Champions Creed

Chapter 147 146: I wish you all the best, Michael (please give me a monthly ticket!)

When John Gabriel called O'Neal's agent Leonard Armato, Armato was relaxing on the beach in Atlanta doing something important in his life - picking up girls.

That’s right, picking up girls.

How is this not a major event in life? Some men can only soak their hands for their entire lives.

Brokers are not all cold-blooded machines, they also have their own lives.

In 1996, beach volleyball became an official Olympic sport for the first time. Armato first learned about the sport and became a loyal fan of beach volleyball - and fell in love with the people who play beach volleyball.

It’s normal for fans to have their favorite stars, right?

So he was playing and flirting with American female beach volleyball player Horri McPeak - the lady who became his wife later this year.

It is conceivable how angry Almato was when he received the call from John Gabriel.

First, John Gabriel interrupted his good time.

Secondly, how did that idiot have the nerve to call after making a humiliating offer of $6900 million?
"John, I thought I made it clear yesterday that we will listen to offers from other teams and then decide whether to listen to your second offer."

"Okay, Leon, don't be angry. We are willing to offer 8000 million for four years. No other team in the league can offer such a price." John Gabriel clenched his fists. He was forced to offer such a price.

He didn't want to admit that he was forced, but that was the fact.

There will be no other team in the league that can give Shark such a big contract, and no team can spare a full 2000 million salary space to sign Shark.

The only flaw of this contract is that the term is too short, and this was John Gabriel's final insistence.

Roger's contract will not expire until the millennium. If Shark's contract is also long, the Magic will have to struggle with big contracts for many years to come.

So he only wants to offer a four-year contract. In fact, Gabriel once only wanted to sign a one-year contract with the Sharks. Wouldn't it be better to let these vampires get out immediately after winning three consecutive championships?

But it is clear that Almato will not accept a one-year contract.
In fact, two or three years is impossible.

So John Gabriel raised the price to four years - so that the contracts of Shark and Roger would expire at the same time.

Almato was a little surprised. He knew that Roger was speaking for the Sharks, but he was determined to delay the matter and listen to the offers from other teams first.

But he didn't expect that Roger's words were so effective that Magic immediately changed his mind.

Almato did not agree immediately, as he still had to discuss it with Shark.

Later, Armato called the Shark, who was very upset: "To be honest, I don't want to sign with the Magic. They simply insulted me."

"Then don't sign it. How did Jerry West talk to you? Their salary space cannot give you an annual salary of 2000 million from the beginning. In fact, the starting salary may be just over 1000 million. But if we sign a long-term contract, our average salary should be more than 1500 million. Although the annual salary of a short-term contract is higher, a long-term contract is undoubtedly safer."

Deep down, Almato hopes that the Sharks will go to a big city, such as the Lakers or the Knicks, as the exposure there is unmatched by Orlando.

Of course, there is a more important point: the Sharks were completely suppressed by Roger in Orlando!
From a commercial point of view, this is quite disadvantageous to sharks.

In other cities, Shaq could be Michael Jordan. But in Orlando, Shaq has become more and more like Pippen. The difference is that he can get ten times the annual salary of Pippen.

O'Neal did not answer the question "How was your conversation with Jerry West?" Instead, he muttered to himself, "But I want a three-peat."

Almato was silent for a moment. Three consecutive championships was indeed a rare achievement. Neither Bird nor Magic Johnson had ever done it.

The Magic were only one step away from winning three consecutive championships. Considering the uncertainty of the Bulls' fate and whether they could even keep Michael Jordan, the Magic's chances of winning three consecutive championships were indeed great.

But Almato raised a new question: "Is it possible that even if it's a three-peat, this is Roger's three-peat team?"

These words were like a knife stabbing into the shark's heart.

Michael Jordan's curse also appeared again.

But this made the shark even more unwilling.

"Brexit, this is my team, and it's my three-peat team! Agree, accept 8000 million for four years, and get this over with. I don't want to be bothered by this shit anymore. Four years is four years, and it's the same 2000 million annual salary as Roger anyway. Agree, agree to them!"

The shark was very upset, and Almato respected the shark's choice.

In the early morning of that day, all TV and radio news were broadcasting the same news: "Shaquille O'Neal has reached a verbal agreement with the Magic and agreed to stay with the team. He will wait for the free agent market to open and officially sign the contract."

So, at the championship parade the next day, fans saw Roger and Shark at the top of the double-decker bus holding two championship trophies and waving to everyone.

They both smiled brightly, as if nothing that had happened before had happened.

However, what fans see is often just the surface. They don’t know what kind of ups and downs Shark, Roger and the Magic experienced yesterday.

John Gabriel is still in shock when he thinks back to the past 24 hours. It was almost, almost, Roger and the Shark would not have appeared in today's championship parade.

Shark and Roger are back, but some things can never go back.

Today, on this day of celebration for the whole team, Roger and Shark did not have any private communication with John Gabriel and Rich DeVos.

The relationship between them has completely broken down, just like the relationship between Michael Jordan and the Bulls management.

The only thing that holds them together is probably the championship.

In his speech at the end of the parade, Roger said he wanted to add another crown for Orlando: "The 90s belong to us too!"

After Roger, O'Neal will take the stage to speak.

His biggest task in this speech was to announce that he would stay with the Magic.

It gave confidence to all the fans and also cut off other teams' hopes.

But before going on stage, O'Neal suddenly turned his head and looked at John Gabriel: "Hey John, I forgot my lines. I should say 'I stay' instead of 'I leave', right? You know, my memory has never been good."

John Gabriel and Rich DeVos were instantly sweating profusely and their lips trembled.

What does it mean?
Yes, the Sharks' agent did verbally agree to a four-year, $8000 million contract with the Magic, but it was just a verbal agreement.

Technically, the Sharks are still a free agent.

Even those who have given a betrothal gift can still cheat, let alone those who have not given a cent.

So O'Neal's question made them both feel very uneasy. Considering the relationship between the two sides and O'Neal's personality, that bastard would not go on stage and suddenly announce that he was leaving and embarrass the team, right?
Fortunately, O'Neal only played a little prank on them. After taking the stage, the Shark officially announced that he would stay in Orlando without any trouble.

The fans in the audience cheered wildly, and on the stage, Rich DeVos and John Gabriel clapped with forced smiles.

No one likes to be teased, let alone those in high positions like them.

The two men stared at Roger and the shark hugging each other, both thoughtful.

After three consecutive championships, take your time.

There's no going back, the honeymoon period is completely over.

The championship parade was held perfectly, and O'Neal organized a party in the evening and invited the whole team to attend. After the final carnival tonight, he will go to Atlanta to prepare for the Olympics.

At the party that night, Roger got some food and found Shark, who had just finished dancing: "Glad to have you back, Shaq."

"Thanks for everything, bro. The DeVos family and John are assholes. To tell you the truth, I almost agreed to let Jerry West go to the Lakers!"

"What did Jerry tell you?"

"He told me we're going to win a lot of championships. We got you and that 18-year-old kid, and you're going to see him, and sooner or later, he's going to be the best player in the league."

"Do you think you can win a lot of championships together?"

The Shark shook his head: "I don't know, Kobe is your little brother, you know him better. Forget it, man, let's not talk about this. Tonight, I just want to relax."

The next day, O'Neal flew to Atlanta to attend the Olympic training camp.

The Dream Team stars in the training camp are actually just like the fans, enjoying the big news of transfers during this crazy offseason.

During breaks in practice, people asked if Barkley would leave the Suns, as he was rumored to be close to the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.

Barkley didn't want to talk about it, so he changed the subject by making fun of the shark: "Shaq, you're a lucky bastard."

"Lucky? I was almost dropped from the team, man."

"Right, so you're lucky. The Magic didn't want to upset Roger, so they kept you. If it weren't for Roger, you wouldn't be able to get 2000 million a year. Damn, I'm even a little envious of you."

Around, some people started laughing: "Yeah, yeah, Shaq, you are really lucky to have such teammates."

O'Neal was extremely embarrassed. He was always shameless and buried his head deep in his chest at that moment. He felt so ashamed that he could not be seen by anyone.

Because in the eyes of his teammates, it seemed that he was useless and completely relied on Roger!

The same goes for winning the championship and renewing the contract.

This made him feel ashamed.

When did he become like this?

He was once the nightmare of the entire league's interior, and all media believed that he would be a legendary center on the level of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

But now? He's Roger's baby shark!
We don't want Penny to be unhappy and haunt Shaq in the original history.

And now, the phrase has become we don't want Roger to be unhappy.

He could never escape the trouble of this sentence.

Michael Jordan was also troubled.

He knew that Roger had used his influence to stop the Magic from taking idiotic action that would destroy the foundation of the dynasty.

In other words, the most terrifying duo in history will still exist next season.

If the Bulls make any changes to the current roster without authorization, there will be no hope for next season.

Michael Jordan couldn't let this happen. It was time for him to show his influence.

Oh, who isn’t a team bully?

On the first day of the free agent market, the Bulls offered Jordan a two-year, $2 million contract.

Jordan was a little angry and didn't have the patience to continue the discussion. He asked David Falk to inform the Bulls directly:
"Give me a one-year contract worth more than $3000 million, and you only have one hour to decide whether to renew it. Also, Dennis, Joe and Phil, if they leave, I will leave too."

The reason why Jordan was so impatient was that the Bulls had long known that Jordan was in contact with the Knicks.

Although the Knicks could only offer a $1200 million contract, Jordan could also get a $1500 million endorsement from the Sheraton Hotel after going to New York.

In this way, the value of this contract is 2700 million. Strictly speaking, player contracts cannot be calculated in this way, but Jordan can get this much in New York.

Therefore, Jordan believed that the Bulls were completely insincere in only offering 2500 million when they knew his worth, so he gave the team an ultimatum.

Bulls owner Reinsdorf was furious about this. It’s fine if you want 3000 million, but you also want me to keep other people?

The point is, you and your group of old guys can’t win the championship!

So an hour later, Michael Jordan got a response:
"If you don't accept 2 million for two years, then I wish you all the best in the future, Michael."

Jordan:? ? ?
Some people confidently demonstrate their influence and then achieve great success.

Some people are full of confidence and want to show their influence, but they end up pulling a big one.

Michael Jordan's divinity dropped another level the moment the Bulls notified him.

There are still people in this league who can be willful, but it's no longer Michael Jordan.
-
The Sharks, who are playing in the Olympics, have not yet officially signed the 4-year, $8000 million contract with the Magic, but we believe that nothing will change. Are you ready, Orlando? The three consecutive championships are coming soon! - Orlando Beacon.

Jerry Krause officially announced that the team would not renew the contracts of Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson and Joe Dumars. It was a dark day for the dynasty to collapse. The most important question was: Will Michael stay? - Chicago Tribune

Breaking news! Michael Jordan is about to join forces with Patrick Ewing? The league's finale will be staged ahead of schedule! ? ——The New York Times

Cindy Crawford: Roger is a man with great impact, and I enjoy every minute with him. -- Vogue magazine.

We can say that it was Roger who beat Michael Jordan and broke up the Bulls dynasty. The greatness of No. 23 was completely ended by the 21-year-old scoring champion. A few years ago, many media had successfully predicted: Now is Roger's era. - Sports Illustrated.

(End of this chapter)