NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 169 All-Star Voting

Josh's performance improved compared to the previous game, contributing 17 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. His statistics were comparable to Jia Fei's, but his efficiency was lower, and the game was lost.

Judging from his individual performance on the field, Jia Fei's immediate impact is already on par with Josh, and his potential far surpasses Josh's. Keep in mind that Jia Fei is only 21 years old this year, while Josh is already 28.

In the NBA, younger age means greater potential for growth, better malleability, and more possibilities. Josh Smith, at 28, has already reached the point where his skills are fully developed, and having previously relied on his physicality, his current performance is even worse than before. This shows that for most physically imposing players, around 30 years old is the end of their peak.

Many people previously said that LeBron James' playing style would not work after he turned 30. In hindsight, that's quite funny. But considering the general situation in the league at the time, 30 was indeed the starting point for many physical stars to experience a significant decline in performance, which is true.

After the game, the hype surrounding the rivalry between Jia Fei and Josh for the title of the new Hawks' star player subsided. Clearly, Josh's performance had lost its appeal; he seemed to struggle and didn't quite fit into the Pistons' style. Some experts analyzed that his poor performance this season wasn't solely due to his own form, but also significantly related to the team's roster and playing style.

Back in his Hawks days, Josh Smith played the power forward position. His athleticism and defensive flexibility made him very comfortable in that position. The Hawks frequently used switching defenses, and as an inside player, he could switch out, providing explosive help defense and shot-blocking ability. The presence of Joe Johnson also meant he didn't have to be the primary scorer, masking the weakness of his limited offensive repertoire. In fact, he was never a star player who could be the primary scorer; his strengths were athleticism and shot-blocking, with shooting being a secondary advantage.

After finishing their game against the Pistons, the Hawks rushed back to Atlanta overnight, where they faced the Celtics in a back-to-back home game on the 24th.

In this game, six players on the Hawks scored in double figures, and they ultimately defeated their opponents at home, achieving their third consecutive victory.

After three consecutive wins, their record improved to 11 wins and 3 losses, maintaining their third-place ranking in the Eastern Conference.

After the match, Jia Fei ate with Art Mayork and Korver.

"Jia, have you been watching the All-Star Game? Voting has already started!" Art Mayork reminded him, holding up his phone.

"The All-Star Game?" Jia Fei suddenly remembered that All-Star voting seemed to have started. He hadn't been paying attention to it lately because, deep down, he instinctively felt it had nothing to do with him. Although he hadn't missed an All-Star Game since entering the league, the first time was as an invitation to the Slam Dunk Contest, and the second time was as an invitation to the Rising Stars Challenge. Strictly speaking, neither of those made him a true All-Star player. All-Star starters are chosen by fans, while reserves are selected by coaches.

"Jia, you should take note. You've been doing really well lately, and you have a good chance of being selected!" Korver smiled slightly, his eyes full of meaning.

"Hmm, that makes sense!" Jia Fei no longer needed to be modest. Judging from his recent performance, he did indeed have a chance to make it to the All-Star team.

"All-Star!" Jia Fei exclaimed inwardly, surprised that he was now being discussed as an All-Star player. It was somewhat surreal; just two years ago, he wasn't even sure if he could survive in this league!

This also made him glad he chose the Hawks instead of staying with the Thunder. With the Thunder, he had virtually no chance of getting that much ball possession; even if Durant and Westbrook didn't play, Brooks wouldn't have allowed him to become the team's core player.

He had seen the Pistons' situation in the two games that had just ended. Monroe and Drummond were absolute ball-handling black holes. These two were really not suitable to start together. Just thinking about playing with them gave him goosebumps.

Compared to them, Milwaukee and Al Horford are just too good!

Back home, Jia Fei turned on his laptop and began searching for information about the All-Star Game.

2014年NBA全明星赛于北京时间2014年2月15日至2月17日在新奥尔良举行。

NBA全明星投票于2013年11月16日凌晨4:30开启，全球将有多个平台同时开放投票，华夏网友可以通过NBA官方网站、微博、微信等渠道进行投票。投票于2014年1月20日结束。

It turns out the voting had already started! Jia Fei suddenly realized that he hadn't noticed this. Well, Sharapova was in a bad mood and had a lot of competition to attend to, which made him overlook this information.

According to the website, Jia Fei learned that the voting officially began on November 16th, and the shortlist of 60 players from each conference was also released. The Pacers and Warriors each had 6 players on the list, while the Rockets, Heat, Clippers, and Spurs each had 5 players selected.

Jia Fei checked and found that the Hawks had a total of four players selected: himself, Horford, Millsap, and Teague. That means that, apart from Korver, four of the starting five were on the voting list.

Of course, this does not represent the final list of nominees; it is merely the list of those who voted.

Jia Fei has no intention of campaigning for votes or anything like that. What's the point? Even if he spent money to campaign and still got selected, once people find out that he got the All-Star title in this way, the stain on his reputation can't be offset by the glory that the All-Star title brings. It's just too much of a loss.

He felt that as long as his performance reached the level of a typical All-Star, given his Asian identity, his appealing playing style, and his handsome appearance, being selected was only a matter of time.

Jia Fei has a good attitude. It's only when you can't get what you want that you feel bad; going with the flow is much more comfortable.

"Beep beep," the phone notification sounded. Jia Fei picked it up and saw an unread message. He opened it and saw that it was from Lamb. Upon closer inspection, it was a picture, and a picture of a woman.

To Jia Fei's amusement and exasperation, the woman in the photo wasn't wearing any clothes at all! Of course, she wasn't wearing pants either…

This image perfectly captures Lamb's style. But just moments later, it was taken down...

Lamb sent another message: "I sent it to the wrong person!"

Jia Fei initially considered replying "I've seen it," but immediately abandoned the idea. It was obvious Lamb had sent it to the wrong person; if someone sent it to the wrong person, so be it. Why bring up someone's hobby? We're all adults; everyone has their own unique hobbies.

Seeing Lamb's photo, Jia Fei realized it had been quite a while since he'd caught up with his two best buddies from Oklahoma City, Lamb and Reggie. It wasn't that he'd forgotten his old flames for someone new; he simply didn't know what to say. Men and women are different. Even if men haven't been in touch for a long time, they still feel the same way when they meet again. But for women, if they don't stay in touch for a while, even the best of friends can become strangers.