Champions Creed

Chapter 286 285: A truly powerful person does not need to deliberately advertise himself as a long river (asking for monthly tickets!)

When Roger saw Jeff Hornacek again, he was resting in bed with his family.

Seeing Roger walk into the ward, Hornacek raised his fist and bumped it with Roger: "Great savior, perfect performance."

"Just a routine matter." Roger replied deliberately calmly.

He had no idea what a huge psychological shock this act had brought to seven-year-old Abby Hornacek.

It’s tiring to watch my dad act cool, but luckily Roger is really handsome.

"Ha! Yeah, for an asshole like you, 50 points in the finals is just a routine."

"what did the doctor say?"

"I guess he won't be back until next season, but God knows if I will have next season." Jeff Hornacek subconsciously glanced at his wife. He had just been discussing this with Stacy.

Hornacek knows very well what a torn cruciate ligament means. If he were a young man, he might have a chance to start over.

But Hornacek is 38 years old and will be 39 when he can play next season.

For a player of his age, a torn cruciate ligament basically means the end of his career.

Roger also knew what Hornacek meant, so he told him: "No matter what, you will end this year's journey with a ring."

To put it more cryptically: You will end your career with a championship ring.

When Roger talked about this topic, Hornacek gently stroked the children's heads, then looked at his wife and said, "Take the children out for some fresh air. They have been in the ward for too long."

Stacey understood that her husband wanted to talk to Roger alone about Hornacek's career.

After Stacy led the children out, Hornacek put away the smile that he always kept when facing his family: "I'm sorry, I can't come back. I thought if I were given two minutes to rest, I would be ready to return to the game. But I can't come back, maybe I will never come back."

"You have accompanied me to the end and completed your mission. The whole world knows that the next game is just a celebration before we win the championship. The Lakers are finished, they are finished, even they themselves would not believe that they can win the championship in Georgia."

"But did I really win? I wasn't in the most crucial game, nor was I in the game that decided the championship. If I just got that ring, did I really win?" Hornacek looked out the window. There were no stars in the sky tonight, and it was endless darkness outside, just like him who had no answers.

Competitive sports not only witness the peak of human body, but also witness the most unyielding human soul. This is why Grant Hill's joining the Lakers was despised by everyone. Because as a star player, he chose the easiest way and even if he won the championship, it means that he has actually surrendered in spirit.

A chosen one like Grant Hill, who has been the focus of attention since entering the league, chose to surrender. Without a real ring, who would really respect him?
But Grant Hill himself didn't pursue any historical status. He just lost enough and wanted to win more easily. If he wanted to surrender and still have a historical status, that would be really shameless.

Jeff Hornacek didn't want to give in. Simply winning a championship was not his goal. Before joining the Hawks, he thought that if he was just a water cooler manager who couldn't play, he would rather give up the guaranteed part of his contract and let the team cut him.

He knew he was no longer the protagonist, but he still wanted to win a championship with his own hands. Even if he was just a role player, at least he would fight to the end.

Getting the ring while lying on the hospital bed, is this really a win?
However, Roger's answer made him stop dwelling on it: "When have you ever lost along the way? The result is just a postcard. What really matters is the journey itself."

Seeing that Hornacek did not refute, Roger patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go. Take good care of yourself. We will get the ring in the fall."

Ten minutes after Roger left, Stacey returned with the children.

"Is this conversation over so soon?" Stacy asked when she didn't see Roger.

"Well, Roger always gets to the point, and it's a pleasure to talk to him. You know, if it's Carl, he'll confuse you with ten sentences referring to himself in the third person."

"So what's your decision?"

“If I’m still useful, I want to play for another year.”

"What? Are you worried that the Hawks won't win the championship this year? You will get a ring. Haven't you heard of this saying? You can not believe in God when it comes to the championship, but you can definitely believe in Roger."

"Of course, I know I'm going to get a ring this year, I have no doubt about it."

"Then tell me why you want to play for another year?"

"I can't let Roger wait for two minutes for nothing, even if it's a long time. If I can still be useful, if I can still help, I want to fulfill my promise."

At this point, Abby Hornacek asked the most unexpected question at the most unexpected moment: "Does this mean we get to stay in Atlanta for another year? Yeah!"

The next day, the American media were talking about a new name - Michael Reed.

He followed Roger's instructions and successfully dragged the woman who got into his car at 12 o'clock in the middle of the night back home. Sure enough, this experience was wonderful.

Reed became famous almost overnight. His agent received calls all night long and countless endorsement contracts came to him.

This is the exposure of the finals. Here you are not afraid of no one paying attention, but you are afraid that you don’t have the ability.

As Reed became famous, the reputation of the Lakers' big3 also dropped to the lowest point.

People questioned Kobe's choice of shot in the final moments.

People questioned Shark's free throw performance and his old-fashioned professional attitude.

People questioned why Grant Hill chose to pass the ball in that crucial round, resulting in Roger stealing it.

Charles Barkley especially didn't understand Grant Hill's choice and fired wildly on the show.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. The Los Angeles Lakers had a first-team star (Shaq) and two second-team stars (Kobe and Hill) on the court, but at the critical moment, when they were not double-teamed, they were looking for Robert Horry! How can I explain to my grandma who never watches basketball that the Lakers' No. 5 is really not called Wilt Chamberlain!
Every time I say that, my grandma asks: If he isn’t, why do all these stars have to pass the ball to him? ”

This is the importance of media power. If Grant Hill had his own voice in the media, people would praise his selflessness and passing vision.

But unfortunately, he didn't, so he will receive the most honest evaluation.

The Lakers' big three are about to become the biggest joke in the basketball world. Yes, they have caused the biggest trouble ever for the Hawks. In the five games, none of them allowed the Hawks to win by more than double digits, and every game forced the Hawks to fight until the last moment.

But the Lakers formed the Big3 not just to cause trouble for the Hawks.

In Roger's opinion, this seems to be a curse for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the original timeline, every time the Lakers in the 21st century formed a multi-giant lineup, it seemed that they had no good ending.

Both F4 died violently, and once a group of 75 died violently and could not even make it to the play-offs.

This is a city that needs stars, but too many stars always make this city dim.

Now, the death of big3 is approaching.

If the Lakers lose at the Philips Arena, Shaq, Kobe and Hill will all be tied to the pillar of shame and become the predecessors of the 2011 Miami Heat.

Well, Big3 is actually not as embarrassing as 11 Heat.

After all, the Hawks have been one of the favorites to win the championship from the beginning to the end, while in 11, almost no one thought the Mavericks could win the championship.

This means that Big3 will have to be tied to the pillar of shame for at least ten years.

If the Heat's Big Three weren't in this timeline, their shame would have lasted even longer.

In fact, the Shark is already being ridiculed, and the one who is ridiculing him is his new agent Perry Rogers.

The Sharks traded Leonard Armato, who was once traded to Los Angeles, earlier this year, and Perry Rogers' most common phrase was: "Shaq, I'm not stupid enough to send you to a place that is destined to fail."

After losing to Roger last year, Shaq wondered whether leaving Orlando was a good idea, and he still doesn't have an answer.

In Orlando, perhaps he will always be suppressed by Roger.

But what about Los Angeles? Did he get more?
The Shark didn't continue thinking about this, he could only make one last fight in Game 6.

Game 6 of the series returned to Atlanta. Before the game started, some local Atlanta football fans held up signs that read "Make Roger Apologize" and gathered in the plaza of the Philips Arena.

The reason is that Roger's words after the end of Game 2 of the Finals, "The Eagle will not get nothing like the Falcon", made these die-hard football fans feel offended, and they decided to protest today.

This caused unrest and clashes among fans.

"A falcon will never let go of any prey. This is the virtue of sports competition. But guess what? They don't have a single championship. Hahahahaha!"

"Shut up, didn't the Atlanta Hawks have many championships before?"

"Don't mention the past. Didn't you laugh at us less in the past?"

"But our players didn't taunt the Eagles!"

"Get out of here and don't cause trouble on the Eagles' turf! Roger can say whatever he wants. Without Roger, this city won't win any professional sports championship in 15 years!"

"Come on, the Warriors also won the championship in 1998. Atlanta was already a championship city before Roger!"

"Oh, yeah, the Warriors and the Eagles have both won championships, so what does that have to do with you, the Falcons?"

"Damn it, try saying that again!?"

The verbal battle between the two sides escalated and eventually turned into physical combat. Fortunately, no one drew their guns on the spot, otherwise it would be hard to say whether the match could have been held.

This conflict proves one thing: winners are envied.

Even some fans of other local Atlanta sports teams began to envy Roger's success.

It's not hard to imagine how jealous the Lakers players were at this time.

Roger's achievements do tend to arouse jealousy. He is about to win his sixth championship, surpassing Magic Johnson and tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He is about to achieve the second Finals average of 40 points since Michael Jordan - if the series ends in the next game, then as long as Roger scores more than 20 in the next game, his average points per game in the Finals will exceed 40.

No one wants to see this come true. If it does, Roger's light will be too bright.

So O'Neal shouted in the locker room before the game: "No matter what, I don't want to see Roger win again!"

This was the general mentality of the Lakers today.

They were jealous of Roger's success, so their desire to bring down the successful man reached its peak. They all wanted to see the painful expression on the successful man's face after he fell.

So, although they were trailing 2-3 and were forced into a desperate situation, the Lakers' resistance today was very, very fierce.

In the first quarter, O'Neal played wildly and violently in the interior.

Even when double-teamed, Shark can still hit the hook shot.

O'Neal wanted to win, and the Lakers players wanted to win. Looking at Ron Harper's aggressive defense, which seemed like he was three years younger, you can tell how much he wanted to survive the night with the team.

As long as the game can be dragged into a tiebreak, it’s not over yet.

But with the championship already within reach, the Eagles' desire to win is even stronger.

If Ron Harper seemed three years younger, then Scott Pippen seemed five years younger tonight!

On the defensive end, he played that kind of performance that was everywhere and filled every gap. Larsa in the stands really hoped that Pippen's performance of filling every gap could continue after the end of the game.

Of course, Pippen couldn't become faster and stronger like a medical miracle, but his enthusiasm was fully maximized.

After the first quarter, the Sharks were in great form, but Kobe and Grant Hill missed a lot of shots, so the Hawks led by 4 points.

At the end of the second quarter, Robert Horry made three mid-range shots while being double-teamed by the Sharks, giving the Lakers a 6-point lead. Bill Walton joked, "Charles' grandmother must be even more convinced now that he is Wilt Chamberlain!"

But unfortunately, Roger's breakthrough caused the Shark to commit his third foul.

For the second half of the game, the Zen Master had to replace the Shark.

This was a very desperate moment for the Lakers. The team finally got going, but Shaq had to be eliminated.

The Shark angrily threw the basketball to the floor, and before walking off the court, he glanced at Kobe.

Kobe didn't say anything, he just made a gesture of pressing down with both hands.

Relax Shaq, I'll take care of it!
"Kobe Bryant received a great pass from Grant Hill and shot the ball against Roger, giving the Lakers an 8-point lead! Everyone only remembers Roger's 50 points in the last game, but don't forget that Kobe also scored 40+!" Bill Walton believes that this may be the most talented Finals in history.

Look at their fight, how can ordinary people get involved?

Afterwards, Kobe scored several tough goals, allowing the Lakers to enter the halftime break with an 8-point advantage.

After Kobe walked off the court, O'Neal took the initiative to hug him, which was the first time this season.

At this point, the outcome is still undecided, and the Eagles may not be able to securely lift the trophy tonight.

However, in the third quarter, Roger's younger brother also had his own highlight moment.

Paul Pierce challenged Grant Hill for four consecutive rounds and scored in four consecutive rounds. The fourth goal was a three-pointer, which allowed him to score 9 points in a row!
On a night like this, no one will sit still and wait for victory; everyone will do their best to win.

Paul Pierce's powerful firepower meant that Roger didn't have to work hard on the offensive end early, so in the fourth quarter, Roger began to sprint for the championship.

The fourth quarter was brutal for the Lakers. Phil Jackson watched his players try their best to stop No. 14, but they were defeated again and again.

Roger, who was full of energy, maintained his excellent touch in the fourth quarter and overcame the tight defense time and time again.

He scored a mid-range shot despite Kobe's close interference, made a layup after losing his balance after being hit by a shark, and made a shot under the double-team of Kobe and Grant Hill.

After all these goals, Roger did not celebrate as he usually does.

He carried out all this with an expressionless face, like a king ruthlessly executing his prisoners.

Roger's dominance reached its peak in the fourth quarter, when the best player on the best team was dominating the game that would decide the championship.

In the last 32 seconds, Roger lowered his center and accelerated straight into the restricted area. When Kobe quickly caught up, Roger pulled back at the top of the free throw arc.

This sudden stop made Kobe fly away, but Grant Hill and Shaquille O'Neal rushed out to interfere with the shot.

If the ball didn't go in, O'Neal wouldn't have been able to return to the basket to grab the rebound. But he couldn't care less. There was only one voice in his mind now - stop Roger, stop him!
Roger still shot calmly, and the ball fell into the net with 30 seconds left on the timer.

109 to 102, Roger's jump shot gave the Hawks a 30-point lead in the last 7 seconds.

People know that the 00-01 season is over.

The most iconic thing is that Roger's last shot happened to be shot over the head of Big3, as if everything had already been arranged by fate.

罗杰拿下了本场比赛的第36分，虽然没有总决赛连续五场40+，但凭借着六场比赛分别35分、42分、47分、45分、50分和36分的表现，罗杰的总决赛场均得分还是定格在42.5分！
Four consecutive 40+ games in the finals tied Michael Jordan's record. But his average of 42.5 points per game in the finals directly surpassed Michael Jordan's record of 1993 points per game in 41!

No one on this planet can accomplish such a feat!

After scoring the goal, Roger exhaled lightly, and then looked at the three people in front of him: "Don't be discouraged, your efforts were not in vain. Many years later, people will give such praise: The Lakers big three forced out the strongest Roger."

This goal was even more murderous than the previous one.

After 30 seconds, a beep will sound.

The Atlanta Hawks did not miss the opportunity to win the championship at home, and the Los Angeles Lakers, after persisting for six games, eventually became part of the corpse under the Philips Arena.

As O'Neal watched the beautiful ribbons falling around him, he became more and more doubtful about his decision to leave the Magic.

Kobe hugged several Hawks players and walked into the player tunnel. It was unknown how long this desperate defeat would last.

Grant Hill put his hands on his hips and shook his head. He wanted to know why he came here with such a bad name. He ran from the East to the West, but the final result was still a loss to Roger. The difference was that when he lost in Detroit, people still called him a hero. But when he lost in Los Angeles, he was the number one loser.

Roger jumped onto the technical platform again and enjoyed the moment of being crowned king.

He arrived in Atlanta as a savior in 1997, and now, he has done more.

After that, Roger, who averaged 42.5 points per game, became the Most Valuable Player of the Finals without any suspense.

Eight years of professional career, six championships, six FMVPs. So you see, a truly strong person doesn't need to deliberately flaunt himself as a long river, because his peak is already difficult for others to reach.

But for Roger, a truly strong man must have his own dynasty to be convincing.

Speaking of the Orlando period, even if Roger won all the FMVPs, people would still think that it was the dynasty of the strongest duo in history.

But in Atlanta, he has the opportunity to completely separate his achievements from the Sharks.

What's more, this was a promise he had made to Atlanta a long time ago.

Is three championships in four years considered a dynasty? Maybe some media say so, but everyone knows what a true dynasty is.

Aside from a solid three-peat, any notion of a dynasty is affiliate marketing gambit.

The league and the media need to make others look greater, so they deliberately lower the standards for dynasties so that they can touch the threshold of dynasties.

But did Roger need to lower his standards to reach greatness? The answer is obvious.

So when he gave his acceptance speech, Roger said something that frightened the league.

"I have taken the first step, the second step belongs to the present, and the third step belongs to the destruction of everything."

On the podium, Michael Gillen, the third largest shareholder of the Hawks, who was receiving the championship trophy as a shareholder representative, shuddered when he heard the word "destruction".

(Although it’s late, it’s here. The second update may be a little later, or it may not be later. I will try to be on time.)

(End of this chapter)