Champions Creed

Chapter 246 Chapter 245 Never before has the question of “the best player today” been solved so naturally (asking for a monthly ticket!)

The 2000 All-Star Game represented a new beginning.

The league has entered a new era, and many new protagonists have joined the All-Star Game.

At this year's Oakland All-Star Game, you won't see Scott Pippen, Charles Barkley, Olajuwon or Patrick Ewing.

Instead, names such as AI, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Rasheed Wallace, etc. have gradually become familiar to people in recent years.

In the Eastern Conference, as many as seven people were selected to the All-Star Game for the first time.

The starting lineup of the Western Conference All-Star team was almost completely replaced.

Whenever there is a major change in the All-Star roster, it means that a change of era has arrived.

Well, this time is an exception.

Because the guy who won brilliant honors in the last era is still very young now.

Therefore, whether the times will change depends on whether the still young No. 14 agrees.

Even though there are many people who want to win the AMVP this year, when Roger announced "There will be a war tonight", he can only be the most popular candidate for the AMVP.

Roger arrived in Oakland with the halo of "a top five superstar in history" as described by Bill Simmons.

The entire San Francisco Bay Area was shaken by his arrival.

The basketball atmosphere here has never been so strong. The Golden Gate Bridge, an old actor in Hollywood disaster movies, is seriously congested every day because all San Franciscans want to drive to Oakland to see Roger.

Warriors owner Chris Cohen was very envious of the star effect that Roger brought. He could imagine how happy Ted Turner was when Roger came to Atlanta.

It would be great if something like this happened to the Warriors.

Chris Cohen's life is not easy, even though he drives a luxury car, lives in a mansion, and changes five female companions a day.

But his life was not easy.

A cable television mogul, he sold his company for more than $1998 million in 2. Now, the Golden State Warriors are his biggest asset.

But the Warriors are losing money.

When Chris Cohen first took over the Warriors, he wanted to move the Warriors to San Francisco.

Although San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose belong to the San Francisco Bay Area, the three areas have very distinct labels.

San Francisco is rich, Oakland is black, poor and chaotic, and San Jose is a hodgepodge.

If you want to make money, the best place to be is San Francisco.

Chris Cohen hopes that the Warriors can "go to the bottom" because San Francisco obviously has stronger spending power and more wealthy people. Setting up a home court in San Francisco can increase ticket prices and sell more season tickets.

Moreover, the team's move to San Francisco will further enhance the Warriors' commercial value and obtain more sponsorship.

Not only was the relocation plan obstructed, but Chris Cohen also spent $1.4 million to renovate the Warriors' home arena.

Adding to the irritation, he is fighting charges in federal court for evading $1.6 million in taxes.

Now he needs money, cash, and the Golden State Warriors are his biggest source of income. But unfortunately, the Warriors are not doing well.

So seeing the shock Roger brought to Oakland, Chris Cohen couldn't help but imagine that if a star of Roger's level came to Oakland, he would be able to turn losses into profits in an instant.

How happy that would be.

Chris Cohen was so impressed by the star effect Roger brought that he decided to take a gamble. This summer, he would put all his chips on the free agent market to bet on one or two superstars.

There are many big fish in the free agent market this summer, including Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Alan Houston, Roger
Well, although Roger will become a free agent, Chris Cohen really can't think of any reason for Roger to leave Atlanta.

He said he would build a dynasty in Atlanta, and he certainly wouldn't leave until then.

He is not the kind of person who keeps his word.

If he failed and left, how would people view him? How would he maintain his reputation as a superstar?
No person with any sense of honor would do that.

But even if Roger is excluded, as long as the Warriors can catch one or two of the others, the market will be activated.

How Chris Cohen wishes that this kind of shock brought by stars could become a daily routine for the Warriors.

If the Warriors still can't recover, Chris Cohen can only prepare for the worst, which is to sell the team.

Well, the Russian has been eager to join the game, and he is rich, just waiting for an opportunity to join the game
Therefore, selling the team is also an option.

Roger's arrival changed a lot.

On the second day of the All-Star Game, Roger was still enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by the world.

Wherever he went to attend a business event, that place would become the most crowded place in Auckland.

It was not until the evening that Gisele Bundchen finally got Roger's company.

Roger and Gisele Bundchen went to the three-point contest and the dunk contest.

Any serious basketball fan knows what happened in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest.

There was no way Roger was going to miss the chance to see a UFO fly by live.

Sure enough, Vince Carter blew up the whole audience and saved the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, which was already stillborn.

Every dunk he made in this dunk contest is enough to become a classic.

The second best dunker of the 21st century deserves his reputation.

The end of the dunk contest left fans wanting more and made everyone look forward to tomorrow's All-Star Game.

Because so far, more than one person has said in front of the camera that he wants to win the AMVP.

Kobe Bryant was blunt in an interview yesterday: "I don't understand why everyone thinks AMVP is exclusive to Roger and Shaq. I hope to see Shaq win the trophy, but I will also participate in the competition."

Allen Iverson smiled and told everyone: "Why not me?"

Carter is also eager for honors: "The dunk contest champion is great, but AMVP is also good."

Garnett also joined in the fun: "I think the AMVP is not important to Roger at all. What's important is that he doesn't want Shaq to win the AMVP. What if I win the AMVP? Wouldn't that solve the problem perfectly?"

The special nature of this All-Star Game made everyone take it seriously.

Everyone wants to prove themselves at the beginning of the 21st century.

The next day, in the locker room of the All-Star Game, AI walked up to Roger and said, "Hey, I won't give up the fight for the AMVP, and I won't give up the right to shoot. Of course, I won't deliberately not pass the ball to you, but I won't give up the opportunities that belong to me. We all have the right to compete for the award, right?"

"Of course, AI." Roger didn't expect everyone to give him the right to attack.

Ray Allen muttered in dissatisfaction in the corner: "A bunch of selfish ghosts."

Jerry Stackhouse was even more direct: "I'm going to bring the AMVP back to Detroit. I'm going to do that. I promise."

"Shut up, Jerry." Grant Hill shook his head speechlessly. He knew very well that once Jerry Stackhouse started to miss shots, Roger might not be able to withstand that kind of damage.

Well, the locker room was very lively.

But Roger bet that the West was definitely more lively.

An hour later, the much-anticipated 2000 All-Star Game officially began.

Roger's plan was to take it easy in the first three quarters and then get serious in the fourth quarter.

No matter how serious the All-Stars are this year, it's impossible to play all four quarters, right?
However, the intensity of the competition exceeded Roger's expectations.

As soon as the game started, there was extremely intense physical contact between the two sides.

After Kidd controlled the ball across half court, he found KG who was leaning on Carter in the low post.

Because the Western Conference actually has three inside players, KG has a huge height advantage at the three position.

Carter is not a defensive stalwart at this stage, so after Garnett got the ball, he turned around and passed Carter, preparing to dunk.

Normally, this type of dunk would be let go in the All-Star Game.

But Mourning came up to defend seriously!

Garnett was equally rude, slamming the ball into the basket in the air over Mourning!

KG has a nickname in the United States that is unfamiliar to Chinese fans: Big Ticket.

Yes, it sounds harsh, but it suits him very well because he turned a freezing cold place like Minneapolis into one of the top ten cities in the league in terms of attendance.

This dunk is why Garnett is so popular. The athletic ability of the young KG is truly amazing.

Well, the tone of the game has been set.

No one expected that Alonzo Mourning would defend so seriously from the start, and no one expected that Garnett would still dunk the ball in such a fierce confrontation. Doug Collins, who was in charge of the commentary, reminded the fans: "Fasten your seat belts, today's All-Star Game will be a wild ride all the way to the end!"

He was right, the storm has already begun!

Immediately afterwards, AI scored a beautiful pull-up layup over Kobe's head.

You can imagine how Kobe, who is extremely competitive, feels now.

So one round later, Kobe ignored the Shark's request for the ball, held the ball on the right side of the court and played against Carter, and made a mid-range fadeaway jumper: "You dunked well, Vince, but that's not all about the game. What's wrong, AI? You want to hide behind a dunker?"

Even the good old man Carter became extremely murderous in such an atmosphere. What Sports Illustrated said was right, there are too many young and energetic people in this year's All-Star Game.

The more experienced they are, the less interested they are in making an effort in the All-Star Game.

But there are very few veteran players in this year's All-Star Game.

The few veterans have made an agreement with the coach to play only a few minutes, such as David Robinson, Karl Malone, and Reggie Miller.

Therefore, those who stay on the field for a long time are a group of people with a strong sense of competition.

This means that this year's All-Star Game will be filled with real confrontations.

Carter didn't like people calling him a dunker, and the competitive atmosphere made him decide to fight back immediately.

He found Kobe and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Mourning took the initiative to set a screen for Carter. Carter made a fake breakthrough in the direction of Mourning's pick-and-roll, but actually broke through to the side without the pick-and-roll. After shaking off Kobe, he performed a 360° turn and two-handed dunk at the level of a dunk contest!

The whole audience cheered. The dunk contest last night had already left the fans wanting more. Today, they were able to see Carter's dunk performance, and everyone was very satisfied.

Carter landed and looked at Kobe with a smile: "It seems that I got more cheers than you."

The court was filled with trash talk and the game was tense from the first quarter.

The first quarter lasted only a few minutes. Another commentator, Bob Costa, said: "From the beginning, the intensity of this year's All-Star Game was close to that of a regular season game!"

Finally, after the fifth minute, the coaches of both teams began to make substitutions.

I thought the intensity of the game would decrease as the rotation period came.

As a result, the competition was upgraded!

Because McGrady, who played alone in the Magic and had better statistics, entered the All-Star Game one year earlier than originally planned, and he gave Kobe a good beating in the first round of defense!
Kobe was very confident, and he had a good personal relationship with McGrady. They knew each other in high school and often played together during the offseason.

So he thinks McGrady is different from the other bastards in the East.

As a result, Kobe's turnaround jump shot after shaking his shoulder was blocked by McGrady!
Kobe stared at the sleepy McGrady, but McGrady shrugged: "I don't want to be the most embarrassed person, brother."

"No, you're going to lose face today!"

good, very good.

Even with the rotational lineup taking the field, the game still heated up.

This is the energy that young people bring, and this is the All-Star game that fans want to see.

So O'Neal and Roger were very embarrassed.

These two guys who were clamoring for the AMVP before the game, these two guys who were the protagonists of this season, didn't get any balls at all today.

It's not like they couldn't get the ball at all, but everyone's shots were too evenly spaced.

The Shark played very uncomfortably. He often stayed in the interior for a long time, and as a result, the ball would always be interrupted by someone while being passed.

Garnett might choose to play solo because of the sentence "You are Roger's dog".

Kobe might make a random shot because of the sentence "You are not even qualified to be compared with Roger."

If O'Neal wanted to get the ball, he had to grab the offensive rebound himself.

Fortunately, because the Eastern Conference's inside line is weak, it is easy for the Sharks to grab rebounds and play second offense.

In the East, there is only one legitimate center, Alonzo Mourning. Apart from him, the only inside player is Antonio Davis of the Raptors - he is known as the weakest All-Star player in history, averaging only 11+8 per game this season.

Because Ewing is injured, if he is not selected, the Eastern team will not even be able to select a backup center.

What about the West? Shaq and Duncan are both rebounding monsters. Once they grab offensive rebounds, they can finish directly at the basket.

So relying on the extremely strong second-chance offense, the Western team still led the Eastern team by 8 points after three quarters.

The whole audience cheered. This All-Star game was played with real swords and guns from the first quarter, and it was extremely exciting.

However, the best part has not yet begun.

"As we know, the fourth quarter of the All-Star Game will be a new level of competition and intensity! So ladies and gentlemen, don't blink!" said Doug Collins.

In the West, the Sharks undoubtedly had the best performance in the first three quarters.

He relied on second-chance opportunities to score 20 points and 9 rebounds in three quarters, with a shooting percentage of over 60%.

Roger only had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

AI was the player with the most shots in the first three quarters in the East. He played well today, but he couldn't defend anyone.

The second player who took the most shots was Ray Allen. Yes, the Ray Allen who complained in the locker room that his teammates were a bunch of selfish people.

You think he doesn't want to show off? You must be kidding.

Watching so many of your peers flying and jumping on the court, as an all-star player, you will think of a question: I am no worse than them, why do they have the spotlight?

However, the reason why Ray Allen is worse than AI is that he didn't have a good touch today, and the Western team defended very tightly, so he has only made 13 of 4 shots so far, and only 6 of 1 three-pointers, without a single assist.

Back on the bench, Roger did not forget to tease Ray Allen: "Hey, if we want to win, we'd better learn from Ray's wisdom! We passed too many useless balls, can't everyone just shoot directly?"

Facing Roger's sarcasm, Ray Allen lowered his head, looking unhappy, but did not refute.

He had no room for rebuttal.

"Okay, stop saying these useless things," Eastern Conference All-Stars coach Pat Riley reminded everyone, "I know you all want to win, but you must have a main attacking point to lead the team in the fourth quarter. Our offense is too messy! And in the fourth quarter, you must defend seriously!"

Even Riley was affected. It's hard to imagine a coach asking his players to play hard on defense in the All-Star Game.

But Riley did hit the point, the Eastern Conference's offense was too messy without a rebounding advantage.

The Western Conference's offense can be chaotic because they can grab offensive rebounds and have the capital to miss shots.

But the Eastern Conference does not have this advantage, and the offense is a one-time deal, so it needs to be more organized and efficient.

The East must have a clear core that can handle the ball, rather than just throwing it around whenever the mood strikes.

But this is the hardest part.

The tense game, the crazy audience, the honor that everyone wants. At this time and moment, these stars are often unwilling to give the ball to someone to control.

Who should I give the ball to? Who is qualified? The best player today is qualified, so who is the best player today?
However, to Riley's surprise, when he finished speaking, everyone on the bench except Ray Allen and Jerry Stackhouse looked at Roger.

You know, most of the people in this team are young people who are full of arrogance. They compete so fiercely today just to prove themselves.

But at the most critical moment, they all looked at Roger!

Never before has the question of "best player today" been solved so naturally.

Coincidentally, Roger had planned to make another effort in the fourth quarter.

So he just stood up generously, not feeling any pressure at all because the room was full of well-known All-Star players.

He seemed as at ease as if he were in the Eagles locker room.

Then, Pat Riley will never forget the next scene.

"Alright guys," Roger stood up and clapped his hands, his eyes swept over everyone confidently, "I can't guarantee that everyone will get the AMVP, but I guarantee that each of us can win."

This aura, this confidence, this feeling, Roger is like a dictator, ready to take control of the overall situation.

And the words that came out of his mouth could not be questioned.

Riley shook his head. Poor Shaq, be prepared to get nothing.

This was Roger's time.

This is Roger's show.

There is no way you can defeat him.

No one can defeat him.

(End of this chapter)