Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 525 promised to give you dunking ideas you've never seen before.

Stoudemire only accelerated and started running when the basketball was almost hitting the backboard. After running a couple of steps, he stopped because there was no need to run anymore.

"Whoosh!"

A crisp sound rang out, and the ball went in.

The basketball went straight through the net; Lin Tian scored a three-pointer with his foot!

A collective gasp immediately filled the air; it was an incredible skill!

That footwork is terrifying!

Lin Tian stood up from the floor. From the fans' reactions, he knew what had just happened.

Something with a probability of less than 1% just happened.

Even if he kicks the ball 100 or even 300 times, it would be very difficult for him to score another one.

But he scored with that kick.

Whether the kick went in earlier or later, it wouldn't have had the same effect; people would have thought it was just good luck.

But the first kick went straight in, it looked like it was intentional.

"Sorry, Amare, I have a habit of kicking the basket." How thick-skinned is Lin Tian? He directly called out loudly, indicating that he didn't do it on purpose.

The volume of his voice, the exaggeration of his movements, and the closeness of his body to the camera when he spoke—it was all so deliberate and obvious.

How should I put this approach?

It's like when a high school kid smashed the rim with a dunk.

In this situation, the boy would immediately rush to the classroom and yell at the homeroom teacher, "Teacher, I broke the basketball hoop! I admit my mistake!"

Then he ran to the grade head's office and shouted the same thing, and then ran to the dean of students' office and the principal's office and shouted the same thing.

If he could, he would even like to go to the school radio station and broadcast his "crimes" directly.

"I am XXX from Class 1, Grade 3. I accidentally broke the school's basketball hoop during PE class. I realize my mistake and will be more careful when dunking in the future, and I will control my strength. I am willing to pay for the replacement hoop!"

If possible, the boy would definitely want this audio of admitting his mistake to be played on a loop on the school radio station for a month, at least 10 times a day. It would be even better if he could be publicly criticized throughout the district or even the city.

This is Lin Tian's current mindset.

Let's issue a public reprimand, so everyone knows I did this.

"I never thought I was no match for him in basketball, let alone soccer," Nash muttered from the sidelines. "I thought I was the best soccer player in the NBA."

"Steve, do you think he's not confused?" Marion couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know, but judging from the completeness, fluidity, and proficiency of his movements, he has definitely put in the effort in football!"

Focusing on football?

Lin Tian stated: That's completely untrue.

He had never even touched a football in his entire life.

If Stoudemire hadn't approached Lin Tian after winning the team's selection tournament and expressed his desire to collaborate with him on a dunk, which sparked Lin Tian's idea, Lin Tian would most likely never have touched a soccer ball again.

No other reason than that.

Or rather, Lin Tian thought he wouldn't.

After Xiao Si suggested the idea, Lin Tian went home and tried it out.

He headed the ball repeatedly, dozens of times in a row, until his neck started to hurt and he finally stopped.

He juggled the ball, "thump thump thump thump," many more times.

Lin Tian tried every other soccer move he could think of.

Plenum!

Needless to say, this is the effect of Nedved, the "Czech Iron Man," and only this thing could make Lin Tian play football.

But... wasn't it physical talent? How come football skills came along too?

Is this item buy-one-get-one-free?

Lin Tian didn't care at all about his current football level or the level of football skills he had learned from Nedved.

At this age, it's impossible for me to play professionally anymore.

But Lin Tian believed that it would be more than enough for the dunk contest!

And it was definitely more elaborate than what Nash and Stoudemire did that time.

After rehearsing with Xiao Si a few times, Lin Tian was full of confidence!

Back to the game.

When Lin Tian first got the ball, he couldn't be sure of the exact landing point of the basketball, nor could he control where it would fly; he could only control it roughly.

That's why, even though he kicked first, Stoudemire only started to accelerate after that.

This play wasn't essentially Lin Tian passing the ball to Stoudemire; rather, Stoudemire chasing after Lin Tian's pass.

This is truly putting the cart before the horse.

Second attempt.

This time, everything was almost exactly the same as before. Lin Tian made the move first, and then Stoudemire started running. This time, the basketball didn't go in the basket so ridiculously again.

Instead, the ball hit the backboard first, and then Stoudemire jumped up, caught the ball in mid-air, and after another high-flying windmill dunk, finally put the ball into the basket!

"Incredible!" Barkley couldn't help but shout. "I don't know how good the last one was, but this one was absolutely amazing! That volley! So beautiful!"

"Charles, you really don't understand football at all. That's not called a volley, that's a damn bicycle kick!" Kenny said from the side. "But you're right, it is indeed a miraculous skill! But it's not that Amar'e cut the ball well, it's that Lin's pass was good."

"Whether it was the first direct three-pointer or this precise pass, both were absolutely brilliant."

"Lin's pass was absolutely perfect! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Let's take a look at the slow motion!"

……

A few dozen seconds later, Kenny and Barkley exchanged a glance, both of them having simultaneously discovered the blind spot.

This play wasn't just about Lin Tian's good pass; it was mainly due to Xiao Si's excellent run.

It was obvious that Stoudemire waited until the landing point of Lin Tian's pass was roughly determined before finally starting to accelerate and run!

In other words, Stoudemire himself probably didn't know how to pass the ball or where to pass it, and Lin Tian obviously couldn't control it perfectly either; he could only pass the ball to a roughly suitable position.

Stoudemire's running direction for this shot could cover most of the possible landing points.

No matter which direction the ball hits the backboard, he can catch it. Even if the shot isn't powerful enough, Stoudemire can intercept it in mid-air and dunk it without relying on the backboard.

In short...

Are these two doing some kind of freestyle dunk contest?

That's pretty arrogant.

However, although the ball was played with a lot of excitement and Lin Tian's pass was also quite spectacular, this was ultimately a dunk contest, not a contest of stunts.

Stoudemire's dunk, well, how should I put it?

Quite ordinary.

It's nothing special.

As I said before: you've got the priorities backwards.

But even though it was putting the cart before the horse, the fans at the stadium, the fans watching on TV, and the stars at the stadium were all incredibly excited!

That's fun! That's interesting!

This shot had never happened before in the All-Star Game!

While the fans and players can have a blast and enjoy the spectacle, the judges can't.

After discussing it for a while, they all gave their scores.

48 points!

This dunk didn't earn a perfect score, but it was enough for Stoudemire to advance to the finals as the top seed in the preliminaries.

Of course, if Stoudemire didn't get a perfect score on that play, the Madison Square Garden fans wouldn't give the referee any face, and the entire stadium immediately erupted in a fierce chorus of boos and curses.

It was given to the referee.

This is a staple of New Yorkers' culture; they love to boo people.

Forget the reason, forget whether it's unfair or not, the main thing is to be happy.

After the boos, the event was paused again, and the host returned to the stage to shamelessly pad the word count, just like some online novel authors who always like to shamelessly pad their word count.

After a series of segments and a "GG" (game over), the dunk contest continued!

First up was Iguodala, who had a relatively low score in the preliminary round. This time, he pulled off a very dangerous and difficult dunk. He jumped from behind the basket, then tilted his head to avoid the backboard, gliding all the way to the front of the backboard before suddenly flipping over and slamming the ball into the basket with both hands!

"Fantastic! From a dunking perspective alone, that was the most spectacular and beautiful dunk of the night!" Barkley immediately gave a very fair assessment.

Judging solely from the dunk itself, Iguodala's play was indeed absolutely spectacular.

The judges on site immediately gave a fairly consistent score.

50 points!

The second perfect dunk of the night.

Next up were Lin Tian and Xiao Si, and these two actually stepped onto the court once again.

How did we get here this time?

This time, Lin Tian was the one standing under the basket, while Stoudemire retreated to a very far back position, giving himself a considerable amount of running space.

"This is going to be a gliding dunk! I wonder how those two will coordinate?" Barkley asked expectantly. "Will Lin pass the ball with his hand this time?"

of course not!

Lin Tian quickly gave his answer; he was clearly determined not to pass the ball with his hands tonight.

He placed a stool under the basket, sat on it, and then, after signaling to Stoudemire that he could start, began heading the ball with his head!

"Slap, slap, slap!"

The basketball bounced off Lin Tian's head repeatedly, soaring into the air each time.

Lin Tian's headers were incredibly accurate. He managed to keep his upper body almost completely still during several consecutive headers, and the landing point and takeoff path of the basketball were also remarkably precise.

Then, Little S arrived.

Stoudemire leaped into the air from the front, legs apart, and soared over Lin Tian's head. At the same time, he skillfully caught the basketball that Lin Tian had raised with both hands. Then, he slipped the ball between his legs with one hand, and in the blink of an eye, the basketball was in his other hand.

"boom!"

After a loud bang, Stoudemire completed another spectacular dunk!

He caught the ball in mid-air and dunked it between his legs!

This dunk was truly spectacular and perfect!

The constantly bouncing basketball greatly increased the difficulty for Stoudemire to take off and catch the ball, which was much harder than standing still and holding the ball up!

In addition, Stoudemire had to do a between-the-legs jump, which made the difficulty of this shot increase exponentially!

"Here they come! Here they come! After all the antics in the preliminary rounds, Amare and Lin finally showed their true skills in the finals! Real dunks! The kind of dunks you'd expect in a dunk contest! Pure dunks."

"An absolutely perfect dunk! I give it a perfect score in terms of difficulty, spectacle, and originality! I've never seen a dunk like that before! Or rather, Amar'e's first three dunks tonight were unlike anything we've ever seen before!"

"Lin and Amare have once again accomplished the impossible!"

"I never imagined the dunk contest could be done like this!"

After Barkley's ecstatic roar, Kenny added, "Honestly, if you only talk about the dunks themselves, the first two plays were nothing special. What was more exciting was the passing! If Amare's dunks are worth 50 points, then at least 35 of them came from Lin."

"What Amare can do, at least 30 other players in the league can do too!"

"But this dunk was truly top-tier! The difficulty, timing, teamwork, jump height, aerial posture, and creativity were all impeccable! Absolutely a top-tier dunk! 50 points! Absolutely 50 points!"

"If the first two dunks by Lin were somewhat overshadowed, and the teamwork between the two players was somewhat distracted, then this dunk was a return to the essence of dunking! Absolutely spectacular!"

Barkley continued, "After watching that play, my only concern is: what about their fourth dunk? Do Amar'e and Lin have an even more powerful trick up their sleeve? After they've used that move, what are their ultimate moves? How many more crazy dunks will we see tonight?"

The two commentators roared wildly, and the fans and players in the stadium were just as stunned and then screamed in surprise.

Needless to say, the fans chanted Stoudemire's name and cheered him on.

Meanwhile, the star players in the front row were even more exaggerated than the last. Some screamed, some held their heads in disbelief, some stood up and showed off their dance moves, and some even rushed onto the court to hug Stoudemire and celebrate excitedly.

"Your dunk is better than mine. If you had gone first, I definitely wouldn't have scored 50 points." The ever-humble Iguodala even came over last to shake hands with his competitor, Stoudemire, and said, "No matter how the fourth dunk went, I still feel like I won unfairly."

This feeling of being the protagonist again was absolutely exhilarating for Xiao Si. He cheered excitedly and celebrated with everyone, then kept wiggling his butt. Tonight, he was completely high!

As for the referee?

This move of catching a bouncing basketball in mid-air and then dunking it between the legs is something that no one but Dwyane Wade, 20 years from now, would give a 9 out of 10!

50 points! A solid 50 points!

But no matter how much fun you have, the competition has to continue!

Next, it was Iguodala's turn, and all the pressure was on him.

Facing Lin Tian and Stoudemire's collaboration, Iguodala was under immense pressure. Everyone knew that if Iguodala didn't unleash his trump card now, he wouldn't be able to use it at all this year.

If it's not amazing, you're doomed to lose! You'll never get a high score.

This time, Iguodala stood in the left corner, facing the 76ers' starting guard, his partner tonight, former league assist leader and veteran Mark Jackson.

"Ready, Andre? Let's go!" Jackson gave the order and ran along the baseline toward the basket. He wasn't going very fast and kept a good distance from Iguodala behind him.

Then, as he approached the backboard, he suddenly let go, and the basketball flew to the side of the backboard.

"Snapped!"

After a muffled thud, the basketball struck the center of the side of the backboard and bounced back the same way.

Iguodala jumped up at that moment.

After grabbing the basketball with both hands, he spun around to avoid the backboard, lowering the basketball from above his head to his waist, curling up as he did so. Then he stretched out again, facing away from the basket, and slammed the ball towards it!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, everyone at the scene stood up, but then they let out a sigh of utter disappointment.

That shot didn't go in!

Iguodala made a mistake; he dunked the ball and missed.

"Oh no!" Barkley exclaimed immediately. "The difficulty and gliding distance of that shot were perfect! Although the idea is a bit old—we've seen similar plays in the past few years—Iguodala executed a beautiful dunk!"

"If it weren't for Amar's dunk just now, this would definitely be a 50! Although the judges might raise their standards because of Amar and Lin's dunks, this point would still be worth at least 48!"

"But now, Iguodala made a mistake, and mistakes lower expectations and detract from the dunk. Now, even if he dunks it again, this play won't be worth 50 points!"

"But regardless of whether his next dunk is successful or not, Iguodala must be under immense pressure right now!"

With Barkley's commentary, Iguodala took off once again.

Everything is the same as before.

Including the final result.

"boom!"

Iguodala missed another dunk.

This made him quite annoyed and regretful.

Why did you keep making mistakes?

Mark Jackson, the seasoned veteran, immediately went over to Iguodala, chatted with him for a few minutes, and then Iguodala nodded.

Last chance!

Iguodala takes off again!

This time, Jackson's shot was the same as before, hitting the side of the backboard.

But Iguodala's actions changed!

It's become simpler.

From the gliding spin and folding back dunk, it turned into a frontal windmill dunk. Due to the continuous jumps and psychological pressure, Iguodala's dunk was also affected, and the arc of the windmill was not very large.

Fortunately, this dunk finally hit the target!

"What a pity!" Barkley sighed. "A dunk that could have easily been worth 50 points ended up being worth a maximum of 45 points because of Iguodala's own mistakes and his decision to lower the difficulty level."

"Look, the judges gave it a score... 46 points!"

"It's one point higher than I predicted! Maybe it's to increase the difficulty and pressure on Amare, so he won't lower the difficulty level in order to win the championship."

"For this shot, just like in the preliminaries, Amaré isn't under much pressure, but he can't afford to relax! Too much relaxation could lead to a upset! Based on my understanding of him and Lin, I suspect he'll likely go all out for this dunk! He'll probably pull out his trump card!" (End of Chapter)