Hill casually dribbled the ball at his side, his eyes already scanning the entire court.
And then, he saw his opening.
When Weber was forced to defend the high post, Hill exploded forward without warning. He didn’t seem to exert much effort, but it was as if soone had given him a hard shove. With a single crossover, he blew past Weber’s left side.
Weber was agile, but he was too tall. His movent speed was nowhere near Hill’s level.
Like a gust of wind, Hill was already driving into the paint.
Duncan quickly slid over to help on defense.
But Hill’s show wasn’t over. He went from a standstill to a full sprint in a single step, and from top speed to a dead stop in just one step as well.
He ca to a screeching halt, his body freezing for a split second, baiting Duncan into leaning forward. Then, he smoothly transitioned into a behind-the-back dribble, exploded forward again, slipped past Duncan, took a gather step, and leaped up for an easy layup.
The entire sequence was fluid and natural, without a single hitch.
Sitting courtside, Chen Yu couldn’t help but have a thought pop into his head: ’He’s like Jordan.’
Chen Yu had watched Jordan play before.
And this Hill in front of him—fast as the wind, with clean, nimble moves, blowing past defenders as easily as breathing—was the spitting image of Jordan.
Not far away, Jordan, who was sitting next to Ronaldo, imdiately jumped to his feet, waving his arms and cheering.
After scoring, Hill ran past the East’s bench and suddenly raised an arm, giving a thumbs-up.
The live broadcast cara imdiately panned over, locking onto Chen Yu’s surprised face.
"Hill is giving a shout-out to Chen! It was Chen who healed him and allowed him to make a healthy return to the court!" announcer Kevin Johnson yelled.
Chen Yu, stunned for a mont, raised his right hand and gave a thumbs-up in return.
As Hill ran off, an inexplicable and imnse excitent washed over Chen Yu.
’Back then, I insisted on treating Hill. Wasn’t it for this exact reason? To see him on the court again, running his heart out just like this.’
Chen Yu turned his head and looked to the side.
In the front row, Olajuwon sat quietly, his chin resting in his hand.
His silence was a stark contrast to the cheering crowd around him.
It was as if all the cheers had nothing to do with him.
But he, too, once stood on this court, the center of attention, basking in these very cheers.
Now, he was just old.
In that mont, Chen Yu made a decision.
’I’ll treat Olajuwon.’
Olajuwon had specifically sought him out before the ga, but at the ti, Chen Yu had told him he hadn’t decided yet.
Chen Yu rembered clearly how Olajuwon had left, his face etched with disappointnt.
’So regardless of whether he succeeds in chasing his dream, as long as he’s still willing to try, I should be there to give him a push.’
Having made his decision, Chen Yu no longer felt conflicted and turned his full attention back to enjoying the ga.
But as he continued to watch, Chen Yu was surprised to find that the West was actually losing.
On paper, the West’s frontcourt of Mutombo, O’Neal, and Duncan should have been unstoppable, but they were playing terribly.
The problem was, Duncan wasn’t on the attack, and neither was O’Neal.
The guy looked like he was just taking a stroll on the court, showing no offensive desire whatsoever.
Add to that J Kidd, whose shooting was terrible, and the only players on the entire West squad helping out were Kobe and, to a lesser extent, Weber.
The East, on the other hand, lacked height in the paint but was full of players who could drive to the basket.
Among their starting five, you had Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Carter, and Hill. Every single one of them was lightning-fast with a sharp, penetrating drive.
The East’s strategy was obvious: constantly attack the rim.
Iverson would drive, then Hill would drive. After Hill, it was the cousins, Carter and Tracy McGrady, who continued the assault.
The West’s frontcourt was a forest of giants, but their height ca at the cost of speed.
If an ordinary guard tried to drive on them, O’Neal and Duncan could easily put them in their place.
But against so of the most elite guards in the entire league, stopping them completely wasn’t going to be so easy.
And most importantly, they had Hill.
If Iverson was a force of nature, all fiery speed and aggression, Hill was more inclined to pass the ball after breaking down the defense.
So far in the ga, it was actually Hill who had taken on the bulk of the playmaking responsibilities.
All these factors combined to completely flip the script on what should have been a one-sided ga. The West was trailing 5 to 14, down by a full 9 points.
No, 11 points now.
Carter drove in from the baseline, and O’Neal made a token effort to move his feet before just watching Carter complete a tomahawk slam.
Adelman, who had been sitting calmly on the bench since the start of the ga, felt his eyelid twitch violently. He waved his hand and called a tiout.
He had to. If they kept playing like this, the deficit was going to stretch to twenty.
Adelman’s face darkened as he watched O’Neal and Duncan walk off the court, laughing and joking with each other.
He had envisioned an invincible O’Neal dominating under the basket, laying waste to all opponents.
And what happened? He’d beco a black hole in the paint.
Matador defense, zero shot attempts, and he wouldn’t even grab a rebound unless it fell right into his hands. He was just ssing around.
"Shaq, can you please take this a little more seriously?" Adelman couldn’t help but complain.
O’Neal grinned. "Rick, it’s the All-Star Ga. Why play so seriously?"
His one sentence left Adelman speechless.
Standing nearby, Chen Yu secretly shook his head. ’If it weren’t for , O’Neal wouldn’t have even co to the All-Star Ga in the first place.’
But on second thought, he realized O’Neal had a point. The All-Star Ga was supposed to be for the fans’ entertainnt, after all.
’You can’t exactly play it like it’s the NBA Finals.’
"But you can’t be *that* casual about it," Kobe muttered from amidst the crowd of players.
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