Champions Creed

Chapter 28 028: Is a high school rookie so arrogant? Can I still be the boss?
In the early 90s, Summer League was not an official NBA event and was not popular.

This year, only the Jazz held the Rocky Mountain Summer League in Salt Lake City, and only six teams participated.

The Chicago Bulls are not among them.

Therefore, Chicago fans were unable to get a glimpse of Roger, and had no idea how capable this highest-ranked rookie of the Bulls since Michael Jordan was.

But right now, Chicagoans are more concerned about whether Jordan will return to the team before the start of the new season.

Rumors about Jordan's retirement have been rife all summer, and now with only a week left before the start of training camp for the new season, Jordan has yet to make a public appearance.

This made all of Chicago extremely nervous.

Abunassar was also very nervous because whether the Bulls had Jordan or not would have a huge impact on Roger.

This is related to whether he will have enough opportunities to perform in the new season.

But to Abunassar's surprise, Roger didn't seem to care.

He still focuses on his training every day, completely unaffected by external interference.

He insisted on training five days a week, strength training in the morning, ball training in the afternoon, and watching game videos to learn tactical knowledge in the evening.

And during this period, Roger did a very good job of abstaining from food.

Roger refused to touch fried foods, carbonated drinks, and sugar.

He seemed to care only about being himself.

Abunassar found it incredible. How could an 18-year-old high school student be so calm?
This kind of person is destined to become a superstar!
In fact, this has nothing to do with maturity or perseverance for Roger, as he has no interest in those foods in the first place.

Roger's favorite foods are fruit plates and seafood.

I have no interest in those foods anyway, and not eating them is good for my body, so why not do it?

As for the opportunity to perform, Roger mainly knew that Jordan would definitely retire, so there was no need to worry about it.

Moreover, Roger has to pay for the trainer, nutritionist, and chef he hired.

You have to pay them for a day of training, and you have to pay them for a day of laziness.

You must train seriously, to make the most of the swordplay you have spent.

After today's training, Roger drove back to his newly purchased house in Chicago.

Roger turned on the TV tiredly and saw Pippen's face, which didn't look like an old man at all, on the news again.

"Whether Michael comes back or not, our goal is to win the championship."

"I am really looking forward to the new season training camp in a week. We will soon know whether Toni Kukoc and the high school student can meet the team's requirements."

"Strict? We are a championship-contending team. If they can't meet the requirements, why choose them?"

Abunassar, who currently lives with Roger so that he can monitor his physical condition at any time, smiled bitterly: "It seems that someone doesn't want you to have a good time in the training camp. Didn't you notice? Penny didn't mention you the whole summer, but Scott kept biting you like a wild dog."

Roger ate the cut fruit and shrugged. "He is just a Scottish terrier. Don't worry about him. I don't need everyone to like me, and I don't need to please them. I won't say anymore. I'm going to practice boxing."

Abunassar was very curious: "Roger, why do you insist on learning and training boxing even though the training has been so tiring in recent months?"

Roger shrugged. "Oh, just for exercise. As an athlete, I like some small sports besides basketball. This makes sense, right?"

Abunassar curled his lips. Roger has always been a very honest person, but...
Abunasa didn't believe a word of that answer!

This kid, please don’t do anything weird.

A week later, before the Bulls training camp began.

The eyes of basketball fans all over Chicago, or even the world, were focused on that small training ground.

Both ABC and ESPN temporarily changed their broadcast plans to broadcast the press conference live. Michael Jordan was wearing a gray suit and looked solemn.

He didn't talk about the possibility of winning four consecutive championships, nor did he talk about the team's new players Roger and Kukoc.

He just told everyone: "I have reached the pinnacle of the basketball world. There is nothing worth staying on this court anymore and it can no longer inspire my passion. Therefore, I have decided to retire."

After saying that, Jordan actually showed a relaxed smile on his face: "You sons of bitches can go find some other fun now!"

But before leaving, Jordan left a huge suspense: "I can do whatever I want to do next. Similarly, if I want to come back, I will come back. I will not close the window of basketball."

This sudden farewell, as expected, shocked the basketball world.

In his nine-year NBA career, he has won seven scoring titles, three MVPs, three championships, and three Finals MVPs. His honors don't even need time to accumulate.

No one could imagine what he would have achieved if he had played continuously for twenty years.

Scott Pippen had mixed feelings about Jordan's retirement.

He is now both happy and worried.

The reason for his happiness is simple: his chance to truly achieve success has come. The three rings Pippen holds now bear the imprint of Jordan too deeply.

He knew very well that he had never been respected by the management in the team because he was just a damn deputy, a second in command.

Just because he was a deputy, Klaus dared to put him on the trading shelf again and again.

Just because he is a deputy, Klaus dares to put people he doesn't like into the lineup again and again.

Once he truly became the leader of the team, no one dared to ignore what he said.

But this is also what is worrying. This team almost fell apart last season, and it was Michael's prestige that kept everyone going.

The Suns were so strong last season, and it was Michael who averaged 40+ points per game in the finals, the first in history, that defeated the Suns.

Pippen wasn't sure if he could bring that much stability to the locker room.

In terms of personal ability, the gap between him and Jordan is too obvious.

Although Pippen even felt that Jordan was a bad player before he came.

But he never thought that his ability could be compared with Jordan, and never thought about cheating. He still has this bit of knowledge.

Yes, Pippen has always been conscientious, and in three finals, he has never scored only single digits in a single game. But Pippen felt that even if he really played such a shameless game, Jordan could still lead the team to victory.

That's what Jordan is capable of.

Deterrence, capability.

Can I catch up with him in these two points?

This made Pippen very sad.

He had been given a chance to make a name for himself, but he wasn’t sure he could take it.

But now he has to bite the bullet and Pippen has to go.

Not to mention abilities, if you want to be a good boss, first of all, start by building prestige in the locker room!
Did you ever see anyone challenge Jordan's authority on the Bulls? No, that's why he dominated the locker room.

Pippen also urgently needs to do this now!
The day after Jordan announced his retirement, the Bulls' preseason training camp officially opened.

The Bulls' training base, the Beto Center, is located in Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago, 40 kilometers away from the Bulls' home court, the United Center.

Roger drove his Mercedes-Benz E60 AMG coupe, with the huge roar of the V8 engine, and appeared in the underground parking lot of the Beto Center.

This Mercedes-Benz coupe is a high-performance version of this generation of E-Class, and most importantly, it is limited to 150 units worldwide.

Many Bulls players' eyes fell on this silver Mercedes-AMG. Even for these wealthy people, buying such a rare car is too luxurious.

After Roger parked his car, a Porsche sports car immediately entered the parking lot.

This sports car belongs to Pippen. When he first joined the NBA, he had an annual salary of 73. He saw a Porsche sports car, but he didn't dare to buy it. Instead, he quickly deposited all the money in the bank. This insecurity came from his childhood when he had no food to eat.

It was not until he signed his second contract with the Bulls that Pippen dared to reward himself with his own hands. What's wrong with using the money earned by his own hands to reward himself?
This insecurity accompanied Pippen throughout his life. Krause chose Roger and Kukoc, and Pippen was always afraid that he would be replaced. Therefore, he did not like Krause, nor did he like the people Krause chose. What Krause loved, Pippen hated.

The car suddenly braked in front of Roger, and Pippen rolled down the window: "Rookie, this is my parking space."

Roger looked back at the parking space. There was no ground lock or sign. When he parked just now, the Bulls players did not remind Roger that the parking space had an owner.

Moreover, there were two empty parking spaces next to this parking space, so Pippen could park his car sideways.

Combined with the fact that Pippen had always been dissatisfied with him last summer, Roger could infer that the parking space did not belong to anyone at all and Pippen was just looking for trouble.

This is how the NBA is. Veterans are always trying hard to make their presence felt in front of newcomers.

Considering that Pippen has just become the boss of this team, he needs such presence to establish his authority.

Roger laughed, "Sorry Scott, I didn't know that was your spot, I'll be more careful next time."

After saying that, Roger did not move the car, but walked straight into the training center.

Roger's answer was very respectful to Pippen, but he also told Pippen by not moving his car: "I don't want to cause trouble, but you don't want to cause trouble to me. Why don't you go and bully our dear European magician? Change someone, Scott. I'm not a good choice for you to establish your authority."

Pippen almost broke the steering wheel as he watched Roger ignore him and walk into the training center.

It wasn't his spot, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that Roger had failed his new team boss's obedience test.

After experiencing this incident when the two met for the first time today, Pippen had an even worse impression of Roger.

Is this what a high school rookie looks like? He's only the fourth pick, but he's so arrogant?

If everyone is like you, can I still lead this team? Can I still be the boss?
Pippen stopped the car and slammed the door.

He was already searching in his mind for those memories of Jordan taming the rookies.

And, he was prepared to apply all of that to Roger.

(End of this chapter)