The regular season concluded in December, and with the turn of the year from 2001 to 2002, the NBA All-Star voting officially commenced.
Last year's All-Star balloting, where many fans vividly remembered Da Zhi nearly making the starting lineup thanks to Chinese fan votes, had led to calls for the league to modify the All-Star voting system, moving from a purely fan-driven process to a hybrid model combining fan and professional input.
League executives were still deliberating on this matter, discussing whether to change the rules and how to implement them, when this year's All-Star voting arrived.
This time, it wasn't just about Da Zhi. Yao Ming, as a freshman rookie, had directly ascended to the top position in Western Conference center voting, surpassing Shaquille O'Neal and securing the starting center spot for the West.
This outcome caught the league management completely by surprise.
During this period, league executives even attempted to boost O'Neal's exposure, urging North American fans to vote for him. However, whenever O'Neal's vote count began to close the gap with Yao Ming's, a surge of Chinese fans would flood the voting portal, pushing Yao Ming's numbers even higher!
After repeated attempts, the league management gave up. The power of Chinese fans was simply too immense.
"Alright, let's discuss how to modify the fan voting rules! Otherwise, I fear future All-Star Games will become a playground for Chinese players..."
David Stern's concerns were not unfounded.
Currently, the five Chinese players in the league were all receiving a massive number of fan votes that other players envied.
He Xi Meng, needless to say, had received 1.8 million votes this year, 300,000 more than Carter and 800,000 more than the esteemed Jordan... well, that's quite a gap.
Second place wasn't Carter with 1.5 million votes, but Yao Ming with 1.6 million!
O'Neal, ranked second among Western Conference centers, had only 1.3 million, trailing Yao Ming by 300,000.
Babble, ranked third among Western Conference centers, had 900,000!
Divac, ranked fourth among Western Conference centers, had a mere 300,000!
Seeing Babble with 900,000 votes, Divac began to re-evaluate his career. What had he done wrong to fall behind the Nuggets' backup center by 600,000 votes?
On the Western Conference forward voting front, it was a blessing that top stars like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were there to hold the line, otherwise, Da Zhi would have comfortably secured a starting spot!
Da Zhi's vote count this year was even higher than last year, reaching 1 million.
Duncan, benefiting from He Xi Meng and Yao Ming's popularity, couldn't stay low-key even if he wanted to. His vote count this year surged to 1.5 million compared to previous years, making him nearly as popular as Carter.
Chris Webber, hampered by injuries for most of the first half of the season, saw his popularity drop to less than 800,000 votes.
Garnett was in excellent form this season, leading the Timberwolves to a strong performance in the Western Conference. This translated into fan popularity, with 1.1 million votes.
Ultimately, Da Zhi remained third in the Western Conference forward voting, trailing Duncan and Garnett, thus missing out on a starting spot. A reserve spot was even further out of reach.
In the Eastern Conference guard voting, Hu Wei Dong garnered nearly 900,000 votes, trailing only Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, ranking third in the East.
Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, and others ranked behind Hu Wei Dong subsequently lodged protests with the league, arguing that the current voting system was severely flawed and did not accurately reflect the will of the fans.
"Flawed" was indeed the case, but "inaccurately reflecting the will of the fans" was not entirely accurate.
Was the will of Chinese fans not a part of the fans' will?
However, the fervent performance of Chinese fans this time around truly instilled panic among league executives, forcing them to revise the voting system.
For He Xi Meng and Yao Ming, the impact might not be significant.
But for Da Zhi, Babble, and Hu Wei Dong, the impact could be immense. At the very least, if they remained as reserve players on their teams, it would be virtually impossible for them to reach the All-Star Game stage through fan power alone.
The All-Star balloting once again showed the league the power of Chinese fans. On one hand, they feared Chinese fans exploiting loopholes in the league's system; on the other, they coveted the wallets of Chinese fans.
Because behind every vote from a Chinese fan was a Chinese supporter willing to spend money on NBA stars.
The league executives saw this clearly. On one hand, they needed to guard against Chinese fans and protect the rights of most of the league's stars. On the other hand, they were reluctant to alienate Chinese fans, as they hoped for more Chinese fans to pour their money into the NBA.
Thanks to the strong support from Chinese fans, the few Chinese players plying their trade in the league received increased attention from their respective teams, especially Da Zhi, Babble, and Old Hu.
This was partly due to the exemplary success of He Xi Meng and Yao Ming. Both had become darlings of the endorsement world, possessing considerable commercial value in both the Chinese and global markets. And in a league that was thoroughly commercial, a player's commercial value represented the profits that teams relentlessly pursued.
Finally, the Western Conference All-Star starting lineup:
Center: Yao Ming.
Forwards: Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
Guards: He Xi Meng and Kobe Bryant.
With three starters from the Spurs, the team enjoyed immense prestige at that moment!
Western Conference All-Star Reserves: Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Francis, Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Peja Stojakovic.
Shaquille O'Neal was unable to play due to injury, and Elton Brand of the Clippers was ultimately selected as his replacement.
The head coach of the Western Conference All-Stars was Phil Jackson of the Lakers.
Eastern Conference All-Star Starting Lineup:
Center: Dikembe Mutombo!
Forwards: Vince Carter and Antoine Walker.
Guards: Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.
Eastern Conference All-Star Reserves: Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Alonzo Mourning, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Amar'e Stoudemire.
Vince Carter was unable to play due to injury, and Baron Davis of the Hornets was selected as a replacement, with Jason Kidd moving into the starting lineup in Carter's stead.
The head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars was Byron Scott of the Nets. A former Laker, he was a coach who had achieved fame through Jason Kidd.
Despite this, the Nets' outstanding record this season had propelled Scott to All-Star head coach status.
This made He Xi Meng very unhappy!
Kobe Bryant expressed that he was also very unhappy!
Thus, these two former Lakers backcourt stars decided to teach Coach Scott a lesson on the All-Star Game stage...
However, before the main All-Star Game commenced, the All-Star Rookie Challenge would take place.