Champions Creed

Chapter 391 390: They have overlapped (ask for monthly tickets!)
If you haven't been God, you can go to Hong Kong to be a waiter.

If you have never been a president, you can go to a KTV with a strong business attribute.

If you haven't experienced the thrill of revenge, then you can go find Roger.

He will give you the right to win, the right to laugh at your opponents, and the right to look down on others.

Even if you give your opponent the middle finger in front of a national live broadcast, he will pay the fine for you.

Just one hour after the game ended, Bob Bass received a call from the league office.

NBA Commissioner's Special Assistant Adam Silver praised the Warriors' performance. Of course, Bob Buss knew that his purpose of calling was not just to congratulate them.

Sure enough, the president's assistant personally punished Matt Barnes for his inappropriate behavior - a fine of $10,000.

This is a big fine. In many cases of fighting, the league has imposed fines that are not as high.

Because Matt Barnes is a repeat offender who has refused to change despite repeated warnings, the league will not show mercy.

Matt Barnes insisted on paying the fine himself, but Roger told him, "Shaq paid me back a lot of money, go away."

Matt Barnes is no fool. Yes, Roger is rich, but he has no obligation to spend money on others.

There was only one reason Roger was willing to pay: he accepted Barnes as his protector.

When Matt Barnes said, "I consider this team my family and I will die for my family," when he told reporters, "It's true tonight and it's true every night," Roger decided that as long as Matt Barnes was with the Warriors, he would support him.

In fact, when it comes to paying fines, Russian Mikhail Prokhorov has always been very generous and is willing to take all the fines on himself.

He even asked a question that made David Stern's blood pressure soar: "Mr. President, can I deposit $100 million in reserve for fines? You know, there are bound to be bumps and bruises on the basketball court. Next time there is a problem, you can just deduct the money."

However, Roger insisted on doing it himself, as he believed it was a good way to win people's hearts.

Matt Barnes thanked him and told Roger, "No matter where you are, no matter what happens on the court, I will rush to you first."

Roger patted Matt Barnes on the shoulder. There was no need to say anything more. The barrier between the two had been completely broken.

The stories between men are sometimes complicated, but sometimes simple.

Roger and Scottie Pippen never even formally discussed their relationship, but instead reconciled it after playing together for so long.

Shaquille O'Neal and Roger haven't called each other since their breakup, but they can at least hug on the basketball court now.

Roger's real connection with Paul Pierce began with encouragement during a failure.

And now, Roger and Matt Barnes ended their argument without further ado.

Of course, the story between men is not just about reconciliation and warmth.

In fact, in those most thrilling basketball stories, blood and killing are often the main themes.

That's the story of Roger and Michael Jordan.

The warmth between Roger and Kobe will forever remain in the summer of 1995, ten years ago.

From the moment Kobe Bryant, as Roger's "agent", killed Jerry Stackhouse, he gained tremendous confidence and had only one goal: to surpass that man.

He didn't want to be Roger's agent, he didn't want to be Roger's little brother, he wanted to replace Roger and be the one standing at the top.

Many people have this dream, but Kobe has put in the most effort.

He wants to make sure he is the last man standing in this year's brutal battle.

The Los Angeles Lakers' training center was filled with Kobe's curses: "Fuck, this is not right! The Golden State Warriors will not defend me so gently! If you don't have breakfast, I will give you 20 minutes, and when you come back, use all your strength!"

In front of Kobe, the Lakers trainers were panting.

That No. 15 asked the trainer to simulate the Warriors' double-man pressure defense early in the morning. He wanted to get used to the feeling of playing in that situation.

The trainers did their best to stop Kobe, almost resorting to fouls.

But Kobe still felt that this intensity was not enough.

On the sidelines, Steve Nash whispered to Shawn Marion: "Tell me, whose training is crazier, Roger or Kobe?"

"First of all, Roger is a player who takes training very seriously. I have never seen him late even once, never seen him rest early, never seen him take leave in pre-season training camp. You know, Roger has a lot of privileges in Atlanta, and he has never used any privileges in training.

But I must say, Roger was never the one who trained the hardest.

Paul Pierce, Michael Reed, Ben Wallace all trained harder when they were in Atlanta.

Roger worked hard, but was more controlled.

As for Kobe? He's a total lunatic!"

On the training ground, Kobe's ears moved: "Sean, come on!"

"what?"

"You cooperate with the trainer to defend me!"

48 minutes of non-stop pressure, this is the defense Kobe will have to face in the last game and every game thereafter.

And he knew very well that Roger and Jordan had faced such defense before.

They all passed this hurdle and created their own legends.

Kobe believes that this is the distance between him and legend.

Now, he has to cross that distance.

If he can get used to this feeling on the training ground, he will be able to play more efficiently than Roger.

It was hard for Steve Nash to describe what Shawn Marion went through in the next hour, but he was sure the Hacker felt like a piece of crap.

You can imagine how you would feel if the person under you kept shouting "Oh God, harder, harder" no matter how hard you tried.

This is Shawn Marion's experience. Kobe is like a bottomless pit that can never be filled. No matter how hard he and his trainer try, no matter how high their defensive intensity is, Kobe always tells everyone angrily: "Damn, this intensity is not enough. It can't even simulate half of the intensity! Be rougher, harder!"

In the 80s, when Pat Riley was still torturing all the players of the Los Angeles Lakers with high-intensity training during the finals, causing the players to complain, they could never have imagined that in 2005 some players would choose to torture themselves.

At the end of the training, Shawn Marion was sweating profusely, but Kobe still had to make 500 shots despite being exhausted.

He wanted to get used to the feeling of shooting when he was exhausted.

All Kobe did was push himself to higher limits, and he believed that this was the right way to become stronger.

Hacker dragged his exhausted body back to the locker room and shouted in pain: "Even if Optimus Prime accompanies Kobe in training, he will have to apply for scrapping five years in advance!"

Everyone was amused by Marion's joke, except Marion himself. He asked his teammates a question with a serious face.

"Guys, how many games do you think we'll play in this series?"

Marion knew Kobe and Roger, so he couldn't imagine how the next game would turn out.
"Maybe seven games? We played seven games last season," Theo Ratliff replied.

"I think with Kobe's condition, we only need six games to win the battle." Caron Butler is full of confidence in his good brother.

"The point is not a few games," Nash stood up, "the point is that we will all be involved in the brutal killings, Roger and Kobe, their stories are destined to end in blood, and we can't stay out of it. So, get ready to step into the meat grinder, guys."

Meanwhile, the retired Phil Jackson was a guest on ESPN's interview show tonight.

During this time period, there is only one topic that can stimulate ratings, and that is to talk about this year's Western Conference Finals.

ESPN tried to maximize the traffic of the Western Conference Finals, and Phil Jackson took the opportunity to promote his autobiography.

The entire Q&A session went smoothly, from the Jackson's retirement life to some insider stories of coaching the Bulls and Lakers. At the end of the show, host Steve Levy asked the Jackson the ultimate question that had been scheduled long ago: "How do you think this year's Western Conference Finals will end?"

The Zen Master thought about it. Fans thought Phil Jackson would severely belittle Kobe - there were too many negative descriptions about Kobe in his autobiography, and he seemed to attribute all his failures as coach of the Lakers to Kobe.

But Phil Jackson didn't do that. Instead, he told a story. "My Knicks teammate Jerry Lucas told me that when he was playing for the Cincinnati Royals in 1963, the team's record was not very good for a while, and everyone's morale was very low. After an away loss, head coach Jack McMahon seriously convened several core players for a player meeting to try to get everything back on track.

Everyone was nervous, not knowing how Jack McMahon would curse or who he would trade away. But in the end, they were greeted with two cases of beer, four bottles of whiskey and four fallen women.

Jack McMahon threw these down and told everyone: You can do it yourself!
They did get it done, and the Royals went on a nice winning streak after that.

You can find the specific content of this part in my autobiography.

What I mean is, in that era of lack of competitiveness and severe lack of talent, winning was so easy, and a few bottles of wine and a few women could solve all the problems.

I don't want to disparage the greats, but pro basketball in the '60s was like a botched All-Star Game, or worse, a college friendly where everyone was drunk at a party the night before and nobody was playing defense the next day. It got so bad that NBC even canceled its NBA programming for several years.

But it’s different now. The 21st century is almost the most talented era in the league.

In the past, it was difficult to gather talents like Steve, Kobe, Caron and Sean in one team.

The Lakers' lineup is too strong, reasonable and healthy.

And Roger was the hardest player I ever saw defending, and until the day I retired I never really figured out how to stop him.

The NBA is too brutal and cruel now. Strength, confrontation, speed, reaction, technology, physical fitness, mentality, tactics... You can't lose to your opponent in every aspect.

In this year's Western Conference Finals, fans will see what the most brutal fight of the 21st century looks like.

Kobe and Roger, the Warriors and the Lakers will do everything to the extreme.

Both sides will fight until they are covered with scars and unrecognizable.

Then spit out the teeth in your mouth, wipe the blood blocking your eyes, and continue to the next round.

This is what is going to happen, and the loser will definitely experience the most painful defeat.

A more painful defeat than a heavyweight boxing knockout compilation."

After the show ended, backstage, host Steve Levy shook hands with Phil Jackson and asked questions privately.

"Phil, do you regret missing this series? You know, the Lakers have a chance to beat the Warriors. If you were still the head coach, you would be the one to lead the team to beat the Warriors. Don't be nervous, this is purely out of my personal curiosity and it won't be broadcast on TV. You don't have to be as cautious as some paid media in commenting on LeBron. I just want to hear your true thoughts."

Phil Jackson thought seriously for a few seconds and shook his head gently: "Don't always think of the ending so beautifully. I don't think my heart can bear the blow of losing the game. We lost miserably in the seventh game last year, but that was not the cruelest way to die, because the Warriors did it cleanly. The cruelest way to die is that both sides have only their last breath left, and they use their last strength to pick up stones on the ground and smash each other's heads. In fact, I am going to send a text message to Rudy to remind him to be mentally prepared."

"Do you really think this series will end so cruelly?"

"Yes," Phil Jackson said seriously, "It was because the strength was close that it was so tragic."

In Game 3 of the series, Steve Nash's and Phil Jackson's views came true.

In this game, even Roger had to sigh at Kobe's abnormal adjustment ability.

There were only three days of rest between G2 and G3, but Kobe had already adapted to the Warriors' defensive intensity.

God knows what he went through in these three days, and God knows what his teammates and Lakers trainers went through.

Kobe's efficiency in pressure defense is already close to Roger's, and he reduced the ball-holding offense in this game and increased the proportion of off-ball offense to get rid of the double-team.

Kobe is one of the few players who can have a top offensive impact both with and without the ball.

The score between the two sides was as tense as the fight between Kobe and Roger, and in the end what really helped the Lakers kill the game was defense.

Kobe's season with the greatest defensive influence will always remain in the 99-00 season, which was the peak of his defensive level.

In the past few years, although Kobe and Roger were consistently selected for the defensive team every year, his defensive impact has never been close to the 99-00 season.

This is related to the role Kobe plays. He needs to focus more on the offensive end, just like Roger will not guard the opponent's key players throughout the court.

But in the last 1 minute and 34 seconds of the game, Kobe suddenly started to defend Roger, doing his best on the defensive end, putting pressure on the ball and demonstrating his sophisticated defensive skills.

It worked, as Roger made two key misses in the final moments and the Lakers eventually won 104-100.

2 to 1, the Lakers won an away game and regained the lead.

Roger had a bandage on his right index finger when he attended the press conference after the game. The ligament of his finger was injured during a scramble in the final quarter of the game.

Facing the reporter's questions, Roger showed his fingers lightly: "My fingers were squeezed and bumped a little. Who doesn't have some injuries after playing so far? I don't plan to wear a splint, which will affect my jump shot and dribbling. Although it hurts a little, at least I feel good shooting now."

In G4, Roger showed off his shooting touch.

Tonight, when Boris Diaw was rotated into the game, Roger also turned into a master of off-ball offense, making it difficult for the Lakers to form a double-team.

The most important thing is that Roger is very accurate in his three-point shooting when he doesn't have the ball.

Today, Roger took 8 three-pointers and made 6 of them.

Mike Breen joked, "Did the Warriors put some kind of chip in Roger's finger?"

At the last moment of the game, Roger also went to defend Kobe personally.

Of course, the star player has to defend the most difficult person and score the most difficult points.

For some people, this is a responsibility that can be avoided if possible.

But for Roger and Kobe it was a treat.

They all enjoy competition and the thrill of taking down their opponents.

In the end, thanks to Roger's excellent three-point shooting and tight defense at critical moments, the Warriors retained their home court.

2 to 2, the fight between the Warriors and the Lakers has reached the stage of "spitting out the teeth in your mouth and wiping the blood blocking your eyes".

And back in Los Angeles, the role players also pumped their fists.

In the decisive battle, the Warriors' three-point response ability from the outside completely bankrupted the Lakers' double-team defense.

Roger only scored 31 points in the decisive battle, but he provided the most assists in the series with 14.

The role players took advantage of the passes Roger sent in the double team, and the Lakers were defeated again at home. The Warriors got the match point and had the opportunity to return to Mission Bay to end the series.

After the game, Rudy Tomjanovich encouraged the players back to the locker room as always: "Don't forget your championship spirit. We must bring the game back to Los Angeles and get revenge at home! Remember, don't forget your championship spirit!"

But this move didn't seem to work for Kobe. He stood up, angrily pounded on the locker door, then erased all the messy lines and tactics on the tactical whiteboard, and looked around the locker room: "Who the hell wants to be a part of history!? If you want to be a part of history, then come and conquer the Bay Area with me!"

"I want to!" Caron Butler was the first to stand up and support.

"Me!" Steve Nash also stood up.

Next up is Shawn Marion, Theo Ratliff, Brian Cook
Obviously, Kobe's words were more useful than Rudy Tomjanovich's.

Rudy Tomjanovich looked at Kobe's determined gaze and the locker room that was completely motivated by him, and suddenly he felt a strong sense of mission.

If there is anyone in this era who can end Roger and step on him to win the championship, that person is only Kobe Bryant.

He has unparalleled personal ability and excellent locker room appeal. He has all the conditions for victory.

In fact, he is Roger of the Lakers, and he and Roger completely overlap.

So, will there be a brutal knockout in the next heavyweight boxing match?
Rudy didn't know, he only knew that there was no way out.
-
I told the whole team not to pack any luggage, and I threw all their suitcases out because we would not come to Los Angeles again. Even if we had to go away, we would go to New York. - Roger on whether the series would end in Game 6.

The last time I beat Roger was in the 1994 Finals, and the second time was this year. I have confidence in the Lakers, and I have confidence in Kobe. - Rudy Tomjanovich on the end of the series.

Kobe inspired us. We will definitely go to Mission Bay to finish the game. We will go to Los Angeles to the end. We follow Kobe. We trust Kobe. In the final analysis, Kobe is the savior now. - Caron Butler predicted Kobe's leadership.

All I can say is, don't miss Game 6. No matter who falls, I have a feeling the worst knockout will happen in Game 6. -- Phil Jackson in a radio interview.

(5500 words are here. I’m taking a half-day off today. My dad will be transferred out of the ICU in the afternoon, so I have to busy myself with the bed transfer.)

(End of this chapter)