Chapter 498: Chapter 150: Same Situation, Same Outcome!

Zhang Hao successfully turned around, dribbled the ball forward with his right hand, shoved past, grabbed the bouncing ball, and jumped!

The countdown of the game had only a few seconds left. After Zhang Hao jumped up, he didn’t care about Moning coming at him. He took a mid-range shot from one step inside the free-throw line... Moning jumped high trying to block, but Zhang Hao’s jump wasn’t for nothing. With his stamina temporarily restored to full, the ball he shot flew over the fingertips of Moning...

At this moment, the fans at the scene held their breaths. As the ball fell, the final whistle had already sounded...

For the last attack, Zhang Hao triggered the Golden Medal’s "Slaying." His hands were on fire, and he took advantage of the perfect condition to make a full shooting motion. The shot was very accurate, and the force was just right!

"Swish"

Accompanied by the final whistle, Zhang Hao’s buzzer-beating mid-range shot made it!

The referee decisively indicated the goal was valid, 148 to 147, the Western Team reversed the game at the last moment and completed a buzzer-beater!

Absolutely thrilling!

The moment the ball dropped into the basket, the cheers at the scene reached a boiling point!

At this time, the big screen instantly switched to the expressions of the players on the court. After Zhang Hao made the buzzer-beater, he remained calm. Malone shook his head and clapped, Stockton was stunned, and Olajuwon looked as if he had seen a ghost...

In fact, Stockton let Zhang Hao go solo, thinking Zhang Hao could score under the basket, and after taking Moning away, Olajuwon could go one-on-one with O’Neal.

But Zhang Hao really went solo and scored!

After a short surprise, the Western Team players rushed towards Zhang Hao, and the teammates anxiously waiting on the sidelines also ran onto the court.

We won!

The rookie’s buzzer-beater slayed Jordan!

The Eastern Team players who lost, apart from O’Neal being very upset and extremely unwilling, most of them just sighed slightly when Zhang Hao scored, without too many negative feelings.

They also wanted to win. It’s an All-Star game, after all, even in an arcade game, no one wants to lose.

A man’s joy is sometimes simple. Even an insignificant victory, as long as it’s a win, is delightful.

But once they’ve really lost, most of the Eastern All-Stars just complained a bit... except for Boss Qiao.

Three times!

Slain by the same person three times! We’ve clashed four times in total, and in three of those, by the final moments when Jordan’s team was in the lead, they all got slain by that guy!

Reporters rushed onto the court immediately. With so many All-Stars, so many popular people, they just grabbed whoever they could for interviews.

Although Zhang Hao was the one who completed the buzzer-beater, the number of reporters and cameras surrounding Jordan was obviously the highest.

"Michael, at the last moment, you couldn’t stop Aix and lost the game. What do you think of Aix’s performance?"

Jordan was already extremely frustrated, and when he heard this question from the Sports Illustrated reporter, he went ballistic: "He just buzzed me again. Do I need to have an opinion? Get lost!"

After saying that, Jordan refused to accept any post-match interviews and forcibly shoved the crowd aside, heading toward the player tunnel...

...

During the last solo play, he was very decisive in asking for the ball, very excited and daring when shooting, and immensely joyful after scoring... but after the game, surrounded by a swarm of reporters, Zhang Hao felt a bit dizzy.

Sometimes, when you’re so focused on doing something, you finish it before you’re aware of what you’ve done.

And after it’s all done and you calm down and think back, you might find yourself scared of some things, or more excited, and because of such emotions, a bit dazed.

That’s exactly how Zhang Hao feels now.

He remembers a reporter asking him about the strategy against O’Neal, and he seemed to reply, "I think that’s the only way to deal with him."

Finally, the post-game interview time passed, and as the staff set up the award ceremony, Zhang Hao, standing together with his Western Team all-star teammates awaiting the final awards, regained his senses.

He buzzed Jordan again!

Just the thought of that buzzer-beater against Jordan brought him joy!

"Wait a minute, didn’t I just beat Jordan again? Damn! If I had won against Jordan on the 1st, would that have been four consecutive wins? What a pity!

Alright, without such teammates, it’s a bit hard to beat a serious and in-form Jordan..."

Though thrilled, Zhang Hao clearly knew he just made the last shot and helped the Western Team find a reasonable way to deal with O’Neal.

The win relied on Magician’s 20 points and 6 assists, Stockton’s 19 points and 11 assists, Malone’s 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists, Olajuwon’s 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, and 1 steal, and Drexler’s four three-pointers...

Still, Zhang Hao was very pleased to score 27 points.

Just participating in the All-Star game was already exciting, and playing well in the game made him even happier. Winning in the end, and personally landing a buzzer-beater on Jordan, to buzz Jordan once more, made Zhang Hao feel that his first All-Star game had no regrets at all.

A joyous All-Star weekend; there’s nothing more delightful than such a weekend.

Focused only on his current joy, Zhang Hao didn’t notice Stockton, Malone, and Olajuwon occasionally exchanging glances, nor did he see them occasionally glance toward Mr. Zhang...

What he did notice was that among the Eastern Team stars on the scene, one of the heaviest players was giving him a murderous glare and noticed that the Eastern Team was short one person since Jordan had left.

It’s time for the award ceremony. David Stern came onto the court with the ceremonial lady.

The joy on David Stern’s face was visibly apparent, reaching the point where many people didn’t understand why his smile seemed so annoying.

How could David Stern not be happy? Ten years ago, he anticipated the development potential of China, and during these two years when China was under the pressure of the world’s largest economies, China’s development surprisingly went against the trend... Now is the perfect time to develop the Chinese market.

Look, another opportunity has arrived!

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for watching tonight’s exciting All-Star game. Congratulations to the Western Team for their victory. I’m announcing that tonight’s MVP award for the All-Star main game goes to..."

David Stern spoke, and all eyes focused on him. Everyone knew an award was coming, and Zhang Hao’s attention was also drawn to it.

This year’s All-Star MVP was rather unpredictable. No one on the Western Team stood out like O’Neal or Jordan. The whole team worked together to win, even the Magician with just 20 points and 6 assists had a chance to win the All-Star MVP.

The All-Star MVP sometimes also depends on seniority. The Magician’s return this time is inspirational, and his performance was decent.

The most likely candidate for MVP was Olajuwon. Despite being outplayed by O’Neal, his score and passing were great.

Malone and Stockton were also possible, perhaps even sharing the MVP.

Zhang Hao, who made the final buzzer-beater, seemed hopeful to fans and players, but as a rookie, the odds weren’t in his favor.

After a pause, when the crowd started yelling profanities, David Stern finally announced the names with satisfaction: "Our Magician... and our Gentleman! Congratulations to both for winning the MVP of the All-Star main game!"

When the nickname Magician was heard, not many found it surprising. The Magician played 22 minutes tonight, scoring 20 points and 6 assists with great efficiency.

But David Stern then announced Zhang Hao’s nickname!

Although Zhang Hao was a candidate, the crowd was in an uproar when he actually won the All-Star MVP... The first rookie after the Basketball Emperor Chamberlain and The Big O to win the All-Star MVP in NBA history!