Chapter 12 Win the Championship!
Another full score!
Like Carter and Zhang Hao, both scored full marks and advanced to the deciding round!
Another person who advanced to the final round was the desperate Desmond Mason.
"Why did I meet these two people? Why..."
Desmond Mason suddenly felt that the corner was a good fit for him. It was as if a voice told him that he should squat in the corner and that he should like circles...
"I've decided! If I can make it to the NBA, I'll wear No. 0!"
It didn't matter what Desmond Mason was thinking. Amid the wild cheers of the audience, the host read the advertisement again, and then the hired Lakers cheerleaders performed. This stage was the advertising time, and the American cable TV stations would definitely insert advertisements in the middle. A few minutes later, the host once again solemnly introduced the three dunk masters who entered the deciding round.
According to the rules, Carter was not the last to play this time. Zhang Hao was the first player to get 100 points in the first round and ranked first in the first round. Although Carter also got full marks, he ranked second. The third was Desmond Mason with 95 points.
The first to come on stage was Desmond Mason.
Desmond Mason came onto the field with his teammates, and after some communication, he came to the center circle.
His teammate stood on the left side of the free throw line, threw the ball several times, and when he felt it was about time, he signaled to him to be ready.
Desmond Mason nodded. Next, he would need good cooperation, and this dunk was a sudden thought. Since he had decided to take an unconventional approach, he might as well go all the way!
I, Desmond, an emotionless runner-up, Mason, take to the battlefield!
Everyone was curious about what Desmond Mason would do this time, including Zhang Hao and Carter, who were all staring intently. Indeed, this guy's second dunk in the first round brought quite a surprise.
With more than 17,000 people watching, Desmond Mason sprinted from the center circle, rushed to the three-point line, and suddenly jumped! His teammates also threw the ball out.
Three-point dunk?
Just when everyone was puzzled, Desmond Mason somersaulted in the air...
Somersault to catch the ball!
Desmond Mason, who had just finished a somersault, caught the ball and continued to rush towards the basket. He jumped outside the reasonable collision zone and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands!
Fortunately, the two of them worked together for the first time and performed perfectly!
The dunk was just average. It was obvious that most of his strength was used in the somersault. He did not jump very high, and there was inertia when he jumped up and dunked.
But this dunk really made everyone's eyes light up!
Watching the matchup between Zhang Hao and Carter was so nerve-wracking. The performance of Desmond Mason, a runner-up with a unique train of thought, eased the audience's tense nerves very well, and they could enjoy more attentively the strongest high school dunk matchup in history between Zhang Hao and Carter.
46 points!
Although he did not get full marks like in the first round, Desmond Mason still scored a high score of 46 points for this dunk.
Desmond Mason saw that the dunk he couldn't come up with out of desperation had a higher score than his first dunk in the first round, which he had practiced for a long time. In his heart... he suddenly felt that this was the dunking path that suited him. No matter how difficult or how fancy it was, would it be useful?
Now, Desmond Mason has something to look forward to. If Carter and Zhang Hao don't perform well...
You can look forward to...bullshit!
Next, Desmond Mason saw Carter rush out from the baseline and catch the windmill under his hips, and got full marks!
Desmond Mason's dunk relaxed the audience's tense nerves a little, and then Carter ignited it again!
Watching the replay on the big screen, Carter rushed out from the baseline, jumped high, changed hands under his hips during the jump, and when he reached the highest point and fell down, he swung a windmill with one arm and smashed the ball into the basket...
Listening to the crazy cheers from the audience...
I looked back and saw several judges standing up and holding up their 10-point hands...
Desmond Mason recalled the previous dunk contests. He has not missed any live broadcast of the dunk contest since the NBA started holding the contest.
He wondered if Julius Irving, Dominique Wilkins, Jordan, etc. could have done the same dunk as Carter. Maybe, but what if Carter had a better figure and was more attractive?
Although Carter was thin and his stretching movements lacked strength, it was enough to get a full score in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest!
"What kind of monster am I competing against? Oh, yeah, there's one more..."
Desmond Mason looked at Zhang Hao who walked onto the court after applauding Carter. It seemed that this guy still had confidence. He once again felt that he was incompatible with these two people.
Not only Desmond Mason was staring at Zhang Hao, but Carter was also staring at Zhang Hao.
Even Carter has no more tricks now. His first dunk in the deciding game was his best dunk!
Yes, in the eyes of others, Carter looked calm, as if he had a trick up his sleeve, but he had indeed tried his best and pulled out his trump card dunk.
It’s not that he has no other dunks, it’s just that their viewing value is not as good as Zhang Hao’s previous dunk. With his intelligence, how could he not know that it is his body shape and age that currently limit the viewing value of his dunks?
18 years old, 193 cm tall, 85 kg. With this body shape, even though he has the best jumping ability in the NBA, his age and physical condition still limit him too much.
The dunk he just performed was the most difficult and spectacular one he could perform.
If this dunk can't beat Zhang Hao ... Carter is quite helpless, this opponent is too strong!
Zhang Hao came onto the court, and Carter's dunk just now put him under tremendous pressure!
You can clearly see the shadow of the future dunk god!
Amid the cheers of the audience, Zhang Hao retreated to the center circle and began to accelerate!
At this time, the cheers of the audience stopped and gradually quieted down, for fear of affecting Zhang Hao's dunk on the court.
Zhang Hao rushed to the three-point line and grabbed the ball. He took a small step with his right foot, stepped heavily with his left foot, stepped his left heel on the free throw line, just stepped a little bit, and jumped with all his strength!
In the air, Zhang Hao tried his best to lean his body forward and stretch his limbs. He transferred the ball from his right hand to his left hand, and then transferred the ball from under his right leg to his right hand. When he started to fall, he tried his best to slam the ball into the basket... and dunked it!
After holding back for a few seconds, the audience immediately burst into wild cheers!
Several judges stood up one after another. Julius Erving slammed the table and muttered "Oh my God". He felt really sorry. If these two were born 10 years earlier, they might have met in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He really wanted to compete with these two and was looking forward to their dunk performance in another four or five years when they had fully grown.
But thinking of this, Julius Irving couldn't help but laugh. How could it be so easy to enter the NBA?
Among the Lakers players present tonight, even the weakest one was not necessarily worse than the strongest high school student present in high school.
Every NBA player was the strongest player in that city during high school or college, and at most there were players who were equally as good as him.
Desmond Mason was looking at Zhang Hao hugging a female classmate with a graceful figure and pretty face. He was so envious and jealous!
Carter put his hands on his hips and shook his head helplessly. Why didn't he think of trying this dunk?
This guy's performance at the free throw line really surpassed Carter's windmill!
Another 5 10 points!
Next it was Desmond Mason's turn. He didn't have much to think about. He threw the ball out and it hit the rim and bounced back. He jumped high and dunked the ball, scoring 42 points.
It was Carter's last shot, another windmill, and it was a 270-degree windmill with both feet taking off and turning right in the opposite direction. But although this dunk was beautiful, it was exactly the same as the one in the selection round. If his body was stronger, it would look better and he could show the characteristics of turning at different angles more clearly, which would look more entertaining. But now he can't do it, and it looks no different from the dunk in the selection round. Compared with the standing windmill just now, it is indeed a lot worse, 44 points!
The other four judges all gave 9 points, but Julius Erving only gave 8 points!
It’s not that the dunk was bad, but it was too repetitive and failed to create something different.
Coming onto the court again, Zhang Hao felt he had victory in his grasp!
In the dunk contest against Carter, Zhang Hao is sure to win! This feeling is so great!
Carter likes to show off his jumping ability and waist and abdominal strength too much. He always wants to turn around and do windmills, even though there are more ways to do it... But this may be Carter's pride. He may not bother to try more fancy tricks and wants to break the limit of dunking from a certain perspective.
Zhang Hao felt that he had guessed what Carter was thinking.
But Zhang Hao is different. He will use whatever dunk looks good and whatever moves are suitable.
Pierce shines again!
Pierce came to the left sideline of the three-second zone and stood one step inside, placing the ball above his head and holding it with both hands. Zhang Hao started sprinting from outside the left sideline and jumped on the left sideline more than half a meter behind Pierce!
When he jumped over Pierce's head, Zhang Hao grabbed the ball with his left hand, and immediately pushed the ball under his right leg. He caught the ball with his right hand from the other side of his right leg, stretched out his whole body, and swung his right hand from bottom to top while falling... and smashed it into the basket!
Jump into the crotch|Change hands and slam dunk!
Except for Julius Irving who gave 9 points, the other 4 judges all gave 10 points!
In the eyes of the judges, Zhang Hao's two slam dunks in the deciding game were slightly better than Carter's!
Zhang Hao scored 99 points, Carter scored 94 points, Desmond Mason scored 88 points...
The champion is announced!
Hundreds of students from Inglewood High School cheered wildly, and other spectators also cheered and applauded enthusiastically.
On the other hand, many people at Inglewood High School's arch-rival, Southern California High School, looked as if they had eaten shit. Their faces were dark, and they were whispering to each other that Carter and Desmond Mason were really useless...
Looking at Zhang Hao celebrating with his teammates, Carter was unwilling but helpless.
In the last dunk, after Zhang Hao successfully slammed the ball under the free throw line, Carter knew that he had lost this time!
This was the first time that Carter lost to a peer in a dunking competition since he was able to complete a dunk. In fact, he had never lost since he entered high school, even when competing with physically fit players who were a few years older than him in a dunking competition.
Lost this time!
On Zhang Hao's side, subtitles appeared after the judges gave their scores.
"Slam Dunk:
Goal: Special signing player Zhang Hao wins the McDonald's High School All-Star Slam Dunk Contest. (Completed)
Reward: Bronze Medal: Slam Dunk Master.
Because the special contract player Zhang Hao failed to get full marks for all dunks, the extra reward was not received. "
Zhang Hao had no time to be happy about getting a medal or to be upset about not getting the 15 days of life. Seeing Pierce and April Clark rushing towards him, Zhang Hao decisively walked past Pierce and hugged April Clark to celebrate.
Pierce stood there with his arms outstretched, frozen in time... Thousands of alpacas were running endlessly in his heart...
After a while of excitement, the award ceremony arrived. Larry Nance, the champion of the first NBA Slam Dunk Contest, presented the McDonald's High School All-Star Slam Dunk Contest trophy to Zhang Hao.
There was also an envelope containing prizes. Zhang Hao squeezed it and found it was not very thick. He estimated that there were several hundred thousand US dollars.
Looking at the different expressions of the high school students, Julius Irving, who is over 40 years old, smiled and said to them: "You are all very talented, but you are still too young now. Don't limit your vision to this game. Of course, this game is great, but it is only because of you that this game is great.
If one day you appear in the NBA dunk contest, I hope I will still be a judge. If I were 20 years younger, I would really like to compete with you..."
After hearing the words of this legendary player, Zhang Hao, who was originally extremely excited about winning the championship, found that the joy and pride he felt dissipated a lot. It was not because he was hit hard, but because he had a longing, and thus, he was not so excited about the current small victory... any more.
"Yeah, this is just a high school dunk contest..."
On Carter's side, his feeling of helplessness was more like frustration. He had never encountered frustration in this regard, which led to his frustration.
Julius Irving's words suddenly woke Carter up.
He is still young! He cannot defeat Zhang Hao now, but he may not be able to do so in the future.
Desmond Mason had a thousand alpacas running through his mind - he spoke as if he would be able to defeat these two monsters in a few years.
Others had different reactions. Dean Grove and Jonathan Simon were both dreaming of entering the NBA. During this McDonald's High School All-Star Weekend, they deeply felt their own level of ability. They had always been regarded as geniuses, but now it seems that they are not that good. At least, not as good as they thought before. But after hearing what Julius Irving said, they suddenly understood.
In the history of basketball, there has never been a shortage of players who were very good in high school but became weak in college, nor a shortage of players who accumulated a lot of experience but showed their potential in college.
There are even cases where undrafted players make it in the NBA and earn high salaries.
They have unlimited energy because they are young!
"...I really hope you can all enter the NBA and appear on the dunk contest stage again," Julius Irving, the first star in NBA history to inherit the torch of an era-class superstar, said this and named: "Axl, Vince, I should give you another 10 points, but... leave it for the NBA."
After saying that, Julius Irving left with several old teammates and old rivals.
Looking at Julius Irving's back as he left, Zhang Hao said to Carter, "Let's compete again in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest of the new century!"
It is currently 1995, and Zhang Hao's current goal is to live longer. Being a player is only a matter of a dozen years at most. He wants to finish college, preferably a major related to coaching, such as video editing, or a sports college...all are fine.
If they study in college for four years, they will enter the NBA together in 1999. This is Zhang Hao's idea.
Carter also rekindled his fighting spirit: "See you in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest!"
Desmond Mason felt ignored and wanted to shout : Me too!
Julius Irving's words became the source of motivation for Zhang Hao to work harder.
We are all still teenagers.
The future is bright.
Maybe there will be a chance to meet again on the field!
…
…
The reporters invited by McDonald's pushed aside everyone else, including Carter, and gathered around to interview Zhang Hao, who won the championship tonight.
This was the first time in Zhang Hao's life that he had experienced such a situation. He was confused by the reporters' questions and thanked his classmates, teammates, coach, and the organizer McDonald's in a daze... and that was it.
I had previously imagined how I would show off if I really won the championship...my mind went completely blank.
After being dazed during the post-championship interview, Zhang Hao was taken to a lounge at the Great Western Forum by a McDonald's representative.
After leaving the crowd of reporters, Zhang Hao finally came back to his senses from that "big scene".
The producer from McDonald's informed Zhang Hao that he would need to volunteer to shoot a short commercial for McDonald's. He knew this when he signed up. McDonald's would select several players from the All-Star Game to shoot the commercial. There would be no money for him. If he wanted to play in the NCAA, he would not get any money. He would only get prize money from the All-Star Game, the Three-Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest.
After agreeing on the shooting time, there was nothing else to do. The next thing McDonald's had to do was to make good use of the resources created by this slam dunk contest to promote it among students and the Chinese community, which was an unexpected and surprising group that could be further developed.
Just when the matter was almost over and the brief exchange was about to end, a staff member came in and whispered something to the producer. The producer was obviously a little excited and asked Zhang Hao to wait a moment. He followed the staff out and entered the lounge with a cameraman and an Asian-looking man who should be a reporter.
Zhang Hao recognized this man at first sight. He was Xu Jicheng, who would become very famous in the domestic basketball commentary circle in the future.
"Aix, this is the foreign affairs correspondent of the Sports News Department of China's Xinhua News Agency. He wants to interview you..."
The producer introduced the purpose of Xu Jicheng's visit. Zhang Hao was very surprised that he was participating in a high school students' competition and there were actually reporters from China who came to interview him, and they were from Xinhua News Agency.
Because Zhang Hao didn't know much about American high schools in China until now. Even more than 20 years later, he still didn't know much about it. For example, before the future Jeremy Lin participated in the draft, not many people in China knew about him except for some fans who paid special attention to the NCAA. Many people only knew about him when Jeremy Lin was in the stage of Linsanity.
Jeremy Lin was actually very strong in high school. Like Zhang Hao, he was a member of the California All-Star First Team and was once named California High School Player of the Year. However, Lin also did not receive a basketball scholarship until he was a freshman at Harvard.
In this day and age, there are actually reporters in China who interviewed him, a high school student... Even if he won the McDonald's High School All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, it was just a high school competition. Some people might know of his existence from newspapers and McDonald's advertisements, but the influence would not be particularly great.
After all, it's just a competition among high school students.
McDonald's put up a billboard behind where Zhang Hao was sitting. Although this interview was only a small report in the sports newspaper of the evening paper, the original McDonald's High School All-Stars did not make any news in China, so McDonald's still attached great importance to it.
After the setup was complete, the interview began.
"Hello, Aix, I am Xu Jicheng, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency. Thank you for accepting our interview..."
Xu Jicheng spoke English.
In a one-person interview, Zhang Hao was much calmer and answered in Chinese: "My name is Zhang Hao, I can speak Chinese, and I came to the United States to study when I was 15."
“…”
