On the Western Conference's side, they never imagined that at the last moment, the fatal blow would come from Marbury, not Iverson…
The Zen Master couldn't figure it out, but now wasn't the time to dwell on reasons. He didn't want to lose. For the final possession, he still handed the ball to Kobe.
The West didn't need a three-pointer; they needed two points! Tie the game and head into overtime.
The Zen Master believed that with the Western Conference's incredibly deep roster, one more overtime period would certainly lead to a victory over the East…
Returning from the timeout, Kobe received the ball on the half-court, with all his teammates spacing out. He Xi Meng intentionally dropped to the right corner, drawing Kidd away.
Kobe faced Marbury one-on-one. When the countdown neared ten seconds, Duncan came to the high post to set a screen for Kobe. Kobe, shaking off Marbury, drove into the Eastern Conference's paint!
Mutombo immediately abandoned Duncan, dropping back quickly to disrupt Kobe's shot!
Kidd, who was originally guarding He Xi Meng in the right corner, also retracted immediately, preparing to double-team with Mutombo.
Marbury, pinned by Duncan, frantically navigated around him, relentlessly pursuing Kobe.
Everyone assumed Kobe would take the shot himself; passing was out of the question…
But Kobe defied everyone's expectations. At the last moment, under the triple-team of the East, he passed the ball to He Xi Meng in the right corner!
Another connection from the Lakers' former twin stars!
With the game about to end, He Xi Meng had no time to adjust. He caught the ball and shot quickly…
The countdown buzzer blared the moment He Xi Meng released the ball. It was close to a violation, but likely not over!
The entire crowd immediately stood up, raising their hands, awaiting the game-winning moment.
The ball traced a high arc, taking a long time to travel… He Xi Meng, after the shot, raised his hands, turned his back to the basket, and faced the fans…
“We’re just playing anyway, so let’s play it up a bit… Besides, last year’s dunk already made Saint City Carter famous. Even if this shot misses, and I look foolish, He Xi Meng felt it wouldn’t matter…”
That’s the nature of game-winners. The more relaxed the mentality, the higher the shooting percentage!
He Xi Meng was extremely relaxed for this shot. It was an exhibition game, the AMVP wasn’t his anyway, so… might as well just shoot it!
He Xi Meng was casual, but the ball was not. It sliced through the air in a beautiful arc and landed precisely in the basket!
The crowd erupted!
“A game-winner! It’s a game-winner!”
“He Xi Meng with the three-point dagger against the East!”
“MVP! MVP! MVP…”
The fans in the arena, fueled by the clutch three-pointer, began chanting MVP in unison!
On the court, He Xi Meng still had his hands raised, looking up at the arena ceiling… well, the arena lights were too bright, forcing He Xi Meng to close his eyes… Ah, this made He Xi Meng appear as if he were basking in the cheers of the crowd…
Kobe immediately ran over and jumped onto He Xi Meng’s back in celebration.
Behind Kobe, Duncan also ran over and embraced both He Xi Meng and Kobe. He patted He Xi Meng’s head with his left hand and Kobe’s head with his right…
“Simon, you’re the MVP…”
“Impossible! My points aren’t as high as Kobe’s!”
“Then Kobe is the MVP…”
“I’d like to win this MVP, but it seems someone scored a tiny bit more than me…” Kobe suddenly remembered the Zen Master’s instructions, “You must make the last shot to be the West’s leading scorer…”
“How is that possible? Simon scored fewer points than you, Kevin scored fewer than Simon, so there’s no hope…” Duncan stopped speaking here, his mouth agape, and asked, “No way? Could it be… me?”
Kobe nodded mournfully.
He Xi Meng rolled his eyes. “I told you ages ago to play conservatively…”
“I wasn’t playing aggressively either?” Duncan spread his hands in explanation. “I didn’t even use post-ups!”
“You didn’t use post-ups, but think about it, how many put-back dunks did you have? Based on my incomplete statistics, you had at least two put-back dunks over Antonio Davis, one over Little Antonio Mason, and one over Glen Robinson… Figure it out yourself, how many points did you get just from those?”
“10 points, that’s all, right…”
“Just 10 points? Do you know how many points we scored? If I remember correctly, I had 17, Kobe had 19, and you, Tim Duncan, you apparently scored 20 points… Kobe is right, you are the leading scorer for the West!”
“I’m sorry, Kobe, I had no intention of competing with you for the trophy…”
“I know, Tim!” Kobe waved his hand. “It’s okay. The moment I passed the last ball to Simon, I knew what I wanted most wasn’t the MVP, but victory! Simon knows, I detest losing! Facing the triple-team from the East just now, I wasn’t confident I could make that shot… If I missed and we lost, the MVP would be gone too… Rather than having nothing, I’d rather have a win! As for the MVP, you played great this year, this trophy rightfully belongs to you! I’ll try harder next year…”
Ultimately, Duncan was named the 2001 All-Star Game MVP with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Originally, this trophy should have belonged to Iverson…
He Xi Meng looked at Iverson in the stands, who was generously applauding Duncan, and silently offered him an apology in his heart.
The All-Star Weekend concluded amidst much fanfare, and the Spurs, almost inadvertently, became the most outstanding team in the league.
They had three players named to the All-Star roster, two starters and one reserve.
Among them, He Xi Meng won the Three-Point Contest, casually breaking the Three-Point Contest’s highest score record, tying the Three-Point Contest’s highest number of made shots record, and becoming second in the Three-Point Contest’s longest consecutive makes record…
Duncan, in a haze, took home the MVP of the All-Star Game…
This outcome was, in a way, unique and unprecedented in the league.
However, when He Xi Meng and Duncan returned to San Antonio, Popovich didn’t inquire about their haul from the All-Star Weekend but rather asked if they had sustained any injuries.
“Injured? No injuries.”
“Think again?”
Seeing Popovich’s determined look, He Xi Meng fell into thought. “Maybe, possibly, it seems, my wrist might be slightly injured from shooting too many three-pointers…”