Champions Creed

Chapter 225 Chapter 224: Make Roger obedient (ask for monthly ticket!)

In this long and boring lockout farce, the real victims are the fans, the workers related to the basketball industry, the small owners of hotels and restaurants near the stadiums, and even the beautiful girls in nightclubs.

Can you imagine a young woman with ideals joining a nationally renowned company like the Golden Club, only to earn just enough to make ends meet after working for a month?
The overall environment is really bad.

Fortunately, the industry’s winter is finally over.

Once the players and the league signed the new labor agreement, similar things would not happen again in the league for at least the next six years.

Reebok was very satisfied with Roger's performance during the lockout, and they wanted Roger to show up in public.

This summer, when the league was in a lockout and Roger was arguing with many people, he did not forget to take the time to sign a lifetime contract with Reebok with a signing fee of 5000 million US dollars.

Of course, the key point is that the two parties also reached a licensing agreement: until Roger's death, he can take a 6% dividend from the sales of his personal brand every year.

Some people may think that a 6% dividend is too little, and it is a 6% dividend for a personal brand, not a 6% dividend for Reebok's entire sales.

But the fact is that last year Roger's personal brand merchandise sales reached 6.7 million U.S. dollars, and a 6% dividend is about 4000 million, which is far higher than Roger's annual salary from playing basketball.

Moreover, this number will continue to rise as Roger's personal brand influence expands.

As Roger knows, AJ's sales in 2023 reached 66 billion US dollars, and Jordan could get 5% dividends from AJ. In other words, Jordan's pre-tax dividend income in that year was as high as 3.3 million.

That's almost four times what he earned in his entire career!
Therefore, as long as Roger can bring the influence of his brand to the level of AJ, then long, long from now, he will be able to experience the feeling of sitting on the sofa every year waiting for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to arrive.

Now you know why Jordan is the only person who has a compulsive gambling habit but whose life is hardly affected by it?
There is no way to lose everything. You can never lose everything.

This is certainly a big gamble for Reebok. This licensing agreement will cost them a huge price. Sooner or later, Roger will become the first sports brand spokesperson with an annual income of over 100 million yuan.

Reebok owner Paul Firman wanted the contract to be worth the money, so he needed Roger to show up in various occasions to increase his exposure.

During the past offseason, Roger's important role in labor-management negotiations undoubtedly greatly expanded his influence.

Reebok's publicity machine is also very willing to report on such things.

"A Chinese man forced the US national team to temporarily change its lineup for the World Championships. I think this is a reflection of Roger's influence."

"When the incompetent Players Union President Patrick Ewing was about to mess everything up, Roger saved the rights of labor and saved the 98-99 season."

"Even with Shaq in the way, Roger still managed to get it done, just like he did in Orlando."

Reebok's media was promoting crazily, trying to portray Roger as a great player leader and the most special person of this era.

However, the influence of such things is limited after all.

Just like, if it weren't for the fanatical fans, who would know the important role that Big O played in the labor negotiations? People would only remember that he ran to the freezing cold Milwaukee to hug Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's thighs and won a pitiful championship at the end of his career.

If we really want to expand our influence, we have to rely on the competition itself.

Next is a new starting point. Roger wants to build a new dynasty in Atlanta. Reebok is looking forward to it, and Roger is looking forward to it too.

On the first day of training camp for the new season, Roger went to Emory Health Center early.

When Roger arrived, the health center was still the same health center, but the teammates were no longer the same teammates.

Almost everyone gained weight visibly!
When Roger saw Clifford Robinson's protruding belly, he could only sigh that time was like a bag of pig feed.

Just half a year can change a man's species.

Players of this era are different from those of the future. Even Ben Simmons will understand the importance of fighting hard and striving for MVP during the offseason.

And the current players, most of them, have really been resting since the offseason until now.

Moreover, this is the first real shutdown of the NBA league.

The league has actually been shut down several times before, but the problems were eventually resolved before the new season.

But this time, many players didn't expect the league to be serious. It was the first time they encountered a season postponement, and many people didn't know what to do.

Playing overseas? Playing baseball? That’s only the choice of a few people.

Training at one's own expense during the shutdown is a niche among the niches.

90% of NBA players just play for several months.

So, Clifford Robinson's situation is still relatively good.

After the media releases the photo of Rain Man tomorrow, everyone will know what Metamorphosis is.

Don't say that Yu Ren doesn't work hard. In order to maintain his condition, he has set strict rules for himself: "I swear that I will never have sex with any woman a second time. This is a matter of principle!"

As for Vin Baker, who had the best professional attitude of his career last season, he probably didn't even know the league lockout was over because he was drunk from the summer of 1998 to the spring of 1999.

The long suspension has caused most players' bodies to rust.

Fortunately, Roger has always had the habit of maintaining training.

Like him, others who still maintain a good figure include Big Ben and Andre Patterson.

The two would train with Roger from time to time during the long offseason.

Big Ben hopes to maintain his form, while Patterson hopes to adapt to the rhythm of the NBA as soon as possible.

Finally, Roger saw the rookie that the whole of Atlanta was looking forward to.

When Paul Pierce showed up, he looked as excited as a little boy picking fruit for the first time.

Because of Steve Smith's departure, Paul Pierce, who was already in the spotlight, received more attention. They all expected Pierce to take over from Steve Smith and become Roger's God Hand.

Do you think this will overwhelm Pierce? No, Pierce does not mind such pressure. He is a player who likes competition and challenges.

Steve Smith's departure just solved the problem that Pierce was most worried about.

Now, no one can push him to the bench.

He doesn't have to be a substitute for anyone!

He is very confident that he can become a qualified championship player!

As for how to get along with Roger, Pierce also has a killer trick.

He was confident that he could easily subdue Roger.

Now he is not at all opposed to playing for the Eagles.

Pierce walked into the locker room and greeted everyone: "Hey, this is Paul Pierce, from Northern California, who is about to make a name for himself in Atlanta."

Everyone in the locker room laughed, but Pierce was not embarrassed. When he played at Inglewood High School, Pierce was often ridiculed because he was a fat kid who couldn't make the first team.

He was already accustomed to this kind of scene.

At this time, Roger was not in the locker room. He went to attend the press conference, so Pippen temporarily took on the role of locker room leader.

Pippen is now loyal to the Hawks, because right after the lockout ended, he received a 4-year, $6500 million contract from the Hawks, of which only $5500 million was guaranteed, and the remaining $1000 million was a bonus clause, which required him to help Roger win at least one championship during the contract period.

The Rockets bid for Pippen, offering him $5 million for five years, plus $7700 million in various bonus clauses. However, the bonus clauses did not require him to win a championship, and were very simple.

The average annual salary of the two teams is similar except for the different lengths of their contracts. However, it is easier to get the 1000 million bonus from the Rockets.

But this time, Pippen learned his lesson.

He knew very well that although the Rockets had Olajuwon and Barkley, the two were already half dead and no longer had the strength they had in their peak years.

Even with myself added, it would be difficult for the Rockets to achieve anything.

If they stay in Atlanta, the Hawks will always be a championship contender.

The exposure and commercial revenue this brings cannot be compensated by the Rockets' extra year's contract.

Pippen was afraid of being poor in the past, so he hurriedly signed the contract that seemed to be the safest, but it ended up hurting him instead.

Now he knows very well that a long contract is not necessarily a good one.

By staying in Atlanta, he can stay in the spotlight.

In this way, Pippen quickly signed the contract and successfully stayed with the team, resolving the psychological demon that had been bothering him for many years.

Finally, his contract is no longer cheap. Finally, he is no longer a counting unit.

Finally, he can assist Roger wholeheartedly!
Pippen walked up to Pierce and pointed to two lockers. "You have two choices for the locker. Either go to that corner, which belonged to Alan Henderson last season. Or go next to Roger, which belonged to Steve Smith last season. But I have to remind you that it's not a good thing to be close to Roger."

Pippen's meaning was clear: Do you have the guts to be Roger's God Hand?

Pierce walked to the locker next to Roger without hesitation.

Pippen laughed. This kid is quite courageous.

Roger would love him.

At this time, Roger returned to the locker room after attending the press conference.

He glanced at Pierce, who was sitting next to his locker, and nodded: "Have you found a place to live?"

"Find it."

"Ah."

This was the first conversation between Roger and Pierce.

After that, no one asked Pierce to help buy water or sports protective equipment.

For a moment, Pierce thought he was in the wrong place.

They didn't bully me? Is this really the Atlanta Hawks? The Atlanta Hawks that scared the Portland Prison Team and made Karl Malone die on the spot?

its not right!
At one point, Pierce felt that he was the most social person in the locker room.

Soon, the first training session began.

Because the players have not trained for a long time, today they mainly did some warm-up and recovery.

This was the moment Pierce had been waiting for.

Pierce was not idle during the lockout. He was training on his own, preparing to secretly surprise everyone.

Pierce is a person who is willing to train hard. His high school coach once told him that if he can keep working hard, he will become a professional player in the future. He has the potential.

Pierce didn't think too much about it. He just hoped to go to a good university through basketball, find a job that could support his family, and not let his mother work so hard. Yes, no need to introduce it, everyone knows that Paul Pierce is a child without a father.

In order to share the pressure on his mother, he took a liking to training and worked very hard, transforming from a fat boy into a muscular man.

And this habit of hard training has been maintained until now.

Also, Pierce loves one-on-ones.

Before and after practice each day, Pierce plays one-on-one with his teammates.

So he walked onto the court with a ball and said, "Hey guys, anyone want to play one-on-one?"

Nothing like this has ever happened on the Hawks practice field since Roger arrived in Atlanta.

Pippen and Steve Smith are not so naive, and the others are not single-player players. Therefore, generally no one in the Hawks will play singles.

Pierce's suggestion piqued everyone's interest. Bowen stood up with a smile, ready to let the kid experience what it was like to be slippery on the dark road and complicated in society, but Pippen held him back: "I haven't played basketball for a long time, let me warm up."

Pierce stared at Pippen, extremely excited.

Great, this is a great opportunity to build prestige within the team!

Pippen soon proved that he was not lying and he had not played basketball for a long time.

On Pierce's first attack, Pippen wanted to steal the ball, but he couldn't bend down in time.

Pippen himself realized that something was wrong. He had never been a hardworking player, but every year in training camp he could quickly get into fighting shape.

But this time, he clearly felt the slowness of his body.

Pierce passed by Pippen, went straight into the penalty area, and scored with a two-handed dunk.

"Yeah! I'm a dunker too! Don't forget, Vince and I participated in the McDonald's All-Star Slam Dunk Contest together! From now on, please call me Skywalker!"

Pierce shouted, as if to protest his own athletic ability.

Roger shook his head. Skywalker? You're more narcissistic than yellow chocolate!
Pierce did participate in a dunk contest with Carter, but if you have seen that dunk showdown, you will know that it was the easiest win for Carter in his life. Pierce failed to dunk more times than Kobe missed.

Pierce is just bragging about it because it is hard to find videos nowadays and few people have seen them. After all, when you are out and about, your identity is given by yourself.

He became obedient a few years later when YouTube was born.

After dunking the first goal, Pierce continued to attack.

He made a triple-threat move, Pippen took a small step back cautiously, but Pierce suddenly pulled up from outside the three-point line.

brush.

The basketball goes into the net.

Pierce became completely confident, because he was dealing with Scott Pippen!

Scott Pippen, who was selected to the All-Defensive First Team for seven consecutive years!

And now I am strangling him!
Pierce, overly excited, started talking trash.

"Scott, what's going on? Has your annual salary of tens of millions made you slow to react?"

"Rookie, I don't like the way you're talking now!"

“Oh, then you can use basketball to speak.”

In the next possession, Pippen blocked Pierce's breakthrough layup.

If it was Roger, the moment he got the ball, it meant Pierce had no chance.

But after Pippen completed such a beautiful defense, his own offense failed to score.

He got past Pierce with a change of direction. Pierce's defense during this period was hard to describe. He was actually dribbled past by the 34-year-old Pippen.

Taking advantage of the half-body gap, Pippen made a quick stop and jump shot.

As a result, this quick stop and jump shot with almost no interference hit the rim and bounced out, causing the ball to return to Pierce.

Pippen's real problem in the following years was not defense, but offense.

His offensive ability continues to deteriorate.

Pierce got the ball again thanks to Pippen's missed shot. With his explosive touch, he took the game away with a three-pointer and a mid-range shot!

"Haha! Old man, how about it? One-on-one, I can beat you ten times in a row!"

Pierce was getting excited and couldn't stop talking.

Pippen felt like he was back in 1993, when the damn great Roger gave him a little lesson in training camp.

The difference is that in 1993, Jordan was not there to support Pippen.

But in 1999, Pippen had Roger.

Roger really likes Pierce, who is much braver and more aggressive than Steve Smith.

But he couldn't let anyone get ahead of him and Pippen.

Although Pippen's strength has declined, he is one of the leaders in the locker room and his authority cannot be threatened.

Pierce may one day be qualified to take over Pippen's position, but not now.

If someone wants to jump the level, Roger has to suppress them.

Roger stood up and walked over to Pierce, "Well played Paul, I think you are worthy enough to play a round with me."

Everyone stared at the court, ready to watch the excitement.

Roger cleans up the arrogant rookie. This is the scene that people have been expecting since the moment Pierce was selected.

Pierce looked at the aggressive Roger and was not nervous.

It's time to use your trump card to deal with the tyrant Roger!

Pierce, who had been so unruly just now, threw the ball to the ground:
"I can't beat you, so forget it, I'll go buy you a drink."

Roger:? ? ?
Why is this guy so naughty and obedient?
Looking at Roger's astonished expression, Pierce smiled smugly.

I told you before, I can make Roger obey me perfectly!
This incident is enough to prove that Roger has an extremely solid control over the locker room.

Even a well-known rebellious young man like Pierce would not have the time to provoke Roger.

Roger's prestige is enough to hold Pierce back and prevent him from becoming Kobe Bryant.

As for Pippen's position, as long as Roger keeps his word, no one can touch Pippen for the time being.

While Pierce went to get water, Pippen bent over and held his back.

Roger patted Pippen on the shoulder and said, "You have to work harder in training camp, Scott. Your body is like a used car that has run more than 100,000 kilometers."

“I know.”

"How's your back? Have you checked it out?"

"No, I feel fine, just a little sore, probably muscle tension again."

"You should go for a check-up. I remember last year Cech said you didn't just have muscle tension, but there seemed to be something wrong with your lumbar spine as well."

"Yeah, I'll pay attention."

Soon, Pierce bought some drinks. Although he didn't fight Roger, he was still very proud: "How is it? Am I different from before? Am I qualified to be your helper?"

"One-on-one and full-court basketball are two different games. I think you should be aware of that."

"I can do full-court basketball, too. You'll see it soon!"

"Paul, don't underestimate this place. You thought you would at least be selected with the third pick, but what happened? You are very good at offense, but your defense is shit." After saying that, Roger took the drink and walked off the court while drinking it.

"You haven't seen my defense, and our offense can solve all problems!" Pierce was still arrogant.

"Find a way to work harder on defense. That's what you need to do most right now."

Pierce shrugged. He thought to himself, "Defense? It's easy. Just be serious."

"You'd better be serious."

Pierce didn't take Roger's advice to heart at all.

Is it difficult to win the championship with me here?

Boys who first entered the battlefield all thought they could be heroes.

But they are completely unaware of the cruelty of war.

As training camp progresses, teams are making more and more trades.

The highly anticipated Pistons decided to make some changes after being eliminated in the first round for consecutive years.

They couldn't bear it anymore and sent Chris Webber to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Otis Thorpe and Mitch Richmond.

This deal was not unexpected to Roger, but the next deal by the Miami Heat surprised Roger.

The Miami Heat, led by old acquaintance Pat Riley, used the expiring contracts of Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle to trade with the Warriors for Latrell Sprewell, who almost strangled his head coach to death on the training ground last season and who also had a multi-year contract.

The Warriors' move is to clear out the madman's long-term contract, free up salary space, and prepare for reconstruction.

Considering that the Heat had already broken the record by acquiring Alan Houston, and now added Sprewell, it means that the two guns that were supposed to lead the Knicks to complete the black eight will join forces with the healthy and peak Alonzo Mourning.

What is the level of Mourning in the past two seasons?

98-99赛季MVP第2，99-00赛季MVP第3。

In the 98-99 season, he also won the Grand Slam of double first team + block leader + DPOY.

That's right, he even pushed O'Neal to the second team.

But the reason why peak Mourning had little presence was because their performance in the playoffs was so poor.

In the two years when Mourning was at his peak, the Heat didn't even make it to the conference finals.

The only memory he left for the fans was the scene in which he and an old lady punched each other more than a dozen times in the playoffs, but neither of them even hit the other once.

The reason why the Heat couldn't go further in the playoffs and were eliminated by the Knicks year after year was very simple - Mourning didn't even have a decent outside helper.

In the 98-99 season, Mourning's best outside helper Jamal Mashburn averaged 10 points per game in the series against the Knicks.

In the 99-00 season, he could score 15 points, but his shooting percentage was only 36%.

The Sharks at least need Roger and Kobe, it would be strange if Mourning could win.

But now, this problem has been solved.

In the original history, Alan Houston and Sprewell never partnered with peak Ewing.

In his prime, Mourning had never partnered with a top outside player.

Now, these two regrets have been made up.

A world was born in which Ewing alone had regrets.

Suddenly, this shortened season became full of suspense.

People were talking about Roger, Shark and Riley.

Pierce was fantasizing about winning the championship easily.

No one noticed that the stone Buddha in the holy city of Texas, who had just finished a brilliant rookie season, was peeking at the future of the league with an expressionless face.

War is never easy, and establishing a dynasty in a new place is even more so.

(End of this chapter)