Champions Creed

Chapter 187 Chapter 186: The magical fate finally converges (ask for monthly tickets!)

Perhaps, this is a testament to Roger’s current alliance status.

By the summer of 1997, after two more rounds of salary cap increases, no player had signed a contract worth more than Roger's.

The Sharks finally got the $120 million he had always dreamed of, but the contract was for seven years.

Roger's 120 million only lasts for five years.

In terms of average annual salary, O'Neal still failed to surpass Roger.

However, the Sharks are very satisfied with the contract because he is respected.

Jerry West tried his best to make salary space for the Sharks, and he also told the Sharks: "One hundred and twenty million is not your value, but we can only give you so much money within the rules. Dr. Jerry Buss swore that if he could, he would really give you more."

This greatly satisfied the shark's self-esteem.

Over the years in Orlando, he's heard enough of Shaq not being worth that much money.

He was simply fed up with the Magic's reluctance to renew his contract.

Now, someone is finally willing to stand up and say: "You are worth more than this."

News of the shark's trip west to Los Angeles spread quickly.

Although most fans had long thought that Shaq would leave, they did not expect him to leave so easily and decide on his next home right after the free agent market opened.

This is normal. Given the personal relationship between O'Neal and Logo, the Sharks never considered other teams.

Moreover, Sharks' agent, Almato, has always wanted him to play in a big market like Los Angeles.

The two parties hit it off immediately, and there was nothing much to discuss, so the contract was signed very quickly.

Previously, O'Neal and the Lakers had always been honest with each other, but the free agent market had not yet opened, so they had to put some bubbles on them to cover it up. Now that the free agent market has officially opened, they can wipe off the bubbles and get together right away.

Los Angeles fans cheered for this. When Shaq was in Orlando, they all laughed at O'Neal and said he was just a big Pippen.

But now that there really is a shark, they can't wait to blow it up.

Although O'Neal has left, John Gabriel still did not forget to disgust Shaq: "Of course we tried our best to keep him, but I said before that the Lakers are suspected of illegal recruitment! They have already discussed everything, and all our efforts to keep Shaq are in vain!"

This creates an atmosphere of public opinion that "it's not that we are unkind, it's that the sharks are unjust."

Jerry West really wanted to take Gabriel fishing with his shameful FMVP trophy, without a helmet.

He will become obedient after fishing once.

O'Neal couldn't wait to start packing his luggage and prepare to move.

He never expected that at this moment he would have no attachment to Orlando, with whom he had fought for five years.

The shark's mother was very sad: "The fans who once loved you and the team that once valued you now treat you like a piece of grass. Why?"

Colonel Harrison consoled his wife: "This is professional sports, honey."

O'Neal didn't say anything. If anyone made his mother unhappy, he would not be happy either.

He vowed that he would reduce Orlando to ruins.

This is the first thing he will do next season.

Before leaving, Shark looked back at his house.

In the garage, there is also that stupid stretched Ferrari.

Yes, he was only 20 years old when he first joined the Magic. He knew nothing, loved to play and make trouble, and did a lot of stupid things.

Now he is 25 years old, he is already a man.

It's time for him to move on to the next stop in his life.

Looking at the Ferrari, O'Neal recalled the times when he and Roger broke down on the road, and the impressive victories. He recalled that when his grandmother passed away, he could only cry freely in front of Roger.
Shark shook his head and stopped recalling. He never regretted this decision.

The next day, Sports Illustrated put Shark and Roger on the cover for the last time.

They spent a lot of space recalling what Roger and the Sharks created in Orlando.

The magazine also published 30 high-definition photos of Roger and sharks.

From hugging each other tightly when they won the first championship, to taking photos with cigars in their mouths when they won the second championship, to becoming strangers when they won the third championship.

The last photo was taken after the 97 finals.

The shark raised his arms and looked up at the sky. In the blurred background, Roger was standing on the technical desk with his arms outstretched.

They obviously won the championship together, but they seemed like unrelated individuals.

Their relationship is just like this series of photos, close in the beginning but drifting apart later on.

Even, they became blurred in each other's eyes.

The next page to the photo is a blank page with only a few words written on it: "This is the story of the greatest duo in history."

After the Sharks arrived in Los Angeles, they were surrounded by countless reporters.

Many reporters raised their copies of Sports Illustrated and asked Shark, "How do you feel about ending this relationship?"

Shark also bought this issue of Sports Illustrated. He read it over and over again on the plane just now.

He told his father: "It's really hard to imagine that I'm leaving. But we have to understand that we can't be together all the time. Even though we enjoy this experience of working together most of the time."

It can be seen that this is Shark's true thoughts about this relationship, and he still misses it a little.

But facing the media, O'Neal's attitude became much tougher: "Feelings? It's fucking great! I can finally beat up Roger and show you idiots who the MVP and FMVP really belong to!"

Colonel Harrison sighed, they were all too young, they were still too young.

The departure of Shark to Orlando has attracted more and more media attention to the future of the Magic.

Shark, Salu, Cage, Wilkins. The Magic suddenly lost four main players.

Who will they get to replace Shark?

How many years will it take the Magic to rebuild?
When fans and media were speculating, a bombshell news was revealed: the Magic were going to trade Roger!
Not to mention the fans, even David Stern was caught off guard by this.

But there is no way, this is probably the limitation of the small ball market.

Even if you give him a superstar, he cannot afford, or does not want to afford, this completely exploding salary.

So, the salary cap is really important.

A fixed maximum salary must be included in the next version of the labor agreement.

John Gabriel told reporters candidly in an interview: "We wanted to go one way, Roger wanted to go another, so this is the end."

The breakup between the two parties was not earth-shattering, and the previous negotiations were also very calm.

Compared to the Shark who left in anger, Roger and the Magic have not yet reached the point of completely breaking up.

But for fans and the media, it was far from peaceful.

Overnight, almost every sports show was talking about this matter.

"The Magic are going to reshuffle this aging and overstuffed salary structure. As John said before, they don't want to become the second Boston Celtics."

"The Magic's decision fully proves that the only lesson mankind has learned from history is that it never learns from history."

"Source: Orlando will not compete for a championship for many years to come, which is the main reason for Roger's departure."

"This is not a matter of rebuilding. John's previous statements have shown that the Magic no longer want to invest so much in winning the championship. Roger's career must not stagnate because of the Magic's inaction."

The day after the news broke, riots broke out throughout Orlando. Countless fans held up signs and marched in the streets, trying to stop the Magic from trading Roger. One fan shouted in front of the camera: "Rich DeVos better let Roger stay in Orlando, otherwise we will cause trouble in the city!"

No Orlando fan would blame Roger for this.

Not to mention Roger's contribution to this city, in terms of the way of leaving, being traded and leaving by opting out of the contract are completely different.

Faced with this situation, John Gabriel began to use the media and he deployed his trump card, the Orlando Sentinel.

The Sentinel has launched a new poll: "If Roger is replaced by a new core like Tim or Tracy, would you accept it?"

Among them, 91% of fans chose to accept.

Where does the voting data come from?
Sorry, that's not available.

The trade for Roger is ongoing, and given Roger's trade value, almost the entire league is making bids.

This is the same situation as "the whole league is waiting for Duncan".

When other players are traded, at most they are rumored to be with a few teams.

But after Roger was put on the trading market, he was linked with every team in the league.

Even Pat Riley made an offer to the Magic, which is hard to imagine because Roger had humiliated Riley.

Roger's entire career can be seen as Pat Riley's nightmare.

But when the opportunity arose to get Roger, Riley took the shot without hesitation.

The owners of each team are so eager to include their wives in the trading chips.

The Timberwolves acted the quickest, and they were willing to send away all of their players except Garnett, as well as first-round draft picks for many years to come, for you to choose from.

The Timberwolves were Eric Fleischer's favorite place. Garnett was still very young, and he and Roger were friends, so there was little chance of conflict. The Timberwolves assured Eric Fleischer that even if they brought in Roger, they would continue to give KG the billion-dollar contract, which would not cause KG's dissatisfaction.

"What happened to the Magic won't happen to us," Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale told Fleischer.

If the deal really goes through, Roger and KG can work together for a long time.

Having the two best players under your team play in the same team also makes operations and management easier.

However, there are also disadvantages to going to the Timberwolves. The disadvantage is that the market in Minneapolis is not as good as that in Orlando, which is a limitation for Roger's development. However, after all, no transaction can be perfect. Overall, the advantages of going to the Timberwolves outweigh the disadvantages.

But the Magic were not very interested in the deal. Garnett was the player with the most trading value among the Timberwolves, but Garnett was not allowed to be selected.

If all the ones standing in front of you are A's, would you still want to pick?
Stephon Marbury? He has potential, but does anyone really think he can become a Roger-level superstar?

The Magic told Roger's team that they would only consider a trade with the Timberwolves unless they could not find a better solution.

During this period, the Magic contacted the Spurs themselves, hoping to get Duncan and half of the Spurs team.

What’s funny is that the Spurs counter-offered to use the Admiral to replace Duncan as a bargaining chip, turning it into the Admiral + half a team, but the Magic rejected it.

After the news broke, the Smiling Assassin made a joke on ESPN: "John must have told the Spurs: Why do you think I want something that you don't want?"

The admiral was shot even when he was lying down, and as a superstar, he was disliked by both sides, which was really embarrassing.

Of course, Popovich quickly came out to clarify: "The trade rumors are all false. We have never thought about giving up David. David is not going anywhere. Roger has no intention of trading for any player on our team! He is not worth it for us to do that, not for anyone else!"

Nonsense, the deal was rejected, he’s definitely not going anywhere.

For a man who received average intelligence training and briefly considered a career in the CIA, Popovich’s acting is commendable.

At least Popovich's sincere eyes made the Admiral really believe that the deal never happened.

The Timberwolves and Magic don't think it's worth it.

The Spurs and Magic can't reach an agreement again.

However, Roger's next stop soon became clear.

Eric Fleischer recommended a trading target to the Magic, and coincidentally, the Magic were also very interested in the chips of this trading target.

Roger's team and the Magic management haven't had such a tacit understanding for a long time.
-
When Orlando was in chaos, Scott Pippen finally found his next home.

Ever since the trade with the Celtics fell through at the draft, the trade for Pippen has been on hold.

Because apart from the Celtics, there are not many teams willing to take over Pippen.

Most teams are still reluctant to trust a veteran who will miss half a season and whose condition after returning is unknown.

Moreover, Krause wants a high draft pick, but this kind of draft pick is only available to bad teams. So the question is, what does a bad team do with a veteran?
You can feel the speed of time passing, and before you know it, Pippen is already 32 years old. As the age increases, the trading value of players will decline.

The Bulls' trade became difficult, but Krause really didn't want to keep Pippen for himself.

Pippen has been like his right-hand man over the years, he has used him enough!

So, Krause cut the Gordian knot and traded Pippen to the Hawks, who had just snatched away Tracy McGrady from him.

Krause originally wanted to trade Pippen for McGrady, but the Hawks countered with a one-time All-Star, one-time steals leader, four-time All-Defensive Team selection point guard Mookie Blaylock and a 99 first-round pick.

The Hawks made this move in the hope that the team would have a backbone. Although Blaylock can be included in the best defensive team and is an All-Star, he is only 183 cm tall after all.

His height means that his impact on the game is extremely limited.

Moreover, Pippen can teach McGrady more.

The Hawks believe this will help McGrady grow better.

Of course, they are not worried at all that McGrady's playing time will be squeezed by Pippen, because Pippen is fully capable of playing the number one position.

For the Bulls, Blaylock is certainly not a high-quality asset, but the first-round pick in 99 is still very tempting.

In 99, Lamar Odom, who set the CBA (Continental Basketball League) salary record this summer, will appear. This super high school genius was caught in Las Vegas for prostitution. Although he insisted that he only took female fans back to the hotel to give them autographed jerseys, he still lost the opportunity to go to college. But even after so many bad things happened, his talent is still worth affirming.

In addition to Odom, Baron Davis, a talented high school guard in California who has now joined UCLA, is also a potential stock and has a high probability of appearing in the 99th class.

In short, the quality of the 99 draft was very good, and it was worth it for the Bulls to temporarily forget about McGrady.

In this way, the ill-fated relationship between Jerry Krause and Scott Pippen finally came to an end.

Pippen left Chicago happily. He could finally go to a place without Jordan's shadow to prove himself.

Hawks general manager Pete Babcock attached great importance to Pippen's arrival. He personally met him at the airport and called the team's important core Steve Smith to meet Pippen.

As soon as Pippen got off the plane, he was taken to a luxury hotel for lunch. Pete Babcock went to help Pippen book a room, while Pippen chatted with Steve Smith.

The two got along very well because they had one thing in common: they hated Roger!
"I don't know what's wrong with that guy. I don't know why so many people regard him as an idol. Just like what you said about Scott, how can a man who beat up his teammates in the locker room be qualified to be an idol? Children shouldn't have a role model like him! He is a monster and a bastard!"

"That's right, Steve, but everything has changed now. Shaq is gone, and next season you and I will be together, and we will give Roger a good show!" Pippen was very confident.
While the two were chatting animatedly, the team's general manager Pete Babcock came back.

He opened his arms excitedly: "Listen gentlemen, I have just received good news to share with you about the future of the team!"

"You say, Pete." Pippen was in a good mood and answered with a smile.

Steve Smith also showed an expectant expression. The team now had sufficient salary space. Only himself, Pippen and Alan Henderson had annual salaries over a million. So, he thought the team must have signed some big-name free agent, such as Patrick Ewing?

But what Babcock said next was like a bolt from the blue to the two men: "We will complete the deal with the Magic in the next few days and bring in Roger! At this moment, the boss is talking to Roger's team! What do you think, guys? Cheer!"

After Babcock finished speaking, he raised his arms and stood there awkwardly.

Because neither Pippen nor Steve Smith responded to him.

They both seemed to have their brains crashed and were completely stunned in their seats.

"Why, you don't have to be so excited that you can't talk," Babcock said.

The magical fate finally came together in the sultry summer of 1997.

(End of this chapter)