Champions Creed

Chapter 399 398: No matter who you are, get off Roger! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)

Last summer, Roger just attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Warriors' new arena.

Today, he went to Reebok's new global headquarters in Boston's Seaport district to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new headquarters.

Reebok has countless sports superstars under its brand, and many people came to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony today.

But after Roger arrived, everyone else seemed to have become an appetizer to set off the main meal - appetizers often lose all favor the moment the main meal appears on the table.

Joe Abunassar got out of the car and opened the door for Roger.

After years of cooperation, he has become more than just a trainer, but one of the people closest to Roger in Roger's inner circle.

In addition to being a trainer, he also works part-time as Roger's driver, errand runner, secretary, wholesaler of good guy cards for ladies of unknown origin, etc.

He is like Happy Hogan next to Tony Stark. You can't confirm his specific position, but everyone knows that he is Roger's man.

Roger, dressed in a suit, was immediately surrounded by reporters after getting out of the car. Flashlights were flashing wildly in Roger's face, which is why he wore sunglasses.

"Roger, what do you think of Andrei Kirilenko's decision to join the Cavaliers?"

"Congratulations to LeBron, he has an All-Star teammate since Michael Jordan and Michael Redd."

“Will the Cleveland Cavaliers upend the Eastern Conference?”

"Next question, I don't want to break LeBron's heart, you all know I love him."

"It must be hard to beat a team with three All-Stars in the finals, right?"

"It's not so bad, after all, the three of them together can't get one ring. I still miss Michael, at least he had three at that time."

"Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams, who do you think will be the No. 1 pick?"

"Is it true that no one has considered Chris Paul?"

"The villain who smashed his opponent's testicles with one punch?"

"This is nothing to be surprised about. Believe me, Chris Paul's fists will still be strong after entering the NBA. But aren't we selecting the No. 1 pick? Or are we selecting the player with the best character?"

Roger answered a series of questions from reporters with ease and squeezed into the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Tom Brady opened his arms enthusiastically and hugged his friend: "It was a great win. The whole of New York is going crazy!"

"San Francisco is crazy too, man. Amare told me that a dozen girls in wedding dresses 'married' me under my statue this morning."

The two had a great conversation and Roger also greeted other sports stars.

The scene was lively, but there were also some people who didn't fit in.

One of the least sociable is the Russian tennis star, Maria Sharapova, who is just 18 and a half years old.

She was very cold, and her overly polite smile kept her distance from everyone.

After all, the sports circle and the entertainment circle are different. Female celebrities in the entertainment circle may rely on their looks to get ahead, or they may rely on some more exciting talents to get ahead.

But there is only one way for sports stars to rise to the top, and that is to have strong enough skills.

A young girl who is just 18 years old, who relied on her own strength to reverse the superstar Serena Williams and won the Wimbledon championship, and her reputation quickly became famous all over the world, and she also has a good appearance, often fantasizes that she is a princess high above everyone else.

But after Roger appeared, the princess put aside her pride.

When Roger and Tom Brady were talking, Maria Sharapova took the initiative to pick up a drink and came over: "Roger, nice to meet you, I'm Maria."

Roger raised his glass and clinked it with Sharapova: "I absolutely respect Serena Williams, but many media said that the reversal in 2004 was luck because Serena claimed that she had stomach discomfort before the game. I disagree with this. Winning is winning, losing is losing, there is no excuse. If I lose the game, I will not say that I lost because of groin discomfort. I like that game and have watched it many times. It was a great performance and you are the real winner."

Tom Brady took a sip of wine. He finally understood why Roger was so attractive to women.

Instead of following the conventional route of saying "Nice to meet you, too," he directly said what the lady would like to hear most.

Tom Brady bets he never watched a single round of the iconic match between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, but listen to what he's saying now.
Bastard!
The 18-year-old girl likes the feeling of being held in the palm of a superstar's hand, not to mention a handsome superstar: "Thank you, I also like to watch your games. You know, because of Poki, you are very popular in Russia. Maybe, if you want to go to Russia to play, I can be your guide."

With that, the 18-year-old tennis star pulled out his cell phone.

In less than five minutes, Roger got the phone number of the coolest woman at the scene.

After Sharapova left, Tom Brady put his arm around Roger's shoulders: "Another 18-year-old, huh?"

"Why do you have such dirty thoughts? Maria and I just met."

"Fuck you, I was just thinking about it and how many times have you done that?"

"Okay Tom, I can give you Maria's phone number."

"That's what you said last time!"

"You were the one who got scared last time."

"Okay, just give me your number later!"

Before the two finished their discussion, the ribbon-cutting ceremony officially began.

Reebok's sports stars stood in a row and, witnessed by major media around the world, officially launched the operation of Reebok's new global headquarters.

After that, Tom Brady wanted to continue discussing Sharapova with Roger, but Roger was soon invited to the office by several Reebok executives. He was the only athlete in the audience to receive such treatment.

Tom Brady shrugged. He was already a famous superstar in the football world, but how did he compare to Roger?
He vowed that sooner or later he would have the same influence as Roger.

Inside the office, several Reebok executives were chatting and smoking cigars with Roger.

As the only athlete who can get dividends from Reebok every year, Roger's interests and Reebok's interests have long been one and the same.

After chatting for a while, Paul Harrington, the new president of Reebok's basketball department, began to get into the topic of this brand discussion - the previous president of the basketball department, Todd Klinsky, had been promoted elsewhere because of his outstanding performance.

This meeting was mainly to discuss the promotional direction of Roger's next generation of sneakers.

The slogan that the publicity department came up with for the new sneaker advertisement is "Star walking, higher than the sky", which means "transcend the mundane world and cross the planet Sagittarius" in Chinese.

There is no doubt that Reebok is now starting to promote Roger as the GOAT.

This slogan indicates that Roger is at the highest point and is the star among the stars.

One of the shareholders accidentally said something stupid: "Great, this would perfectly define Roger's career!"

The whole room suddenly fell silent, because Roger never liked the slogan that defined his career. Many times before, when the Reebok publicity department brought up the topic of "defining a career", Roger told everyone in the meeting room: "My career cannot be defined yet."

Indeed, Reebok once wanted to use the Triple Crown to promote Roger, but Roger rejected it, as he felt that there was more to his career than just the Triple Crown.

Reebok once wanted to use "The King of Two Dynasties" for promotion, but Roger also rejected it, as he believed that he had more than two dynasties.

Reebok also wanted to use a similar slogan for promotion, but Roger always said, "No, it's not time yet. I'm not the greatest yet."

He never likes to be defined because he is always pursuing greater achievements and goals.

It is precisely because of Roger’s persistence that Reebok has been relatively restrained in its publicity. Otherwise, when they won four championships, Reebok would have made Roger the GOAT.

Now, someone else said that Roger's career could be defined by this slogan, so everyone stared at Roger nervously, afraid that he would get angry. But Roger nodded and said, "Very good, I like this slogan too, it almost defines my career."

In 2005, with nine rings and one championship away from establishing a third dynasty, Roger thought his career was defined.

Paul Harrington frowned, he felt something.

At the evening dinner, Reebok executives gathered together to toast each other.

Paul Harrington told everyone at this time: "Guys, we have to get ready."

"What preparations?"

"Roger's preparations for retirement."

As soon as these words were spoken, Reebok’s top executives felt a chill coming over them.

"Paul, what are you talking about?"

"Didn't you see Roger's eyes and attitude in today's meeting? He thinks he can represent the pinnacle of basketball. Is this the Roger we know? He no longer has any bigger long-term goals. For him now, he may just want to build a dynasty in the Bay Area, and maybe tie or surpass Bill Russell in championship rings.

Whatever the goal, once it is achieved, Roger's career may be over because he has nothing to pursue. And I believe that it will not take Roger more than four years to do all this. "

"Impossible," former basketball department president Todd Klinsky smiled and waved his hands. "You just came to Paul, you don't know him. I have worked with Roger for many years, and I know how competitive that guy is. He is like a beast that can never be full, always maintaining a strong sense of hunger. He is only 30 years old and has not suffered a major blow in his career. It is not surprising that he plays until he is 37 or 38 years old."

"I agree with Todd," another executive echoed. "Kareem played until he was 42, Karl Malone played until he was 41, and Gary Payton also seemed to want to play until he was 40. Given Roger's personality, he will keep playing as long as he can win. Talking about retirement at the age of 30 is a bit premature."

"Since you mentioned Roger's personality, then tell me, with Roger's personality, is he willing to be inferior to Magic like Kareem? Is he willing to submit to Kobe Bryant like Karl Malone? Or is he willing to be like Gary Payton, completely put aside the face of a superstar, and honestly be a role player? Or is he willing to be a substitute like Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon?
Or will he walk with his hands on his hips on the defensive end and wait for the fast break so that his statistics still look like those of a superstar?
Roger is different from them!
All of these stars whose careers were too long, without exception, gave up something at the end of their careers in order to prolong their careers.

But Roger would never give up those things.

As long as he is still playing, he must be the best player in the team and the best player in the league.

He has said more than once that he would not be the second Michael Jordan, and we all know what happened to Michael at the end of his career. Roger would never accept that outcome.

Roger's wish was to leave behind a great, unsurpassed figure. Three or four years later, when Roger completed his final goal, his age meant that he could no longer maintain his peak form.

At that time, will Roger's really continue?"

Paul Harrington's answer silenced all the senior executives. It was indeed true that most of the superstars with long careers made some kind of compromise at the end of their careers.

And that was a compromise Roger would never agree to.

There is a very real possibility that his career will end before he turns 34 or 35.

This was also the last golden period for Reebok to grow its brand.

"I know that Roger used to be a beast who was never satisfied. But is Roger now the same as Roger in his rookie season? No, because people's mentality changes." Paul Harrington made the final summary. He was sure that the man's career had officially entered the countdown stage.

On the other side, Tom Brady, Maria Sharapova and Roger were having a pleasant conversation.

Roger's biggest secret to attracting girls is that he knows a little bit about all sorts of things, can handle any topic, and make it interesting.

At the end of the dinner, Maria Sharapova seemed to be still enjoying the conversation.

She stared at Roger longingly, her cheeks flushed. "Roger, do you have time tonight? Maybe you can come to my room. I want to hear more of your insights on candy brands."

Tom Brady smiled and shook his head. Perhaps Maria Sharapova's shouts on the tennis court will echo in the hotel corridors tonight.

What else can he say? Roger has added another brilliant name to his list of ex-girlfriends, a list that is even more brilliant than the list of the opponents he has defeated. From supermodel Cindy Crawford, who was famous in the 80s, to Maria Sharapova, who was born in 87, this is a list of ex-girlfriends that men all over the world envy.

That's right, Tom Brady is certain that Maria Sharapova will be one of Roger's future ex-girlfriends.

This bastard will not enter the marriage hall with any woman. His purpose is only to have sex with her physically.

But Roger's answer surprised Tom Brady: "Sorry Maria, I have a date tonight."

"Oh, never mind, we'll call each other sometime. So, bye Roger, bye Tom."

Tom Brady could see Maria Sharapova's face turn red instantly. An 18-year-old girl, who was at the top of the pyramid in the world, was rejected when she took the initiative to ask a man out for the first time.

This is too cruel.

After Sharapova walked away, Tom Brady asked in confusion: "She's pretty good. Yes, her figure and appearance may not be the best among your ex-girlfriends, but she's not bad, right?"

"Yeah, I like my height of over 190cm when I put on high heels. You know, now that I think about it, when I was with the Olsen sisters, it was like I had some kind of Shaq fetish. I have to find a girlfriend of normal height to correct this fetish."

"Then why did you refuse? Don't tell me it's because she just turned 18. It's not like you haven't had an 18-year-old girlfriend before."

"Why? Of course it's because I know I can't be with her until the end. We are not suitable. After the passion burns out, the ending will be the same as countless times before."

Tom Brady thought there was something wrong with his ears: "What does it mean to go to the end?"

"Of course it's marriage. Isn't the purpose of dating to get married?"

"Damn it! Whoever you are, get off Roger! I know some great exorcists, I'm not kidding you!"

"Come on, Tom. I don't know why, but I want a stable partner and a family of my own. I can't be a vagrant forever. I can't just play basketball forever, right?"

After he finished speaking, Joe Abunassar just drove up to the door.

Roger waved to Tom Brady and said, "Bye Tom, come and join us in our championship parade when you have time."

"I'll be there."

After Roger got in the car, Tom Brady looked at a huge poster of Roger on a high-rise building.

This poster shows Roger standing in a row from the ages of 18 to 30. If you look closely, you will find that the current Roger is completely different from the young Roger.

The changes that time brings to a person are never limited to appearance.

In the car, Roger did not notice any changes in himself.

He looked at the newspapers full of Cavaliers news that he had thrown to the seat next to him in the morning and asked Abunassar: "I'm curious, why do people always think that LBJ can beat me? Isn't the gap between us big enough?"

"I think it may be because he is only 20 years old and still has a lot of room for imagination."

"We are almost the same."

"Almost? You're 30."

"Is this a reason? This is the second time this year that someone has stressed that I am 30 years old."

"Whether that's a reason or not is up to you, Roger."

"This will not be an excuse. The fantasy about LBJ will end completely in the next few years. To be honest, I'm tired of Nike always using a piece of trash to touch me, which even lowers my level."

Roger's eyes were determined, and a part of him had indeed changed.

But some things never change.

(End of this chapter)