Four Players Selected for the All-Star and the Bulls Officially Take Off!

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By the end of December 2010, as in previous years, aside from the Christmas game, the most anticipated event was the opening of the All-Star voting.

Although Wang Chong had spent most of his time in the All-Star game in recent years, and it was enough to gain a few reputation points as an All-Star AMVP without wasting much energy, he always found a way to suppress other players in the league with his super popularity once the voting began. This year was no exception.

The results of the first round of voting were announced at the end of December. Wang Chong once again became the player with the most votes in the first round, holding an absolute lead, far ahead of everyone, including Kobe, James, Howard, Wade, and others.

This was not surprising. In recent years, Wang Chong had been the undisputed strongest player in the league. He led his team to win three consecutive championships and won the regular season MVP three times in four years. The players were more concerned about his style of play. Fans love strong players because they are powerful, and Wang Chong was the strongest player in the NBA in recent years, which naturally allowed him to capture the attention and support of this group of fans.

However, aside from Wang Chong, the All-Star voting situation for other Bulls players was not as promising.

Garnett ranked only fifth in the forward position voting in the first round. Besides Wang Chong, the top four included James in second place, Stoudemire, who moved from the Western Suns to the Knicks, in third, and Kevin Durant in fourth.

The competition among forwards in the Eastern Conference was extremely fierce. Garnett was certainly not going to secure a starting spot in the All-Star game. However, he was still a well-known veteran, slightly worse this season, but his defensive contribution alone made it very likely that Nate would be selected as an All-Star substitute.

Curry ranked fourth in the voting for Eastern Conference shooting guards. The three players ahead of him were Wade, Rose, and Rondo.

In fact, Curry could consistently contribute 21 points and 6 assists this season, which wasn't bad. However, he was just a second-year player with a small fanbase, and the three leading shooting guards weren't intimidated by his abilities at all.

Wade and Rose had stats over 25+5. Rondo also posted a double-double of 11+5+11 with the Celtics this season, making him one of the iconic figures of the new generation of traditional point guards.

Like Garnett, although Curry may not have many chances in the voting, his standout individual performance made it certain that he would be selected as a substitute for the All-Star game.

After closing the circle, it turned out that, besides Wang Chong, the most popular player in the Bulls' All-Star voting was center Gasol.

Not many players could stand out at the center position in the Eastern Conference. Howard was far ahead among Eastern Conference centers, and behind him was Gasol. Although Gasol received less than half the votes that Howard did in the first round, he was still a player who could stand side-by-side with the best centers in the East.

This wasn't an exaggeration. Just look at who the top five players were in the Eastern Conference All-Star voting for the 2010-11 season.

First was Howard—no surprise there. Second was actually Shaquille O'Neal. Originally, O'Neal was averaging just 9 points and 4 rebounds per game with the Celtics, but he still ranked third among Eastern Conference centers due to his immense popularity.

Third place was Joakim Noah, averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Fourth place went to Andrew Bogut, who averaged 12.8 points and 11 rebounds per game.

Fifth was Al Horford, averaging 15 points and 9 rebounds per game.

Gasol had now arrived in the Eastern Conference with the Bulls and was highly regarded by Wang Chong. He had become the team's primary center. Of course, with Howard around, Gasol would definitely not be the starting center, but being selected as a substitute for the All-Star game was a safe bet.

With this breakdown, the Bulls had a high probability of having four players selected as All-Stars this season.

The voting king, Wang Chong, would definitely be the starter for the All-Star game, with Garnett, Curry, and Gasol as substitutes.

Compared to the previous season, when the Bulls only had one All-Star—Wang Chong—the Bulls of this season were officially taking off!

The three remaining Bulls games in December were against the Pistons, Bucks, and Nets. The Bulls had no pressure and easily won all of them. This brought their record to an astonishing 30 wins and 1 loss, nearing the Bulls' previous record of 73 wins and 9 losses from just two seasons ago.

If the Bulls could improve on their record of 73 wins this season, reaching 74 or even 75... it was hard to imagine any team in the league being able to surpass the miracle accomplished by the Bulls in the future.

However, Wang Chong had previously mentioned that the main goal for the Bulls this season was not to break the regular-season record, but to secure the 10-11 title while Garnett and Billups still had some fight left in them as part of the old Big Three.

Wang Chong didn't believe that a team that kept winning was a good thing. Continuous victories wouldn't just make the players gradually loosen up and underestimate their opponents; it would also increase the psychological pressure on players who didn't want to lose. Such thoughts would make them work even harder on the court.

It was like a rope being constantly tightened; if it wasn't loosened properly, sooner or later, it would snap.

Especially since the Bulls were currently in a transition phase between old and new players. The veterans were too old, and the main force among the young players was Curry, a player with some "glass" attributes.

In the original 2010-11 season, Curry had a decent attendance rate. He played 74 games, averaging 18.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game. However, starting from that season, Curry had frequently twisted his foot, suffering from serious injuries.

Although this trend hadn't been demonstrated yet, Wang Chong knew that, in pursuit of victories, the intense competition over the long term would inevitably increase the burden on the body, potentially leading to an early serious ankle injury for Curry.

Therefore, in the next game, Wang Chong had to consider how to reduce the load on the Bulls. After all, not everyone had the same durability and resistance to injuries as he did.

At the beginning of January 2011, the new year began with the Bulls' first defeat.

On January 2nd, the Bulls faced the Boston Celtics in an away game. In this game, Garnett was resting, leaving the Bulls thin inside. The combination of the Celtics' experts, Millsap and Jefferson, scored over 20 points to help the Celtics defeat the Bulls 104–98, ending the Bulls' winning streak.

Once the undefeated streak was broken, the Bulls' invincible momentum seemed to collapse. That same week, the team lost to the Dallas Mavericks.

In the first two months of the regular season, the Bulls had only lost one game, but by January, they had already lost two games within a single week.

All the fans watching the game knew that the reason the Bulls lost was directly related to the resting of key players. What they couldn't understand was why they were resting players so early in the season—wasn't it too soon to prepare for the games?

In fact, neither the Bulls' management nor the coaching staff fully understood Wang Chong's request. If not for Wang Chong's transcendent status in the team, head coach Tom Thibodeau might not have agreed at all. After all, Thibodeau himself was a coach who liked to push players to their limits.

Wang Chong didn't need to explain everything clearly to them. Injuries were inherently unpredictable. All he could do was prepare for a rainy day.

Fortunately, although the Bulls began to rest their key players more frequently, Wang Chong never missed a game. As a result, although the team's win rate began to decline, their record didn't collapse, and their win rate remained the highest in the league.

Wang Chong still had confidence in his own ability. With a physical skill value of 99, he ensured that he wouldn't get exhausted or overly fatigued on the court. Moreover, his overall durability of 96 allowed him to avoid injuries as much as possible.

In the 16 games in January, the Bulls ended up with 13 wins and 3 losses, bringing their total record to 43 wins and 4 losses. This exaggerated win rate of 91% kept them far ahead of the rest of the league's records.

The Spurs, who were barely able to keep up with the Bulls' record, had already been left behind.

Like Wang Chong, Popovich had no doubts about resting his players. Especially with the Spurs sitting at the top of the Western Conference, there was no need to compete with the Bulls for the top spot in the league. Even if they did try to fight for it, they couldn't.

To ensure that the Lakers and Mavericks didn't catch up with them, the Spurs also gave rest to their key players.

This kind of behavior, for other teams in the league—especially those struggling on the playoff edge—seemed extremely arrogant.

We work hard every game just to win, but luckily for you, the regular season is already halfway through.

The most frustrating part was that even if the Spurs looked relaxed, their record was still among the top two in the league. You could only say that sometimes the difference between humans was greater than the

difference between humans and pigs.

By the end of January, the final results of the All-Star voting were announced. As expected, Wang Chong once again topped the NBA voting, with Kobe in second place, followed by Howard, James, and Wade...

The Eastern Conference starting lineup for the All-Star game was finally decided: Rose, Wade, James, Wang Chong, and Howard.

The Western Conference starters were Paul, Kobe, Anthony, Gasol, and Yao.

As for the Eastern Conference All-Star substitutes, as predicted by many media outlets, Garnett, Curry, and Gasol from the Bulls were all selected as substitutes for the Eastern All-Star team. The Bulls had four players selected as All-Stars this season, and they were the center of attention for some time.

Some fans were happy, while others were sad.

While Bulls fans were excited that four players from their team had been selected for the All-Star game, some fans of other stars felt offended.

Especially in the East, the East and West each had twelve spots for the All-Star game, but four teams in the East almost monopolized all the spots.

Chicago Bulls: Wang Chong, Garnett, Curry, Gasol.

Miami Heat: Wade, James, Bosh.

Boston Celtics: Durant, Rondo.

New York Knicks: Ross, Stoudemire.

A total of 11 All-Stars came from these four teams, in addition to Magic's starting center Howard.

The other ten teams in the Eastern Conference could only watch these five teams play.

The stars were heavily concentrated in a few teams, creating a virtual All-Star monopoly. This result truly reflected the classic saying, "The West is strong, and the East is weak."

Although the results were a bit exaggerated, there was no way around the All-Star rules. After all, the stars from other teams just couldn't compete with those from these few teams.

This All-Star game would be held in Los Angeles, co-hosted by the Lakers and Clippers, starting on February 18th.

The intensity of the Bulls' schedule began to gradually increase in February. Midway through the regular season, the number of matchups with strong Western Conference teams also grew significantly.

At the same time, what Wang Chong had feared began to happen.

Curry began to twist his ankle frequently in February games, which affected his performance on the court and caused the Bulls to lose some games they shouldn't have.

Although the timeline of Curry's ankle sprain differed slightly from the original season, various signs pointed to the fact that Curry couldn't avoid his unfortunate ankle problems.

It wasn't just Curry who had issues midway through the season. Player fatigue was also beginning to accumulate. Even though Wang Chong did his best to reduce the load on players, Garnett and Billups were still showing more or less signs of injury, including minor ones that flared up during games. These recurring injuries, although not major, still had some impact on their competitive state.

By early February, the Bulls had a record of 4 wins and 3 losses, with their accumulated losses reaching 7 games. Considering that more than 30 regular season games were still ahead, the possibility of the team breaking the 73-win record seemed extremely slim.

This also made many teams in the league breathe a sigh of relief.

Any superteam is a tragedy for other teams in the same era, especially regarding the regular-season record. The higher the number of wins, the more it demonstrates the weakness of other teams that season. If you're unbearable, victory will be hard to come by.

At the same time, this also meant that the Bulls were not invincible. They had weaknesses too. They were injured and they lost.

On February 17th, the Bulls lost to the Spurs at home 94-106.

Although they lost the game, the Bulls players' mood wasn't affected. This was normal. Even though they lost several games in February, the Bulls still held the best record in the league.

Furthermore, the team's losses weren't due to tactical issues or player performance but were entirely the result of injuries. When the players who had been injured returned to the lineup, the Bulls were still that unstoppable, invincible team.

After Wang Chong, Garnett, Curry, Gasol, Danny Green, Marcus Thornton, and others finished the game, they boarded a plane to Los Angeles to prepare for the 2010-11 celebrity weekend.

End of this chapter

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