Champions Creed

Chapter 23 023: Will he be the truth here?

The Magic management thought the Shark must be crazy.

Well, Roger may have talent and potential, but judging by the current information, it is almost impossible for him to fall out of the lottery.

But using the top pick on a high school kid? A guard? And an Asian?
That might have happened in 2003, but in 1993, no one was going to take an Asian high school guard with the No. pick.

Every era has its own inherent thinking.

It’s like in the future, inside players who can shoot three-pointers will be very popular, but now if a center shoots three-pointers, everyone will just think you are not doing your job properly.

It’s like in the future, the darker and uglier the heroines in European and American movies are, the more correct it is. But now, the heroines in European and American movies must not only be beautiful but also have to be powerful enough.

In today's era, the idea of ​​using the top pick to select high school students is really too advanced.

Not to mention high school guards, there are very few examples of using the No. 1981 pick to select a guard in the entire NBA history. The last time an NBA team used the No. pick to select a guard was the Mavericks, and the highest honor they selected, Mark Aguirre, was only an All-Star reserve.

What's more, Roger is not the kind of high school student who is very popular all the time in high school.

It only took one year for him to go from being an unknown person to being known throughout the United States.

This means there are too many uncertainties about Roger.

The Magic's No. 1.5 pick was drawn with a fair, open and open % probability. This godsend gift must not be wasted on an unknown number, and they must choose a player who is safe enough.

In the original history, the reason why the Magic accepted O'Neal's proposal and traded Webber down to get Penny Hardaway was because Hardaway had played for two years in college and had good results. One year he even made it to the final eight of March Madness.

Moreover, Hardaway is different from Roger who suddenly appeared. He has been famous for a long time and has been well-known throughout the United States since his sophomore year in high school.

In the legendary 1992 game in which the college team defeated the Dream Team, Hardaway was also one of the players.

Therefore, the safety factor of choosing Hardaway is undoubtedly higher than that of choosing Roger. The Magic team in the original history was willing to accept a trade down for Hardaway, but it does not mean that they are willing to use the same method to trade Roger, who has greater instability.

Moreover, Roger and Hardaway are two completely different types of players.

Even if the Magic want to select a guard, they hope it will be a guard like Hardaway who is more of a pass-control type.

Scorer? Aren't the Sharks fierce enough?

Because the Sharks did not recommend Hardaway in this history, the first choice in the Magic management's mind is still Chris Webber.

In this era, no team would complain about having too many inside players.

In fact, the Magic management even considered using the No. 1 pick to select Sean Bradley to form a twin tower with O'Neal.

Because Webber's salary is too high, the Sharks' average annual salary is only about 300 million, but Webber wants a contract with an average annual salary of about 500 million. If they can't reach an agreement, they may really take Bradley, who is cheaper.

In short, even though they already have Shark, the right thing for the Magic to do is to choose an inside player.

For various reasons, the Magic did not make any promises to O'Neal. They did not say they would choose him, nor did they say they would definitely not choose him. They just said they would pay special attention to Roger.

In order to make the Sharks accept this result, the next day, the Orlando Sentinel held a vote: "Should we give up Webber and use the No. 1 pick to select Roger?"

Well, it's an old tradition for the Magic. When in doubt, vote first.

If we can’t choose, let others choose for us.

The answer is obvious, 97% of fans chose "can't give up Webber."

They would rather have Webber and O'Neal form a twin tower.

Although they thought that the team could make the playoffs if Roger replaced Nick Anderson, if they were to compare Roger to Webber, they would choose the latter without hesitation.

The Sharks were very angry about this and complained to Roger on the phone: "Brother, they don't understand your talent at all! The two of us combined, with just this handsome face, can fill every Orlando Center!"

Roger's mentality was quite peaceful: "There are some things we can't control, but I will never forget everything you have done for me, Shaq."

Roger's trial journey continued and he was not affected by it.

His tryout performance was still perfect, but his style of almost no passing and immature defense made some teams worried, so Roger did not receive any commitment from any team in the following tryouts.

The Washington Bullets, who had the sixth pick, told Roger: "You are undoubtedly one of the most talented young people we have ever seen, but we need a different style of player."

The Timberwolves, who picked fifth, were very fond of Roger, but Christian Laettner, the only college player on the Dream Team, told management: "I don't want to play with Roger. I don't like people who destroy the team's chemistry!"

Of course, the destruction of chemical reactions is just an excuse. The reason why Laettner doesn't like Roger is very simple. Roger once said that after Laettner enters a bigger stage, he will no longer be compared with Shaq.

Even though this was the truth, it still bothered Laettner.

The Timberwolves can certainly ignore Laettner's idea and bring Roger to Minneapolis, but if the locker room becomes a mess, it will not be worth it. So they are still wavering, not knowing whether to take Roger away at the fifth pick.

The Golden State Warriors, who hold the third overall pick, called in both Hardaway and Roger for tryouts.

They are already considered the two best guards in this draft.

This was Roger's first time meeting Hardaway. He looked like a superstar. He was handsome among black men, wore earrings, had a slender and well-proportioned figure, and spoke well, satisfying all people's fantasies of basketball stars.

The final result of the tryout was that both Roger and Hardaway put in impressive performances.

Hardaway scored 17 points and 5 assists in the practice game.

Roger bombed away 25 points but only had 1 assist.

Warriors General Manager Don Nelson found it difficult to say who is better, Roger or Hardaway. They are both excellent. Roger has unparalleled personal offensive power, while Hardaway has brilliant point guard skills. They both have the best of both worlds.

Well, in Don Nelson's mind, the best pick in this year's draft is Webber.

But he doesn't think Webber will drop to third.

Although he has been actively trading up draft picks, if he fails, he will have to choose between Roger and Hardaway.

At present, Roger can be selected in these positions.

The best chance is to be selected by the Warriors with the third pick, followed by the Timberwolves with the fifth pick, then the Nuggets with the ninth pick, and the worst result is the Pistons with the tenth pick.

Although he wanted to know the result quickly, after finishing the last tryout, all Roger could do was to keep training and wait for the NBA draft to begin.

During this period, the Chicago Bulls, just as Roger expected, won four games in a row after falling behind 0-2, reversed and defeated the New York Knicks, once again destroying the gorilla's championship dream.

In the crucial decisive battle, Jordan, under the dual pressure of the Atlantic City gambling scandal and three consecutive championships, scored 54 points in a single game and completely destroyed the Knicks' historical defense.

This is one of God's most terrifying performances.

So the 1993 finals was still the Bulls vs. Suns that Roger was very familiar with, with Jordan facing MVP Charles Barkley.

The 1993 Phoenix Suns were undoubtedly a great team. No one in their main rotation was taller than 208 cm, and their star point guard Kevin Johnson missed 32 games due to injury.

But thanks to Charles Barkley's determination of "I am the best basketball player on the planet", the Suns achieved the best 62 wins in team history.

Jordan admitted that the 93 Suns were the strongest finals opponent he had ever faced.

The 91 Lakers and Magic are too old.

Drexler in 92 was not a fighter at all.

Only Barkley in 93 made Jordan feel pressured.

So how did Jordan overcome the pressure?

The answer is 40+ points in four consecutive games in the finals and an average of 41 points per game in the finals.

Since Feizhu is so outstanding, of course all of them will be given to him.

Michael Jordan succeeded. He miraculously completed three consecutive championships, a miracle that only the Lakers and Celtics had achieved before.

He became the first player to win three consecutive Finals MVPs and the most successful basketball player in the world. He engraved his name on the entire era.

But after winning the championship, Michael Jordan was unusually calm, not even as excited as his previous two championships.

He just took a bottle of wine and a cigar and retreated into a quiet room, in stark contrast to the crazy world outside.

His reaction did not seem like he had accomplished something, but rather like he had finally gotten rid of a heavy burden and now just wanted to take a rest.

He was indeed too tired. The "Jordan Rules" full of negative information, the Atlantic City gambling scandal, the falling apart team, and the pressure of three consecutive championships. He loved basketball very much, but things outside the basketball court tortured him to exhaustion.

Jordan hid in the room and took a deep puff of his cigar. What he was thinking at this moment was: "What else can I pursue? Is this great journey about to end?"

He thought about retiring in 1992, but he pulled through.

In 1993, Michael Jordan was almost unable to hold on.

So, in the summer of June, when the whole world was praising Jordan generously, Bulls general manager Jerry Krause received a message from Jordan's agent Falk:

"Michael just told me that he might retire this summer."

Klaus couldn't believe this was true, but he had to be prepared for all possibilities.

If, if Michael Jordan really chooses to retire.
Klaus found the scouting report from the drawer of his desk.

He didn't expect that he would look at this report again so soon.

If Jordan really retires, the team's plan will be completely different from before.

Roger, will you be the next Truth in Chicago?

(End of this chapter)