NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

Malone stepped up, but Zhao Dong hit him with a quick first step, forcing him to back off. With that space, Zhao pulled up right on the spot, smooth as hell.

He was locked in but still loose—letting that 93-rated jumper do all the work. The second the ball left his fingertips, he knew.

If you got it, you got it. What's a rookie got to lose? A rookie's only job is to take shots and make people remember.

Before the ball even dropped, Zhao Dong turned, flashed an OK sign, and started jogging back.

"Ohhh!"

The crowd saw it. The cameras caught it. The disrespect was crazy.

"Swish!"

The net barely even moved.

Karl Malone's face turned brick red. Just like Barkley earlier, he felt that sting, that humiliation.

"Bang!"

The whole arena exploded in cheers.

"I KNEW IT! I knew this kid was gonna start some shit!" Doug Collins shouted, hyped.

"A jumper without a defender is meaningless Here he goes again!" Marv Albert roared.

"Ohhh, I'm tryna do that too!" Shaq hollered from the bench.

"Next time we play the Bulls, I'm pulling that on Jordan," Kobe muttered, eyes locked in.

Reggie Miller, one of the coldest three-point shooters alive, grinned. He was already plotting to pull that same move on MJ if he got the chance.

"Hahaha…"

Over in China, Zhang Heli and Sun Zhenping were laughing so hard they forgot to keep up with commentary.

"Zhao Dong's move is too damn cold!"

"Zhao Dong! Do that to Jordan next!"

Back across the Pacific, Chinese fans were going wild.

As the crowd settled, Zhao Dong walked right up to Malone and dropped his now-famous line:

"A shot without a defender is meaningless. Thanks for giving my shot a meaning."

"MOTHERF—"

Karl Malone clenched his jaw, his whole body tense. But there wasn't shit he could do about it.

At the same time, NBA Commissioner David Stern's assistant, Russ, made his way over to the West bench. He leaned in close to head coach Rudy Tomjanovich and whispered:

"Mr. Stern said not to let things get out of hand."

"I got it."

Then Russ walked over to the East bench and told Phil Jackson the same thing.

A few plays later, Phil Jackson yanked Zhao Dong out and subbed in Chris Webber.

"Man, fuck outta here with that."

Zhao Dong shot Phil Jackson a cold stare before taking a seat on the bench.

Five minutes later, Tomjanovich pulled Karl Malone, and Jackson subbed Zhao Dong back in.

MJ wasn't on the floor, and nobody was passing to Zhao. So? Screw 'em. He played his own way.

Two plays later, he snatched an offensive rebound and went straight at Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon.

"GET UP!"

Hakeem tried to swat it, but Zhao Dong switched it up mid-air, flipping the ball off the glass behind him.

Hakeem turned to recover—too late.

Zhao Dong exploded back up, caught the board, and dunked it right over his head.

"BOOM!"

The whole damn arena shook.

"OH MY GOD! ZHAO DONG JUST MURDERED HAKEEM!" Doug Collins screamed.

"DAMN, man! This is the All-Star Game!" Hakeem barked, pissed off.

"Man, you tried to block me. What, I ain't allowed to dunk you into the ground?" Zhao shot back, grinning.

Hakeem just glared.

A few plays later, he got benched for Kevin Garnett.

The pace of the game was insane. Latrell Sprewell checked in, took the ball full court, and pulled up for a contested three.

Zhao Dong tracked the shot immediately—it was short. He sprinted to the rebound, snatched it, and turned on the jets.

Kevin Garnett saw it coming and matched his speed.

The crowd buzzed—two big men sprinting full speed, one chasing, one attacking.

Zhao Dong hit the paint first. One step from the free-throw line, he took off.

WHAM!

A tomahawk slam dunk that shook the damn stadium.

FIRST QUARTER STATS:

6 minutes played

5 rebounds

4-5 FG (1 three-pointer) → 9 points

SECOND QUARTER STATS:

5 minutes played

3 rebounds

2-3 FG → 4 points

THIRD QUARTER STATS:

4 minutes played

2 rebounds

1-2 FG → 2 points

After 15 minutes total, Zhao Dong had 15 points, 10 rebounds.

And then… Phil Jackson never put him back in.

The game ended. History didn't change—Glen Rice caught fire in the second half, dropping 20 in the third quarter, 26 total, and snatched the All-Star MVP.

But history did change.

Jordan didn't get his triple-double.

14 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists—two rebounds short.

And guess whose 10 rebounds made that happen?

Zhao Dong knew.

Walking past MJ, he grinned.

"Hey, Mr. Jordan. My first All-Star numbers are better than yours. What happened to all that talk?"

Jordan's eyes turned ice-cold.

"Rookie, you tryna provoke me?"

"Nope," Zhao said. "I'm tryna bury you."

Jordan's jaw clenched. "Every rookie who tried me regretted it."

"Yeah? You ain't done it yet."

"I will. Next game, kid? I'll teach you a lesson."

Zhao smirked. "Last game, you dropped 58, and you still couldn't kill me. So what now? You gonna hit 80? 100?"

"I'll get as many as I want."

The media caught it all. The beef between them was officially public.

But that wasn't even the biggest story.

The real headlines?

Jordan and Phil Jackson blackballed Zhao Dong.

"Zhao Dong, a starter, played only 15 minutes—the least of ANY All-Star. He got ZERO touches. Who's behind it?" – The New York Times

"Twelve years ago, MJ got iced out of an All-Star Game. Today? He iced out Zhao Dong." – The New York Daily News

New York media tore Jordan apart. Phil Jackson caught heat too.

The war had officially begun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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