Although Link's current status on the team is not as high as Michael Jordan's, his popularity surpasses Michael Jordan's. Furthermore, in terms of speaking power, Link is in no way inferior to Michael Jordan.
Firstly, playing with Link feels very relaxed. Whether it's the Biscuit King Haywood, or Laettner, who often plays two-man games with Link. If it were other teammates, there would definitely not be such good chemistry.
The team's shooter, Hubert Davis, constantly texts and harasses the coaching staff to be able to play with Link.
Secondly, as Link's teammate, the exposure is high. As a rookie blue-collar Center, Haywood's All-Star votes currently rank seventh among Centers. Of course, although Haywood will ultimately miss the All-Star Game, his popularity is so high that even he can't believe it.
In addition, Haywood entering the All-Star Rookie Challenge is basically a sure thing.
The same goes for Laettner. As a member of Dream Team I, he truly became famous at a young age, but after entering the NBA, he was always said to be overrated by the outside world. However, Link's sudden emergence brought this veteran a second spring. Currently, Laettner's All-Star votes rank fourth among Eastern Conference forwards.
Laettner, who has already been an NBA All-Star, doesn't have much expectation for this, but the increase in exposure has led him to receive invitations from several advertising companies recently.
Although the increase in exposure for other players is not as significant as these two, they have more or less entered the sights of many advertisers.
After all, the current Washington Wizards are currently in the top tier of NBA traffic.
...
...
At the same time, on New Year's Day of 2002, the NBA officially announced the Eastern and Western Conference player of the week for the ninth week of the NBA regular season.
Uh...
With Michael Jordan missing 2 games, Link led the team to a 3-2 record and also recorded 2 triple-doubles. Therefore... alas... there was no choice but to once again retain the NBA Eastern Conference player of the week title.
[Personal Career Honors]:
1. player of the week (4 times)
2. rookie of the month (1 time)
3. player of the month (1 time)
The NBA Western Conference player of the week was awarded to the "Big Box Office" - Kevin Garnett.
In another 1-2 days, the NBA will announce the Eastern and Western Conference player of the month for December 2001.
Regarding the player of the month...
Link is again a hot candidate.
At this time, his teammates, who were eating Sweet glutinous rice balls, cultural food, congratulated Link, but also couldn't help but worry.
Is the league promoting Link too much?
Although Link has the qualifications and the ability...
He's not even 18 yet. He'll only just turn 18 at the end of January.
This will undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among other players, and then... some dirty players will inevitably make small moves against Link on the court.
Of course...
He who wishes to wear the crown must bear its weight!
Every superstar has walked this path.
However, Link is used to this. Since participating in the ABCD Training Camp, countless media outlets have desperately praised him. As a result, not only did he not fall, but he also became the number one draft pick in 2001, and even signed a sky-high endorsement contract with Nike.
Although these media outlets were not truly optimistic about Link, many were just after traffic, but Link was able to absorb this traffic well every time.
...
...
"Link... do you want me to return early to help you?" Michael Jordan, who was eating Sweet glutinous rice balls, cultural food at this moment, said with domineering flair.
"Michael, it's okay, you should focus on recovering from your injury," Link waved his hand, and at the same time, didn't forget to PUA Michael Jordan: "Michael, you are our team's nuclear weapon on the high-level stage, you can't just squander it away."
After hearing this, Michael Jordan remained calm on the surface, but inwardly he was delighted.
On January 2, 2002, the Washington Wizards' first opponent in the tenth week of the NBA regular season was the Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics' twin stars, Fat Head Monk "Antoine Walker" and "Paul Pierce," were booed fiercely by the Washington home fans for publicly mocking and questioning Link.
"Hehe, Antoine... I feel like I'm... the protagonist in a movie right now." Paul Pierce grinned after hearing the boos, clearly enjoying the feeling.
He felt he was a superhero, about to defeat Link, this lucky nobody, in front of thousands of fans.
"Dude, go for it boldly... I believe you can defend his shit out tonight," said the Fat Head Monk.
The Boston Celtics' starting lineup: Kenny Anderson, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, and Tony Battie.
Kenny Anderson, the Boston Celtics' main point guard, is only 183cm tall and weighs 81kg. Uh... it's naturally impossible to match him against Link. For this reason, Boston Celtics head coach Jim O'Brien had Paul Pierce primarily defend Link.
As for Joe Johnson, who is 201cm tall, he is a 2001 rookie like Link. However, Link's current offensive ability is by no means something a rookie can defend, unless you are of Tim Duncan's caliber.
On the Washington Wizards' side, Michael Jordan continued to be absent, but tonight, his replacement was not Connet Alexander, but Hubert Davis. Although Hubert Davis, as a pure shooter, has poor defense, Kenny Anderson's footwork is not fast either, so he won't be at a disadvantage against him. As for the Masked Man, he was defending Joe Johnson tonight.
"Hehe..."
"Holy crap!"
"Is Paul Pierce really guarding me?"
Link's eyes lit up when he saw Paul Pierce defending him...
Link, who possesses the [Strongest Background Board] personality badge, gets a huge offensive buff if the name of the player defending him contains "Paul" or "George."
Before the game, Link was still thinking about calling a screen to switch Paul Pierce onto him.
But now, it's not that troublesome...
Link dribbled past half-court, exchanged the ball with Laettner, and facing Paul Pierce's tight defense, connected an outside catch with a face-up triple threat.
Go!
"Wow!"
Such a simple and decisive shot not only drew gasps from the fans but also stunned his teammates on the court.
Are you kidding me?
This is too reckless!
We know Paul Pierce said a lot of nasty things before the game, but you don't need to be so impulsive.
Team head coach Doug Collins secretly thought, "I need to call a timeout quickly and let Link calm down..."
With a "swish!" the basketball went through the net without touching the rim.
"Good shot!"
"Truly worthy of Link..."
"This is the courage of a superstar."
Doug Collins on the bench said to his assistant coach Larry Drew.