In the blink of an eye, the last Christmas of the 20th century arrived, and the Grizzlies were given a great gift, the Christmas Day War.

The attention of the Christmas Day game can even be compared with that of the All-Star Weekend main game. The fact that the Grizzlies can get such an opportunity shows that Stern attaches great importance to the Grizzlies.

This time the NBA arranged for the Grizzlies to face the Chicago Bulls. Although the Bulls are now in decline and have become one of the top teams in the NBA, their market is still there and they still have countless fans.

In terms of the size of the NBA market, the Chicago Bulls are actually the third largest team in the NBA market, second only to the Knicks and Lakers.

Jiang Dongbing is not religious, and he has no sense of belonging to the United States, so he is definitely not interested in Christmas. The players went out to celebrate, and he simply didn't get involved.

In this game against the Bulls, the Grizzlies were very restrained. Although they had the ability to completely crush the Bulls, they still only won by seven points in the end.

After all, this is Christmas, which is roughly equivalent to the Chinese New Year. If you beat someone up during the New Year, you don't want to lose face.

After the Christmas War ended, time entered January 2000, and the 21st century officially began.

The annual All-Star lineup selection has also begun, and Jiang Dongbing still attaches great importance to this All-Star weekend.

Last season was Jiang Dongbing's first season in the NBA. As a result, the All-Star Game was canceled due to the lockout. As a result, none of Jiang Dongbing's players have been selected to the All-Star Game.

As a head coach, he naturally hopes that his players can develop better, and gaining an All-Star status will undoubtedly increase the player's worth.

Jiang Dongbing took a look at his current lineup. It would be no problem for Jackson and Billups to be selected as All-Stars. The only question is whether they can get the starting qualification.

The current era is different from the All-Star selection after 2013. After 2013, the All-Stars are only divided into two positions, namely the frontcourt and the backcourt.

Now the All-Star selection is more detailed, divided into three positions, namely center, forward and guard.

There is no doubt that Jackson will compete for the All-Star qualifications of this forward. Forwards are divided into small forwards and power forwards, which means that Jackson will compete with Garnett and Duncan for the All-Star starting qualifications.

The three most popular forwards in the Eastern Conference are Duncan, Garnett and Jackson. Jiang Dongbing feels that Jackson may be the most popular among the three. The reason is very simple, just because Jackson is not an inside player.

Outside players have always been more popular than inside players, so if Jackson gets a starting forward position, it's actually not a big problem, except that he doesn't know which one of Garnett or Duncan will be squeezed out.

As for Billups, his main defender competitors in the West are Kidd, Kobe and Payton.

If Billups is in the East, there is actually no suspense about it. He and Iverson will join hands to become the All-Star starters in the East? The number of star players in the East is far less than that in the West.

Jiang Dongbing thought that the chance of Billups becoming the starter is also very high. After all, behind the Grizzlies are all Canadian fans. Later Raptors often produce All-Star starters. For example, the little steel egg Lowry is a regular All-Star starter? Not really.

It is said that he really has the ability to start the game, but it is because of the strong support of Canadian fans.

Now the Grizzlies are also a Canadian team, and they helped Canada win the championship last season? It's strange that these Canadian fans don't praise the Grizzlies players.

There is no problem for Jackson and Billups to become the starters. The Grizzlies still have David, Ou and Artest in the starting lineup.

Artest must not think about it. His rookie season statistics are not very outstanding? Most of his energy is focused on defense? The statistics will definitely not be particularly good-looking.

David and Xiao Ao do have some chances.

David definitely doesn't want to become the starting All-Star in the Western Conference? After all, there is a center popularity ceiling in the Western Conference, O'Neal, but if he becomes a backup center? The chance is still not small? He only needs to win the Admiral in votes.

enough.

Although David Robinson is also one of the four major centers, his popularity is definitely the one at the bottom? It goes without saying that O'Neal is popular, but Ewing is backed by New York? Popularity is also indispensable? As for the strength of the big dream Olajuwon

Extremely strong? Gorgeous playing style? Popularity is also quite high.

In addition, the admiral is now old, so David is likely to surpass him in terms of votes.

Although only the starting position is determined by votes, and the qualifications for substitutes are determined by NBA coaches, generally as long as there are enough votes, you can basically be selected.

As for O'Brien, the competition for the forward position in the Western Conference is too fierce, so the chance is not great, but it does not mean that there is no chance at all.

According to convention, there will be two centers, five forwards and five guards among the twelve All-Star players. There is still a chance for Ou to join the ranks of these five forwards.

Jiang Dongbing smacked his lips and felt a little dissatisfied. With his current lineup, only four players could be selected for the All-Stars. It was really a pity.

It's also because the competition in the Western Conference is too fierce. If it were left in the Eastern Conference, the situation would definitely be different. Jiang Dongbing remembers that this year there was a substitute All-Star named Dale Davis in the Eastern Conference, and his regular season statistics for the Pacers were just right.

He only has about 10 points, 10 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. If a player like this can be selected into the All-Stars, then all the Grizzlies' starting five will definitely be selected.

"I hope Xiao Ao can also be selected. If four people are selected, it is not unacceptable." Jiang Dongbing said in anticipation.

…

On January 2, the Grizzlies faced the Utah Jazz at home. This was their first game since entering the 21st century.

On the morning of the game day, Jiang Dongbing was called to the team's conference room by Stewart, saying that he was going to hold an extremely important meeting.

When Jiang Dongbing arrived at the meeting venue, he was shocked to find that team owner McCaw was not sitting on the chair. Sitting on the chair at the long conference table was an old white man whom Jiang Dongbing did not recognize.

Jiang Dongbing's heart skipped a beat, feeling that something big was wrong. Did McCaw sell the team?

Under normal circumstances, McCaw Jr. actually sold the Grizzlies this year. Jiang Dongbing remembers that it was sold to an American named Michael Heisley. This is also the reason why the Grizzlies later moved from Vancouver to the American city of Memphis.

"Isn't it possible that Xiao McCaw sold the Grizzly Bear at this time?" Jiang Dongbing thought speechlessly.

Jiang Dongbing originally thought that now that the Grizzlies' record was so outstanding and they might even create a dynasty, there was no way McCaw could sell this cash cow.
Chapter completed!