Champions Creed

Chapter 131 130: I won't let you fight alone anymore (ask for monthly ticket)

The two sides talked it out and drew a clear bottom line for each other.

As long as this bottom line is not touched, Roger, the sharks and the management can coexist well for the time being.

In Roger's view, this is the basic condition for the team to win two consecutive championships.

Now, everyone can focus on basketball.

Roger's first defeat after joining forces with the Shark came earlier than people expected.

On January 96, 1, in the fourth game after Shark's comeback, the Orlando Magic lost to the Seattle SuperSonics on the road.

The Supersonics did not win by relying on their defense, which they were proud of, but by three-pointers.

萨姆.帕金斯三分4中4，赫西.霍金斯7中5，内特.麦克米兰3中2，文森特.阿斯库4中3。

The SuperSonics were at their home court, inheriting Seattle's perpetually rainy weather, and it started raining three-pointers.

The magical three-point shooting, coupled with the Sonics' consecutive kills against the Sharks in the final moments, allowed them to win the game with a 5-point advantage.

But in the interview after the game, Payton boasted about his defense: "The difference between today and the opening game is that the coach asked me to defend Roger at the beginning of the game. I defended him the whole time today, and I succeeded. If there is anyone in the world who can defend Roger, it is me! Only I am not afraid to compete with him!"

Payton, who allowed Roger to score 51 points with a 31% shooting percentage, said proudly.

Now Roger knows why Jordan will have the “old man, sofa, tablet” emoticon package in the future.

This kind of ordinary letter from Payton is just like the ordinary letter that asks you "Baby, is it big?" It is really easy to make people laugh.

Only a genius could understand where Payton got his confidence from, but in competitive sports, the winner can brag about himself however he wants.

Roger did not refute Payton, he just responded calmly: "I wish you stay healthy before the finals, I hope to see you there."

This response made Payton very happy. Look, even Roger admitted that we are a finals-level team!

Payton, who has never won a championship, doesn't know that admitting that you have the ability to play in the finals is not something to be happy about. Because losing in the finals is the real number one loser.

When Roger lost to the Rockets in the 1994 Finals, more people cursed Roger than Shaq.

But in fact, the Sharks were eliminated in the first round, and Roger, who made it to the finals, was scolded badly.

This is the consequence of losing in the finals.

People won't remember those who lose in the first round, but they will remember those who lose in the finals for a long time.

Only by winning the championship can you gain real respect. Just playing in the finals is not an honor.

Payton was happy about what Roger said, but there was one person who was angry about what Roger said.

The next day, January 1, the Chicago Bulls easily defeated the Milwaukee Bucks at home.

After winning this game, the Bulls' record has become a terrifying 28 wins and 3 losses!
The Bulls have been firmly holding the title of No. 1 in the league since the beginning of the season.

There is also more and more discussion about 70 wins.

Michael Jordan was not excited about this: "If we can achieve an unprecedented 70 wins, I will be very satisfied. But it doesn't matter if we can't do it. I don't care about history. I just want a championship. The season has only started for two months, and some people already think they can enter the finals. He seems to have forgotten who is the team with the best record in the East."

I don’t know if Jordan really doesn’t care about 70 wins, but he definitely cares about Roger.

He had lost to the Pistons three times in a row before, but that did not affect his becoming a legend. Instead, it became a chapter that people talked about on his way to becoming a legend.

But now Michael Jordan can't lose to the same opponent in the playoffs consecutively, because no one has beaten him after the three consecutive championships and in the finals, and their status is different.

As a challenger, he was allowed to fail repeatedly.

But now as a ruler, any consecutive failures would mean destruction.

After losing to the Magic last season, Jordan's influence and commercial value began to decline.

The influence and commercial value between the Michael Jordan who announced his comeback in 1994 and the Michael Jordan who was swept away by shame in 1995 is almost as different as that of Shaquille O'Neal.

If we lose again this season, it’s hard to imagine what will happen.

Maybe it would take two Shaquille O'Neals!
What does it mean that the Bulls failed to make the finals for two consecutive years after losing Roger? What kind of infamy will Jordan bear?
For Jordan, this season is a real do-or-die battle.

So he cares about Roger a lot and he responds to everything Roger says.

Roger was not to be outdone: "Who will remember the regular season first place? People will only remember the championship. And the person who forced the team to send away the FMVP."

The struggle between Roger and Jordan always made the relationship between the Magic and the Bulls full of tension.

At this pace, other Eastern Conference teams are particularly unlucky.

Many people have probably heard this saying: When there is competition between the first and the second, the third is often the one that suffers the most.

Now, the Bulls and Magic are competing, and the other teams in the league are the ones that suffer.

The Bulls and Magic conquered one city after another with almost overwhelming force.

The Bulls are still unstoppable, and Roger and the Shark are also invincible after combining.

For most teams, they have become just a number on the records of the Magic and the Bulls.

The two sides even competed in the All-Star Game.

At last year's All-Star Game, Michael Jordan intended to freeze Roger, but Roger ended up winning the AMVP instead.

This year, Jordan didn't do any of that fancy stuff; he decided to dominate the game on his own.

From the beginning, Jordan played very seriously. He seemed to treat this All-Star game as a real competition instead of a game.

In the end, Jordan scored 72 points with a terrifying hit rate of 26% and won the AMVP trophy as he wished.

Jordan needed a dominant season, so he didn't miss any award.

After the All-Star Game, the two teams continued to make great strides in their performance. Finally, on February 2, the two sides met for the third time this season.

In this encounter, the Chicago Bulls had the last laugh.

Because Roger, the only person who could be called a friend on this Bulls team, made 8 of 6 shots from beyond the three-point line!
Horace Grant has been in good shape since returning from injury, but it is difficult for him to help defend Jordan while taking into account Kukoc outside the three-point line.

With the help of Kukoc, the Bulls won 109-104.

As of this game, the Bulls' record against the Magic this season is 2 to 1.

It's much more respectable than last season's 0-4.

There was another episode in this game, that is, O'Neal and Rodman almost had a conflict several times.

It goes without saying that Rodman did everything he could to defend against O'Neal, and all kinds of small moves were aimed at the shark.

When the shark hit him, he fell. When the shark jumped, he pulled.

O'Neal is not the kind of person who will swallow his anger. He has quarreled and even pushed Rodman many times.

The two sides were already full of resentment, and Rodman's joining the Bulls undoubtedly threw a time bomb in the already disharmonious relationship between the two teams.

The fight between the two sides in the first game of the season was caused by Rodman's foul on Roger.

The shark is another time bomb. He will never tolerate people with bad intentions.
With Rodman and Shaq, the atmosphere of the game was on the verge of getting out of control all the time.

Fortunately, both sides controlled their anger today and did not fight again.

Jordan has also been warning Rodman: "Don't go too far, Dennis, I don't want to see any conflict. The only thing we need to take away is victory!"

At that moment, Dumas on the side admired his old friend Michael very much.

Not everyone can stay calm in this situation. Michael is indeed the greatest player.

It's so funny. If Dumars' eyes were also implanted with titanium alloy, he could be as calm as Jordan.

After winning the game, Rodman did not forget to continue to criticize in the post-match interview: "That Shark was only able to win the championship because of Roger. Look, even I can prevent the little fish from missing shots. This is why the Magic did not renew his contract. If I were the boss, I would not give 120 million to a loser who always drags the team down because of free throws at critical moments."

O'Neal was so angry that he vowed to make Rodman leave lying down in the next game!

The victory in this game gave Jordan great self-confidence. First, he had not been defeated twice by anyone this season. Second, it proved that the full-body Magic was not invincible.

并且这场胜利也让公牛更加接近70胜，他们目前的战绩是49胜6负，魔术是46胜9负。

Jordan knew very well that once he achieved 70 wins, the regular season MVP would be almost certain to win.

If he wins AMVP, MVP, and then FMVP, he will definitely be able to reverse his reputation and become the king of the basketball world again!

The Magic were not discouraged by the loss to the Bulls.

In the following March, Roger and O'Neal continued to add more wins to the team.

But by April, the Magic were in trouble again, and it was again related to the Sharks.

On April 4, the day before the Magic's game against the New York Knicks, O'Neal and Roger went to Newark, New Jersey to visit Grandma Odessa as usual.

She was already dying, and there were more medical equipment in her room. The cold machines beeped, making the room lifeless.

The personal doctor told Shark bluntly: "She won't make it past eight o'clock the next night."

That night, O'Neal stayed by his grandmother's side, holding her hand and chatting with her.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, grandma urged O'Neal to go back: "Go, LaShawn, you still have a game tomorrow."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Go ahead, do you want to have a fight with me?"

These were the last words his grandmother said to him.

Since then, Grandma Odessa has fallen into a deep sleep.

Apart from the fact that she still had vital signs, she was no different from a dead person.

After Brian Hill learned of the situation, he allowed Shark to take a leave, but Roger had to rush back to play the game.

The next night, Roger led his team to easily defeat the New York Knicks.

The Knicks had already waived Nelson, who was supposed to replace Riley, and traded away many of their main players to free up salary space. As the major media said, this meant they had given up on this season. The morale and fighting spirit of the entire team were completely different from before.

So it was not difficult for the Magic to win, and it was not as difficult as it was in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

Roger scored 36 points and continued to lead the league in scoring. During the period when Shark returned, Roger did not fall off the scoring list.

But Roger didn't care about these. After the game, the Magic immediately boarded a flight to Boston. They will face the Celtics back-to-back tomorrow.

But Roger was not among them, as he headed to Newark immediately after the game.

When Roger arrived, Grandma Odessa was no longer in the room.

O'Neill sat at the door of his grandmother's room, motionless.

Hearing Roger's footsteps, he slowly raised his head, stood up expressionlessly, walked towards Roger, and hugged Roger.

Then, he burst into tears. Roger swore that he had never seen an adult cry like this.

O'Neal's emotions completely collapsed.

His grandmother's lap was his refuge. No matter what happened, he could feel safe just by leaning on it.

But tonight, the shark's refuge completely disappeared from this world.

Roger didn't know what to say, or rather, it would be unnecessary to say anything now.

He just hugged the shark just the same and patted him on the back.

He just needs to let the Sharks know that he’s always got his back.

O'Neal hugged Roger and cried for a full half hour, because in front of his father and mother, he had to be a strong man and comfort them in return.

Only with Roger can the Shark be completely willful.

The Sharks now obviously have no intention of playing basketball. The pressure of contract renewal and the death of relatives have made Roger think that if it were him, he would definitely feel very uncomfortable.

As a fan, we only know that the Bulls swept the Magic in 96 and completed a very refreshing revenge. We only know to say "Jordan is awesome" to summarize that series, and then throw the 96 Magic aside.

But only when Roger really participated in this season as a player did he realize that everything was not that simple.

The Magic were swept 4-0. Was it really just because Jordan recovered and because they had Rodman? No, basketball is just a game, but the players are human after all. The variables involved are hundreds of times more complicated than basketball tactics!
It's hard to say how much desire the Sharks still have to compete for the championship after all this has happened.

The more Roger got into it, the more he understood how difficult it was to defend the title and how difficult it was to win three consecutive championships.

After that, Shark took a week off to deal with his grandmother's funeral, and Roger once again led the team alone.

But just like before, the Magic's record was not affected.

The Magic won their first two games that week.

And Roger scored 40 points in both games!
Against the Hawks, Roger scored 45 points. Hawks owner Ted Turner has become increasingly fascinated by Roger.

He knew that Roger had a player option in 98, and he also knew that there would be labor-management negotiations in 98.

Will fate favor him? We'll see.

In the second game against the Pacers, the Magic's rebounds were snatched away by the opponent. The Yellow Army had 19 more rebounds than the Magic tonight, most of which were converted into second-chance opportunities.

But Roger scored 43 points, the sixth time this season that he scored 40+ in a single game, and firmly controlled the situation.

He blocked Reggie Miller's buzzer-beater in the final moments and led the team to victory in Indianapolis.

Even leading the team alone, Roger kept the Magic dominance.

Because Grandma Odessa's last wish was "a quiet funeral with only flowers and music", Shark didn't want the outside world to know about this and didn't want her grandmother and family to be disturbed.

So the Magic had to announce to the public that O'Neal temporarily left the team due to "personal matters".

What kind of personal matters? Sorry, I can't tell you.

Curiosity is what the media loves to exploit the most.

When fans don’t get answers, they look to the media for answers.

The media has no answer either, so what should we do? It’s simple, create the answer ourselves!
The American media is the most authentic and transparent media in the world.

Some media reported that O'Neal encountered the same sting enforcement as James Worthy in Orlando.

In order to make this statement true and credible, they even found "witnesses".

A certified person who did not want to be named told the reporter: "I saw a tall woman wearing fishnet stockings enter Shaq's room. She was at least 190 cm tall! Not long after, the police broke in and arrested Shaq. Although I was not under the bed at the time, I did see it clearly!"

Considering the size of the shark, the detail of "a 190cm woman" seems to be realistic. However, this clever little detail proves that he is making it up.

Some media also reported that O'Neal's relationship with the team completely broke down due to contract renewal and he left without saying goodbye.

These rumors are not too outrageous. After all, last time, there was even a rumor that Okumura died outside.

What really concerns O'Neal is not these rumors, but some other things.

After Roger once again put up perfect numbers and won two games, the media's opinion began to become very unfriendly to the Sharks.

If the Magic can continue to win without Roger, then what is the meaning of his existence? Shaquille O'Neal may be the most overrated star in history. Before meeting Roger, he had never won a series, but Roger can still win without him. - Orlando Sentinel

Shaquille is missing again, but poor Orlando fans are used to it. Honestly, his attitude doesn't deserve a championship. - South Florida Sun

Of all the guys who wear basketball shoes, he's the least reliable. - Orlando Chronicle

The entire public opinion was very unfriendly to O'Neal's inexplicable absence. You can imagine how angry the Shark, who was experiencing the grief of the death of a loved one, was after seeing these reports.

What's worse is that April 4th will be the last regular season matchup between the Magic and the Bulls this season.

And O'Neal will most likely continue to be absent.

"Shaq is still dealing with his personal affairs, and even if he comes back tonight, he may not play," Brian Hill told reporters before the game.

He was telling the truth. Although O'Neal informed the team that he would definitely come back tonight, his flight was destined to make the game almost over by the time he arrived. At that time, what was the point of playing?
Orlando fans were very disappointed. In the first three games against the Bulls this season, O'Neal only played one game and lost.

Is he going to be absent again this time?

The Magic had a good chance of becoming the first team to beat the Bulls twice this season, but the absence of Shark cast a shadow on this.

During the pre-game interview, Hannah also asked a question about the Sharks: "Roger, are you disappointed with Shaquille O'Neal?"

"not at all."

Roger knew that O'Neal's reputation was on the verge of collapse.

If this continues, the shark's mentality will definitely collapse.

We have finally managed to resolve the contract renewal issue, and we cannot fail at this point.

Saroo came up to Roger at this time and said, "I brought Shaq's black and white photo frame. Do you want to put it on the bench and say a few words to him. This way, it means that he is with us."

Roger's mouth twitched. Who taught you to be so vicious?
What? I taught you? That's fine.

Roger waved and called over equipment manager Jacob: "Did you bring Shaq's jersey?"

"of course."

"Go get it for me."

"what?"

"Give it to me, I'm playing in his jersey tonight."

On the bench, everyone turned their heads to look at Roger. Everyone knew that Roger wanted to support the Sharks in this way.

If the team supports the Sharks, then what others say will have no impact.

The impact of this statement was greater than Roger himself expected, because what Roger did this season satisfied all people's fantasies about the "team leader."

He led his team to victory time and time again when the team was experiencing injuries.

He speaks up for his teammates in public and takes responsibility when the game is lost.

He made everyone move towards the goal of winning the championship.

Now it's not just sharks, everyone wants to fight with Roger!
This is a time for young leaders to shine!

Brian Hill wanted to remind Roger that he would be fined by the league if he wore the jersey carelessly.

But he quickly held back his words.

Fine? Don't be silly, will Roger care?
So, Roger stepped onto the court wearing the Sharks' No. 33 jersey.

Everyone, including Bill Walton, who was in charge of commentating the game, was very surprised.

It seems that nothing like this has ever happened in NBA history.

Jordan looked at the number 33 on Roger's body and didn't say much.

He only knows that the Orlando Magic will still be very difficult to deal with this season.

He was sure of that.

After the game started, Roger, wearing No. 33, immediately started scoring and scored 14 points in the first quarter.

Bill Walton reminded Bulls fans: "In Chicago, Roger is used to staging bloody massacres!"

But the Magic were still 2 points behind after the first quarter. The Bulls at the end of the season had better coordination and better defense than at the beginning of the season.

So another Steve Jones quickly reminded Bill Walton: "But this season, no team has ever beaten the Chicago Bulls twice."

After the start of the second quarter, the Bulls' offensive efficiency reached a new level.

With Jordan being double-teamed, Dumas and Pippen made frequent shots. The Bulls did not wait until the third quarter to increase their defensive intensity as usual, but instead implemented a simple double-team defense on Roger in advance.

Salu made 3 three-pointers in a single quarter, but at the end of the half, the Magic were still 5 points behind.

In the third quarter, the Bulls started to attack ruthlessly as usual.

Because their baseline double-team trap was more coordinated and their rotations were faster than before, Roger made a lot of mistakes, allowing the Bulls to launch many counterattacks.

The score gap gradually widened, and Michael Jordan yelled into Roger's ear over and over again: "No one can beat me twice this season, no one can! Destroy it, you piece of shit!"

At the end of the third quarter, the Magic were trailing by 11 points.

The United Center was cheering. Even the defending champions couldn't stop the Bulls from wreaking havoc across the league this season!
Brian Hill was already a little bit tempted to give up this game. The playoffs were only half a month away. He didn't want Roger to fight too hard, and he didn't want Roger to be at risk of injury.

Considering the Bulls' intensity, he felt he needed to protect Roger.

Moreover, the Bulls' current record is 65 wins and 8 losses. Even if Roger kills the Bulls today, the Bulls may still win 70+ games.

But looking at Roger's gnashing teeth expression, Brian Hill couldn't say the word "give up" after all.

Roger really didn't want to give up easily, the regular season was not completely meaningless.

Sometimes, as a professional player, you can't just let others do whatever they want!
When facing certain opponents, you have to compete!

Why did Roger choose number 14? Because he is not someone who gives up easily!
Michael Jordan smiled on the Bulls bench.

Everyone could see that he was very happy. Don’t worry about whether there was a shark in this magic trick or not. Just tell me whether Roger lost or not!

The Bulls have won nearly 70 games this season, but in none of them has Jordan been as happy as he was today.

Because he really liked the way Roger tried his best but was powerless.

He wanted to use Roger's feeling of powerlessness to tell him who the real king was!

Last season, it was just that Wang took a nap!

Just when Michael Jordan was secretly feeling proud of himself, a commotion broke out at the scene.

Jordan noticed that all the fans were looking towards the player tunnel, so he turned his head and looked too.

Soon, he saw a tall figure walking towards the Magic bench.

The long-missing Shaquille O'Neal suddenly arrived on the court in the fourth quarter!

No one thought the shark would come again today, and people had even forgotten about him.

O'Neal walked up to Roger, wearing Roger's No. 14. Because his clothes were taken by Roger, he could only find Roger's jersey to wear in the locker room.

Roger's No. 14 jersey looked funny like a tight vest on O'Neal.

In the car, Shark had heard everything Roger had done for him from the car radio and knew that Roger had been fighting in his jersey from the beginning.

So when O'Neal arrived, he yelled to Brian Hill: "Let me play!"

"Shaq, you just got off the plane, you can rest for another night." Brian Hill waved his hand.

"It's my turn," O'Neal raised his voice, and then he looked at Roger, "This time, Roger, I'm not going anywhere. I won't let you fight alone again, I promise! Come on, if anyone can beat that bastard Michael twice, it must be us!"

Looking at the shark full of fighting spirit, Roger knew that he had changed something.

The changes he brought to the Magic are not as simple as turning Penny into himself. The changes brought about by this butterfly effect are huge.

In the original history, the 96 Magic fell apart and the Sharks were demoralized.

But now, this team is united and the Sharks are extremely hungry!

All Roger’s efforts were not in vain, and he is now very confident of winning two consecutive championships.

As for beating the Bulls twice in the regular season? Easy!
Without much talk, Roger stretched out his hand and bumped fists with O'Neal.

All the bad things were shattered by the fists of the two at that moment!
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, O'Neal, wearing No. 14, and Roger, wearing No. 33, stepped onto the court at the same time.

Roger originally suggested exchanging the jerseys, but the Sharks insisted on playing the game in each other's jerseys.

The two men had serious expressions, even a little too serious.

They both put their hands on their hips, frowned, and stared at the Bulls players, waiting for them to kick the ball out from the baseline.

At the scene, the Bulls fans suddenly hugged their arms.

For some reason, after Roger and Shark came on stage, they felt a biting cold wind blowing on the scene.

Is the air conditioning temperature too low?
But Bill Walton felt extremely hot. He knew that a hearty battle was about to begin:
"Ladies and gentlemen, Shaquille O'Neal returned to the court in the fourth quarter wearing Roger's jersey. The young king who never gives up has waited for his most powerful knight. Now, they are about to launch the final charge for victory!"

(End of this chapter)