On the evening of October 28, 1996, a New York gossip media announced the list of the NBA 50 superstar winners who completed the final voting statistics and calculations today.

There are 9 point guards, 9 shooting guards, 9 small forwards, 9 power forwards, and 14 centers selected.

Point guards: Knight Archibald, Bob Cusey, Walter Fraser, Elvin Johnson, John Stockton, Isia Thomas, Dave Bing, Oscar Robertson, Lanny Wilkens.

Scoring guards: Clyde Drexler, George Plaid, Hal Greer, Sam Jones, Michael Jordan, Pete Malawic, Earl Monroe, Bill Shaman, Jerry West.

Small forwards: Paul Alikin, Rick Barry, Elkin Baylor, Larry Bird, Bill Cunningham, Julius Irving, John Havericheck, Scott Pippen, James Worthy.

Power forwards: Charles Barkley, Dave Debschel, Elvin Hayes, Jerry Lucas, Carl Malone, Kevin McHale, Bob Petit, Dolf Shayce, Zhang Hao.

Centers: Kareem Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Dave Coins, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, George McCann, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Willis Reed, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, Wes Unseld, Bill Walton.

As soon as this list was announced, many people thought it was true at first because it looked quite good. It was indeed the names that the media had no news to speculate in the past two years, but saw a single name inserted into the power forward...

The authenticity doesn't seem that high.

Many people's first reaction after seeing this name - is it kidding? Fake news?

However, the other names seem too real! And the editor-in-chief of the magazine said in an interview that this is the news they got inside the NBA, and the specific source does not need to be disclosed.

When the media wanted to ask the NBA official whether the exposed roster was real, the NBA official refused to accept an interview.

This made the media, who originally agreed to be fake news, and after the news that the NBA officials refused to accept interviews spread, the matter became confusing...

Finally, after a night of public opinion, at 8 a.m. the next morning, the NBA announced the list of 50 superstars 4 hours in advance in the live news program of CNTV.

The official list of NBA is almost the same as the list exposed by gossip media, except that Zhang Hao's name in the power forward position was removed, and Shake O'Neal's name was added between Olajuwon and Robert Parish in the center position, and the power forward became 8 top 50 superstars, and the center position became 15 top 50 superstars.

After the list was announced, David Stern appeared in the live broadcast screen.

After greeting the host, David Stern said: "We spent more than a month, went through multiple rounds of voting, and combined personal data, contributions to the NBA and basketball, personal honors, team honors, etc., and combined the opinions of retired players, senior fans, basketball experts, professional commentators, professional announcers, etc., and completed the vote and selected the 50 most authoritative superstars. These 50 superstars will become the representatives of the 50th star of the NBA's 50th anniversary and will award them on the 1997 Cleveland All-Star Weekend.

I'm sorry, because of our mistakes, this precious list was leaked in advance.

But the leaked list is not accurate. We have had a lot of work in the past few days. We only calculated the final comprehensive score yesterday morning. When counting the top 50 players with the highest comprehensive score, we accidentally missed the 50th player statistics and accidentally put the 51st player on the list.

Before we had conducted a review and confirmed the final list, we just sorted by the location and first letter of the last name, and the list was stolen.

I'm sorry for this mistake. I will strictly investigate the cause of this accident and give the fans an explanation.

Finally, I am proud to announce that we have selected the 50 greatest superstars of the NBA's 50th anniversary!"

After saying that, David Stern bowed apologetically...

...

The results announced by the league in the end were just an accident!

The media, fans, and experts discussed it all night and finally got such an answer.

That is, he just swears Zhang Hao all night...

However, O'Neal was selected into the top 50, and the controversy was also huge.

Because compared with any of the other 50 superstars, O'Neal is the one who is the most devastating, regardless of data, personal honors, or team honors. After all, he has only played for 4 years.

However, when O'Neal was questioned, a teammate became his companion - Zhang Hao.

Although Zhang Hao was not selected into the Top 50, judging from what David Stern said in the interview, Zhang Hao also ranked 51st in the overall score!

In this ranking, whether it was selected or not, Zhang Hao was caught in the shooting, did nothing, and was constantly attacked by the media.

...

Finally got this matter done!

David Stern felt that this operation was too tiring!

When he decided on the importance of various selection criteria, he used various methods to strengthen the probability of young players being selected.

Retired players have the advantages of data accumulation and honor accumulation, and David Stern strengthens the comparison of data and honor divided by career length, etc.

As those retired players have brought substantial changes to the NBA, the prospects of active players are strengthened...

Indeed, it is too difficult to get players of four years of age to play against those who have played for more than ten years and were superstars at the time.

Unless it is a rookie season FMVP like the Magic or a rookie season MVP like the Magic, otherwise it has to be accumulated by honor. It is impossible for O'Neal to be in the most prosperous era of the center in the first four years of his career.

Without affecting the selection of most stars who should be selected as the top 50 superstars, David Stern finally successfully ranked O'Neal's total score at 50th through a series of operations. This is not easy.

Unlike Orlando Media, Magic, since O'Neal's rookie season, David Stern has regarded O'Neal as the first player in the future center position. But he didn't expect that Anfini Hardaway has stolen the limelight in the past two years. O'Neal can't make it with the Magic, but O'Neal went to Los Angeles... and then he has to continue to praise it.

As for Zhang Hao... David Stern knew from the time he was about to win O'Neal that if he used this method to count, Zhang Hao's overall score would definitely not be low.

There is no problem in praising Zhang Hao, but it is not as necessary as praising O'Neal into the 50th.

But we can use this to let Chinese fans understand how outstanding Zhang Hao is in the NBA.

Just as most people don’t even know how powerful China’s economic development is, China has little real understanding of the United States, and David Stern is very clear about this.

Finally got things done, David Stern now only has one idea: "Zhang, O'Neal, you guys have to come on..."

He did this, but if he really picked up these two people, he still had to fight them out by himself.

Otherwise, these 50th and 51st places will only become laughing stocks.

This is a gamble, but David Stern chose to pay attention to the dealer!

...

...

At noon on October 30, Zhang Hao followed the team to New York. After arriving at the hotel, he accepted an exclusive interview with the imperial court station. The imperial court station expressed his regret first. The content of the conversation was like Zhang who didn't make the 50th round and was wrong. Zhang Hao also followed suit. Thinking that the Rockets in the original time and space could not pass the first round, and they were called a championship team by domestic media every year... Just follow suit.

But when asked about the 50th superstars being selected for the 50th superstars in the interview with CNN, Zhang Hao replied: "If I am selected for the 50th this time, you can't accept it? If I am really selected, I can't accept it either. I don't think I am worthy.

But if I didn’t get a 50-shot star in the 20th century until 2000, I think I will definitely be selected.”

After this interview was released by CNK, Zhang Hao ushered in another wave of public opinion bombardment.

This is simply too arrogant, and it will naturally trigger attacks from some media and experts, including attacks from some stars who have the chance to be selected as the top 50 stars but have lost the selection.

But Zhang Hao also took advantage of this wave of popularity and attracted a wave of fans.

Because it is possible that O'Neal has been selected after playing for 4 years without any honors. Zhang Hao has won at least one for a while. In another 4 years, who can say it well? Moreover, the Lakers are a favorite to win the championship and are likely to win the championship in the next four years.

As a Lakers star, huge attention is always accompanied by the breeding of black fans. Moreover, the comprehensive score of the 50 superstars ranked 51st. Zhang Hao was actually caught in the shooting, but he also gained a wave of attention.

Anyway, I am very happy to sponsor brands. Zhang Hao is the top star in the NBA in this era...

...

On the afternoon of the 30th, the Lakers came to Madison Square Garden and began preparing for the opening match with the Knicks the day after tomorrow, November 1.

Except for O'Neal, 14 other Lakers players have come to the away game, including Loomier Robinson and Ben Wallace who are not on the activation list. Veteran Jeromy Colsey is replaced by O'Neal.

Although Loomier Robinson and Ben Wallace did not make the activation list, team training required them.

For players who are patient, actively working hard but not yet have the NBA level strength, it is already great to be able to train with the team. They can receive guidance from NBA coaches and trainers and be able to train with the main NBA players.

Ben Wallace is working hard as a sparring player. From the perspective of defensive awareness and courage to fight, his teammates have already admired him during the training during the preseason, but apart from these two points, he can't do anything, at least not even move on the offensive end. He just wants to snatch, but his body is not strong enough.

So, after finishing the sparring work, Ben Wallace worked hard to do strength training to strengthen muscles.

Zhang Hao also practiced more today. Although he no longer thought about the 50th issue, he still needed to find something to vent his anger, and training is the best way.

After the extra training, Zhang Hao took a shower and saw Ben Wallace, who was sweating profusely.

I wanted to encourage me, but when Zhang Hao saw Ben Wallace, another question arose.

Feeling Zhang Hao's gaze, Ben Wallace looked at Zhang Hao's cold face and asked: "Boss, do you want me to beat O'Neal! Don't worry, I can beat you! In our neighborhood, no one is my opponent in the fight."

In Ben Wallace's opinion, Zhang Hao should be unhappy. The reason for his unhappiness... It is probably only this morning when the Warner Basketball Hall gathered, O'Neal, who threw away the crutch and walked, was still thrusting and thrusting, to show off his 50 superstars.

“…”

Looking at Ben Wallace, Zhang Hao refused to answer the question and asked back: "Ben, how tall are you?"

Why is this reaction? Ben Wallace didn't understand, so he would answer the question first: "Baby feet 6 feet 9 inches, what's wrong with the boss?"

"I'm 6 feet 9 inches too, uh, I'm wearing shoes."

“…”

“…”

Zhang Hao looked down at the opponent who claimed to be naked for 206 cm. Fei said he was Ben Wallace, who was center forward; Ben Wallace looked up at the opponent who claimed to be wearing shoes for 206 cm. Fei said he was Zhang Hao, who said he was power forward, and the two were speechless together.

Ignoring this problem, Zhang Hao took out paper and pen from his backpack in his closet, wrote an address, and handed it to Ben Wallace: "Go and take a shower and ice compress, and call Kenny and Jason later. You can come too and invite you to dinner."

The boss treats guests to dinner! Ben Wallace also chose to ignore the issue of height, and happily go take a shower and then ice it...

...

...

When there is no controversy among 90% of the candidates, ten percent of the candidates are controversial. The more controversy, the higher the attention, the hotter topics, and more discussions.

In fact, O'Neal is not the only one with the 50 superstars in the NBA this time. There are three or four other people who are not stable. As the criticism of O'Neal and Zhang Hao, who is ranked 51, has decreased, the media began to discuss who should not be selected on the list and who are not selected.

People like Dominic Wilkins, Payton and others were not selected, and the topicality brought about is not low.

The missed-out of Zhang Hao's selection, and O'Neal was really selected, which was the key to the public's focus of public opinion when the results of the 50 superstar selection were announced.
To be continued...