... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Riding a 7-game winning streak, the Lakers improved their record to 25 wins and 8 losses, with a chance to be second in the West and eyeing the top spot!

During this period, Zhang Hao’s performance was particularly outstanding.

And the game against the Heat further extended and enhanced Zhang Hao’s exposure!

After being choked, he continued the game and single-handedly helped the Lakers secure a clear lead and cement the victory in the third quarter, with the team scoring 70 points and Zhang Hao alone scoring 33... Zhang Hao’s actions proved he deserved the Player of the Month award!

During this time, Zhang Hao’s performance was insane, totally exceeding everyone’s expectations for this year’s rookie. Compared to last season’s Grant Hill, Zhang Hao is evidently more exceptional!

Although there are still comments that Zhang Hao is not the core playing style, building around him requires a core player, the Lakers have Van Exel and Magician who are good at passing, Zhang Hao’s qualitative improvement is related to Magician’s return... and so on, and indeed, Zhang Hao performed better in set plays after Magician’s return, but it’s already acknowledged that Zhang Hao’s performance so far is better than last season’s Grant Hill.

Because Zhang Hao not only has good stats, averaging 25.3 points, but the team’s record is also good!

By 9 a.m. on January 6, when the NBA announced the first phase of All-Star voting results, Zhang Hao’s recent surge in popularity was well displayed.

Media and fans don’t know why, but when the NBA announced the first phase of All-Star voting results this year, they listed each day’s voting results.

One name particularly caught the attention of fans following the All-Star, and that person is Zhang Hao.

The results of the first day of voting on December 26th showed Zhang Hao ranked fourth among Western forwards, getting 26,253 votes on the first day and 19,228 on the 27th, placing fourth among Western forwards over the two days.

The vote trend was downward; it was clear that initially, the votes he received were from fans who especially loved him voting for him. The top three Western forwards, Barkley, Malone, Kemp, all exceeded 100,000 votes after the first two days, creating a gap from others, including Zhang Hao.

But by December 28th, the day after the Lakers played the Spurs, Zhang Hao received more than 70,000 votes in one day, suddenly pushing him to third in Western forwards voting!

Over the next three days, Zhang Hao’s votes returned to the state of thirty to forty thousand votes per day, the surge in votes from the Spurs game quickly slowed down.

By January 2nd, the day after the Lakers played the Utah Jazz, Zhang Hao received 110,000 votes in one day, becoming the first among all All-Star candidates to break 100,000 votes in a single day this year, surpassing Robinson, and straight to fourth in Western player votes, only behind Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler!

And this time, Zhang Hao’s popularity increased significantly, with votes over 50,000 in the following two days!

As of January 4th, the first 10-day voting period, Zhang Hao received 535,358 votes, surpassing Olajuwon, only behind Barkley’s 583,372 votes in the West!

If rookies play well, they tend to receive extra praise, Zhang Hao’s disadvantage lies in his skin color and the intensified US-China conflict targeting him from the US media, but during this period, Zhang Hao broke this barrier!

Currently, in the East, Jordan and Grant Hill both received over 600,000 votes, fiercely competing for the All-Star vote leader. Zhang Hao is joining this rank with his late surge!

In competitive sports, it’s a winner-takes-all world, and Zhang Hao’s rising popularity brings more attention to him, perhaps some fans dislike him instinctively, but many will notice this exceptionally hot rookie, get to know him a bit, and fall for him as fans.

After he surged to second in Western forwards voting, more people became aware of him through newspapers or television news!

On the 6th, most sports media were discussing Zhang Hao-related topics, with Sports Illustrated and Time Warner Cable Sports analyzing Zhang Hao’s performance during the 7-game winning streak in detail and positively, after all, they are friendly stations and sports magazines.

For a while, Zhang Hao was in the limelight!

How intense was the limelight?

Over in Chicago...

On the evening of the 5th, when the Lakers barely defeated the Heat, there was a nationwide broadcast, where the Bulls slaughtered the Cavaliers 122 to 91, winning by more than 30 points.

However, by noon the next day, Jordan, who slept in, prepared to watch the news and see how they would praise his exceptional performance nearing age 33.

He loved the feeling of being adored; it’s something he longed for while playing baseball, and throughout that year plus playing baseball, he realized how much he was mesmerized by the cheers.

But while enjoying being fed by two Cuban beauties, Jordan, watching a model flipping through the newspaper, suddenly squeezed the two Cuban girls to tears!

"Iron-Blooded Gentleman Aix leads the Lakers to reverse the Heat, winning the 7-game streak!"

This was the headline.

"Jordan scores 35, Bulls achieve 10-game winning streak"

This was the sub-headline.

Turning on the TV and tuning in to TNT, the sports news just started, and when the program switched to basketball topics, the host and guests were eagerly discussing and analyzing Zhang Hao and the Lakers’ recent performance.

Other teams’ games last night were reported, but only with one sentence, including their Bulls achieving a 10-game winning streak.

Jordan was furious, making the Cuban beauties cry out...

He was almost exploding with anger!

Since losing to the Lakers last, Jordan had been playing hard for ten games, and since that game, the Bulls haven’t lost a game, with 29 wins and 5 losses, the Bulls are already showing signs of securing the regular season championship mid-season.

But during their first 10-game winning streak this season, all the attention was stolen!

"My 10-game winning streak is no match for a 7-game streak? My average of 32 points during a 10-game streak is no match for an average of 27 during a 7-game streak? Wait! Isn’t this bastard going to take away my Player of the Month as well? I should’ve known not to teach him anything! If I teach him more, I’m not named Jordan anymore!"