Champions Creed

Chapter 26: A new era that even the director himself could not have anticipated has officially begun

After reading out all the results of the first round of draft picks, David Stern returned to the locker room.

He, who had just been smiling on the stage, turned to his assistant Adam Silver with a serious expression and asked, "Is Michael still not contactable?"

Xiao Hua looked at the unanswered call and shook his head: "Sorry David, but it seems that Michael doesn't want anyone to find him."

When Stern heard this answer, his mood hit rock bottom.

Even though Cobra Grant and the Bulls had a bad relationship last season, he was still an important member of the Bulls dynasty. Krause traded him for a high school rookie, and Michael should have jumped in front of the camera and scolded Krause.

But until now, Michael Jordan has not shown up and has not made any comments about it.

This shows that he doesn't care anymore.

He doesn't care what becomes of this team anymore.

He might actually leave!
How could he leave?
The NBA experienced a downturn in the 70s, ushered in the prosperity created by Magic Johnson and Bird in the 80s, and then entered the golden age under the leadership of Michael Jordan.

But the golden age only lasted a few years, and the man who carried the throne is about to leave?

Stern is in a bad mood now, but no matter whether he is in a good mood or not, he has to prepare for the worst in advance like Klaus.

Shark was also in a bad mood. Seeing that the first round of the draft was over and the Magic were still indifferent, he immediately called Magic General Manager Pat Williams:

"Seriously, Pat? You don't respect my core opinion at all!"

Pat Williams knew he would get this call, and he had prepared his pitch: "Shaq, we all know you're going to be the greatest player of the future. Who's the greatest player of the present?"

"Uh, Michael?" This unconventional question confused the shark.

"Correct! Bulls general manager Jerry Krause told reporters after winning the championship last season: I can say this for Michael. He never asked me to trade for any player, and he never asked me to draft any player, partly because he felt that he could win without those players.

See, Shaq, this is what the greatest players do!

If a player is only thinking about how to team up with others all day long instead of thinking about solving problems, can he still be called a great player?

Besides, Roger's door is not completely closed to us.

If it turns out that Webber is the wrong answer, I promise you, Shaq, I promise you, I will do everything in my power to chase Roger and bring him to you!"

The young O'Neal was completely fooled by the saying that "the greatest player never picks his teammates". How could he know now that the self-proclaimed greatest player 30 years later simply ignored this law.

The shark calmed down temporarily and said in a much more gentle tone: "You'd better keep your word, Pat!"

After hanging up the phone, Pat Williams breathed a sigh of relief.

Weber is the wrong answer? This is simply impossible~
At the same time, Roger was walking in the long and narrow corridor wearing a baseball cap belonging to the Bulls, with reporters on both sides frantically pressing the shutter.

As the first high school rookie since 1975, and a foreign rookie, Roger was already attracting enough attention.

Now, Roger has joined the Chicago Bulls, which has a lot of traffic.

This made Roger receive as much attention as Weber, the top pick.

If Roger directed and acted in a play at this time about picking up a Chinese kid's summer homework at the Palace of Auburn Hills, it would definitely be a huge hit.

Roger walked through the corridor and turned into a room with a huge blue background cloth, where he was about to take a photo with the 17 rookies and David Stern who were invited to the green room.

Seeing Roger come in, David Stern immediately greeted him with a smile on his face. You could not tell from his face that he was actually in a bad mood at the moment.

"Kid, I know it happened so suddenly, but you have to get used to it. This is the NBA, and trades can happen at any time. Moreover, this is the happy trouble that talent brings you. It turns out that you are the kind of excellent player that will be fought over by several teams."

Roger smiled and nodded. He could understand trades between teams, but he didn't expect the Bulls would be so persistent in getting him even after being rejected for a tryout.

This was the first butterfly effect Roger brought to the NBA.

At this moment, Roger finally understood how the GOAT of the dunk world in 2009 felt.

At the 2009 draft, the Slam Dunk King was determined to go to the Knicks and rejected tryouts from other teams.

As a result, the Warriors took Curry away with the seventh pick without even trying him out.

You may say you are unhappy, but being snatched away by others at least means that your strength has been recognized.

But if you want to say you're happy, Curry was afraid that he would have no place because the Warriors already had Monta Ellis. Roger didn't want to go to the Bulls because Jordan would be back soon.

Everyone has his own troubles.

So on the surface, being snatched away by others seems to be quite glamorous. But in fact, for the person involved, being snatched away is not necessarily a good thing.

Everyone says that aunt is nice, but who cares that she often doesn't have enough to eat? Only you know the ups and downs of any matter.

After chatting with Stern, Roger saw Penny Hardaway walk in.

He walked past Roger but did not say hello to him, but he was extremely enthusiastic towards Weber.

It seems that Roger's words in the interview just now, "With my current worth, I can exchange for countless pennies", made Hardaway very angry.

Roger didn't care whether Hardaway greeted him or not. He was in the NBA, not If You Are the One. He didn't come here to successfully hold hands with someone.

Besides, you are allowed to do the opposite of me, but I am not allowed to do the opposite of you? There is no such law in the United States.

David Stern looked at the two people who were not talking to each other and smiled gently.

Roger, 198 cm tall, a shooting guard, is extremely talented, competitive, able to fly, and also joined the Chicago Bulls.

Anfernee Hardaway is talented, has a gorgeous playing style, is slim and elegant, and is deeply loved by fans.

It just so happens that these two young people don't get along with each other.

Perfect, absolutely perfect, it's time to use these two kids to hype up topics like "the next MJ".

The worst plan is to launch the next MJ as soon as possible!

Stern will definitely promote Roger and Hardaway well to create a new era of "Jordan's successors competing for supremacy"!
As for who will win this battle, well, that depends on their own ability. After all the rookies who entered the green room arrived, the photographer arranged their positions, and then David Stern stood in the middle holding a Spalding basketball with the logo facing outwards, and took a group photo with the players.

Next, all the players will go back to their respective homes and meet with their team’s management in a private room in the stadium.

When Roger walked into the Bulls' private room, Krause was very excited. After following Roger for nearly a year, this was the first time Krause saw the kid up close.

He wiped the sweat off his palms with a handkerchief, then shook hands with Roger enthusiastically: "Welcome aboard. A player like you who understands victory the most should join the team that understands victory the most in the 90s!"

While shaking hands, Klaus also patted Roger's arm.

Well, very solid.

Although he was still a little thin, Roger had visibly become much stronger than during the McDonald's All-Star Game.

Krause smiled and said, "I heard that before the draft, you hired a trainer at your own expense to do special training. I only heard that Michael liked to do this before."

Roger began to understand why Jordan hated Klaus so much. The way this guy smiled with his eyes narrowed was really vulgar and cunning, giving people a strong sense of distrust.

The nickname "spy" is really appropriate for him.

Although Krause's smile was as uncomfortable as the classic smile in "Resident Evil", Roger still responded politely: "It's like this, I have been training and want to be fully prepared before entering the NBA."

Jerry Krause laughed even more happily: "See? This kid is simply another Michael!"

Roger waved his hand: "I'd rather be myself, sir."

Afterwards, Eric also greeted Krause and discussed the details of the rookie contract.

After several rounds of negotiations, the Bulls accepted Roger's offer of 7 million for seven years.

In comparison, the Bulls' previous contract with Pippen was 7 years and $2000 million.

One hero = two skins.

But that's how it is in this era, the contracts of high-draft rookies are generally very scary.

After that, there will be Kidd's 9-year, $6000 million contract and Robinson's 10-year, $6800 million contract.

In recent years, the salary of players has been the most chaotic. Both the boss and the players are not sure how much salary is appropriate.

It was precisely because rookie contracts were getting increasingly out of control that the league was forced to begin standardizing rookie contracts in 95 and set unified standards.

At this point in 1993, a seven-year, $7 million rookie contract was definitely a scary price.

However, Krause is usually very generous to people he particularly values, just like Toni Kukoc, a second-round pick, became the 30th-highest paid player in the league in the second year of his career, with an annual salary only $60 less than Jordan.

In comparison, Reggie Miller ranked 33rd, Olajuwon ranked 37th, and Pippen didn't even make the top 50 list during the same period.

As the fourth pick, Roger asked for 7 million for seven years, which was not particularly unacceptable to Krause.

This is how you select people. Selection is just the first step. If you want to take the person you like away, you naturally have to pay some price.

Of course, the experienced Eric added a player option before the start of the third year of his contract.

This summer, CBS just renewed its contract with the NBA for 4 million over four years, and there was another round of labor-management negotiations in 8.9.

Therefore, Eric judged that the league salary cap would double in the summer of 95. By then, the value of the players would also skyrocket.

Even though David Robinson, who currently has the highest annual salary, earns over 500 million, Jordan earns 400 million, and MVP Barkley earns 242 million, after 95, annual salaries of tens of millions will become the norm!
Therefore, Eric was not in a hurry to get Roger and Bull married.

He wanted Roger to test the waters in the 1995 free agent market to see if he could sign a super contract with an annual salary of over million.

Another consideration is that if Jordan does not retire, or really comes back after retirement and hinders Roger's development, Roger can also opt out of the contract as soon as possible.

If Roger doesn't perform well after two seasons in the league, the player option can also allow Roger to choose to continue to execute this 7-year 4200 million contract. This money is also enough for Roger to live a worry-free life.

After the two parties have reached an agreement, it is expected that the contract will be officially signed within a few days.

Klaus shook Roger's hand again: "I believe you will be an important part of the new dynasty!"

At the same time, Scott Pippen, who was at home, called Jordan and was very excited: "Klaus is crazy! He said he wanted to create a new Bulls dynasty!"

Pippen said, punching the door angrily. He felt very insecure. "This time he traded Horace, but what about next time? I don't know if it will be me!"

Pippen was worried about more than just this. The team had been hesitating in negotiating a new contract with Toni Kukoc in order to save salary space for him.

Now there's another genius with the fourth pick, and Pippen thought, won't I be squeezed even more in the future?
In the past, Jordan would definitely stand on Pippen's side and scold Krause for 10 minutes using different words.

But this time, Jordan was very cold: "I don't care about the draft now, Scott. As for you, as long as Krause is not crazy, you will not be traded."

Jordan's consolation sounded very perfunctory.

Pippen was desperate. If even Jordan didn't stand on his side, who else could support him?

"And" Jordan spoke again.

"Even if I really don't come back next season, you should be able to handle that damn rookie by yourself instead of calling me to complain. Please act like a fucking man, I've never seen a veteran being intimidated by a rookie!"

Pippen was stunned. Like a man?

Well, he knew what to do.

The next day, the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine was strangely not the No. 1 pick Webber, nor the giant Bradley, but the two guards Roger and Hardaway.

The title is also simple: "Who is the next MJ?"

Under Stern's operation, a new era is quietly coming.

However, even Stern, the director himself, could not predict the direction and outcome of this era.

(End of this chapter)