Chapter 1 Butler's Thoughts

Butler's thoughts made Tang Tian unconsciously think of things from his past life.

When Butler was with the Bulls, he had been unhappy with Thibodeau and the Bulls' management.

The main reason for that was his dissatisfaction with the team's status.

Later, after moving to the Timberwolves, he had unpleasantness with Towns and Wiggins.

Even after arriving at the 76ers, he had reportedly questioned Coach Brown's actions.

Speaking of which, these things were all related to his personality.

Because he played for the Bulls and looked very similar to Jordan, fans compared him to Jordan.

But his personality was more like Kobe's, with a strong desire to win and a willingness to disregard other things in order to win.

In the Bulls, he wanted the team's status because he felt he was the best player on the team. He fell out with his teammates in the Timberwolves because they were too focused on maintaining their health. He questioned Brown after arriving at the 76ers because Brown's tactics were not suitable for the team.

So this is a case of character determining behavior. Butler isn't bad at heart, just a bit stubborn.

Butler's situation was different from Walker's, so Tang Tian still focused on appeasement.

The Mavericks were now strong, and Carlisle was a famous coach. It was worth it for Butler to sacrifice some things to gain a possible championship.

Butler would definitely listen to Tang Tian.

But after thinking about it, he suddenly looked at Tang Tian and said whimsically, "Why don't I go to New Orleans and play with you!"

Butler's idea came out of the blue.

Tang Tian was the only one in the league for whom he would willingly be a second-in-command.

Moreover, what Tang Tian said made sense. If the Mavericks wanted to win a championship, they would have to get past Tang Tian's Pelicans, which was very difficult.

Rather than being unhappy in Dallas, it would be better to just play with Tang Tian.

Wouldn't brotherhood basketball be wonderful?

"And Kemba's contract has just expired, so the three of us brothers together..."

Before Butler could finish speaking, Tang Tian shook his head.

Wasn't that just the Big Three 2.0?

Then they would be no different from the Heat's Big Three back then.

Also, this trend of teaming up was bad for the league, and they didn't need to encourage it.

Of course, most importantly, Butler had only signed with the Mavericks not long ago and still had at least two years left on his contract.

Being the first person to request a trade while still under contract would bring infamy. George did it in his past life, and he didn't want Butler to become that person now.

Butler didn't say anything when he saw Tang Tian's attitude; it was just a whim.

"Jimmy, play well, this is your chance, a chance to become a superstar."

Tang Tian finally said to Butler.

In the basketball of the early century, a tough player like Butler was the most popular and easiest to succeed, and Butler's performance now proved that point.

The last day of All-Star Weekend was also the day of the All-Star Game.

This year's All-Star Game was also highly anticipated.

In addition to the suspense of whether Tang Tian could complete a four-peat of the All-Star Game MVP, there was also Westbrook and Durant to watch.

This was the first time the two had competed on the same stage since Durant left, and they were both starting, so their reactions were highly anticipated.

In fact, after the entrance ceremony, the cameras were constantly cutting between Westbrook and Durant.

Durant occasionally looked in Westbrook's direction, but Westbrook completely ignored Durant.

He was chatting enthusiastically with Tang Tian, laughing and who knew what they were talking about.

Tang Tian's expression was a little strange at this time. In reality, he didn't think what Westbrook was saying was funny at all.

It felt like he had been passively made a third party.

Fortunately, the game started soon, and the All-Star starters from the East and West took the court one after another.

For the East team, the guards were Irving and Wade, the forwards were James and Anthony, and the center was Antetokounmpo.

For the West team, the guards were Westbrook and Curry, the forwards were Tang Tian and Durant, and the center was Davis.

When he took the court, Curry smiled and greeted Tang Tian.

This time in the All-Star voting, thanks to the Pelicans for listing Tang Tian as a forward, otherwise Curry wouldn't have been able to make the starting lineup. The Western Conference backcourt was a disaster.

Durant frowned slightly.

During the previous All-Star Game, Westbrook, as a teammate, was very close to Tang Tian. Now that he had changed teams and teammates, he was still doing it?

Was Tang Tian gold? Why were they all sticking to him!

Antetokounmpo won the jump ball against Davis, officially opening the curtain on the 2017 NBA All-Star Game.

Antetokounmpo took the lead, receiving a pass from James at the start and breaking into the paint for a dunk.

The defense on the West team's side was relatively average.

However, this ball showed Antetokounmpo's talent, outstanding height, super long wingspan, and speed that was completely inconsistent with his size.

This was simply an extended version of a young James.

In return, Westbrook passed the ball to Tang Tian and even initiated a pick-and-roll.

Tang Tian used the pick-and-roll to break through a step and then hit a jump shot.

After the start, the defensive intensity of both the East and West teams was not high.

After the referees changed the standard of calls, the regular season became the intensity of the playoffs, and the players' physical exertion was very high.

When they arrived at the All-Star Game, they didn't need to play with that level of defensive intensity.

James broke through for a layup and scored two points, and Tang Tian received a pass from Curry and scored another point.

Anthony received a pass from James and missed a three-pointer, Antetokounmpo made a put-back dunk, Tang Tian returned the favor and assisted Curry for a three-pointer.

After the start, the two teams were caught in an offensive battle.

Only half of the first quarter had passed, and the score was already 30 to 25. They were aiming for 200 points in a single game!

The game on the court was intense, but Durant was a bit awkward on the court because he was mostly running back and forth...

From his actions before the game, it could be seen that Westbrook didn't like Durant very much now. He hadn't passed the ball to Durant even once since the start of the game. In fact, in order to get revenge on Durant, he, who had become a data maniac, didn't even take shots and just kept passing the ball to Tang Tian;

Davis didn't need to be said, he was Tang Tian's Pippen, he knew the grudges between Tang Tian and Durant, so why would he pass the ball to Durant;

Curry didn't touch the ball that many times, and he also benefited from Tang Tian to get into the starting lineup, so the number of passes he made to Tang Tian and Durant was basically fifty-fifty;

As for Tang Tian... if he passed the ball to Durant, Durant would probably think that Tang Tian wanted to hit him with the ball...

Such a lineup could be said to be an enhanced version of the Pelicans. It wasn't unreasonable for Durant to be running back and forth.

As a result, in this half of the quarter, half of the West team's 30 points, 15 points, were Tang Tian's.

Durant only took 2 shots and scored 4 points.

Moreover, this situation was still continuing!

Tang Tian received a record-breaking 4 million+ votes, plus he was playing at home, so it could be predicted that tonight would likely be another night of records!