Champions Creed

Chapter 312 Chapter 311: Not Roger, but Atlanta's Savior (asking for monthly tickets!)

Two days after the finals, Roger drove to the Tallapoosa River.

This is not a well-known tourist attraction, and there are usually few people on the overgrown riverside.

But Roger comes here several times every year.

Because the person who sees himself as a hero is going to a new world through this.

Atlanta's summer was as hot and muggy as ever, and the sky was still clear. Roger sat on the riverbank and placed a brand new FMVP trophy on the ground.

"Four championships, four FMVPs, that's all I have in Atlanta. Yes, I won another championship and a FMVP two days ago. I'm sorry to come to you now, because I'm as busy as ever after the finals this year. I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to leave.

I'm here to say goodbye to Andy. I'm leaving. Where will my next stop be? I don't know, but it may be somewhere very far away, maybe on the West Coast.

I used to hate playing on the West Coast. The fans there always thought they were new people from big cities, and called us players from the East country bumpkins with disdain. But now it's much better. Fans in most cities know that it's best to shut up when they see Roger.

In five years, from the 90s to the 00s, I turned your favorite Atlanta Hawks into a dynasty, and your favorite player became the only one in modern basketball to win two three-peat championships. Well, if your favorite player is still Steve Smith, forget what I said.

Time flies by, and we have both come a long way, much farther than we expected. Goodbye, I may have little time to come here in the future. Once a year? Maybe not even once a year.

But please believe me Andy, our friendship will last forever."

After saying this, Roger sat by the river for a while, then got up and left.

Finally, Roger looked back at the peaceful Tallapoosa River and waved.

Meanwhile, shareholders of Atlanta Spirit Liability Co., Ltd. are in a state of panic.

The season was over, but the man who built an era was determined to leave.

He didn't even want to be interviewed.

What is even more desperate is that Paul Pierce has not yet given a clear response to the Atlanta Hawks' contract renewal request.

The season has just ended and many teams have offered Pierce maximum salary contracts.

Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets As Roger's greatest hand of God in the Atlanta era and the creator of the most classic scenes in the Atlanta era, Pierce has no shortage of suitors.

The Atlanta Hawks won it all two days ago, and they're about to lose it all.

Beau Turner flew into a rage at the shareholders' meeting.

"I said it before, we shouldn't force Roger. It's us who need him, not him who needs us! Last summer, when you idiots let Ben Wallace go, you should have thought this day would come! When you were still debating whether to give Paul Pierce a three-year or four-year contract, you were destined to go through all this! If Steve was still here, if he had kept Ben with a maximum salary, if he had simply renewed Paul's contract, we wouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing now!
Yes, renewing the contract with Ben and Paul Pierce will increase the investment of the team and increase the cost of running the team. But look at it now, we no longer have to invest a lot, but we can't expect to get a return! "

Bo Turner is just a small shareholder with little say, but today, no matter how much he roars, no one will refute him or ask him to stop.

Michael Gillen looked at Bo Turner as if he had seen a life-saving straw: "Boni, we all know that your father and Roger have a close relationship. Can you find your father and ask him to talk to Roger and let him stay in Atlanta?"

"Don't you understand, Michael? Roger wants to do something, even God can't help! You can't control him, my father can't control him, no one can decide Roger's fate! Accept the reality, gentlemen, we have become the second number one idiot to lose the best player in history after Rich DeVos of Amway Group!"

After the shareholders' meeting, when Beau Turner and other shareholders walked out of the IBM building, the third tallest building in Atlanta, the outside was already surrounded by reporters.

"Sir, will Roger opt out of his contract? Will you renew his contract?"

"Will you really let Atlanta lose Roger? Did anyone from Roger's team attend this meeting?"

“If Roger leaves, what will be the future plans for the Atlanta Hawks?”

“Will you announce the news at tomorrow’s championship parade?”

The piles of cameras made the impatient shareholders even more upset. When Michael Gillen opened the car door and was about to get in, a rotten egg suddenly hit him on the head.

One of the black fans wearing Roger's jersey was immediately taken away by the police on the scene, but he was still shouting: "You f*cking racist bastard, you don't deserve Roger!"

Michael Gillen just felt lucky. This is a great beacon of freedom. The fans only threw rotten eggs at you instead of grenades or peanuts. You should be grateful for his kindness.

Yes, Michael Gillen is now also labeled a "racist bastard". Bruce Levinson, who was ousted, told reporters in a recent interview: "When I sent that email to Michael, Michael agreed with what I said."

Of course, there is absolutely no recorded evidence of this incident. It is very likely that Bruce Levinson was very unhappy after being ousted and threw dirty water on Michael Gillen.

But it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, the key is that the fans think it’s true.

This caused Michael Gillen's reputation among fans to continue to decline.

Michael Gillen got in the car, and the secretary who usually wiped his hair skillfully wiped his hair clean and then handed him a cigarette.

Michael Gillen waved his hands; he was not in the mood.

He knew that everything was irreversible, he knew that the greatest basketball player in the world was gone.

Roger attended the championship parade the next day as usual.

However, careful fans noticed that in his final speech, Roger did not say the familiar phrase "it will continue next year".

However, to Roger's surprise, many fans in the audience held up signs that said something like "It's okay, Roger, you can go", "Go, you deserve better support", "A true king is one who expands the territory", and "You don't owe us anything, go to a better place and continue to create greatness, let these racist bastards fend for themselves."

See, that's the difference between leaving and running away.

If a player runs away, the fans here will burn his jersey and boo him.

But if a player has done his best for the city, they will understand, they will understand the people they love. This difference will definitely be more intuitive after many years.

At the end of his speech, Roger's eyes were red.

The only thing that bastard Michael Gillen was right about was that Roger was too tied to the city of Atlanta.

Roger was very happy when he left Chicago, and the only person he was reluctant to leave was Toni Kukoc.

When leaving Orlando, Roger reluctantly became a teammate of the Magic.

But this time, Roger really felt that he was reluctant to leave this entire city and the fans here.

The fans here respect him, understand him and love him.

But Roger cannot stand still because of these. He knows very well the face of capital. Although the Eagle shareholder team is humble now, once Roger stays, those damn things will still happen.

The most untrustworthy thing in this world is the tears of capitalists.

A day later, all major media outlets were reporting the news that Roger had decided to opt out of his contract.

This has basically put an end to the question of whether to stay or go.

If Roger wanted to opt out of the contract in order to get a pay raise, he should have done so in the middle of the season and renew his contract with the team in advance.

But now that he has opted out of the contract, Roger's goal is undoubtedly to enter the free agent market.

However, deciding to leave is just the beginning. Roger is still waiting for the final answer. He still doesn't know where his next stop will be. In the next period of time, he will meet with the owners of several teams, listen to their big pie, and then judge which piece of the pie is really filling.

The atmosphere of farewell made the joy of winning the championship not as strong as before. After the championship parade, Roger did not go out to play, but continued to stay at home and enjoy his short leisure time.

That afternoon, Roger received a call from a staff member at Emory Health Center.

"The courier delivered a huge package. It looked like a huge painting or something. It was addressed to all the players on the Atlanta Hawks. Roger, I thought you should come and see it."

Out of curiosity, Roger called others and went to the training center in the afternoon.

The staff member did not open the package, as he felt that the Eagles players should do it themselves.

Roger and everyone else unpacked the several-meter-long board-like package.

Then, the Eagles players smiled at each other.

This long board is filled with photos of fans and various Eagles players, as well as photos of various moments of the Eagles on the court over the past five years.

There are photos of every Eagles player above, but there is no doubt that Roger's various photos take up the largest space.

Every fan who took a photo with Roger showed a happy smile. These photos not only recorded the good times between Roger and the fans, but also recorded Roger's changes and growth over the past five years.

There are scenes of him yelling at Steve Smith and Pippen, and scenes of him loudly scolding Paul Pierce.

But later, it gradually turned into him patting Jeff Hornacek's shoulder, and comforting Michael Reed who buried his head.

And the most famous one.

After Game 1999 of the 7 Eastern Conference Finals, the Atlanta Hawks ended their title defense early. Amid the cheering Heat players and the beautiful confetti, Roger stood in front of the dejected Paul Pierce and stroked his head.

This is where everything starts to change.

Paul Pierce also looked at this photo, and he still remembered everything that happened at that time. He missed the key shot, shot 9 of 1 in that crucial tiebreaker, and made a gambling steal that allowed Sprewell to score the game-winning goal.

When Roger walked toward him and raised his hands, Paul Pierce thought he was going to be hit again.

Roger just put his hand on his head and told him:
"Raise your head and look at these opponents who are laughing at you, and remember this moment of humiliation. One day, you will become a formidable killer and make them shut up. Go back and practice more, and I will let my trainer keep an eye on you. As for now, you only need to do one thing: go shake hands with those damn bastards in Miami, be as arrogant as you can in the moment of victory, and keep your demeanor in the moment of bitterness."

From that day on, Paul Pierce, who had been missing a father since childhood, grew up to be a real man.

From that day on, Roger went from being a young tyrant who could only be angry to a true leader.

From that day on, the foundation of the Atlanta Hawks dynasty was laid.

Then, they came here.

Roger crossed his arms, smiled and glanced at Pierce, glanced at Scott Pippen, with whom he had been together for a very long time without realizing it, glanced at Michael Reed, who was already a qualified championship starter, and glanced at Jeff Hornacek and Hakeem Olajuwon, who were about to end their careers here.

He glanced over each of the Eagles and waved.

"Goodbye, everyone."

"Goodbye, Roger." Everyone responded.

Jeff Hornacek interjected: "Not Roger, but Atlanta's savior."

This sentence was written at the bottom of the long board covered with various photos.

"Goodbye, Atlanta's savior."

(End of this chapter)