Champions Creed

Chapter 324 323: In front of me, the king, he is only worthy of being a knight (asking for monthly tickets!)

The future that Tim Duncan was looking forward to was shattered before the next season.

The 02-03 season finals ended up between the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs, which was a good result for the Sharks.

At least Roger didn't make it to the finals, and neither did Kobe.

Although he was eliminated in the first round, at least Roger and Kobe did not leave him behind again.

After Kobe left the Sharks, he also lost to Tim Duncan in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers' offense was very strong, but their defense was too poor, and there was no point in the interior that could contain Duncan.

The Lakers' interior defense ability is almost at the same level as the Warriors. Tim Duncan, who doesn't pay much attention to statistics, can average 32 points per game in the Western Conference Finals.

In addition, the Spurs' excellent defense curbed the Lakers' offense, which they relied on for survival, so the Lakers lost 1-4.

Kobe originally thought that he had picked up Roger's script. He thought that he could win the championship immediately after leaving the Sharks and completely sweep that fat guy into the trash.

But the facts once again prove that not everyone can grasp Roger's script.

So far, the resume of No. 21 of the Holy City this season is perfect. He interrupted Roger's three-year monopoly on MVP in the regular season, and killed Roger's Warriors and the Lakers who dominated the West for many years in the playoffs.

Everything points to one ending - Tim Duncan will enter the arena and win the championship for the second time in Roger's era!

Almost everyone thinks so, and this will become a superstar's career representative season.

But the Detroit Pistons used the league's best defense and a brutal score of a gentleman's sweep to tell Tim Duncan: "The future is yours."

The Detroit Pistons have always been very strong. Last season, they caused a lot of trouble for the dynasty Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals. After adding Chauncey Billups this season, the Pistons' strength has undoubtedly reached a new level.

It’s just because their playing style is so ugly and there are no super popular superstars on the team that the Pistons, the favorite to win the championship, have been ignored by people.

Fans have always known that the Pistons are strong, but it wasn't until the Pistons defeated the Spurs 4-1 in the finals that people truly realized how strong the Pistons are.

In the original timeline, the Spurs were able to beat the Pistons in the 05 Finals mainly due to two reasons.

First, Manu Ginobili's ghostly breakthrough caused huge trouble for the Pistons' iron bucket formation.

Second, Robert Horry repeatedly played like a superstar at critical moments to help the Spurs turn things around.

But in the 2003 Spurs, the Argentine sword is not sharp enough and Robert Horry has not yet joined the team.

On the other hand, the presence of Ron Artest makes this civilian Pistons team stronger than the Pistons in the original timeline.

So the Spurs have no chance of winning.

Duncan, who averaged 32 points per game in the Western Conference Finals, lost 10 points per game under the tight defense of the two Wallaces, and his shooting percentage was only 42%.

The Admiral averaged 15 points per game, but it couldn't quench his thirst.

Chauncey Billups, who averaged 20+5+6 per game, became the FMVP. He is the first player in NBA history to win the FMVP without ever being an All-Star.

It is hard to imagine that before this season, Billups was a dud third pick who wandered around many teams, was abandoned by many teams, and was forced to change four teams in his five-year career. When he first joined the Pistons, the media predicted that the probability of this third pick being traded again was as high as 91%.

He finally completed a gorgeous turnaround with his own efforts.

However, Chauncey Billups does not think he is the FMVP. When he gave his acceptance speech, he told the host: "We don't have a FMVP, or rather, everyone in our team is a FMVP."

This sentence probably represents the style and spirit of the Detroit Pistons.

For Pistons fans, this season is extremely happy. Since the glory days in the late 80s, the Detroit Pistons have finally ushered in a new life.

And this is a very inspirational championship. The Detroit Pistons do not have any superstars or any top five MVP candidates.

But they relied on team strength and tough defense, and with the unique blue-collar temperament of the city of Detroit, they won the most special championship.

This seems to be telling the world that the championship is not exclusive to the chosen ones.

Since the Magic-Bird rivalry in the 80s to the 90s when Michael Jordan and Roger pushed the reputation of superstars to the peak, no civilian team has ever been able to succeed in this era of crazy jubilation among superstars.

Even the 99 Heat had Alonzo Mourning, who was in the top three for MVP at the time. And they didn't win the final honor.

This is the end of the civilian team against the superstar. In the words of Pistons general manager Joe Dumars: "We let basketball return to its basics!"

How inspiring and impressive.

But David Stern on the podium looked pale.

If he could say one thing to Joe Dumars, it would be this: I beg you to please don't take basketball back to its roots!
This year's finals was a complete nightmare for David Stern. The ratings of the game plummeted, directly returning to the level of 1981.

You have to know that at that time, live broadcast of the NBA was still a new thing. At that time, NBA stars gave people the impression of a group of barbarians who liked to fight and take drugs. At that time, the reputation of the entire NBA league was completely incomparable to what it is now.

So it's really hard to imagine that in 2003, NBA ratings would be at the same level as they were in 1981.

It's no wonder that the fans don't give face. The lack of superstars in the game is fine. The key is that the game between the Pistons and the Spurs is entertaining, comparable to Shawn Marion shooting, Sam Cassell putting on makeup and LeBron James dribbling.

Both teams focused too much on defense, and the game was filled with mistakes, missed shots, and Tim Duncan's smile that kept a kid awake for three days and three nights.

Because Duncan and Ben's free throw shooting is terrible (free throw shooting is a weakness that is often overlooked when it comes to basic skills), the most exciting and crucial moments of the game become the most boring. The last few minutes of the game are often cut into pieces by fouls, and fans can only watch two big men with ugly free throw shooting compete with each other.

Most importantly, this is the first year that the league has implemented its new broadcasting agreement.

ESPN, TNT and ABC spent a full 52 billion in real money to snatch the NBA broadcasting rights from NBC. As a result, the NBA suffered a huge loss in the first year of the 52 billion contract.

Will anyone dare to offer such a big broadcasting contract in the future? Will sponsors still favor basketball? Will David Stern still have friends?
So, Stern is fed up with this season.

What blue-collar legend, what inspirational civilian champion, all that's bullshit.

The ratings really reflect one thing - fans are not interested in the Spurs and Pistons.

Watching the Pistons holding the trophy, David Stern prayed to God, praying that they would never make the finals next season, and that this would never happen again!

But David Stern soon realized that instead of praying to God, he should pray to Roger.

As long as Roger was there, everything was saved.

After all, everyone has their own expertise. An online writer cannot get rich by buying stocks, and only the God of Basketball can solve basketball problems.

The 02-03 season ended here. This was the third season in Roger's ten seasons of his career that he did not have the last laugh.

But truth be told, this season doesn’t make Roger any less influential.

No one will deny all of Roger's previous achievements because of this season's defeat. Even Roger's haters only dare to say "Roger's era is passing" instead of "Roger's era is over."

But if there are a few more seasons, Roger's position may not be so stable.

Fortunately, Roger is ready to take everything back, but he just has to wait for the bullet to fly a little longer, through this summer.

After the finals, the much-anticipated 2003 draft saw Michael Jordan and the Cleveland Cavaliers become the biggest winners.

They took the first pick in the first round and took LeBron James, the chosen one. James wore No. 23 in the Cavaliers, and Michael Jordan also wore No. 23. Then Michael Jordan personally selected him. In the eyes of Cleveland fans, this is a kind of inheritance.

But in Michael Jordan's view, this is the beginning of a new era and the tombstone of the Roger era.

The second pick belongs to the defending champion Detroit Pistons. This is a story of an accidental success, because this deal was made six years ago in 1997. The Grizzlies gave the Pistons a protected draft pick in 2003 for Otis Thorpe. If the Grizzlies got the No. 2003 pick in , the pick would be protected and still belong to the Grizzlies. If not, it would belong to the Pistons.

At that time, no one knew what the 2003 draft would look like, and no one knew that the Pistons would become champions.

As a result, the champion with a strong enough lineup got the second pick that countless bad teams coveted.

Winning the championship and getting a high draft pick at the same time is an extremely happy thing in everyone's eyes.

But the Detroit Pistons were in trouble.

Because the needs of the defending champions and the needs of high-potential rookies are actually contradictory.

The defending champions already have a stable roster, and if they select a high-potential rookie, there is a high chance that he will not get playing time to develop.

High-potential rookies need time, ball possession and tactical status to grow.

So, it's not easy for the Pistons to make a decision.

The Pistons tried out many people, and finally, Joe Dumars decided to choose Darko Milicic from Serbia.

Although the Pistons have two Wallaces in the interior, the level of their rotation in the interior is not very good.

On the one hand, Dako was chosen to strengthen the inside line, and on the other hand, Milicic is still young and can be cultivated over many years, just in time to take over the double Wallace - Big Ben and Rasheed are both 29 years old, and no one knows how long they can maintain their peak.

Once a player is over 30, their performance becomes as unpredictable as a menopausal woman's temper.

Joe Dumars must be prepared for the continued dominance of the Pistons. Roger watched the TV, thinking.

Although this choice is exactly the same as the original timeline, because the Pistons coach is now Rick Carlisle, Darko Milicic's fate may be different.

You know, it is absolutely impossible to find another weird coach like Larry Brown who allows the No. 4 pick to play only minutes per game.

Just training without competing, you can tell there is no chance of improvement.

In this timeline, Roger might be able to see what the "what ifs" are with Darko Milicic.

With the third pick, the Denver Nuggets took Carmelo Anthony as usual.

He was very excited during the interview: "I am a fan of Roger. When I was a child, I witnessed the greatness he created in Madison Square Garden. Now, it's finally my turn!"

But these are not the main reasons why Roger watched the draft. The reason why Roger paid attention to the 2003 draft was because of the fourth pick.

There have been some changes in the fourth pick this year. It is no longer the Toronto Raptors, but the New York Knicks.

Although the Knicks got the No. 1 pick Yao Ming last season, it is obviously unrealistic to expect Yao Ming to lead the team to transformation in his first year.

In fact, the Knicks' record last season was still very bad. The only thing to be thankful for was that after a period of adaptation, Yao Ming put on an exciting performance in the NBA.

This year, the Knicks' goal is to find a good helper for Yao Ming.

In the end, the New York Knicks chose Dwyane Wade from Marquette University.

Compared to LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other gifted players, Wade was not very prominent before entering the NBA.

According to media predictions, he will most likely be selected in the second half of the first round because he is an offensive guard but only 193 cm tall. His dribbling is not good enough, so he can only play the second position.

And most importantly, he suffered a serious knee injury in college.

Although the scout report states: Even with a meniscus removed, Dwyane's athletic ability is still excellent. Because he has practiced sprinting, his speed and explosiveness are among the best in the league.

But it was a meniscus after all, so the Knicks were still very hesitant at first.

Even though Wade performed well in the tryout, the Knicks were still hesitant.

But two things ultimately made the Knicks decide to take the risk.

The first thing the Knicks asked was Jordan's trainer, and now the Knicks' trainer Tim Glover suggested that, and Tim Glover told the team: "After watching Dwyane's tryout, I felt that his body was just like Michael Jordan who was five centimeters shorter. In the 1984 draft, the Trail Blazers did not choose Michael, but Sam Bowie. This is a mistake that will be laughed at 100 years later. I think we can't make such a mistake."

The second thing is that the Knicks learned that the Memphis Grizzlies wanted to take Dwyane Wade at the 13th pick, and the Grizzlies' general manager was Jerry West, who had a keen eye for talent. Unless this was a smokescreen by Jerry West, the Knicks were willing to trust the vision of the Logo man.

In this way, Yao Ming got his first younger brother in the NBA, an athletic boy from Marquette University.

Roger didn't know what would happen. Considering that the Knicks did not let Yao Ming gain weight mindlessly, and considering that Wade was the first to mature among the 03 rookies, the situation in the East seemed to be more chaotic because of this draft, and the living environment in the East had become worse.

LeBron James. Wish him all the best.

Oh, no, maybe before facing the external pressure, he had already been made to not want to play because of the internal pressure.

Playing with Michael Jordan? What a gift.

Roger had never been his teammate, just played for the same team as him, but he was fed up with him.

I can’t imagine how happy LeBron will be next season.

Thinking of this, Roger's heart overflowed, so he picked up his phone and sent a text message to Todd Klinsky: "Tell the publicity department and our media to continue to promote Michael and LeBron, and step up the efforts! Their popularity cannot be reduced throughout the summer!"

Roger is a truly kind-hearted person. Even though LeBron doesn't respect him, he is still willing to praise him. There is simply no better person than Roger in the world.

At this point, there is nothing worth noting about the 2003 draft.

Roger also turned off the TV. Scarlett Johansson, who was standing beside him, tied her hair behind her head with her hands and lowered her head. "Okay, little rascal, you've made me wait long enough. Hand it over!"

Roger had a very relaxing off-season afterwards, with almost no important matters to attend to except for attending business activities.

This summer Roger doesn't have to think about his affiliation, and he doesn't even need to get involved in strengthening the team.

Because the Warriors' lineup is actually mature, but some players have not grown as expected. When Prince and Stoudemire become stronger next season and Marcus Camby returns, the Warriors' lineup will actually have fewer holes.

However, the Warriors still made some reinforcements. Because Dikembe Mutombo was bought out by the New Jersey Nets, the Warriors used a mid-level exception to get him and increase the team's inside depth.

This is a signing rated A+ by the media. Bill Simmons spoke highly of it: "Thanks to the Warriors for their patience. If they had rushed to trade for Mutombo last season, the team would have lost Amare and Tayshawn. But what about now? All they need to get Dikembe is a mid-level contract! Patience, patience is the key to everything."

Indeed, Mutombo's annual salary of 1600 million is a garbage contract, but Mutombo with only a mid-level contract is absolutely worth it. Any behavior of discussing value without considering the price is illogical.

Many teams have made offers to Mutombo. Although he has passed his peak, he still has very good rim protection value.

But the warriors were favored by the African mountains.

The reason is very simple - even a fool knows that following Roger gives you the best chance of getting the ring.

Nowadays, Mutombo is unlikely to be a starter no matter which team he joins. Since he is going to be a younger brother, why not be Roger's younger brother?
After that, the Warriors basically did not make any moves in the transfer market.

But other teams are not idle, especially the Cleveland Cavaliers!

When all the media were praising LeBron James and speculating whether Michael Jordan was really going to make a comeback, the Cavaliers suddenly made a deal.

They traded Ricky Davis, who performed well last season, for Roger's old player, Eric Snow, who was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team last season.

The Cavaliers vacated the No. 2 position, and their intention is very clear.

Everyone knows that the countdown to that man's return has begun.

During this period, those old guys who were active in the 90s seemed to be called and began to move.

Gary Payton wanted to retire with a ring, so he signed with last season's Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs with an extremely low contract.

The Spurs already have Frenchman Tony Parker at the point guard position, and he played well last season so it's impossible for him to give up his position, but Popovich convinced Payton to move to the two position during a conversation with him.

On the other hand, Karl Malone finally left Salt Lake City and joined the Lakers for an astonishing $150 million a year. You know, Karl Malone still averaged 20+7+4 last season, and it was incredible that he only signed with the Lakers for $150 million this season.

The Warriors had originally extended an olive branch to Karl Malone, but Malone responded to Bob Buss: "I'd rather not have a ring than be Roger's dog!"

Well, not all veterans enjoy Roger’s company.

At the same time, the Lakers traded Michael Finley, whose role was somewhat similar to Kobe's, and got last season's block leader Theo Ratliff and 76 Sixth Man of the Year Aaron McGee from the 01ers.

This signing and trade greatly improved the Lakers' weak defense, especially the inside line, which was originally a loophole, became much stronger after acquiring Theo Ratliff and Karl Malone.

On the Timberwolves side, Kevin Garnett finally got decent helpers. The team got Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell and Sugar Man Olowokandi. The peak of the Wolf King was finally no longer in vain.

Gilbert Arenas left the Rockets after his contract expired and joined the Miami Heat.

It seems that the competitive environment next season will be very, very fierce because each team has solved its pain points and become stronger.

Any team that wants to win the championship next season must fight their way out of this worst environment.

However, the news that people were most looking forward to did not happen until the end of August, when Michael Jordan finally made an official announcement on live TV: "I will return to the NBA stage in the 8-2003 season and start my third NBA journey! Sorry for the long wait, Cleveland fans, you will have a great season!"

Michael Jordan's second comeback has become a hot topic. Some people believe that the Cavaliers can soar to the sky, but others think that Jordan's move was a complete blunder.

His historical status was already affected by his failures in the second half of the 90s. If his comeback with the Cavaliers was unsuccessful, the height of his career would continue to decline.

People don’t care if you are the 40-year-old Michael Jordan. For a superstar, fans only care about results.

Roger's theory of "running to death on victory lane" also applies to Jordan.

Sports Illustrated interviewed Roger and asked him what he thought about Michael Jordan's comeback.

Roger has been using his mouthpiece to blow up James and Jordan for a whole summer, and now he can finally say something in person.

"Many people said Michael's decision was stupid. No, Michael was not stupid. He was the smartest professional basketball player I have ever seen. You see, he was smart enough to realize that in front of me, the king, he was only worthy of being a knight."

The next day, the official website of Sports Illustrated published this exclusive interview with Roger before the issue went out.

Michael Jordan clenched his fists while training hard. This is why he still hates Roger!
But it doesn’t matter, I’ll kill you while you’re sick.

The Warriors are not a championship-contending team now. When they meet the Cavaliers next season, it is still uncertain who will win or lose!

Well, it seems that Roger and his mouthpieces' hype throughout the summer really worked.

Even Michael Jordan himself believes that he and the Cavaliers will be very, very strong next season.

(End of this chapter)