The feeling of watching a game live and on TV is very different. Watching in person allows you to clearly compare your skills with the players on the court.
But when watching a broadcast, you always compare the best with the players on the screen, and if you're not careful, you might start thinking, "This guy is just a show-off."
Even though individual skills are strong, the players are playing chaotically, and Zhang Hao lost interest after watching for a while. He started chatting excitedly with Aprile Clark.
Next to them, Pierce listened to the conversation between Zhang Hao and the tennis girl from their apartment, and he felt a bit choked up! What happened to "poor guys don't get girlfriends"? This guy betrayed the group!
Seeing Aprile Clark laughing non-stop thanks to Zhang Hao's jokes, Pierce couldn't believe Zhang Hao had this skill! This guy already looks good, unlike Pierce who can't control his diet, and he's in good shape. Once he starts talking more, it looks like the school's tennis beauty is about to fall for him!
Pierce felt a tearful sensation, much like when the family pig is about to hit the jackpot... But Pierce hasn't even done that yet! That made him feel even sadder...
In the All-Star selection, Mike Bibby's team lost, with such a top point guard nationally, they actually lost!
As the game was nearing its end, the dunk contest participants who didn't watch the game also arrived.
When Carter arrived, many students' attention was drawn to him. Over the past few days, the Los Angeles TV Station and radio have been promoting how amazing Carter's dunks are. Without a doubt, it's McDonald's paying for advertising, but it also got many students interested in him.
Zhang Hao and Tyronn Lue also came to the court to warm up.
The host introduced each contest participant one by one. The one who received the most cheers was Zhang Hao. Among high school students in Los Angeles, his strength is at the top, with only Pierce being stronger. Moreover, among Latino and white students, Zhang Hao is even more popular.
Everyone had met each other in the morning and got to know each other a bit. This time, with the host's introduction, they learned more about each other.
Although the dunk contest participants are not necessarily stronger than those in the All-Star selection, they're not far behind. They're all athletic guys with great physical attributes. In high school, athletic ability often lets you dominate, unless you encounter players like Mike Bibby or Pierce with clearly superior technical skills. Garnett and Kobe Bryant, with top-tier athletic and technical skills in high school, were definitely famous during that time.
The judge's area was set up. When the 76ers' legend Julius Erving, the most reputable judge this year, led the judging panel onto the court, thousands of students and players both on and off the court went wild, all cheering!
This is the first modern-age basketball player to truly play in the air! Even Michael Jordan called him an idol!
In front of the cameras filming from three angles, Julius Erving gave words of encouragement to the participants and then took his seat with the other two judges. The other two weren't widely recognized, but they seemed to be retired NBA players there to earn some extra cash.
The host explained the rules: If all three judges approve of a dunk, the player advances directly to the finals. If two judges approve, they're on hold. If there aren't enough players with three approvals to make six finalists, they'll choose from the ones with two approvals, and so on. If nobody approves, they're eliminated.
Soon, the preliminaries started. Zhang Hao's number was 13... which Americans consider an unlucky number.
Zhang Hao noticed Ricky Davis was number 9, Desmond Mason was 11, Tyronn Lue was 12, Carter was number 25. Since Pierce withdrew, Carter would be the 24th to participate.
It was clear McDonald's intended for him to be the highlight, and presumably, Carter would also be the final highlight in the finals.
In terms of entertainment, Zhang Hao thought the previous participants all did pretty well with their dunks, good jumps and elegant moves. After all, they were the best high school dunkers in the nation invited by McDonald's. When the 6th participant dunked, the first dunk with all three approvals appeared, Julius Erving's first approval of the night.
Dean Grove, the second-darkest person on-site after Nazir Muhammad, performed an exceptionally entertaining between-the-legs dunk and earned Julius Erving's first approval.
Ricky Davis, the 9th participant, did a between-the-legs switch-hand dunk, but with Dean Grove's gem before him, he couldn't get Julius Erving to raise his card, resulting in two approvals, on hold.
Desmond Mason, the 11th participant, achieved the second unanimous approval with a beautiful off-the-glass, 180-degree spin reverse dunk.
Zhang Hao expected Tyronn Lue to surprise him, considering Fisher could fly when he was young. But in the end, Tyronn Lue just rushed up for a simple dunk and got eliminated...
Finally, it was Zhang Hao's turn!
Many fans familiar with Zhang Hao were present, mostly Los Angeles students, and over two hundred from Inglewood High School were cheering wildly. Human nature is to repeat, so other students also joined in cheering.