Champions Creed

Chapter 222 Chapter 221: If you don’t do something, do you think life is boring? (Monthly ticket requested!)

Michael Jordan never imagined that one day he would want to kill Scott Pippen.

Everyone thought that after Roger won the championship, the most shameful thing was Shark.

But in fact, the most shameful one is Jordan!

Pippen's words "Michael was a bad player before I went to Chicago" completely angered Jordan.

But Jordan soon discovered that he had completely lost his voice.

Let’s take a look at how the media reported Roger’s fourth consecutive championship.

"Roger did what Michael couldn't do - lead an aging Scott to a championship."

"Michael needs peak Scott, Roger just needs a live Scott."

"Now we can at least be sure of three things: Dream was strong in 1994, Scott was strong in 1991-1993, and Roger was strong in 1998."

The sky of the previous generation of basketball god has completely collapsed.

Roger led Pippen to win the championship, and Pippen fought back, which caused Jordan's reputation to decline.

Pippen is like this. He speaks the truth when he likes you and speaks lies when he doesn't like you.

In the original timeline, Pippen's evaluation of Jordan when he was a player and Pippen when he retired were completely different.

In the current timeline, ever since Jordan chose to leave Chicago and go to New York, Pippen has become a little black guy with an unhappy life.

So his attitude towards Roger and Jordan can be said to have undergone a 180-degree change.

After the topic of who is better, Roger or Michael, the topic of "Who is the best player in NBA history" also became popular.

In that past timeline, no matter how eloquent Bronny was, this was a topic without suspense.

But in this timeline, the topic is full of things to discuss.

Roger's four consecutive championships put him far ahead in this topic.

But the suspense has not been completely ended.

Winning four consecutive championships is great, but Roger is not better than other stars in all aspects.

Roger only has two MVPs, which is somewhat disappointing. There are many players who have more MVPs than Roger.

The accumulation of scoring titles and first-team all-stars is not enough.

In this case, can you say that you are the GOAT?
It’s not impossible, but you have to be shameless.

Do you want to be both GOAT and have a good reputation? Then you have to accumulate honors with your real strength.

In the days after winning the championship, Roger hardly went out except for participating in the championship parade and shopping in the mall in downtown Atlanta.

After a tiring season, he wanted to have a good rest.

But the more he rested, the more Roger felt something was wrong. He felt as if he was getting more tired the more he rested!

Finally, one day before the draft, Roger found the answer to why he was so tired - the old A8 was good in every way, but it was a bit greasy.

In terms of the year of her debut, Sophia is not considered an old A8. But in terms of temperament, she is as useless as an old A8.

For this type of car, no matter how much chicken fat you pour into it, it won’t be enough to burn it.

Fortunately, Roger is strong, otherwise he might have lost two or three pounds.

The day before the draft, Pete Babcock made a point of visiting Roger's home.

The purpose of his trip was simple, which was to confirm with Roger the target for the 98 draft.

This year's Hawks team is not like the Lakers in 82, who won the championship and the No. pick at the same time.

But an eighth-place draft pick is quite a luxury for a championship-contending team.

Philadelphia fans are already crying in the toilet at this point. They never thought last season that they would lose so much from this draft pick swap.

And today Roger gave Babcock the same tongue-twisting name - Dirk Nowitzki.

Babcock was stunned for a moment, even though Ted Turner told him that Roger could choose whoever he wanted.

But in Babcock's opinion, the name was still a bit too outrageous.

It is indeed absurd for Nowitzki to appear in the lottery range. Don't think that Nowitzki is following the path of Wen Ban Yama, who "relying on the visible talent to the naked eye to dominate the European basketball arena, is very famous around the world, and locked in the NBA in advance."

Nowitzki is the most special player in the history of lottery draft because he was almost a transparent person before participating in the draft.

Dirk's qualifications before the draft: no background in American training and competition, no background in European A-level leagues, no background in German domestic A-level leagues, no national team background. That's right, he has nothing.

Nowitzki hasn't even played in the top league in Germany, let alone made a name for himself in Europe.

He switched from tennis to basketball at the age of 15, and was spotted by German national team player Holger Gerschwidner Högl and trained individually. He then shot videos and sent them around, and occasionally played a few games in the German secondary league.

You might say that it's not bad for a teenager to play in the German second division. No, it's not.

The German second division league itself has only eight teams, and the game scene is just like an ordinary indoor training hall, with no more than 500 fans per game. Germany is a basketball desert, and the second division league there is not as high-end as imagined.

The most important thing is that Nowitzki was not even a registered player in the secondary league. He was just brought there to play occasionally because of Hogel's connections.

Finally, with the influence of Hogle, Nowitzki participated in the American confrontation exhibition game held by Nike. Then, the greatest foil in NBA history took action.

The participants of the event at that time included two superstars, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. Nowitzki was a young and fearless person. He showed his basketball skills in front of his predecessors and scored 25 points in the first half.

Although it was just a performance, Barkley, who felt embarrassed, still told Pippen: "What are you doing? Be careful!"

Pippen disagreed and said, "I must defend this kid to death in the second half."

As a result, Nowitzki scored 52 points.

That’s right, 52 points.

But no matter what, it was just an exhibition game. Pippen played for fun, and no one really believed that a German high school student could beat Pippen.

Therefore, Nowitzki is still just a nobody.

What really made Nowitzki gain some attention from the American basketball world was this year's Nike Summit, when Nowitzki scored 31 points and 13 rebounds to lead the World Team to a comeback victory over the American Team.

However, this game only made Nowitzki pay attention to the American college basketball world.

After the competition, Dirk received invitations from 10 Division I universities.

But as for the NBA, Nowitzki himself answered: "I may never be able to play in the NBA."

A former tennis player who never played in the top league in Germany said this about himself, and it was not in Versailles.

This is Nowitzki. If you change his birthplace to China and look at it from the perspective of the 21st century, you can probably understand it this way:
A 17-year-old basketball internet celebrity who shoots short videos, has never played in the CBA, nor has he been selected for the national youth team. He just practices with a player from the national team and usually plays street basketball. Although he performed well in the exhibition match with NBA stars, he has never played any serious games.

There are people who want to draft this player in the lottery.

This is simply unbelievable.

You know, in this era, international players automatically participate in the draft at the age of 18. Therefore, Nowitzki himself never thought about participating in the draft, and he himself had no confidence.

But some people just had to pick him.

Well, if two people make incredible decisions at the same time, then maybe Nowitzki is really outstanding.

According to Pete Babcock, Nelson of the Mavericks was also very excited and was very optimistic about this German guy. He even flew to Würzburg to recruit Nowitzki.

However, most people just regarded this as a smokescreen.

No one knows whether the Mavericks really want to select this German.

Pete Babcock confirmed again: "Really? Dirk Nowitzki? What's the reason?"

"He will be the strongest offensive 4 in the league in the future, it's that simple."

"Everyone knows that Dirk's 52 points on Scott don't count."

Roger smiled and said, "Pete, if I was beaten by a high school student, I would also say that I didn't defend myself seriously. By the way, don't tell Scott this!"

"Okay, okay, let's assume Dirk is a genius. But if Nelson gets the nod, we need a second choice. Can you give me another name?"

"Come on, who would intercept a high school student from Germany? That's not going to happen, just relax, Pete."

In Roger's memory, Nowitzki seemed to be selected with the ninth pick.

The Hawks are the eighth pick, and Nowitzki is not a hot pick, so he will not be snatched away.

Well, that shouldn’t be the case, right?
The next day, the 1998 NBA Draft was held at the General Motors Arena in Vancouver, Canada.

For the second time in four years, the NBA Draft has come North.

This year's first pick came from the great Elgin Baylor.

He took the number 34 jersey from Nigeria without hesitation. He is 213 cm tall and has a wingspan of 233 cm. Because he wears the number 34 jersey and his name also starts with the letter O, you would really think you are watching Olajuwon play.

Although he had been in contact with basketball for a short time, Elgin Baylor believed that this was the least likely choice in the world to go wrong.

How could Baylor have imagined that many years later, the team analyst would show him the reports of Olowokandi and Olajuwon. Baylor could tell at a glance that the one with the higher value belonged to the younger Olowokandi.

The analyst told him: "The one with the higher value is the old dreamer, and the one with the lower value is the peak sugar man."

But at least now, Lord Beile is happy.

In the basketball world, you can never go wrong by choosing a tall center with long arms.

Although the technique of making sugar figures is still relatively crude, Lord Beile believes that the technique can be practiced.

What is truly valuable is the body.

No matter how much O'Neal practiced, his poor length would not improve even a little.

Elgin Baylor is very proud. People say that he was a disaster as a general manager?

Haha, I’m going to smash your faces this time!
Lord Beile didn't know that the Sugar Man couldn't save him at all. The only one who could save him was the Smiling Assassin who was the General Manager.

Because compared to the Smiling Assassin, Lord Beile doesn't seem that bad.

With the second pick, the Vancouver Grizzlies selected Mike Bibby, a white guard from an athletic family.

With the third pick, the Nuggets selected the "elegant thug" from the University of Kansas, the center Reeve LaFrentz who loves classical music but also likes to block all the opponent's layups.

Roger looked at the top three picks and shook his head.

I won’t talk about Bibby, after all, he is a player whose strength is more important than his statistics.

But LaFrentz and Sugar Roger felt like they were at a KTV and saw their friends choose an ugly, shrunken fruit, and could only secretly complain: "No one knows how to play!"

With the fourth pick, the Toronto Raptors took Antawn Jamison, and with the fifth pick, the Golden State Warriors took the man whose actual dunking was second only to Curry.

When Jamison finished shaking hands and was about to leave, Stern told him: "Wait a minute, the trade is about to start."

Then, for the first time in NBA history, two players exchanged ball caps directly on the stage. Carter and Jamison swapped teams as soon as they were selected.

Seeing this, Roger suddenly remembered something.

broken!

His memory always told him that Nowitzki was selected with the ninth pick, and at that time Nowitzki was not famous enough and no one would steal him, so the Hawks with the eighth pick would get him very safely.

But when Roger saw Jamison and Carter being traded on the spot, he realized that Nowitzki dropped to ninth because the Mavericks felt it was a waste to pick him sixth. Anyway, no one would steal Nowitzki, so why not trade down the draft pick, secure Nowitzki, and get more chips.

So, the Mavericks selected "Tractor" Robert Traylor with the sixth pick, and used it as a bargaining chip to trade for the Bucks' No. 9 and No. 19 picks.

In this way, the Mavericks not only got Nowitzki, but also got an extra first-round draft pick.

But it’s different now. What if the Mavericks know that the Hawks are also interested in Nowitzki?

Would they still take Nowitzki at No. 9?

The draft entered the sixth pick, which was the most curious for Roger.

Did the Mavericks get wind of the news?
Will they choose Nowitzki directly or continue to choose Robert Traylor?
In a nervous mood, David Stern read out the name: "In the 1998 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected Dirk Nowitzki, from Würzburg, Germany, with the sixth pick in the first round!"

After Stern read the name, there was a burst of boos from the audience.

Mavericks fans couldn't believe the team drafted a European wimp!

Nowitzki is also the only lottery pick who has not gone on stage to shake hands with Stern because he is not there at all.

Nowitzki was stunned when he heard that he was selected in the top ten.

When Old Neil came here before, he joked with Nowitzki: "Hey, at the draft, if David Stern calls you, will you answer?"

Nowitzki didn't take it seriously because it was completely impossible for his name to be called.

But now, the dream has become reality!
"Fuck!" Roger cursed inwardly. Sure enough, the Mavericks in history did not take any risks and directly took down Dirk in the sixth place.

With the seventh pick, the Kings selected "Yellow Chocolate's Dream Self" Jason Williams.

Then, it was time for the Eagles to choose.

Pete Babcock immediately called Roger: "Second name, if you don't have a name, I will choose it myself!"

Babcock's tone was anxious. After all, the team had just lost its biggest goal, so it would be strange if he wasn't anxious.

"Who do you want to choose?" Roger asked.

"Lahu Nesterovic, the center forward of the Italian club Bologna, is experienced, tall, and has excellent team awareness. He is a perfect fit for our team!"

"No, no," Roger rejected the idea and pulled out this year's draft list.

Finally, he said a name that made Babcock's jaw drop.

"Roger, do you think life is boring if you don't do something?" Babcock complained after getting the name.

"No, believe me, this is the most correct choice. Well, at least it is the right choice from the perspective of strength."

Babcock shook his head and handed the envelope with his name on it to the staff.

Four minutes later.

In the 1998 NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected .
Paul Pierce, from the University of Kansas!
The camera turned to Pierce, who did not stand up to hug his family or smile.

He was completely confused by the fate that had played such a trick on him.

(End of this chapter)