Champions Creed

Chapter 123 122: The possibility of surpassing Michael in all aspects (asking for monthly tickets!)

Michael Jordan passed away peacefully.

He originally thought that after going through so much trouble to wear Harper down, he would be able to turn the tide in the fourth quarter.

But who could have thought that Roger would take the initiative and completely break through that layer of membrane.

There is no longer even a shred of privacy between him and Roger!

Since Roger started defending Jordan, Jordan only had one open play goal in the following game.

It was the first time that Roger discovered that snatching the head of a low-health person was such a refreshing thing!

A Michael Jordan, whose physical strength was almost exhausted, was the most fun toy Roger had ever played with.

You can torture him while enjoying his seductive expression of gritting his teeth after missing a shot. If you add a sweet word in his ear at this time, "Michael, you're as bad as Scott," he will bite his lips, which will make you unable to stop.

To be honest, Jordan could tolerate all the trash talk Roger said before.

But this sentence "You play as badly as Scott" is equivalent to Li Kai's criticism of Doncic in the playoffs, "You play like my teammate Wang Zhelin." This is really too dirty! If Li Kai's criticism is like this, the Timberwolves may enter the finals!
Because it’s really humiliating!

Pippen really played badly today. He was able to seize open opportunities in the first half, but after his physical strength declined in the fourth quarter, he started to miss shots in wide open positions.

This is the purpose of leaving Pippen open. You don't really expect him to help you on the offensive end, do you?

Jordan was locked up, Pippen missed a lot of shots, and the Chicago Bulls lost 87-99 to the Magic without Shaq.

Suffered the second loss of the season!
Jordan scored 22 points but his shooting percentage was only 34%.

Roger scored 31 points with a shooting percentage of 43%.

Neither of them scored very high.

I thought Roger and Jordan would score very high in today's scoring title battle, but I didn't expect that both champions played like a fish pond - Jordan was the fish and Roger was responsible for frying the fish.

The moment the game ended, Jordan immediately walked off the court in anger. According to what he said last season, the end of the regular season can only be regarded as the end of part of the battle, not the end of the entire campaign, so he will not shake hands with the Magic before the end of the campaign.

But tonight, even Jordan himself admitted that he left quickly not only because the battle was not over, but also because it was too embarrassing!
Jordan would never have thought that he would have such a bad shooting percentage today.

What he didn't expect was that at the last moment, he was locked up by Roger!

Although the Magic's successful defense of Jordan today was not Roger's credit alone, people will only remember the last person who contained Jordan in the game.

People will only remember that Roger completely dominated the game in the fourth quarter.

People will only remember that the once omnipotent Michael Jordan was defeated in all aspects by Roger today!

With a record of 20 wins and 1 loss, Michael Jordan finally got back on track this season. But now, he has once again become Roger's stepping stone!
In the post-match interview, Roger was almost praised to the sky.

The Bulls had Scott, Dennis, and Michael, but Roger didn't have Shark. What happened? Three against one, but they got killed. Do you know how to play? -- An Orlando fan at the scene yelled at the camera.

What player can score 31 points, grab 5 rebounds, send 6 assists, and hand over 3 steals and 3 blocks? Roger can do it. You all say he is a scorer. In fact, he can dominate the game in all aspects. The title of scorer is an underestimation of him. ——Brian Hill talked about Roger's all-around data today.

Michael is overrated, Roger is the real god of basketball. Although Roger has only one championship so far, considering his age, I think there is nothing wrong with me saying this. ——Saru first proposed the important modern basketball theory of "one championship surpassing Jordan" in front of the media.

Of course, there are also many people defending themselves.

Without me, Roger might be able to handle the Bulls, the Eastern Conference runner-up. But with me, we are the real championship team. I know 99% of Magic fans miss me, don't worry, Big Aristotle will be back soon. - O'Neal answered Roger's thoughts on winning the Bulls alone.

It was a mistake for the Magic to leave me open, and everyone could see that! My touch was a little off in the last quarter, but we lost today for many reasons, not just because of the score! - Scott Pippen on his 5-for-1 shooting in the fourth quarter.

I don't want to talk about what happened in the fourth quarter alone, because the Magic did a good job defending me throughout the game, not just in the fourth quarter. Don't make it sound like Roger killed me alone! - Jordan tried hard to emphasize that he was not killed by Roger alone. He didn't want to leave such an impression on reporters.

However, Roger himself did not intend to take all the credit for himself.

In an interview, he also mentioned the contributions of his teammates.

"Roger, your defense against Michael today was very successful, and the whole world saw your strength on the defensive end. How did you limit his shooting percentage to less than 40%? I believe this is a question that the entire league wants to know the answer to."

"It wasn't me, it was us. You have to put it in the news, we guarded Michael Jordan. The whole team contributed to guarding Michael, I was just one part of it."

"Then let's talk about your part. Today, your double-teaming of Michael was always very timely. Why were you always able to rush to Michael's side in the first place? How did you predict his movements?"

Roger laughed: "It has nothing to do with prediction, it's all about trust. Because Scott and I were teammates, I trust Scott immensely, without a trace of hesitation. I can trust him very much, throw him into the open space, and then double-team Michael. This is the secret of how I can always double-team him. Other teams that are trying to limit Michael can also try to trust Scott. He won't let you down."

The reporters burst into laughter. God knew how Roger shifted the topic to Pippen so naturally and criticized him to pieces without using a single dirty word.

Ben Osborne, an intern reporter for Slam Dunk Magazine, attended his first NBA post-game press conference today. In his first interview, he wrote: "Scott Pippen will always live in Roger's shadow. This is just one of those times."

The future editor-in-chief of Slam Dunk magazine made his prediction early on.

This victory was of great significance to Roger because he proved that even if the Bulls had a very competitive lineup and even if he didn't have Shaq by his side, he still had the strength to defeat Michael Jordan.

There is no doubt that this game was a heavy blow to Jordan.

The blow to Nike was also significant.

In this game, Nike even specially arranged for Jordan to wear Penny's signature shoes. This was the first time that Jordan wore someone else's shoes to play in a game. Nike wanted to use this as a gimmick, hoping that after Jordan won this highly anticipated game, it would be able to save the sales of the Penny series of sneakers.

Traffic, live streaming, and selling goods, this business model was already very mature in the 90s.

Nike did this because it felt that there was no suspense in this game. The result? After the game, Sports Illustrated complained: "Michael wore a pair of loser's shoes to play the game last night, so his failure was doomed early on."

In other words, Jordan's promotion failed!
He failed to set Penny's shoes on fire, but instead brought them into a pit.

Not only did he fail to make Hardaway's shoes popular, but his own influence also suffered a huge impact.

Seeing Reebok's sales getting better and better under the leadership of O'Neal and Truth III, Nike could no longer tolerate it.

Because Nike had a chance to get Roger. Just think about it, if Roger and Jordan were both under Nike, the power of Nike basketball would be terrifyingly strong now.

Nike could have dominated the basketball world early on, but it all fell apart because of a stupid signing.

This was clearly a mistake, and at this point, someone within Nike must be held accountable for it.

The morning after the second game between the Magic and the Bulls, in Beaverton, Oregon, less than 40 minutes' drive from Portland.

A reporter interviewed Larry Miller, the vice president of basketball, who was walking to Nike headquarters: "What do you think about Michael Jordan's declining influence? Will Roger really become or even surpass Michael?"

Larry Miller admitted in his heart that what the reporter said was true. Michael Jordan was still the most influential player in the world, but there was no doubt that his influence was declining.

But as an executive of Nike's basketball department, Larry Miller naturally could not admit this fact.

What's more, he is one of the candidates for president of Jordan, an independent brand.

He will work with Jordan very deeply in the future, so he has to praise Jordan to the sky even if he has to hold his nose.

"Michael Jordan's posters are something that every African-American and white child's room has, besides Star Wars posters. That's Michael's influence. His influence will not decline even after 100 years," Larry Miller replied.

Finally, he added: "Roger will never reach Michael's level, ever!"

After that, he confidently walked into Nike headquarters to attend today's meeting.

Three hours later, Nike announced that Larry Miller had been fired.

Someone is responsible for the loss of Roger.

Larry Miller is like director Lou Ye, who wanted to flatter a horse but ended up flattering the horse's hemorrhoids.

The next day, Roger learned from his agent Fleischer that Reebok wanted to hold a development meeting for Truth IV in the near future and hoped that Roger could attend.

Roger was a little surprised. After all, the third generation of Truth had just been released not long ago and had not suffered a sales setback.

Why is it that we have to hold a fourth-generation development meeting so soon?

Although it was a bit unusual, Roger agreed.

Sneakers are considered the most important peripheral products of a star player, and sneaker contracts are often the largest commercial contracts a star can get, so Roger has always been very concerned about this.

Two days later, Roger flew to Canton, Massachusetts on a private jet arranged by Reebok.

This is where Reebok's headquarters are located.

The person who came to greet Roger was Todd Klinsky, president of Reebok Basketball Division: "Thank you for taking the time to attend this meeting. Let's go, I'll show you the new office building we are building. It's named after you, Roger Building!"

"All these fancy and useless things." Roger complained in his mind.

"That's great," Roger's mouth replied.

"We are also planning to build a statue for you under the building, but we don't know what shape or pose you want the statue to have."

"Can you make a statue that steps over Michael Jordan?"

"No problem, it's just that the pressure from the legal and security departments might be very great." Todd joked. Yes, Roger began to like this guy in front of him. He was not the kind of rigid old man with no sense of humor.

Wearing a hard hat and a reflective vest, Roger visited the office building under construction that was named after him.

When Roger passed by a full-length mirror and saw his appearance, he was stunned.

In the past, I mentioned Foreman Du just for fun, but now I’m just looking in the mirror!

It was the first time that Roger discovered that he also had the temperament of a foreman!
After visiting Roger's Building, Roger went to the conference room with Todd.

"Todd, I'm curious, why is this meeting so urgent? The third generation has just been released."

"Because a new person has recently come to our basketball department, he may be able to help us change the current situation. So the plan for the fourth generation must be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

"New character? Did you sign Michael Jordan?"

"Yes and no."

"Hey, Todd, you should be glad you don't live in Gotham."

"why?"

"Because Batman will tell the Riddler to get out."

"Then say thank you to Bruce Wayne for not killing him."

The two men walked into the conference room while joking around, where several Reebok executives were already waiting.

They would not complain about waiting for Roger, because the entire Reebok knew that Roger's position was special and he was Reebok's only weapon to compete with Nike.

No matter how high-ranking the executive is, he has to wait for Roger, but Roger does not need to wait for anyone. This is a privilege that belongs only to him.

That's right, Shaq didn't get that treatment either.

In the summer of 93, when Todd advocated signing Roger with a $2000 million contract, many objections arose within Reebok. It was too risky to bet $2000 million on a high school student. In the end, Todd used a "bonus clause" to make up the contract amount to $2000 million, and the board of directors gave him the green light.

But now, no one would question this signing. Not to mention questioning, every Reebok executive was respectful to Roger.

Roger was familiar with these senior executives, after all, they had to meet each other in every meeting. But the appearance of one of them surprised Roger a little. Haha, Reebok really brought a part of Michael Jordan over.

"Roger, nice to meet you." The face that surprised Roger was Larry Miller, who had been fired a few days ago. He walked over to Roger in a friendly manner and shook hands with him.

Roger leaned back in his chair, not intending to reach out: "Why, is this guy here just to tell me how great Michael Jordan is?"

Todd Klinsky immediately smoothed things over: "Larry is our man now, or he has the potential to become our man."

Larry Miller, one of the leaders of a rival company, is now in trouble. Todd has three options to deal with him: treat him to a meal, behead him, or keep him as a dog.

He chose the last option.

"Our people? Our people won't criticize me in front of the media." Roger didn't look at Larry Miller well. It wasn't that he held a grudge, he just wanted to show off his power here a little bit.

The taste of power is truly addictive.

More addictive than money.

Besides, Roger himself is not the kind of perfect nice guy who opens his arms to everyone.

In the past, you criticized me in front of the media every other day, and now you say we are one of us?
Not that easy.

A real man cannot take what he said as spilled water, and cannot just pretend that nothing happened. Then, who often speaks as fart? Larry Miller said two days ago that Roger will never reach Michael's level.

Larry Miller knew what Roger meant. He put his hands on his pants and bowed to Roger: "I apologize for all my previous remarks."

Great, that's what Roger wanted.

The first rule of working at Reebok is to respect Roger.

Roger then shook hands with Larry Miller and said, "Did you defect? ​​Oh yeah, I seemed to have seen a glimpse of the news yesterday. You were kicked out of Nike, and then you came here to beg for food."

"We call it talent acquisition, Roger," Todd laughed.

"Because you chose Penny instead of me, you are the one responsible for this, right?" Roger continued.

"I think that's why, but damn, I didn't advocate giving you a contract lower than pennies, I advocated further negotiation. But you know, this kind of thing is not up to me alone. It was people at a higher level than me who made the decision to give up on you, and now they want me to take the blame!" Larry Miller immediately defended himself.

"Okay Larry, I'm not interested in your misjudgment. So this time you came here to prove that Nike made a mistake in kicking you out, right?"

"That's right! I hope to expand the Truth series into an independent brand and serve as the brand president! Believe me, Roger, I can make your sneakers as popular as AJ!" Larry Miller's eyes were firm, and it could be seen that he really wanted to take revenge on Nike.

Todd spoke up. “In fact, that’s why we asked you to come to the meeting, Roger. I thought we should hear what this guy has to say.”

"I agree. By the way, Linda, can you give me a cup of coffee?" Roger smiled at his assistant, Kuris, who was standing beside him. She was always there when they came here for meetings, so Roger was already very familiar with her.

Larry Miller immediately walked to the whiteboard in the conference room and began to express his ideas:

"First of all, after the brand becomes independent, we should directly name the sneakers the Roger series. Just like Jordan, naming them directly after their names is the best way to increase brand awareness."

Todd disagreed: "What basketball fan doesn't know that Truth is Roger and Roger is Truth? I think the name Truth is very unique and it's a great name for a sneaker."

"That's the problem!" Larry Miller smiled triumphantly, as if he had been waiting for Todd to ask this.

"You see, before AJ, no one would go out on the street wearing basketball shoes. But now? Young people are embarrassed to attend a party with their female classmates if they don't have a pair of AJ. AJ is not only a basketball shoe, but also a fashion item. That's why it is popular!
You have seen a woman wearing black stockings over AJ, but have you ever seen anyone wearing black stockings over Truth III?
We can't just focus on the basketball market!

Those who watched the game knew that the truth was Roger, but those who didn't watch the game might not know that.

You named it after the truth, so consumers thought it was some unknown brand."

Roger nodded: "You are right, but these things are known to the whole world, but no one can replicate the glory of AJ. How do you make my sneakers a fashion item?"

"Designer! Everything is about the sneaker design!

Designers from all fields of Reebok can come to me to sign up and join the design team of Roger brand. But they have to go through selection first, because I only need the elites and will never accept rubbish.

I have had good personal training with many designers who used to work for Nike, and I believe they would like to follow my footsteps.”

Over the next hour, Larry Miller spoke in detail about how to make Roger's personal brand bigger and stronger.

It can be seen that he came prepared.

In fact, in order to become the president of the Jordan brand, Larry Miller did a lot of homework and planning.

Now that Nike is no longer needed, he can use all the preparations on Reebok.

But in the end, he told the truth: "But all our ideas are based on your strong personal influence, Roger. Therefore, maintaining your suppression of Michael is the key to everything."

Roger calmly drank his coffee and said, "That's the part you don't need to worry about the least."

After the meeting, Todd personally took Roger to the hotel.

In the car, he asked Roger for his advice: "What do you think of him?"

"You can give it a try. He has been deeply involved in the operation of Nike's basketball department and has successful experience."

"So, our contract."

"There are still two years left, Todd, don't rush."

When they arrived at the hotel, the driver told Roger something: "Sir, the assistant named Linda at the meeting left me her phone number and asked me to give it to you. She also asked if it would be convenient for you to meet her alone. She said that she not only knows how to make coffee, but also knows some Thai massage."

Roger waved his hand without looking back: "Tell Linda that I'm busy learning French recently."

Back at the hotel, Roger turned on the TV and watched the advertisement for his own third generation of Truth, deep in thought.

If you want to surpass Jordan in all aspects, you must also be able to compete with him in business.

In this history, Roger caused Larry Miller, the original president of the Jordan brand, to jump to Reebok by accident, which might really be the beginning of a butterfly effect.

But what Larry Miller said was right, maintaining the suppression on Michael is the key to everything.

Roger must fulfill this condition in order to avoid becoming a pitiful shadow under the shining light of Michael Jordan like the superstars in the original history!
The possibility of surpassing Michael in all aspects is growing!
-
Larry Miller officially joins Reebok team! The biggest transfer in the sporting goods industry! ? ——The New York Times

Shaquille O'Neal is about to return to the Christmas game, and the defending champions will soon show their full strength! ——Orlando Satellite News.

French model Laetitia Costa and Roger appeared together in many scenic spots including Disneyland. What is their relationship? Friends? Or lovers? Nothing is off-limits for voting, make your guess! - Orlando Sentinel

Roger is undoubtedly the greatest player alive. Michael's reign is shaky, and everyone can see it. Didn't I say that last week? Man, I couldn't tell the truth last week. -- Larry Miller in an interview with USA Today

I repeat, one-on-one, Roger is no match for me. -- Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 36 points and led his team to defeat the Phoenix Suns, told reporters.

(End of this chapter)