Champions Creed

Chapter 337 Chapter 336: Just wait, we are back! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)
After Roger defeated the Wizards in back-to-back games and returned to the hotel, he was finally able to enjoy the farce between LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

To be honest, Roger was expecting a similar story from the moment the two announced their collaboration.

Michael Jordan and LeBron James, the chemistry between these two people will definitely provide fans with a lot of fun.

They're the only ones who want to bring me down?

No, they can't even protect themselves.

Even though a day had passed, the TV was still full of news about Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

The scene of Jordan pushing James away on the court was replayed over and over again.

At any time, conflicts within a team are far more exciting than conflicts between two teams.

However, Roger was disappointed to find that no valuable news was reported on TV, and there was no coverage of the follow-up events of this incident.

The news kept talking about last night's conflict and the argument that they had in the locker room.

What about the details of the argument? Did Jordan not give James a titanium implant? Did James and Jordan just let it go?
This made Roger feel as uncomfortable as if he had downloaded a movie with a beautiful female lead but the movie was blocked by mosaics. He watched it but it was as if he hadn't watched it.

But Roger believed that these two people would never stop.

He is looking forward to the sequel of this brother story. The mosaic will be cracked sooner or later.

After defeating the Wizards in back-to-back games, the Warriors rested for two days before facing another strange matchup.

It's strange because this game has attracted much attention, but the gap in strength between the two sides is huge.

This game is the Golden State Warriors vs. Atlanta Hawks.

Returning to Atlanta again, Roger is still the savior admired by everyone.

From the time we got off the plane to the hotel, every block the Warriors bus passed through was like a championship parade.

Marcus Camby was completely stunned by the atmosphere. He had never seen such a scene before. He felt like he was at a Michael Jackson concert: "Damn, I feel like everyone in Georgia is here!"

Dikembe Mutombo was not surprised: "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Outside the car window, the fans really worshipped Roger as if they were worshipping a god. Some people cried with excitement after seeing Roger, and some fainted in the crowd.

At this moment, Marcus Camby seemed to understand the meaning of the ultimate gift.

Regardless, he'll be working toward that opportunity this season.

Before the game started that night, more than 20,000 fans at the scene were so excited that their cheers shook the sky.

On the big screen of the Philips Arena, video highlights from Roger's time with the Eagles began to play, cleverly interspersed with warm moments of Roger's interactions with Atlanta fans. This tribute video took the designers several weeks to work on.

Why did the Eagles do this? Because their profits were severely reduced in the season without Roger, and because this stupid group of shareholders was still dreaming.

Roger and the Warriors signed a 2+1 contract, which means Roger has the right to opt out of the contract this summer. Roger did not win the championship with the Warriors last season. What if he fails to do so this season? The Hawks think they may be able to lure the savior back home.

At that time, all we need to do is publicize that "the great Roger is about to start an era of basketball in his hometown", and it will surely become a good story.

This idea is really stupid, and it can only be said that the stupidity of the Eagles' shareholder team has never changed.

The "hometown basketball" trick might be useful more than a decade later, but in Roger's case, he certainly won't get away with all kinds of gimmicks.

But no matter what the purpose of the Eagles holding a tribute ceremony for Roger, the tribute ceremony itself is a good one.

After the tribute video was played, all the Atlanta fans stood up and shouted in unison: "Thank you Roger! Thank you Roger!"

Even at the Oakland Coliseum, Warriors players had never heard such a powerful shout.

Roger stood up and waved to all the fans, his eyes red.

Hawks assistant general manager Dominique Wilkins walked up and patted Roger on the shoulder.

At that moment, Roger finally understood how Dominic Wilkins felt when he cried bitterly when he returned here.

After all, the years when he won four championships here are the peak years of Roger's career and the best years so far. As long as he is a person, he will definitely miss his past glory, unless he creates a greater glory.

Of course, there are no fans who do not miss the glory of the team's history. Moreover, Roger did not create the glory of the team's history, but the glory of Atlanta as a whole.

Just look at the restaurants and hotels around the Philips Arena; I don’t know how many have closed down.

Look at Tom Brady's "Atlanta no championship in 15 years" curse, it seems to have begun to come true.

Amid the fans' heartfelt thanks, Dominique Wilkins laughed and joked: "I didn't expect a cold-blooded bastard like you would have red eyes. God may not bleed, but he can shed tears."

"Shut up Dom, or I'll post the picture of you crying against me that year on the Internet!"

"Then we will definitely be hailed as heroes by gay organizations."

Roger said nothing more, just taking in the moment.

This sense of honor is no less than winning the championship.

You play for them, they are proud of you, and they cheer and sing for you even after you're gone, which is the greatest compliment you can give to a basketball player.

Only now, six years later, does Roger realize the value of that moment to Dominique Wilkins.

But tonight is not Roger's tribute ceremony after all.

After the touching ceremony, the game was about to begin, which was definitely something the Eagles players didn't want to face.

After losing key players such as Paul Pierce, Bruce Bowen and Roger, the Hawks are not very competitive at the moment.

Although they still have Michael Redd, Shawn Marion and Scottie Pippen, and although they are all excellent pieces of the championship puzzle, no matter how good the tires are, they cannot fully function without a powerful engine.

Therefore, the current Hawks can only hover around the playoffs. If they are lucky, they may make the playoffs, but if they are unlucky, they will directly dive into the lottery.

After Scott Pippen hugged Roger, he deliberately shrugged at Roger: "I feel like I can never escape from the palm of your and Michael's hand in my life."

One of the five games the Cleveland Cavaliers won this season was against the Hawks, so Pippen lost to Michael Jordan again.

"Not necessarily," Roger replied with a smile, "between you and Michael, probably only one of them can make it to the playoffs this season, and that person may not be him. So you still have a chance to escape from his grasp and let him have a taste of being held down by you."

"Speaking of Michael, I saw what you did to Michael in the previous game. This won't happen to me, right? This is my last year, Roger." Because Pippen did not win six championships with the Bulls in this timeline, he decided to stay in the Atlanta Hawks for his retirement season after the maximum salary contract expired.

"Don't worry Scott, against Michael, that was 60 points in three quarters. Do you really think it's that easy to score 60 points in three quarters? For so many years, the only person who has done that is Wilt. It's not easy."

After hearing what Roger said, Pippen retreated back to his own half of the court. To be honest, he didn't want the end of his career to be as disgraceful as Michael Jordan's.

Just as Pippen breathed a sigh of relief, Roger added: "But 30 points in the first half is not impossible."

"Roger, I'm gonna fuck you!"

After halftime, the Eagles trailed by 17 points, and Roger scored 32 points in the first half.

What can Scott Pippen say? He may be able to suppress Jordan and Larsa, but he will never be able to suppress Roger in his life.

In this game, the Hawks used Pippen to defend Roger, and the effect was hard to describe. The only thing that is worthy of praise for Scott Pippen on the defensive end now is his experience. His confrontation and mobility are not even half of the level of his peak period.

To be honest, given Pippen's physique, it's no wonder that Larsa fell in love with young and strong men.

Shawn Marion? He had a hard time defending Stoudemire, and he had no energy to deal with Roger.

So, Roger easily scored 30 points in the first half.

Roger admitted that he played a little too much in this half, even deliberately. If he played normally, he wouldn't have scored so many points in the first half.

After halftime, Roger told Scott Pippen the good intentions behind his actions: "Although I just said it casually, I still hope to fulfill my promise to you. This is my principle."

"Go away Roger, I'd rather you were LeBron James!"

"How dare you! You are now using 'Michael's little brother' instead of 'going back on your word'? You are amazing."

"Michael's little brother? Ha, I feel like it won't be long before something big happens to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I don't know why, but I always feel like Michael and LeBron's friendship is mixed with some hypocrisy. Think about the past, Roger, and think about how much of an asshole you were in the Bulls. LeBron may not resist directly like you did, but he will definitely resist."

"Me? Asshole? I got along well with the veterans in my first week on the team."

"Oh, yes, you're not lying! Damn you, Roger, damn you!"

The small talk ends and the game continues.

In the second half, Roger restrained his personal scoring and played well in the pick-and-roll with Stoudemire.

Almost a month into the season, Stoudemire has proven that he is an elite mid-range shooter and an elite finisher.

So he is very scary on the offensive end, and is particularly suitable for pick-and-roll. Whether it is outside pop-up or inside cut, he can do it easily.

Hawks fans seemed to smell a stench from Salt Lake City in the third quarter. Roger and Stoudemire's pick-and-roll was so Salt Lake City-esque.

With Roger and Stoudemire's cutting and Alan Houston's two three-pointers, the Warriors once again ruined the game in the third quarter.

Roger called time on the court in the fourth quarter. Although he didn't play for the entire quarter, he still managed 37 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds.

After the game, Pippen believed that no one could beat the Warriors this season.

Roger is still in peak form, Stoudemire is already an All-Star scorer, and with their excellent defense, no team can pose a threat to them.

Half a month later, Pippen's conjecture seemed to be fulfilled. Until the defeat of the Philadelphia 11ers on November 29, the Warriors had only lost two games this season, with a record of 76 wins and 16 losses!
Aside from the Spurs, the only loss was to the Sacramento Kings.

But the whole world knows that the Kings are a regular season team and they can't threaten the Warriors in the playoffs.

As December approaches, the Warriors are still on a winning streak.

他们在12月2日败给了强大的印第安纳步行者，12月13日败给森林狼，20日输给洛杉矶湖人。

And that's all the Warriors lost in the entire month of December.

It is worth mentioning that in the game against the Lakers on the 20th, Kobe Bryant scored 43 points. Moreover, he did not rush to the Staples Center from the court until half an hour before the game started.

The rule of rushing still applies, and with Karl Malone still in excellent form, the Lakers have become a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference this year.

Whether Shark can accept it or not, it is a fact that Kobe is closer to the championship than him, even though he is in trouble now.

In the Christmas game, Roger led his team to defeat the Detroit Pistons for the second time this season, making the previous three losses no longer important.

Marcus Camby had his best performance of the season in this game.

First, in the third quarter of the game, he cut in and received a pass from Roger, then he jumped up and dunked over Ben, the best defensive player, who was trying to commit an offensive foul under the basket.

This dunk was very exciting because Camby's jump position was still some distance from the basket, not to mention that there was a big Ben in the middle. So Camby finally completed the dunk at a position far away from the basket using his wingspan. Camby is not an offensive player, but this dunk is enough to make his offense tonight memorable.

Roger shook his head when he saw Campy dunking over Ben. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw a dunk over Ben, Roger would subconsciously think of Duncan.

Tim Duncan, the NBA's No. 1 stamp collector.

But this game was not easy, Chauncey Billups was in great form tonight, and Richard Hamilton's mid-range shot was also quite impressive. The atmosphere of the Christmas game made all the Pistons and Spurs players seem to be full of energy.

The two sides were still tied until the last 47 seconds of the game, and this was precisely Camby's highlight moment of the day.

Billups passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace in this crucial round, and Wallace backed up Camby and turned to hook the ball. However, under Camby's active defense, the key shot of the Roaring God bounced out of the basket. Camby protected the rebound and was about to pass the ball, but Ron Artest appeared out of nowhere and cut the ball from Camby's hand.

The basketball just happened to fall into Rasheed Wallace's hands again, and he immediately threw the ball into the basket. But Marcus Camby reacted quickly, almost jumping up at the first moment, disrupting Tianzun's shot again. For the second time in a row, Roaring Tianzun's shot in the key round failed because of Marcus Camby's defense!
"Great defense!" Mike Brin punched hard, "Marcus is simply the guardian of the penalty area in the Bay Area!"

Once again, Camby's defense didn't get any blocked shots, but he won the respect of the fans, commentators and teammates.

And, a real victory!
After Marcus Camby defended Tianzun, the Warriors immediately counterattacked, Roger dribbled the ball and played pick-and-roll with Stoudemire. But after the pick-and-roll, Roger did not pass the ball, but faced the roaring Tianzun who switched defense and shot a fadeaway jumper.

Rasheed Wallace rushed forward with all his strength and touched Roger's palm with his fingertips.

The next meter, the basketball hit the target, the referee blew the whistle, and Roger got the chance to shoot a three-pointer!

It goes without saying that Roaring God was very excited. He certainly knew what it meant to let Roger score 2+1, so he started yelling at the referee again.

"If this is a foul, then Marcus's defense on me is a foul!"

Faced with the excited Tianzun, the referee did not whistle for a technical foul this time, but he did not pay any attention to it either.

Roger finally stood at the free throw line and made the free throw amid the boos of all the Detroit fans in the stadium.

After Roger scored, Marcus Camby raised his arms high.

Roger also pointed at him: "You will get the ultimate gift, I promise."

In the end, the defending champion Pistons lost the Christmas game 95-100.

This is the second time the Warriors have defeated the defending champions this season!
Winning only once might be luck, but winning twice is enough to show the Warriors' strength this season.

罗杰全场35分11次助攻6个篮板2抢断1封盖。

斯塔德迈尔22分7个篮板，马库斯.坎比11分13个篮板3次封盖。

This Warriors team has matured.

After that, the Warriors did not lose in the remaining two games in December.

So after December, the Warriors' record was 12 wins and 28 losses!
Far ahead!

And, look at the opponents the Warriors beat.

The Spurs, revenge.

The defending champion Pistons completed a double kill this season.

The Dallas Mavericks won again.

The Indiana Pacers, although they lost once, they also won once.

Except for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors have defeated almost all the championship contenders this season!
Roger and the Warriors became the focus of the sports world.

Also in the spotlight is the NFL's New England Patriots and their star player, Tom Brady, who is also under the Reebok brand like Roger.

The New England Patriots did not have a great start to the season, with only 2 wins and 2 losses.

But from then until now, the New England Patriots have won all the way without losing a single game, and finally finished the regular season with a record of 14 wins and 2 losses, winning the AFC East championship!

You know, last season's New England Patriots didn't even make the playoffs due to injuries, which was definitely the darkest moment in Tom Brady's career. But this year, he fought back hard.

This momentum is very similar to the Golden State Warriors this season.

After the regular season finale, a reporter asked Tom Brady, "Who do you think is qualified to be the champion this year?"

Tom Brady raised two fingers: "The championship will only belong to two people, me and Roger! I just want to say, we are back, we are all back!"

One is a superstar who unexpectedly failed to make the playoffs last season.

One is the superstar who failed to continue his championship record last season.

Can they really return to the throne completely this season?

Roger admitted that he knew nothing about the outcome of Super Bowl 38. After all, he was not a football fan in his previous life.

The only thing he knew about this Super Bowl was that during Janet Jackson's halftime show with Justin Timberlake, the latter accidentally ripped off the former's bra, exposing her breasts for several seconds in front of the national live camera. This was probably the most impressive thing about the 38th Super Bowl.

But since Tom Brady has supported him so much, Roger has to support him even if he doesn't know the final result: "Yes, Tom and I will exchange the Finals MVP in June. You wait, we are back!"

We're back.

This is the most terrifying prediction for other teams in the NFL and NBA.
-
The Golden State Warriors were thriving, and everyone believed that the Warriors were back in the championship race.

In Cleveland, the Cavaliers' record is still not as good as expected.

At present, the Cavaliers and the Hawks are evenly matched. Either of them has the potential to enter the playoffs, or either of them has the potential to fall out.

Michael Jordan was dissatisfied with the current situation. He became more and more angry and lost his temper on the training ground almost every day.

"Carlos, if you keep being so soft, why not go to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and see if you can get a spot!"

"Big Z, I have never seen such an incompetent idiot as you in my life!"

"Eric, if your jump shot was just a little bit better, just a little bit, we wouldn't have to compete with a garbage team like the Atlanta Hawks!"

Of course, LeBron James is among those who were scolded.

"Oh, you're not as good as Cameron."

"Go away, you coward. I don't know why you spread it!"

"Fuck it, I should have picked Dwyane Wade!"

"You should just go play in the high school league!"

Almost every day, every training session, the court was filled with Jordan's scolding.

On the last day of December, after finishing training, Michael Jordan received a call from Gordon Gund.

He walked into the office and sat down casually, as if he was at home.

NBA regulations prohibit players from holding shares in the team, so before Jordan's comeback, he sold his shares back to Gordon Gund. They reached a verbal agreement that Gordon Gund would sell the shares back to Jordan at the original price after Jordan retired.

So, even though he is just a player without shares now, Michael Jordan still considers himself the boss.

"Our team has to change. I can't stand playing with such a bunch of wimps! Damn, we can't succeed with them!" Michael Jordan started complaining as soon as he sat down.

"That's right, Michael. We have to make some changes." Gordon Gund had a cold expression on his face. He tapped the table with his fingers anxiously.

"Michael, here's the thing, I think our partnership is over."

Michael Jordan thought there was something wrong with his ears: "What the f*ck are you talking about?"

He is still outspoken. As a superstar spoiled by the world since 1984, he has become accustomed to this outspokenness.

And everything that happens next will tell him that he is no longer the star that everyone admires.

"You're right Michael, the team needs a change, so we decided to trade you."

"Trade? I'm Gordon, a shareholder of the team. You're not going to go back on your word!"

"Of course not. I know you only took a very low salary to make your comeback with the Cavaliers. So I decided to give you $1000 million as compensation privately after you retire. In this way, your salary this season will be considered the maximum salary."

Michael Jordan couldn't believe what Gordon Gund said. 1000 million? Do I need that 1000 million? I'm here to run the team, not to beg for food!

But soon Michael Jordan realized that this was not just Gordon Gund's decision: "Is it LeBron? Is it that bastard?"

Gordon Gund did not answer because the answer was obvious.

Why did Gordon Gund let Jordan buy shares? Because it would improve the Cavaliers' poor attendance. In the past few years, Jordan's popularity was still very useful.

But now, the Cavaliers' attendance depends entirely on LeBron James, and will depend on LeBron James for many, many years to come.

After all, LeBron James is the future of the Cavaliers.

Nike? Jordan's influence is no longer enough for Nike and Reebok to compete. So, they also need a new king.

Gordon Gund wanted to solve this problem in the offseason, but Jordan's excessive pressure made everyone on the team nervous. In addition, Jordan himself could not play any outstanding performance.

In this case, it is better to create conditions for future stars to make the playoffs.

Michael Jordan was furious: "I am not your employee! I will not accept a trade! If a trade occurs, I will retire immediately! The team that trades to me will get nothing in return!"

"Sorry Michael, that's your business. As far as I'm concerned, we can't upset LeBron."

After hearing this, Michael Jordan felt like a thorn in his side.

The bastard who I regarded as my younger brother, my partner, and my friend actually stabbed me in the back!
He is definitely more of a beast than Roger!

Michael Jordan knew he had lost, miserably.

He stared with bloodshot eyes, looking very angry, but his dry lips were slightly raised.

"Sooner or later, Gordon, this will happen to you. Roger won't let that bastard do anything. You and your damn LeBron will only become Roger's playthings! I wish you all the best, I wish you bastards enjoy yourself under Roger's rule!

Tell LeBron he'll never be successful in his life!"

After saying that, Michael Jordan slammed the door and walked out. He knew that his career had ended in complete disgrace.

But suddenly, he thought of a possibility.

What if I was traded to a team that could stop the Cavaliers and that bastard LeBron from making the playoffs?
Perhaps, he could make others experience great humiliation instead.

(End of this chapter)