NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 463 First Time Hosting

12月22日，2018年全明星投票正式开启！本次NBA全明星投票制度发生变动，首次推出“双倍计票”活动，在1月1日、1月5日、1月12日、1月13日和1月16日新增了5天的双倍计票日。

2018年NBA全明星赛是历史上第67届全明星赛事，于2018年2月17日至19日在洛杉矶的斯台普斯球馆举行。这是斯台普斯第3次举办NBA全明星赛，前两次分别在2004年和2011年举办。

This is also the first time that Los Angeles has hosted an All-Star game since Jia Fei joined the league.

Los Angeles has two NBA teams, the Lakers and the Clippers. Players selected for the All-Star Game from both teams will be the host nation's representatives. Unfortunately, the Lakers, a historically dominant team, currently have zero All-Star selections, while their crosstown rivals, the Clippers, are guaranteed All-Star appearances, with another star player, Paul George, also having a strong chance of being selected.

For Lakers fans, this is truly devastating. In the post-Kobe era, they've been completely overshadowed by the Clippers. Aside from jokingly mentioning that the Clippers have never won a championship, leaving their franchise history empty, there's not much else to tease them about. After all, the Clippers are currently championship favorites, boasting the league's best player, Jia Fei, and are on fire this season. You can't really say they have no chance of winning a title. If the Clippers win the championship this season, then, not to mention the distant future, just looking at the next five years, they will undoubtedly be the stronger and better NBA team in Los Angeles.

The Lakers' ambition to rise again seems uncertain at present. While there have been persistent rumors of a Clippers player joining the team next season, can you truly predict his intentions? In the summer of 2010, could you have guessed he'd go to Miami? In the summer of 2014, could you have predicted he'd return to Cleveland? Nobody knows where he'll run off to next—perhaps Philadelphia, perhaps Houston, or maybe Los Angeles. Even if they acquire him, will the Lakers truly be able to compete with the Clippers? The Clippers will be 34 next year, and a well-known Chinese media personality has already predicted he'll start declining at 31. Many knowledgeable Chinese basketball fans predicted 10 years ago that his physical style of play wouldn't last past 30. Building a team around a 34-year-old Clippers player? Are they just trying to sell tickets with such an aging superstar?

Lakers fans are having a headache thinking about the team's current situation. None of the talented players they have can be seen as potential cornerstones for building a team. Paul George, whom they had been trying to acquire, was snatched away by the Clippers, and they lost another big fish.

The Lakers might have a future, but at least this season they have no hope; continuing to tank is probably the best option. As for the All-Star Game, it's just a waste of time and effort for others; the team's management in the post-Kobe era was brain-dead and failed to find a suitable successor. Now, they can only choose to continue playing passively.

This year's All-Star Game also features a major change. Last year, the league announced a major reform to the NBA All-Star Game, eliminating the previous East-West conference rivalry. Instead, the two All-Star captains will select players from the All-Star pool to form their teams and compete against each other. These two captains will be the players who receive the most fan votes in their respective conferences.

As in previous years, the selection process for the 24 All-Star players will remain unchanged, with 12 from the Eastern Conference and 12 from the Western Conference. The All-Star starters will still be selected by fan, media, and player votes, while the 14 reserves will be selected by the head coaches of all 30 teams, consisting of three forwards, two guards, and two players of any position from each conference. If a player is unable to participate due to injury, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will appoint a replacement. The captains of both teams will select their players from the All-Star starters and reserves, respectively.

Media predictions suggest that the most likely captain for the Eastern Conference is a member of the Running Man cast, while the competition in the Western Conference is fierce, with both Jia Fei and Curry being potential candidates. Whether it's Jia Fei vs. Running Man or Curry vs. Running Man, the match is sure to be exciting.

Jia Fei wasn't interested in any of the scrimmages or scrimmages. The All-Star Game was essentially a show; the players put on a show for the fans, making them happy and giving them a fun weekend—it was that simple. As for the All-Star Game itself, especially the main game, the outcome wasn't that significant. So, over time, the stars stopped playing so hard. After all, winning was one thing, but getting injured meant the loss for both themselves and their teams.

On December 23, the Clippers will play against the Lakers on the road.

The Lakers are no match for the Clippers. The Lakers' away games are the Clippers' home games!

Jia Fei clocked out of get off work cleanly and efficiently after three shifts, feeling like he hadn't even exerted much effort before his opponent was already defeated.

After defeating the Lakers, the Clippers secured their second consecutive win, bringing their record to 26 wins and 4 losses, maintaining their second-place ranking in the Western Conference.

The media had already been hyping up the Christmas Day games before they even started. This year's Christmas Day games are sure to be full of exciting matchups, with the league scheduling Clippers vs. Rockets and Warriors vs. Cavaliers. Both matchups are sure to be thrilling and exciting.

The Clippers and Rockets were opponents in the Western Conference semifinals last season, while the Warriors and Cavaliers were opponents in the NBA Finals.

These four teams are all guaranteed to be high-profile, each boasting a massive fanbase. Furthermore, all four are strong teams, ensuring that matches are never one-sided and guaranteeing a highly entertaining and engaging experience.

Rockets fans are already clamoring that their elimination from last season's playoffs was due to 58's injury, and that if 58 hadn't been injured, the Rockets, not the Clippers, should have been in the Western Conference Finals.

Clippers fans immediately retorted, saying that injuries are part of the game, and it's your players' fault for being so prone to injury. Oh, and by the way, 58 (Clippers' player number 58) also came from our team; we traded him precisely because he's injury-prone. We gave you this sick player, and you're treating him like a treasure, hahaha!

Fans from both sides went head-to-head online, and the tension immediately escalated, generating a huge buzz. No need to hype it up, the fighting spirit is already at its peak.

This is certainly something the NBA would like to see. Without grudges, it wouldn't be a true league; that's what makes it interesting, increases the NBA's popularity, and naturally raises the league's value.

The Clippers arrived in Houston on the 24th, where they will spend Christmas Eve and play their Christmas Day game.

The Christmas atmosphere in Houston is already very strong, with Christmas elements everywhere. Christmas means a lot to Americans. And it's not just in America; even in China, across the ocean, driven by consumerism, Christmas is everywhere at this time of year. Children celebrate Christmas, and so do women. Women are the favorite prey of capital, with various ways to get them to spend money, and they are easily fooled. If they don't want to spend money themselves or don't have any, they get men to pay. Poor men, who usually can't even order takeout, are forced to hand over large sums of money to businesses just to prove their love.