Champions Creed

Chapter 248 Chapter 247: Asshole, Roger doesn't need custom data at all! (Seeking monthly votes!)
The 2000 All-Star Game is destined to be remembered by the world. It was the most serious All-Star Game in NBA history and also the most entertaining All-Star Game.

As a competitive sport, the excitement does not lie in longer three-pointers or more powerful dunks.

But it's about competition.

You can understand the actions of stars in the past or in the future. No one wants to get injured in such a performance game, and no one will cause Shaquille O'Neal to commit an offensive foul in an All-Star Game.

And this is the value of this game.

Both sides showed what a competitive game featuring a group of top stars looks like.

This game brought the NBA back from the doldrums of the lockout and further spread Roger's influence.

Of course, it also allowed Roger to achieve a temporary victory in the war against sharks.

The only regret was that Pierce and Pippen were not at the party after the All-Star Game. Without any familiar faces, Roger didn't have enough fun.

Pippen had nothing to do with the All-Stars this year, so he didn't come to Oakland at all.

Although Pierce participated in the All-Star Rookie Game, he did not go to the post-game party because he was still afraid of crowded places.

Originally, Roger wanted to make fun of Ray Allen at the party because he looked so high-class but was actually as vulgar as everyone else and was just as eager to take the shot as everyone else. But in the end, he didn't come.

Roger lost all his fun.

At this moment, Roger felt drowsy as he watched Carter playing the saxophone on the stage and his cousin dancing beside him.

But Gisele Bundchen's words cheered Roger up: "Vince's middle finger is so fast!"

Roger turned his head and looked at Gisele Bundchen, who didn't seem to notice anything wrong: "What's wrong?"

Well, considering that Gisele Bundchen is not a veteran like Sofia Vergara, Roger admitted that there was nothing wrong with this sentence, but he was the one with the problem.

After the Carter cousins' performance, the party became boring again.

Many people were playing cards, but Roger was really not interested in the game played by AI and others.

He really wanted to do something to celebrate tonight's victory. This wonderful night couldn't be wasted like this.

The excitement in Roger's body was not consumed at all.

So Roger turned his head and looked at Gisele Bundchen beside him: "Do you want to go back?"

"No, the party was pretty fun."

"Interesting? Is it Reggie Miller's argument that he has never been to the Gold Club that is interesting, or is it AI's rant about his prison life that is interesting? The only interesting thing here is Glenn Robinson's terrible outfit. God, he takes $800 million from the Bucks every year, but his clothing taste is like that of a homeless person!"

"Hahahaha, okay Roger, this is a bad party, but... I don't want to leave you yet."

"You don't have to leave me, you can go to my room."

Roger observed that Gisele Bundchen had been drinking cold drinks today, which meant that there was no obstacle to his breakthrough.

Gisele Bundchen blushed instantly, feeling both excited and shy.

This was the first time Roger invited her to his room to be alone.

"Can you stay late?"

"You can stay as long as you want. Auckland is not safe at night. I don't trust you to go out too late."

"Then let's go."

Roger took Bundchen up and said goodbye to those who were still at the party.

Everyone came over and greeted Roger.

"Goodbye Roger."

"Yeah! Atlanta God! See you next time!"

"Great win tonight Roger, it's all because of you, it's all because of you!"

The last one to come up was AI. He was the one who wanted to beat Roger the most among the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

"See you in the playoffs."

"I really don't want to lower your commercial value any further, AI."

"Whether we win or lose, I want to play with you," AI said, leaning close to Roger's ear and lowering his voice, "Hey, be nice to me tonight."

"Don't worry AI, I won't be rude like beating you up. Let's go everyone, see you later."

Everyone was happy because Roger made them the winners of the night.

Now, Roger has to find his own happiness.

The next day, Roger and Pierce flew back to Atlanta together.

Paul Pierce looked at the headline on a newspaper and smiled at Roger: "How do you feel?"

Roger glanced at the newspaper. The headline read: "Atlanta Hawks are about to become the first championship team in NBA history to win 70 games in the regular season."

Subtitle: "Only if Roger doesn't bring his supermodel girlfriend back to his hotel room every night."

Roger waved his hand and continued to close his eyes and rest: "I don't want to discuss my feelings last night."

It felt really great, the firm cheeks, the affectionate gaze, the full collagen that is unique to girls of this age, but Roger didn't intend to share this with anyone.

Pierce looked disdainful: "I'm asking you how you feel about the 70-win championship! Damn, don't you have any desire for it?"

Roger opened his eyes again and looked at the newspaper again.

Currently, the Hawks' record is no better than the 72-win Bulls during the same period.

But the media still believes they have a chance to win 72 games and win the championship.

This represents the expectation of fans and media. The Hawks are in great momentum this season, and Roger proved last night that he is an All-Star among All-Stars. Adding Doug Collins' words, everyone really believes that Roger can do everything that Michael Jordan failed to accomplish.

The biggest regret in Michael Jordan's career was that he failed to defeat Roger, and the most regrettable year among all the losses to Roger was the year when the Bulls won 72 games.

If the Bulls had won the championship that year, it would have been the most legendary season in Michael Jordan's career.

That would allow Nike to regain control of the basketball market.

And no matter how many times Roger beats Jordan, he cannot shake the value of 72 wins + revenge + championship.

If Jordan had won that season, all history would have been changed.

That is Jordan's regret and also the fans' regret, they did not get to witness a player have such a legendary season.

And now, the opportunity to win this honor has fallen on Roger, and the fans' expectations have also fallen on Roger.

70 wins + revenge + championship, this means Roger's career will be elevated to a higher level, completely leaving Shaq and Jordan behind.

Roger glanced at Pierce and shrugged: "Of course I'm eager. To be honest, it's not difficult. We are only one step away from 70 wins."

"Which step?"

"Trade you."

"Get lost Roger, go find your Victoria's Secret supermodel. If I talk to you again I'll be a dog! Also, last night you actually said Shaq was your favorite second in command? What about me? Where do you put me? You damn playboy! I thought you only did this to women, but it turns out you do this to men too!"

"Don't be angry with Paul, you are my favorite third-in-command. If anyone should be angry about what I said yesterday, that person should be Scott Pippen."

"What a bastard!"

"You talked to me, so from now on our group will be called God and Dog."

Pierce shut up. If he were to write a one-million-word autobiography one day, he would use 99 of them to accuse the warden of his brutality.

So, the "broken" God and his apostles continued their journey of conquest.

The Hawks' passion was not interrupted by the All-Star Weekend, and they continued to kill in the regular season.

During this period, Eric Snow suffered an ankle injury, and Pete Babcock wanted to sign Isaiah Rider, who was cut by the Trail Blazers, as a replacement. He didn't want to lose the opportunity to win 70 games because of injuries to role players.

Isaiah Rider is averaging 19.3 points per game this season and is also an excellent defender when he is serious. If he can be claimed, it will definitely be a great addition to the team's combat power.

But Roger stopped the signing: "That idiot can never appear in my locker room!"

Roger didn't want to destroy the team's current perfect locker room atmosphere.

After the previous quarrel with Pierce during the game, the atmosphere in the Hawks' locker room quickly heated up.

After one victory after another, the harmony in the locker room has reached the level of the team's 1998 championship season.

At that time, Pippen successfully PUA himself and turned to Roger. Under the control of Andy, Steve Smith also wanted to win, so the Hawks won the championship in one go.

The atmosphere today is just like that time, only better.

Everyone was recovering from last season's loss, and Pierce was only thinking about the game.

But Isaiah Rider, the bastard who was once tripped by Bowen for provoking Roger, is definitely a disruptor of the locker room order.

Have you ever seen anyone cut a player who averaged 19 points per game? The Trail Blazers would never do that unless they were fed up.

Isaiah Rider has too much trouble off the court.

He had an argument with the head coach on the spot because he was late for the game.

He rushed into the audience and cursed at the fans because of the booing.

He was arrested for overloading and then the police seized seven women in bikinis from his five-seater sedan.

He had a big fight with his teammates over a minor gambling debt arising from a card game.

He also took leave and missed training because he attended his grandfather's funeral - normally this is an understandable reason for absence, the problem is that this is the second time the Trail Blazers learned about his grandfather's death from him!

In addition, Isaiah Rider has a very serious drug problem.

Like the asthma patients on the swimming team, he needs medication to maintain his condition. Rider doesn't know what medication the swimming team uses, but he likes to use big drugs to fight his depression. You never know when he will be suspended because of a failed urine test.

Roger doesn't need such a person even if he averages 29 points per game.

After playing in so many games over the years, Roger has identified a key to winning the championship that is easily overlooked when you are a fan - the locker room atmosphere is far more important than the lineup on paper.

That’s pretty much the only thing most championship teams have in common.

Roger would rather wait for Snow for a while than allow an incorrigible scoundrel like Isaiah Rider to taint his team.

When Snow was injured, the ones most affected were Roger and Pierce, because Snow was mainly their substitute.

Roger's solution: "Increase my playing time a little bit."

So the Eagles' team doctors got busy.

They give Roger a comprehensive physical assessment every day to monitor his physical condition and ensure that he will not have any problems after increasing his playing time.

But Roger was not worried about getting injured because George Gervin's talent included extreme durability.

George Gervin had such a thin body. In a league where people could easily step on other people's brains on the basketball court, there were only three seasons in his entire career where his attendance rate was less than 75 games.

The only season with low attendance was his rookie season, when he played only 30 games, but that was because he joined the team mid-season.

In addition, George Gervin played 72 games in his season with the lowest attendance rate.

With this attendance rate in front of the future warrior Leonard, Leonard would feel that George Gervin is the real future warrior.

The Iceman has not suffered any serious injuries throughout his career, which is the reason why Roger dares to increase his playing time.

So the Eagles successfully got through the period without Eric Snow.

The Eagles' record was not greatly affected until Snow returned in late March, when the Eagles lost their eighth game.

Such a winning rate is not without reason.

First, the Eagles' defense rarely betrays them.

Compared with the outside reserves, the Hawks' inside reserves are relatively sufficient.

Marion, Big Ben, Kurt Thomas, Andre Patterson and Clifford Robinson form a very luxurious rotation lineup.

Don't underestimate Andre Patterson's role in it. The Hawks had a conflict with the Pacers in the game in mid-March. If Andre Patterson hadn't handled everything at that time, one of the other four players would have been randomly suspended.

Secondly, Marion can also move to the third position, solving part of the problem of insufficient outside manpower.

This ensures that the Eagles can put forth a stable defensive performance in every game.

Then there is the offense. The Hawks are a team that relies on outside offense. Just as inside teams have to fight against the number of fouls, outside teams have to fight against their touch.

Roger might not be feeling well, and Pierce might not be feeling well.

But the probability of Pierce and Roger having a bad touch at the same time is almost zero.

This ensures that the Eagles' offense won't suddenly fall apart on a certain night.

In addition to the record, after Roger increased his playing time, his average data also stabilized at 35+5+5.

In fact, if Reebok wants to play with customized data, it can change the standard to 35+5+6.

In this case, Roger is the only person in history to achieve such average data in a single season.

威尔特.张伯伦曾打出过夸张的36.9分22.3个篮板5.0次助攻，但没啥用，你就说35+5+6是不是历史唯一吧。

Reebok's marketing department had proposed it, but it was rejected by Todd Klinsky, president of the basketball department: "What's the point? Roger doesn't need these empty-headed firsts in history, and he doesn't need these damn customized data! If others know about it, they will think we are taking shortcuts!"

In April, the Hawks not only welcomed back Eric Snow, but also won the second game against the Lakers.

In that game, Kobe's touch was directly blocked, resulting in O'Neal's 44+15 explosion in the Hawks' interior but to no avail.

This is not Kobe's fault. The Hawks' defense, after adding Marion and Pierce, plus the existing tacit understanding, is indeed very unfriendly to outside scorers.

Most of the top outside players have to go through these three stages when playing against the Hawks.

At the beginning, Paul Pierce, a young man full of energy and outstanding defense, is responsible for tangling with you throughout the game. And your ears will be subjected to inhuman torture for the next 48 minutes.

But Pierce also has shortcomings. Fortunately, his defensive skills are still immature and his lateral speed is problematic, so you will always find one or two opportunities to beat him.

Then, No. 33 will stand in front of you. Scott Pippen, the top three perimeter defenders throughout the 90s, will continue to play extremely aggressive defense against you. Yes, he is past his prime, but his defense is still top of the league. You can't defeat him as easily as you did against Paul Pierce.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Scott Pippen is relatively quiet. He doesn't like to talk trash, and even if he does, his level of trash talk is not good enough.

Well, you're awesome, you beat Scott Pippen and Paul Pierce.

Then welcome to the real hell.

Roger, who was considered a pure scorer at the beginning of his career, combines the aggressiveness and defensive skills of Pippen and the trash talk of Paul Pierce on the defensive end.

He will make you completely lost in the continuous missed shots and verbal insults, and even make you doubt whether you should retire.

When it’s time for rotation, do you think you can finally take a breath?

No, the Hawks are very considerate and have prepared a guard for you during rotation time who is not talkative but spares no effort in defense.

Or maybe it's a bald guy who always smiles, looks harmless, but can kill you without you even noticing.

This is the Hawks' perimeter defense, and this is what Kobe Bryant and all the perimeter players in the league need to face.

After this game, the Lakers have lost their 10th game of the season.

This means that if they lose one more game, they will completely miss the 1-win record.

It also means that the MVP balance has completely tilted towards Roger.

After the game, Lenny Wilkens praised Roger's performance:
"I have to admit, Shaq is MVP-caliber. 44 points and 15 rebounds? Hell, I would have signed Robert Parish over Ben Wallace, even if the Chiefs were 47 years old.

But unfortunately, the Sharks met the best Roger. "

Pippen showed off his sense of humor:
"Have you ever seen a second-in-command win an MVP? Shaq is Roger's best second-in-command, so naturally he can only stay in second place in the MVP rankings. Of course he is a second-in-command. The best evidence is that he is as prone to migraines as I am."

After this game, Reebok can basically cheer.

Because the suspense of MVP is almost over.

Personal data, record, plus the win-loss record against O'Neal, all of these put Roger infinitely close to his third MVP trophy in four years.

But for Roger, this is not the end.

Roger wants to accomplish one by one what Michael Jordan failed to accomplish.

4月，阵容齐整的老鹰队连战连捷。收官之战对阵篮网，罗杰仅仅出战30分钟就拿下31分6个篮板7次助攻的数据。

The Nets didn't put up much resistance, after all, they had been eliminated from the playoffs early on.

When Roger walked off the court, all the Eagles fans stood up and shouted MVP.

In the luxurious private room, Mikhail Prokhov held a glass of red wine and clinked glasses with Ted Turner: "This is a great season, MAGA!"

To be honest, it’s hard to imagine a Russian saying those four letters. If this scene were to be circulated on the Internet in 2024, it would definitely go viral.

But in 2000, Mikhail Prokhov had no problem saying this.

Ted Turner smiled and nodded: "I will build a huge statue of Roger, no, ten!"

Why were the fans and the two wealthy men so excited? This was just a victory in the final game of the regular season.

Because Roger played the best regular season of his career!
这是老鹰队本赛季的第72场胜利，而罗杰的数据也定格在了35.6分5.1个篮板6.3次助攻2.2次抢断1.7次封盖，35+5+5。

Before this, whether it was 35+5+5 or 70 wins in a single season, they seemed like mythical numbers.

Michael Jordan scored 35+5+5 and won 72 games, but not in one season.

Wilt Chamberlain had brilliant statistics, but he never achieved 70 wins in his lifetime.

Roger did all of this. He could tell everyone loudly: "It doesn't seem that difficult to achieve these two things at the same time."

When the game ended, all the lights in the Philips Arena dimmed, leaving only a spotlight on Roger.

At this particular moment, Roger took the microphone, apparently to give a home speech.

Originally, Ted Turner was planning to have streamers floating down from the scene, but Roger didn't like this plan.

So it was changed to what it is now.

Seeing Roger preparing to speak, the cheers from the audience lasted for a full ten minutes, and gradually died down as Roger patiently kept smiling and pressed his hands down.

Everyone thought Roger would give a long speech about how difficult this long season was and how hard it was for the Eagles to rise again from defeat.

Many fans even prepared tissues to deal with the tears that followed.

But after the whole audience quieted down, Roger immediately put away his smile, pointed at the only championship banner in the Philips Arena, and shouted fiercely: "Let's go win the championship!"

Then he placed the microphone horizontally on his chest, loosened his five fingers, threw the microphone down, turned and left.

So decisive, so powerful, this is Roger now.

Seeing this, the magician smiled at Steve Jones beside him:
"Michael lost in the playoffs in his 72-win season, so the value of his 72 wins was diluted, but Roger
God, the only way I can think of to stop Roger from winning the championship is to shoot him with a shotgun!"

Everyone thought Magic was joking, but he had made the most accurate predictions about the fate of each team in the playoffs.

The one who can stop a 72-win team is Roger.

But what if Roger got 72 wins?

No one has thought about this question.

(End of this chapter)