped, caught the ball in mid-air, and unleashed a spectacular windmill dunk, drawing cheers from the entire Madison Square Garden!

50 points!

The second 50-point game of the night has arrived!

Iguodala scored 97 points in two rounds, surpassing JR and securing a spot in the finals!

Now it's up to Stoudemire.

He wasn't under much pressure on this point; as long as he could get 45 points, he would qualify for the final.

"Will Amar'e play it safe?" Barkley couldn't help but ask. "But he needs at least 45 points. If he plays too conservatively, it might backfire, and he might not even get 45 points and get eliminated instead!"

"Look, it's Stoudemire and Lin again! They're back on the court. What are they planning to do this time?"

This time, the basketball came back to Lin Tian's hands, or rather, his feet.

This time, Lin Tian stood further away, directly outside the three-point line. The basketball was placed on the floor in front of him, while Stoudemire stood on the other side of the basket. After the two looked at each other, Stoudemire began to move towards the basket.

Lin Tian watched the speed at which Xiao Si was running towards him, waiting for the right moment to launch the ball.

After seizing the opportunity when Stoudemire was running, Lin Tian calmly took a step forward, then sandwiched the ball between his legs and used Tsubasa Ozora's signature rainbow flick to send the ball flying into the air. The basketball immediately flew up and landed on Lin Tian's head.

Then Lin Tian quickly did a backflip, and at the same time raised his left foot and slapped the basketball.

"Bang!"

With another muffled thud, Lin Tian executed a bicycle kick, sending the basketball flying towards the basket! (End of Chapter)