Champions Creed

Chapter 136 Chapter 135: The Last Dance? (Monthly Ticket Request!)
It is generally believed that Roger vented all his anger after losing the MVP on Steve Smith.

Hawks fans really don't know whether it is lucky or unfortunate, honor or shame for Steve Smith to defeat the Pacers without Miller and enter the second round.

Steve Smith did become famous with his second round, but in an ignominious way.

The shot that was replayed the most by TV stations in this round was the one in G4 where Roger deliberately put his hands behind his back and let Smith shoot, but Steve Smith missed the ball.

The most shameful moment in the history of competitive sports is probably when you miss a penalty kick in a football match when the team needs you most.

In any case, Steve Smith was nailed to the pillar of shame by Roger. The Hawks did not cause any trouble to the Magic, and Steve Smith did not cause any obstacles to Roger.

In two consecutive rounds, the Magic won without any bloodshed and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a seven-game winning streak in the playoffs.

What about the Bulls? There were some setbacks. They lost to the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the second round.

But that victory was purely because John Starks was on fire. He ruined Jordan's 61.1-point performance with a 62.5% shooting percentage and a 46% three-point shooting percentage.

Just looking at Starks' outrageous hit rate, you can tell that this victory is impossible to replicate.

What's even more outrageous is that even with Starks's poor performance, the Knicks barely beat the Bulls by 3 points. This shows how big the gap in strength between the two sides is.

This is indeed the case, the Knicks only won that one game in the entire series.

After that game, John Starks yelled at Jordan on the Bulls bench, which completely dragged the Knicks into the abyss of destruction.

In Game 4, Jordan volunteered to defend Starks, but Starks made 14 of 4 shots and 5 of 1 from beyond the three-point line. He was simply a replica of Steve Smith.

The Knicks were forced into a desperate situation and their morale was low, so they were defeated in Game 5 and were eliminated.

After five big games, Michael Jordan averaged 36 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

Michael Jordan is as cold-blooded and cruel as Roger.

They all stepped on the corpses of their enemies and gathered again at the top of the east.

Besides that, they have another similarity: they both make the other side’s bosses salivate!

James Dolan felt a sense of excitement mixed with shame as he watched Michael Jordan slaughter his team and destroy what he loved.

Dolan wanted to slap himself. Why do I have such a Tauren complex? How perverted!

In fact, this has nothing to do with the Minotaur. The reason why Dolan has this feeling is because he knows very well that the omnipotent No. 23 is very likely to be used by him after this summer!
He has freed up a lot of salary space, and most importantly, Jordan's agent David Falk also hopes that Jordan can come to New York.

Falk knew how valuable the New York market was, and he knew how much James Dolan valued money.

He wanted to bring his two generals, Ewing and Jordan, together, so that he could almost be regarded as the shadow manager of the Knicks.

He always fantasized about putting all his biggest stars in one team and then controlling the team. This has always been his dream.

People always say that in the NBA, Falk is the most powerful person besides Stern.

This is a bit of an exaggeration, and David Falk has never thought of it that way.

But Falk still longs to become the most powerful person in a team.

For this reason, David Falk found Ewing after the Eastern Conference semifinals and tried to accommodate him and get him to accept a pay cut of 1500 million.

Yes, this may be the biggest pay cut in NBA history.

Of course, Falk will not cheat Ewing. He has an agreement with the Knicks in advance that they must give Ewing an annual salary of more than 2000 million next summer.

In this way, Ewing's average salary in these three seasons is actually over 1400 million, so he is not at a disadvantage.

Ewing trusted Falk, so he agreed to the proposal.

Because even if Jordan is not signed this summer, the team can still pursue players such as Alan Houston, Gary Payton, and Reggie Miller. Ewing was willing to accept this salary reduction agreement in order to have a good helper. After all, without salary space, everything is just talk.

Ewing wanted a championship so badly, he was tired of living under the shadow of Roger and Jordan. For the championship, he was willing to temporarily sacrifice a year.

Of course, Michael Jordan doesn't care about all these things for the time being.

Now, he only cares about the game itself.

As for the 1996 free agent market, which was destined to change history, Jordan handed it over to Falk.

He had only two requests:
First, it must not affect the current game.

Second, give yourself the best option.

So before the Eastern Conference Finals began, David Falk went to meet with Bulls owner Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause alone.

He plans to take a closer look at Jordan's next contract.

David Falk got straight to the point: "We all know how great a player Michael is. If possible, I don't want him to enter the free agent market. If possible, I also hope that he can spend the rest of his life in Chicago. But it all depends on your offer and how much respect you have for Michael."

"Just tell me, how much do you want?" Reinsdorf said straightforwardly.

But David Falk did not answer the question directly: "I said, it's entirely up to you. This time, you make the first offer."

Falk would never give a clear price because the Bulls could offer Jordan an unlimited contract. So, what if he said 3000 million, but Reinsdorf was actually willing to give 4000 million?

Isn't this reverse bargaining?

So he wanted to force Reinsdorf to tell the number himself.

Reinsdorf looked at the vampire in front of him and really wanted to drive a stake into his heart.

Conditions, and more conditions.

Reinsdorf now felt a burning sensation at the mere mention of the word.

One day, David Falk was emptied of his magazine by gangsters on the street, and Reinsdorf would not be surprised. This bastard really offended too many people. In the summer of 1994, when Michael Jordan was ready to return, Reinsdorf agreed to all of David Falk's conditions without any hesitation.

Including trading Roger away.

What was the result? It has been proven that it was the stupidest trade in NBA history. Roger's actions last season not only brought shame to Jordan, but also to the entire Chicago Bulls.

The Trail Blazers at most just didn't draft Jordan, but the Bulls are equivalent to drafting Jordan but then trading him away.

Whenever someone on TV brings up the topic of "Top 10 stupid moves by NBA team management," the Bulls' trade of Rogers is sure to be on the list.

He agreed to all of Jordan's conditions, but what happened? He got nothing.

So now, Reinsdorf will no longer agree to any conditions set by Falk like he did two years ago.

He told Falk in a tough manner: "David, you mean, if you are not satisfied with the price I offer, I will lose the greatest player in history? Hahahaha, this may be the stupidest thing you have ever said to me. With the Bird Rights in hand, no team in the league can offer a higher salary than me. You can't bluff me, David!"

Well, such a simple Bird Rights can be included in the contract renewal rules. I don't know how many fans with ulterior motives will deliberately misinterpret it as "Jordan is a fake goat promoted by the league. Why can he be treated specially and his salary not be included in the salary cap?"

David Falk knew that Reinsdorf would not bid easily, but he came prepared:

"Of course I know that you are the only one who can renew Michael's contract. I can only say that if I really feel the need to negotiate seriously with other teams, then as someone who knows the NBA salary cap system better than anyone else in the world, I will try to explore the possibilities of this system. Maybe in other cities, Michael can get a tens of millions of dollars endorsement contract in addition to the team contract?"

"That's illegal recruitment, David." Reinsdorf sneered.

"Like I said, I'll just explore this possibility. And I know more about the legal and regulatory issues than you do. Let me give you an example. Shaq has a contract with the Magic, but he is also a spokesperson for Amway. So, Rich DeVos spends more money on Shaq than what's on the contract. But did the league say it was illegal recruitment? Can it be said that it was a yin-yang contract? No. I will study how they do it, so I think this kind of contract combination is possible."

Jerry Krause couldn't get a word in at all. He just thought Jordan and Falk were going too far.

This team has done everything they said they would do, and now they are taking advantage of it!
Reinsdorf's expression darkened. He knew that if Falk dared to say this in front of him, it meant that he was confident that the operation would be successful.

He was controlled by David Falk again.

He hated that bastard, and even more he hated the humiliation of being abused by Falcon.

This is why David Falk is so reviled in the industry, yet he is doing very well.

Whether you like him or not, it doesn't affect his ability to get good conditions for the players.

Reinsdorf certainly doesn't want to lose Jordan. Jordan's commercial value and influence have declined, but he is still the focus of the world.

And if he wins the championship this year, Jordan's influence and commercial value will even become higher than before!

So, he finally tried to make an offer: "Okay David, the price you need, is the first number 2? Roger signed a 2000 million annual salary contract with the Magic last summer. I know what you want. Now tell me, is the first number 2?"

David Falk smiled proudly. Now he knew that 2000 million was not Reinsdorf's bottom line, but just the starting point.

Yes, there is still money to be made.

He had a rough idea of ​​Reinsdorf's offer, so he became bolder: "No, Jerry, the first number is not 2."

"What!?" Reinsdorf couldn't believe it. If Jordan just wanted to pursue the highest annual salary in history, then Reinsdorf could accept 2200 million or 2500 million a year.

Anyway, just give Jordan the title of the highest annual salary in history. This should be all he wants.

But Falk actually said that the number doesn’t start with 2! ?
What does it mean?
Do these bastards want an annual salary of more than 3000 million?
How dare they! ?

David Falk did not continue to put pressure on Reinsdorf. He had already put enough pressure on the Bulls today.

He stood up and packed his things. "Jerry, you see, I have a lot of clients who need to sign contracts this summer, so I'm very busy. Let's give each other some time and think about it. Of course, it's best not to let the media know anything about the renewal. Hey, you don't want Michael to hear any rumors during the most crucial round of the series and affect his condition, right?"

After saying that, Falk swaggered out of Reinsdorf's office with a smile on his face.

He liked Reinsdorf's reaction, and he liked the thrill of manipulating the team owner.

Jerry Krause was furious after Falk left: "If we don't win the championship this year, we have to rebuild this team! Scott, Michael, Phil, Dennis, all of them are ungrateful, all of them just want to empty your wallet! A bunch of bastards, vampires, parasites!"

Reinsdorf leaned back in his boss chair and sighed.

That’s right, if we fail to win the championship this year, it will be really difficult for this team to continue.

Victory can cover up a lot of things, and failure can expose a lot of things.

If he can't win the championship, then why did he give so many people big contracts? Giving Jordan 3000 million a year, one day, he will regret it.

If he agrees to all the conditions as easily as he agreed to trade Roger in 1994, this team will be destroyed sooner or later.

Tragedy like the Roger trade must never happen again.

Reinsdorf glanced at the three championship trophies in his office, at the various photos on the wall, and clenched his teeth.

All good things must come to an end, and there is no dynasty that never fades. Although the Bulls made history this year by winning 72 games, and Jordan won the MVP again, if they fail to win the championship this year, this will be the last dance for the Chicago Bulls.

He has made up his mind!
Lose? No more than 1% chance. Look, even if the Bulls dynasty is really over, it was over by a man in a suit. -- Michael Jordan joked about the possibility of losing the Eastern Conference Finals, and took a dig at Jerry Krause.

I certainly won't leave Indianapolis. I really want to win a championship, and I understand normal transfers. But you're talking about New York. Do you mean to join my enemies? Ridiculous! - Reggie Miller answered when interviewed by reporters.

When Durant defected to the enemy, Reggie Miller published an article titled "When Sacred Heritage Becomes Cheap Jewelry". His thinking was so stubborn from then on.

I only want the championship now, don't bother me with other things! Soon, you will see how powerless Michael and Roger are in front of the best defensive player! - Gary Payton, who just swept Olajuwon 4-0, talked about where he will go this summer.

We're going to beat the Bulls and win two straight titles, three straight titles, that's what Shaq and I agreed to do. Soon, you'll know if I'm bragging or not. - Roger on the challenge of defeating the 72-win Bulls.

All the fans are focused and all the players are ready.

A series that will change the course of history has begun!

(End of this chapter)