Chapter 190: Chapter 19: What’s a Tracy McGrady? The All-Time All-Star Top Vote-Getter

However, Su Xi never expected that the one he’d become most entangled with wasn’t Wang Zhizhi, but Tracy McGrady.

McGrady scored 31 points tonight. Although his team lost, his top spot on the scoring list remained secure.

"My fans should get moving. Don’t you all want to see me and Kobe Bryant face off at our peak in Los Angeles?"

When Tracy McGrady was asked about the voting gap with Su Xi in a post-game interview, his tone was no longer as dismissive and confident of victory as before.

Because a reporter had told him that Su Xi was already ahead by 70,000 votes.

On top of that, Su Xi had been cheering for Wade and Wang Zhizhi all night—both of whom had blocked him before.

The sensitive McGrady thought Su Xi was deliberately causing trouble for him, trying to make him look bad so he could reap the benefits himself.

"I’m not saying Jack isn’t outstanding, but he’s still very young. His stage should be the All-Star Rookie Challenge. He should be playing with kids like LeBron, Wade, and Antonio."

"To be honest, he shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as me. It’s like how Yao shouldn’t have replaced Shaq as an All-Star starter last season. Shaq is the number one center in the league, and I’m the number one guard."

Tracy McGrady had laid his cards on the table.

The gloves were off.

Reporters love to stir up trouble. The next day, Su Xi saw the report in the *Miami Herald*, with the headline: "McGrady Speaks Frankly: Little Sheep Su Xi Unworthy of All-Star Game, Let Alone Being Compared to Me."

Su Xi was furious when he saw the newspaper.

Artest was even more furious.

Having fully accepted Su Xi as the team’s core, Artest was fiercely loyal. He was determined to defend Su Xi’s honor. Before Su Xi could even say a word, Artest fired the first shot: "What right does Tracy McGrady have to belittle Jack? In his first season in Toronto, he was just a bag carrier. Jack already has a quadruple-double and triple-doubles under his belt, and he’s miles ahead on the steals leaderboard."

"Besides stat-padding every night, what has he ever brought to Orlando? All these years, besides cultivating this media image of how elegant his jump shot is, what else has he done? Has he even sniffed the floor of the second round of the playoffs?"

"I acknowledge Tracy’s skill, but if he thinks he can use that to belittle Jack, he’s being naive. The gap between him and Jack is nowhere near as big as the one between Shaq and Yao Ming. That’s a fact."

"Besides, the fans chose the starters with their votes. Who is he to nullify that with a single sentence?"

Artest was incredibly blunt.

His words were aimed squarely at McGrady.

Artest made his statement in the early evening of the next day. That same night, Scarlett Johansson made an appeal on television: "Hey, everyone! I’ve already bought my tickets for the All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Now, let’s all vote for Little Sheep Su Xi! He deserves to be there. Fate tells me we’re meant to meet there."

Scarlett was directly campaigning for him.

She had also seen the report in the *Miami Herald* and was furious. She couldn’t stand seeing someone belittle the man she had her eye on.

So, she made a public declaration.

Her declaration instantly sent the "couple shippers" into a frenzy. All across college campuses in the United States, teenagers were scrambling to find the NBA’s voting guide.

In an instant, the official NBA website was flooded with a massive number of new accounts. These people came in, found Su Xi’s name, and voted.

The official website’s servers crashed several times. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

That night, Su Xi’s lead widened to the 100,000-vote level.

And as the media continued to build up the hype, his lead grew even larger the next day.

By the third day, Su Xi was ahead by 500,000 votes.

Because Jessica Alba had also jumped in to rally votes. She was now competing with Scarlett. She told the media, "Please support Jack to become an All-Star starter. I will definitely be there in person to cheer for him!"

This turned it into a full-blown competition.

The shippers for both "couples" were going all out.

The spectacle was more intense than a presidential election.

Besides, this was basically voting for an "officially paired" boyfriend. Gossip fans poured all their passion into it.

They hadn’t had a game this exciting in a long time.

Both sides were frantically voting for Su Xi.

Even those who were originally just watching for fun joined in crazily. They were dying to see Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansson get into a fight at the All-Star Game.

All at once, Su Xi’s All-Star votes skyrocketed.

It was no longer a matter of surpassing McGrady. On the morning of the fourth day, he surpassed Iverson. In the afternoon, he surpassed Vince Carter, becoming the overall top vote-getter.

After that, he established an insurmountable lead.

"I feel like these entertainment fans are treating our All-Star vote like it’s some kind of fan-support competition."

ESPN’s famous commentator, Mike Brin, said dejectedly on television.

He felt this was turning the NBA into pure entertainment, and that the All-Star Game had lost its meaning as a result.

This was the view of many commentators. Some even called for the voting to be stopped, because it was no longer pure.

Even Stern’s assistant said to him, "Boss, if this continues, I feel like the All-Star voting will become a farce. The people voting don’t even watch basketball. Most of them are a bunch of sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girls who just want to see Su Xi date Scarlett or Jessica."

"It’s a game to them."

"And we’re spending more money on servers for them," the assistant complained.

David Stern chuckled and said, "Isn’t this a good thing? No matter how you look at it, those are real votes cast by real people. And those people will definitely tune in to watch on TV or go to the game in person. Who cares if they know anything about basketball?"

"But... it’s been tainted," the assistant said, confused.

"It hasn’t been tainted. This is the ultimate meaning of All-Star voting. Have the official website prepare a press release congratulating Jack on becoming the all-time leading vote-getter in All-Star history."

"I hear it’s already 4.8 million? That’s astounding. Not even Jordan ever got that many votes."

There was even a hint of pride in David Stern’s voice.

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