The longest river

Chapter 40 Harvesting Honor
The three-point contest is followed by the dunk contest, with a fifteen-minute break in between.

The live stream shows the time for commercials and commentators, while the competition venue is where the players prepare.

After finishing his warm-up, Yang Shuai returned to the sidelines.

It was at this moment that Fraser pointed to a spot in the audience and told him that Reebok members were sitting there.

The event was attended not only by scouts and media reporters, but also by representatives from major sneaker brands.

This is also why Yang Shuai and Fraser decided to participate in all the events after discussing it.

Individual events don't have many participants, making them very easy to attract attention.

Winning the championship would be ideal, but even if we can't, we can still demonstrate our abilities.

Especially in the dunk contest, it's not a big deal for Asian players to be able to shoot, but if they can also dunk, that definitely adds a lot of points.

Of course, all of this is on the premise that you can actually dunk; otherwise, going up there and embarrassing yourself will only backfire.

Yang Shuai's current sprint dunk ability has reached 68, which is why he dared to make this choice.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and the dunk contest was about to begin.

There are three participants in this dunk contest: Pierce, Yang Shuai, and Carter.

Its rules differ from the NBA Slam Dunk Contest; there are only three dunks, and there are seven judges on the sidelines scoring.

Pierce was the first to appear.

If Garnett and Carter seemed to have wandered onto the wrong set in the three-point contest, then Pierce was purely there for laughs in the dunk contest.

His first attempt was an alley-oop dunk, with Marbury passing him the ball.

Marbury's passes were of decent quality, but Pierce failed to dunk the ball on three separate occasions.

In the end, he had to give up and change his moves, but his first attempt still ended in failure.

It wasn't until his fifth dunk attempt that Pierce managed to complete a windmill dunk.

Some media people at the scene laughed, but the judges were still very accommodating and ultimately gave him 60 points for his first penalty.

This amused Yang Shuai as well.

The only explanation he could think of was that the outside world believed Pierce was not physically fit, and Pierce wanted to prove them wrong.

This result is worse than not proving it at all.

Next up was Yang Shuai.

Since the main purpose was to showcase physical fitness, Yang Shuai did not pursue creativity but instead chose a more challenging approach.

He came up and immediately did a 180° turn and dunk.

He succeeded on his first attempt, and the dunk was quite high, which immediately drew applause from the audience.

Just as Fraser predicted, the contrast of an Asian player who can dunk is still very striking.

His dunk earned him 68 points.

Carter was the last to appear.

However, just like in the three-point contest, perhaps he wasn't quite used to the tense atmosphere, and his first dunk attempt also missed.

Fortunately, after a simple adjustment, Carter immediately followed up with his signature windmill swing.

Carter's dunks aren't actually that difficult, but his dunks, which combine power and beauty, are hard to replicate and are among the most visually appealing.

Carter unsurprisingly received a perfect score of 70.

That first dunk basically set the tone for the match.

Pierce's next two dunks were both absurd and unsuccessful, and despite his comedic style, he only scored 60 points in the end.

Yang Shuai's dunk perfectly showcased his amazing physical abilities, earning him a high score of 205 points.

The championship belonged to Carter, who won the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest with a perfect three dunks and a perfect score of 210 points, further solidifying his position in the high school dunking world.

After the morning's matches ended, the spectators began to rest and wait for the afternoon's matches.

It was at this moment that Reebok representatives approached Yang Shuai and extended an invitation to meet.

Fraser's strategy began to work.

This happened right under Vaccaro's nose.

From initially rejecting Treller to now showcasing his skills in individual events, this basketball legend has gradually realized that Yang Shuai is not the kind of high school student who can be manipulated at will.

After a midday break, the All-Star Game officially began in the afternoon.

The competition was conducted as an East vs. West match, but although the teams were called East and West, they were actually randomly assigned.

If the teams were truly assigned by region, all five high school players on this year's All-American First Team would be from the East, making the outcome of the competition a foregone conclusion.

Yang Shuai was assigned to the Western Conference, where he was joined by Billups, Garnett, Jamison, Mercer, and others. The Eastern Conference team included Marbury, Carter, Raheem, Pierce, Treyler, and others.

This result is not bad for Yang Shuai. Two of the five starters have played together before, so there is no problem with their teamwork.

Of course, this is a nationwide live broadcast event, and everyone wants to perform well in the main competition to increase their influence. To get possession of the ball, you have to fight for it yourself. Yang Shuai had already decided on the game strategy before the match: focus on off-the-ball movement and defense.

His strategy quickly paid off after the game started.

He received a pass from Mercer in the corner early in the game and hit a three-pointer.

Because apart from Yang Shuai, no one on the court is accurate from three-point range, most people will drive towards the basket when they have the ball.

However, precisely because of this, the defensive strategy adopted by the defending side is mainly to retreat.

With this back and forth, the area from the three-second zone to the free-throw line became extremely crowded.

In this situation, a player who dribbles into the paint has two options: either force a shot despite being surrounded by multiple defenders, or pass the ball out to the outside.

Therefore, compared to forcing a shot and missing, which would negatively impact one's image, passing the ball out to get an assist is clearly a better choice.

Thanks to his previous three-point shooting contest, Yang Shuai's three-point shooting ability is certainly trustworthy.

Moreover, right after sinking the three-pointer, Yang Shuai immediately stole Marbury's pass on the defensive end through help defense.

Back in the Nike training camp, Marbury's ball control posed a significant challenge to Yang Shuai, but it also exposed his weakness of holding onto the ball too long.

Billups' defensive ability has also improved over the past season, allowing him to keep up with Marbury. In addition, the limited offensive space on the court has given Yang Shuai's help defense ability room to shine.

After Yang Shuai made a steal, he went on a two-on-one situation and successfully drew a foul from Carter, earning two free throws.

Playing as a team and being selfless is for the purpose of winning. In this kind of exhibition game, if given the chance, one would definitely choose to play alone.

Moreover, when Yang Shuai stepped to the free-throw line, he also took the opportunity to demonstrate his consistency in free throws.

Because he is used to the presence of the camera in his daily filming, Yang Shuai is not as nervous on the court as Carter, which is an important reason for his stable performance in the previous three-point contest.

Of course, Yang Shuai's strengths lie primarily in off-the-ball movement and defense, but he demonstrates much more than just these two aspects.

As a top high school player, he might miss one three-pointer, but it's hard for him to keep missing them. When Yang Shuai receives the pass again, the opponent's defense will arrive late, but not late.

It is at times like these that Yang Shuai has the opportunity to showcase his ball-handling and attacking abilities.

A fake shot to deceive the defense, followed by a drive to the basket, attracting help defense and then dishing out an assist, making the right choice at the right time and in the right place on the court.

As the game progressed, the Eastern team gradually realized that although Yang Shuai didn't have the ball much, he could always break through the defense and cause them the most trouble.

Teammates on the Western team also gradually realized that giving Yang Shuai the ball gave them a great sense of security.

As the game progressed, Garnett began to exert his strength, not only delivering a series of blocks on the defensive end, but also frequently hitting mid-range shots on offense.

Led by Yang Shuai and Garnett, the Western team gradually widened the score gap.

Once the score gap widened, Yang Shuai and Garnett really put on a show.

In the previous possession, Yang Shuai assisted Garnett on a drive and dunk, and in the next possession, Garnett threw an alley-oop to Yang Shuai.

After 40 minutes of play, the West team defeated the East team 106-90, winning the All-Star game.

Post-game statistics show that Marbury scored a game-high 28 points and 5 assists, but also committed 5 turnovers. Rasheed Wallace and Carter each scored 15 points, while Pierce added 13 points.

西部队这边，杨帅得到全队最高的23分外加5篮板4抢断3助攻，加内特18分11板4助攻4盖帽，比卢普斯12分8助攻。

After the match, the MVP was announced on site.

The award was presented by Jim Skinner, Senior Vice President of McDonald's.

"The 1995 John Wooden Award was won by Kevin Garnett and Yang Shuai."

When the result came out, the media present were quite surprised.

It's worth noting that since the McDonald's All-Star Game was founded in 1978, there has never been a case of MVP being shared.

But upon closer examination, it makes sense. The fact that the only two high school students who announced they would skip the competition shared the John Wooden Award this year is a sensational result that greatly benefits the event's promotion.

Moreover, most players didn't think there was anything wrong with it, because Yang Shuai and Garnett were both indispensable to the West team's great victory.

Yang Shuai and Garnett were both beaming with smiles. They didn't mind sharing this honor with each other at all, and were even excited about the result.

They clasped hands and bumped chests in front of the camera, then roared in unison, and finally raised the trophy together above their heads.

This scene was captured on camera and became a hot topic after the match.

The only problem is that there's only one trophy, and they'll have to discuss after the competition where it would be more appropriate to give it to someone else.

After the match, the two MVPs became the focus of attention for the media, scouts, and brand executives.

State champion, state Mr. Basketball, All-American team, John Wooden Award – they collected every honor they could during their high school career.

Before Yang Shuai was surrounded by scouts, Vaccaro came over and told him that they would go out for coffee together later.

They then found an opening and Reebok's men located Yang Shuai.

They changed their minds and decided not to meet with Yang Shuai, but instead to invite him directly to visit their headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts.

Even Nike contacted Yang Shuai, hoping to discuss the endorsement contract again.

The battle for Yang Shuai has begun.

(End of this chapter)