Thomas is participating in his final All-Star Game of his career.
Just a few years ago, this Pistons leader was making waves in the league.
In just a year or two, with the decline of the Pistons, his presence in the league has faded.
Chuck Daly resigned and left, Lambier aged, and Melvin Turpin started gaining weight.
In fact, the core framework of the Pistons is still there, and Thomas is only 31, supposedly at the peak of a player’s career.
But ever since he was excluded from the Dream Team by Jordan and others during the 1992 Olympics, Thomas lost his spirit.
Coupled with the league’s suppression, the Pistons’ notorious style of play was stifled, and they were completely out of the championship race.
The smile on his face wasn’t as charming as before, and this year, the Pistons are even struggling to make it to the playoffs.
When Gan Guoyang went to Detroit for a game, he could feel that the Pistons, like the city, were heading toward decline.
Bill Lambier’s trash talk and antics seemed so soft and meaningless.
Like a child’s tantrum, Gan Guoyang didn’t even bother to get entangled with them.
Isiah Thomas didn’t play long during the game.
Pat Riley quickly substituted him out, putting in Mark Price.
Price and Jordan were an outstanding pairing; Jordan played very aggressively tonight.
In response, Gan Guoyang also unleashed his full potential during his limited playing time.
Especially in the crucial and pivotal moments of the game.
Facing Jordan’s outstanding shooting touch tonight, the West Team was already trailing.
Gan Guoyang started running pick-and-rolls with Stockton.
Three consecutive attacks with pick-and-rolls at the top of the arc, Gan Guoyang cut inside twice to score and once stepped out for a three-pointer, making it!
This three-pointer tied the score for the Western All-Star Team!
With Jordan missing the last shot, the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Jordan and Gan Guoyang began trading points again.
Jordan delivered a beautiful pass to Olajuwon.
Olajuwon scored with a hook shot.
Gan Guoyang immediately completed an alley-oop with Stockton.
Dunked with both hands, overtaking the score.
The competition reached a fever pitch.
Both teams consisted of the league’s top stars.
Especially Gan Guoyang, Jordan, Olajuwon, and Barkley.
In terms of personal offensive skills, they are among the best in history.
The two teams put on a high-quality offensive and defensive battle.
The coaches of both teams also got serious, deploying and adjusting players.
Riley put in his favorite Drexler, making Pippen play the power forward position to help defend Ah Gan.
Gan Guoyang blocked Olajuwon’s turnaround jumper in defense.
Then directly took the ball for a fast break, evading Jordan’s steal.
Long pass to the frontcourt, Charles Barkley received the pass, pushing through the defense to score a layup.
Jordan immediately broke through and dished the ball, Drexler received the pass and hit a three-pointer!
This guy Drexler has been improving his three-point shooting.
This season, despite his overall form being average, he delivered the best three-point shooting performance of his career.
Then Pippen helped Olajuwon double-team Gan Guoyang, causing his jump shot to miss.
A counterattack by the Eastern Team, Jordan deftly dribbled past defenders and cut through the middle.
Reggie Lewis came charging in from the flank, tipping Jordan’s shot in mid-air.
Stockton grabbed the ball and quickly counterattacked, with the Eastern Team leading by 1 point.
The Western Team had the opportunity to hit the game-winner.
Gan Guoyang and Karl Malone were both sprinting forward.
Stockton hesitated a moment and then decided on a long pass, still giving it to Karl Malone.
Malone caught the ball, drove straight to the basket for a flying layup, but was blocked by the trailing Olajuwon!
However, Gan Guoyang rushed in, grabbed the offensive rebound, and tipped it in!
Only 2.1 seconds were left on the clock, making it hard to organize another play.
The biggest issue was that the Eastern All-Star team was out of timeouts.
In overtime, Riley had used two timeouts.
One to set up tactics and one for substitutions.
But Riley seemed to forget, after all, it was the All-Star game.
With no one from the coaching staff reminding him he was out of timeouts.
So he called another timeout, leading to the referee calling a technical foul on him.
After the timeout, Riley finally realized, with a look of regret, that he was out of timeouts.
According to current rules, the Western Team got two free throws and possession.
Now the Eastern Team was completely out of hope.
Gan Guoyang took free throws for the Western Team and made both.
His score at the moment reached 28 points, the highest on the team.
His score surpassed Karl Malone’s.
According to tradition, this All-Star MVP would go to Gan Guoyang.
After making the second free throw, the Western Team inbounded the ball.
Stockton got the ball, and the game then ended.
The Western Team defeated the Eastern Team 134:131, winning by 3 points.
This All-Star Game could arguably be the most exciting in recent years.
Both sides were serious, showcasing extremely high levels of offense and defense.
Even though the Salt Lake City fans weren’t happy with Ah Gan once again stealing the MVP.
But the thrilling nature of the game still earned applause and cheers from the fans.
When it came time for the award ceremony, David Stern gave everyone a surprise.
He announced that tonight’s All-Star MVP would be awarded to two players.
One was Gan Guoyang, who scored the team’s highest with 28 points.
The other was Stockton, who achieved the game’s highest with 15 assists.
The two college classmates shared this All-Star MVP.
This was the second time in NBA history that an All-Star MVP was shared.
The last time was in 1959 when the Lakers’ Elgin Baylor and the Hawks’ Bob Pettit jointly held the AMVP trophy.