According to the unspoken rules of the two, it was Kobe's turn to shoot, and Kobe had the initiative.
As long as he made this shot, Kobe would win this internal scoring battle.
As a result, McGrady helped He Xi Meng, and in this round, successfully disrupted Kobe's breakthrough layup.
Yao Ming fiercely grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to He Xi Meng, who was outside the three-point line, in the first instance.
He Xi Meng, under pressure from the lunging Kidd, forced a shot, and hit a three-pointer!
"Oh, shit!"
As the entire crowd stood up to cheer for He Xi Meng, Kobe shook his fist helplessly. It seemed he had lost this battle of attrition with He Xi Meng today.
But Kobe was still not satisfied. He immediately caught up to He Xi Meng, who was smiling and waving to the surrounding fans.
"Let's discuss it, cancel the 21-point system, and just bet until the end of the game, whoever gets more points?"
"Forget it! Are you really treating the All-Star Game like your own team? If we continue playing at the pace of the first half for the second half, won't the other All-Stars devour us?"
"Why bother? Just do it!"
"No! I don't want to become the public enemy of the entire league! If you want to go crazy, go crazy by yourself! Anyway, I've been crazy with you for half a game. I won't join you in the second half!"
After speaking, He Xi Meng shook off Kobe's "magic claws" that were on his shoulder and returned to the bench without looking back.
In the second half, He Xi Meng kept his word. He no longer paid attention to Kobe's provocations and switched to assist mode, constantly feeding assists to the other All-Stars of the Western Conference!
He fed Yao Ming, who was playing in his first All-Star game, with a lob pass for a two-handed dunk.
He assisted Garnett, who was chasing from behind, with a bank pass, leading to a tomahawk dunk.
To Duncan… never mind Duncan. The old man specifically instructed that if possible, not to pass to Duncan, absolutely not to let Duncan dunk, and it would be best if Duncan stayed on the bench and just watched you play.
The team with the best record in the Western Conference this year was actually the Spurs. However, Popovich had coached the Western All-Stars last year, and according to the rule of not serving consecutive terms, this position automatically fell to Phil Jackson, the head coach of the Lakers, who ranked second.
Popovich had absolutely no interest in coaching the All-Star Game. This kind of overtime work without overtime pay was something Popovich had always hated.
But if Popovich didn't go, his disciples had to.
Yao Ming was too young this year and wouldn't get too much playing time or opportunities, so Popovich didn't worry.
He Xi Meng was a cunning fox, and he usually slacked off during games, so Popovich wasn't worried about him being bullied or tricked.
Only the "honest and naive" Duncan was what Popovich worried about the most. He was afraid that after returning from a major injury, if someone "with ill intentions" managed to trick him, and he got too excited on the All-Star stage, then, oops, he got injured again. Where would he go to seek justice?
Therefore, before the three of them set off for Philadelphia to participate in this year's All-Star competition, Popovich repeatedly instructed He Xi Meng to take good care of Duncan and not let him be tricked.
He Xi Meng agreed on the surface, but he thought that Popovich was purely worrying for nothing.
In Popovich's eyes, Duncan was simple and easily tricked. However, He Xi Meng knew that his "alma mater's master of psychology from Wake Forest" knew everything clearly in his heart. He saw through many things without saying them. Others thought he wasn't smart, but in fact, he saw everyone else as fools.
Duncan enjoyed this feeling of being underestimated and taken care of.
To put it inappropriately: "Rookie Number 21" was quite cunning! He loved the strategy of playing the pig to eat the tiger…
So, He Xi Meng readily agreed to Popovich's instructions, but he believed that Duncan could take care of himself without his help.
"Tim, you're too low-key! You need to let yourself go and enjoy the cheers of the fans on a stage like the All-Star Game! Come on, kid, fly, dunk, get hyped…"
So, while Jackson was constantly trying to get Duncan to showcase his abilities on the All-Star stage, He Xi Meng didn't intervene. He wanted to see how Duncan would deal with Jackson.
"Okay, Mr. Jackson!" Duncan replied to Jackson with a cold expression, making Jackson unsure whether Duncan had understood him or not.
Regardless of whether Duncan understood or not, Jackson gave Duncan almost as much playing time as Kobe and He Xi Meng, wanting Duncan to go wild on the All-Star court.
However, Duncan did not live up to Jackson's expectations. In his 25 minutes of playing time, Duncan diligently grabbed rebounds and played defense, grabbed rebounds and played defense… Throughout the game, Duncan grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and recorded a game-high 4 blocks!
Seeing Duncan "showcasing himself" like this, Jackson couldn't help but cover his face with his right hand.
He Xi Meng, behind Jackson, burst into laughter.
On the Eastern Conference All-Star team, "His Airness" was in poor form due to his youth, and Iverson was unable to exert himself due to injury, resulting in no one carrying the load for the Eastern Conference starting lineup. By the end of the game, not a single one of the starting five players had scored in double figures. Such a scene was unprecedented and unique to the 2002 All-Star Game!
Although Coach Scott realized this problem and increased the playing time of McGrady, Pierce, and Ray Allen from the bench, it still couldn't mask the fact that the Eastern Conference's overall strength was inferior to the Western Conference's.
Kobe scored a game-high 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He Xi Meng scored the second-highest 25 points, 12 assists, and 3 rebounds. McGrady scored the third-highest 24 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Western Conference won 140:120, exactly 20 points ahead of the Eastern Conference!
Looking at the final score and the forced smile on Coach Scott's face, Kobe and He Xi Meng high-fived each other in celebration from the bench.
The former Lakers' twin stars both shone brightly in this year's All-Star Game.
However, there could only be one All-Star MVP, and the fans present felt sorry for He Xi Meng because Kobe had scored more points.
Some fans felt that He Xi Meng's performance was no less than Kobe's. He not only scored but also excelled in his specialty of organizing and connecting plays, contributing numerous spectacular alley-oop dunks with other All-Stars. His overall impact was even more impressive than Kobe's.
Should the MVP be awarded to Kobe, who scored higher, according to the rules, or should the rules be broken and awarded to the more all-around performer, He Xi Meng?
The Philadelphia All-Star Organizing Committee entered into urgent deliberation!