Champions Creed

Chapter 230 229: Another arms race for war has begun (asking for monthly tickets!)

The summer of 1999 belonged to Tim Duncan.

The second-year forward seems to be replicating Roger's legend.

23 years old, sophomore, averaged 27.4 points and 14 rebounds in the finals, FMVP.

He became the third youngest FMVP in history, only after 1995-year-old Roger in 19 and 80-year-old Magic in 20.

At this moment, all Spurs fans remembered what Duncan said the day he first came to San Antonio: "It's great to be here. Without further ado, get ready to win big."

Now it seems like this was a top-notch show-off.

Popovich was very proud after the game: "We have Tim, Pat doesn't, that's the difference."

His teammates were full of praise for him. Young General Johnson burst into tears: "Sprewell scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. We all thought it was over. Just when he was on fire, Tim used steady turnarounds and rebounds to get everything done."

Sean Elliott was extremely excited: "He is not like Roger or Shark, who always makes a big splash. Tim takes it so lightly that for him, killing the game is like brushing off the cobwebs on the roof."

The Admiral was so excited that he kissed Duncan on the head: "Hey, he's been doing this all season, aren't you used to it yet?"

When receiving the FMVP trophy, No. 21 was as humble as ever: "It's very satisfying, but I know that without the outstanding performance of my teammates, I wouldn't have won this award. David was great tonight, Avery made the winning shot, and I'm just a member of the team."

Such a humble statement naturally did not satisfy the host, so he asked Duncan again: "How do you feel about interrupting Roger's championship streak?"

"I haven't beaten Roger, we haven't even played against each other this season, so it's not fair to say I beat him. But yes, I would love to win it from him myself if I could, I would definitely be happier that way."

"You'll have a chance, Tim, because Roger said he wanted to build a dynasty in Atlanta. Whether he achieves his goal or not, you'll definitely meet in the finals."

Duncan said with a firm look: "I look forward to that day."

Duncan knew very well that the reduced championship was not enough.

This year's season is too chaotic and informal. You can't say that this championship is worthless, but it's definitely not enough.

No truly great player would ever be complacent about that.

Duncan had only one thought: to win another real ring!

Only the one snatched from Roger himself is considered a real ring!

And just like that, this special 98-99 season came to an end.

Although Roger missed the finals for the first time in his career, it can be seen from Duncan's speech in the finals that people did not ignore him.

Everyone believed that Roger would definitely return to the finals. The fans believed it, and Tim Duncan believed it too.

As for whether a dynasty can be established, it is not up to Roger alone to decide.

What's more, Roger also said that "only three consecutive championships can be considered a dynasty."

This undoubtedly increases the difficulty for myself.

Roger didn't have to say that, because the NBA did not give a clear definition of a dynasty.

No one says that if it's not three consecutive championships, it's definitely not a dynasty.

Last summer, the NBA's official magazine "NBA Time and Space" published an article titled: Which is the strongest dynasty team in modern times?

This includes four teams:

The Showtime Lakers who won five championships in nine years from 80 to 88.

The Bird Green Army that won three championships in six years from 81 to 86.

The 91-93 three-peat Chicago Bulls and the 95-98 three-peat Orlando Magic.

This is not an official definition of the dynasty given directly by the government, but it can also be regarded as an official statement.

That is, it doesn't necessarily need to win three consecutive championships, but it must win at least three championships in six years to be called a dynasty team. To achieve the most basic condition of this dynasty, a star player must not run for at least six years before success.

However, at the end of the article, NBA Time and Space magazine may have gotten inspiration from the famous Orlando Sentinel and conducted a telephone poll to allow fans to choose the strongest dynasty team in their minds.

As a result, the three-time champion Bulls and three-time champion Magic were far ahead of the Celtics and Lakers in the 80s in votes.

This shows the special status of the three consecutive championships in the hearts of fans.

That's why Roger told Andrew Sharp that only three consecutive championships would be considered a true dynasty.

The difficulty of winning three consecutive championships is simply not on the same level as winning three championships in six years.

For three consecutive years, facing the toughest and longest schedule, the most difficult locker room environment and thorough research of the opponents, they still made it to the end and won the championship. The difficulty of this is simply incomparable to the three championships in six years.

So Roger is right, only those who win three consecutive championships can be considered a dynasty.

If your three consecutive championships are interrupted halfway, it means that you do not have the ability to overcome these difficulties.

Without the ability to overcome these difficulties, you can’t even be called the dominant era, let alone the GOAT, because you are not one level better than others.

Even if the three championships in six years can really be considered a dynasty, the value of this dynasty is far less than that of the three consecutive championships.

So what Roger needs is an undisputed dynasty, not something marginal.

Roger was watching TV and seeing the high-spirited Tim Duncan, and he felt a certain impulse all over his body.

He's eager to fight, even though the season has just ended, but he's eager to fight.

"You will get what you want, Tim." Roger said to himself in front of the TV, holding his own brand of red wine.

But thinking of the next OK combination, Roger shook his head: "Maybe, you have to step back a little bit."

The Lakers made a move right after the lockout-shortened 1999 season, and rookie coach Kurt Rambis immediately lost his job.

Because O'Neal told the media after being swept: "We need a coach who is worthy of respect and has championship experience."

This statement was supported by most Los Angeles media and fans.

After Pat Riley, the Lakers recruited Mike Dunleavy and Silver Fox Harris, but neither of them was the type who could take charge of the overall situation.

Then, a name appeared in the media's field of vision - Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson signed a five-year contract with the Knicks, but as Jordan retired, the Knicks fired Jackson.

He became the first coach of the season to be fired in NBA history.

After that, Phil Jackson began to travel around the United States, almost isolated from the world.

Until one day, he received a call from Jerry West. Jerry West never believed how magical the triangle offense was, but he was sure of one thing - Phil Jackson was good at manipulating people's hearts.

The Lakers just need such a master who can control the locker room so that Kobe and Shark can achieve the effect of 1+1>2.

The Zen Master did not refuse the job because he could see the potential in Shaq and Kobe.

The Zen Master always follows championships, and he really misses the feeling of winning everything.

After verbally reaching an agreement with Jerry West, the Zen Master made a request: "Let Shaquille O'Neal come to Montana to find me."
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Phil Jackson is a master at manipulating people's minds.

He knew that O'Neal would hold a charity rap concert in Montana in the near future, and the concert venue was only 30 kilometers away from the Zen Master's home by the lake.

So O'Neal will definitely appear in Montana recently. It is not a big deal to ask O'Neal to come and see him at this time. The Shark certainly has no reason to refuse, and he does not need to be afraid of losing face.

Although the shark only came to see the Zen Master, this was also a way for the Zen Master to assert his sovereignty.

In any case, he didn't go looking for the shark, the shark went looking for him.

The relationship between the primary and the secondary here is completely different.

The key to getting a team is to get the star players. Today is the first step for the Zen Master to get the star players.

When O'Neal arrived at the Zen Master's residence, he found that the Zen Master was not at home.

I found out after calling that the Zen Master went to the hospital for a physical examination today accompanied by his daughter - Phil Jackson is almost 60 years old, he doesn't want to faint in the Staples Center, he has to make sure his physical indicators are normal.

When Phil Jackson arrived, the Sharks were having fun with the kids from the Zen Master's neighbors.

The Zen Master could see that O'Neal did not have a bad temper and he was actually a very friendly person.

The reason he failed to succeed was that he was not as paranoid as Roger and Jordan.

The two went to the lake and sat down to drink coffee. Phil Jackson asked the shark: "How did you get here today?"

"Drive, damn, I just accidentally ran a red light."

"What music did you listen to in the car?"

"Snoop Dogg's music, hey, his West Coast style is the purest, are you interested?" Shark was very excited. He thought that the Zen Master wanted to get closer to him by starting from his interests.

The Zen master replied coldly: "Not at all."

O'Neal was completely speechless.

Then ask Ji Mao!
Then the Zen Master looked at the bread crumbs and ketchup marks on the shark's belly and asked, "Eat a hamburger?"

"Yeah, I stopped by McDonald's and bought a burger on my way here."

"Look, you're driving at 50 kilometres an hour, listening to music, your phone is ringing, you're steering with one hand and eating a burger with the other, and you're cleaning ketchup off your clothes. You look up, see the light is red, and you run through it without braking."

"What on earth do you want to say, Phil?"

"What I want to say is that there are too many things in our lives that are too complicated. If we want to win a championship, we have to be simple and focused. If you want to win a championship, OK. Stop making movies, stop recording rap albums, stop living a life of luxury. You need to focus on basketball, and only focus on basketball.

I know you have received similar bans before, and Jerry West must have reminded you. You must have agreed to it, but then forgot about it.

This time, Shaq, you better not give me a fake win. I know it's not funny, but if you lose again, you're really doomed. Who will get swept by Tim Duncan? Even the Miami Heat played them to a sixth game.

What? Are you worse than Alonzo Mourning?
Sorry, it seems like you are not as good as Alonzo Mourning in this year's MVP rankings.

This is your situation, Shaq, you are already pitifully weak."

Under normal circumstances, if a coach dared to be so rude to Shark, Shark would jump up and call him an idiot, then leave.

But O'Neal couldn't wait to wear a ring after leaving Roger. If there was any coach who could lead his team to do this, it must be Phil Jackson.

O'Neal defeated Phil Jackson's team three times when he was with the Magic, but that doesn't mean he looks down on Phil Jackson.

After all, Phil Jackson also created Chicago's three consecutive championships.

Also, before Phil Jackson, Jordan had never won a championship.

"I'll listen to you, Phil. But I really can't cancel the charity concert tomorrow."

Phil Jackson laughed. "You can finish all this mess before training camp. By the way, my daughter and I will go to your concert tomorrow."

"Really? Hahahaha, I'll send a car to pick you up, Phil!"

In less than ten minutes, Phil Jackson had O'Neal under orders to stay focused, and at the same time, he had made the Shark like him.

Phil Jackson is a master at playing with people's minds.

Jackson drank his coffee, looked at the lake, and picked up his phone.

Jeanie Buss, daughter of the Lakers owner, sent another text message. Ever since the Lakers came into contact with Phil Jackson, he and Jeanie Buss have entered into an ambiguous chat period.

The Zen Master opened the text message. Jeanie Buss was very bold: "Phil, have you heard the story about Magic Johnson fighting in every room of the Lakers Arena? No one has ever created such a record in the Staples Center."

"Oh Jenny, I can't wait to dive into this story myself."

Well, just focus on things like basketball and fool the players.

A few days later, Jerry West announced to the media that Phil Jackson had become the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and he would officially meet with the media and fans before the start of the new season's training camp.

That night in the 1999 NBA draft, the Hawks took Shawn Marion from UNLV with the sixth pick in the first round.

An undersized four who is athletic, can shoot, defend, and rebound.

TNT draft commentator Ernie Johnson told everyone:

"In his one year at UNLV, Sean averaged 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. As you can see, he is a versatile player on the defensive end. Perhaps he can make up for the fact that Ben is too weak in offense at the power forward position and Clifford Robinson is too weak in rebounding at the power forward position. Sean has both of their advantages. Yes, the Eagles' championship window has never closed, especially after adding Sean."

The Lakers and the Hawks officially completed their new signings on the same day.

While San Antonio fans were cheering for the victory, the arms race for another war had already begun.

After being selected by the Eagles, Shawn Marion was extremely excited: "I think I have the opportunity to win a championship earlier than all the rookies. Maybe I can win the championship in my rookie season. God, this is not impossible. My teammates are the best players in the world!"

From Duncan to Ernie Johnson to Marion, everyone believes that Roger will return to the finals soon.

Everyone believes so.

(End of this chapter)