Champions Creed

Chapter 402 Chapter 401: This team is hard to beat (ask for monthly tickets!)
Gary Payton still couldn't believe that he made a deal with the devil.

For the championship ring, he is about to team up with the person he hates the most.

No, it's about being with the two most annoying people.

Dikembe Mutombo has also been on Gary Payton's blacklist because the Denver Nuggets, led by Dikembe, defeated the Supersonics in 1994, which was one of the most shameful moments in Payton's career.

Gary Payton tried hard to think about whether there was a similar precedent, an example of two people who had never met each other before and took the initiative to play on the same team and achieve success.

Finally, Payton discovered that there was no such example.

Yes, Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith also hated No. 14 before they became teammates with Roger, but they won the championship together.

In fact, Paul Pierce, who now has a good personal relationship with Roger, was also an out-and-out "anti-Roger" before joining the Hawks. He just said some bad things about Roger, but Roger, the bastard, went out of his way to find Paul Pierce, who was still a college student at the time, and abused him. It would be strange if Pierce liked Roger.

But Roger also built a dynasty with Paul Pierce, and the two now have a very close personal relationship.

Paul Pierce's "diarrhea of ​​the century" in Shaq's mouth has become the best memory of the two.

But their situation is completely different from Gary Payton's. All of the above people have one thing in common - they were forced to team up with Roger.

Scott Pippen only knew that Roger was coming after he joined the Hawks, and Steve Smith was already a player of the Hawks, so he had no choice but to accept the fact.

As a rookie, Paul Pierce also did not have the right to choose a team. The Atlanta Hawks chose him, and he could only report to Georgia, even though there was someone there that he didn't like very much.

Gary Payton is the first player in history who hates Roger but takes the initiative to team up with him.

Looking at the contract handed over by Bob Buss, Gary Payton hesitated. It seemed like a contract handed over by the devil, and he seemed to be selling his soul.

There is nothing much to say about the content of this contract. Last season, the New York Knicks might have given Gary Payton a mid-level exception. But now, the Warriors only gave him a veteran minimum salary.

That's all the gloves are worth now.

Mikhail Prokhorov may be rich, but he is not a philanthropist. He will not offer maximum salaries to all players just to attract players.

And Bob Bass got to the point: "In the Bay Area, I'm afraid you won't be able to start."

Gary Payton had anticipated this, knowing that he would not be able to compete with anyone on the Warriors for the starting spot.

Gary Payton has always been a proud and arrogant person. Even in 2020, he still brazenly claimed in the documentary "The Last Dance" that he defended Michael Jordan, and then made Jordan laugh out the most famous emoticon.

Becoming a substitute would undoubtedly make him abandon his most important self-esteem.

In San Antonio and New York, he was always a starter, no matter how low his tactical status was.

On the surface, he is still the main force of a championship team.

But now, when he can only become a substitute, it means that he has truly said goodbye to the identity of "star".

He felt like a young girl working as a technician in a Thai spa. She started out by providing normal services but gradually lost her bottom line.

But since Gary Payton can come, it means he has considered everything beforehand.

Gloves picked up the pen and signed his name on the contract.

The guy who once confronted Michael Jordan and Roger has now become the king's servant.

He just hopes that this choice will not make him regret it. Although he has become a role player in the true sense, it will all be worth it if he can win the championship.

But if he fails to get it, his career will be completely ruined.

After Gary Payton signed, he immediately asked Bob Bass: "Where is that bastard Roger? Is he training secretly somewhere? Many years ago, I heard about the legend of the 'Morning Club'. Tell me where he is, I want to train with him!"

Bob Bass smiled like the anchor of the 7:30 news broadcast every night while sorting out the documents on the table: "Morning light? It's almost dusk now."

In the next two minutes, Bob Buss made Gary Payton understand one thing unbelievably - Roger had not conducted self-abuse high-intensity training during the offseason for many years.

He does invite a few close friends to form a private training camp before the new season training camp begins, but the training intensity is not as high as the legend says.

Roger's high-intensity training was mainly concentrated in the Orlando period and the early Atlanta period.

Roger stopped doing this during his time in the Bay Area.

Gary Payton became even more withdrawn after hearing the news, and his excuses were ruthlessly exposed.

Some people always find excuses for their failures.

Some people also like to make excuses for the other person's success.

Gary Payton belongs to the latter and has always believed that Roger completely gave up a normal life for the sake of victory.

He doesn't spend time enjoying food, watching movies, hanging out with his buddies, or doing anything fun. In addition to changing girlfriends, his time is basically filled with basketball.

Why is my girlfriend an exception? Because dating can be done at the same time as sleeping, making the most of my free time.

Gary Payton felt a little comforted when he thought of Roger almost giving up the enjoyment of life for victory.

Roger won, but he also paid a price for it. He got the championship, but he lost something else.

But Bob Buss' answer shattered all of Gary Payton's fantasies.

In other words, that bastard Roger doesn't need any devilish training at all, and doesn't need to put in too much effort, and he can still perform so terribly.

For Roger, winning is as common as eating and sleeping. He doesn't need to give up everything for it, the truth is so cruel.

Payton recovered from this cruel fact and prepared to leave the office. He still had to go to San Francisco to find a house: "Tell Roger to call me when his little training camp starts."

"You obviously have his phone number, you can contact him directly. You contacted him yourself when you wanted to join the Warriors, didn't you?" Bob Buss didn't understand why Gary Payton had to pretend that he didn't know Roger at all.

At this time, is your pride still so important?
Gary Payton showed a self-important expression: "To be honest, Bob, I don't want to have any private contact with that bastard at all."

Gary Payton is a proud man, and this is the only pride he can maintain.

In early August, Cuttino Mobley was successfully discharged from the hospital. He is now healthy, but the doctor advised him not to participate in strenuous exercise.

What is considered strenuous exercise? It is difficult to define. But there is no doubt that the NBA, as the most competitive and longest basketball league in the world, is definitely not related to the word "moderate".

But there is a trouble now. The old cat just renewed his contract with the team for three years last season, and the new contract will only take effect this year.

He can't play, but the team can't deal with his contract, even if old cat Mobley voluntarily gives up.

The NBA Players Union exists to protect the interests of players. From Oscar Robertson to Roger during the last lockout, the efforts of many generations of union leaders have changed the NBA, making it perhaps one of the best leagues in the world in protecting the interests of players.

Even if a team cuts a player, even if a player is unable to play for personal reasons, as long as he signs a guaranteed contract, the contract must be executed to the end and he will not receive a penny less.

The rules cannot be broken. Even if Old Cat voluntarily gives up, he cannot disobey the rules. The Warriors must complete his three-year contract.

This means that a player who is not on the roster will continue to take up cap space for the next three years.

The best solution at present is to buy out the contract and pay the old cat's salary in installments. For example, the original three-year contract can be extended to five or six years without changing the total salary. In this way, the average annual salary will be diluted, and the salary space occupied by the old cat will be reduced each year.

But this will still take up a certain amount of salary space and will still be an obstacle to reinforcement.

As a result, in the face of this difficulty, Alan Houston, who had already left, actually gave the Warriors dynasty a final boost.

Because of Alan Houston's poor performance last season and his injuries, the Trail Blazers, whose salary structure was already locked, had to add another junk contract.

Now, the team has fallen into a state where it is completely unable to operate. It cannot trade or sign players, and it can only continue to rot.

To solve this problem, David Stern introduced a new clause - if you look closely, you will find that most of the NBA's patched clauses are designed to prevent stupid general managers and franchise owners from ruining themselves.

For example, the rule that does not allow the trading of first-round draft picks in consecutive years is designed to prevent some stupid people from having all their draft picks cheated away.

The new clause is called the Alan Houston Clause, or the Amnesty Clause.

This provision allows a team whose total salary exceeds the NBA salary cap to cut a player before the start of each season. The player's salary must be paid, but it will not be counted towards the salary cap.

If this clause is eventually passed, Cuttino Mobley can retire peacefully with a "pension" without taking up salary space.

In fact, it was only a matter of time before the clause was passed, because most of the team owners needed the right to free up salary space, so there was no problem with the vote. After all the difficulties were solved, everyone temporarily put aside their worries and prepared a retirement party for the old cat at his home. In addition to the new members Buss, Ellis and Payton, and the former members Van Exel and Anderson, everyone and their families came to participate, and no one was alienated from the team because it was the offseason.

Even Eric Spoelstra and Jeff Hornacek were present.

This was the most relaxing party Roger had ever attended. He could wear shorts, lie down on a recliner with a glass of red wine without worrying about the reporters' cameras and the GOAT image, or being harassed by unknown women.

Roger had never been a party person, and the only party he had ever really enjoyed was a farewell party he threw before leaving Orlando in the summer of 1997.

But it turns out that it’s actually quite enjoyable to just relax with a group of people you get along with.

This Warriors team is more cohesive than Roger expected, and everyone gets along well with each other.

In this team, there are no players who take advantage of their seniority, no players who have difficulty integrating into the team, and no individuals with ulterior motives.

They were laughing and joking, they were pushing and shoving each other.

Even Boris Dio, whose background was the most different from others, got along well with this group of "gangsters" from the lower class because of his playful and mischievous personality.

That's right, gangsters. The concept of the Golden State gangsters is very popular in the team, and everyone enjoys the role of gangsters.

They smoke and drink like real gang members, swear like real gang members, greet each other with complicated gestures like real gang members, and discuss how to "steal" other teams' business next season like real gang members.

Of course, a stable management team that does not interfere too much is also the key to a good team atmosphere. If the management team is struggling with the renewal of players this summer, the team will definitely be in chaos.

For Roger, who has established two dynasties, this atmosphere is incredible. In the past, in Orlando and Atlanta, the teams had a very harmonious relationship. But once entering the third consecutive championship cycle, problems inevitably appeared within the two teams.

In Orlando, during the three consecutive championship seasons, the team had already experienced a "bloody election" incident. Roger "killed" his best friend to gain actual control of the locker room and completely broke up with the Sharks. The team atmosphere was more tense than the situation in the Middle East. No one dared to joke in the locker room. The management did not think about solving the problem, but thought about how to lower the price of the Sharks to get the best deal.

In Atlanta, the management had already let go of Ben Wallace before the start of the three-peat season, which had created a bad atmosphere in the team. Roger openly challenged the management, and Paul Pierce also said early on that he would not renew his contract with the team. The relationship between the locker room and the management was almost broken, and the whole team was filled with a sense of sadness that the dynasty was about to fall apart.

This Warriors team broke all the rules about the "sequelae of consecutive championships". No one, whether the team owner or the players, made any trouble just because they had already won two championships.

Marcus Camby is used to being a hardworking center, while Dikembe Mutombo is content to play as a substitute.

Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes are absolutely loyal to Roger, and Boris Diaw doesn't care about his playing time at all.

Tayshaun Prince received an early contract extension of 5 years and $4700 million, and Jason Richardson also just got his contract fulfilled.

As for the Russian, he spent more time on the American peach butt than on the team. Even though it cost a lot of money to renew the contracts of Stoudemire, Prince and Jason Richardson, Mikhail Prokhorov still didn't care. The team's operating costs were never a problem for him.

Roger always felt that they were facing the journey to the third championship with the same positive attitude as when they competed for the first championship, and this enthusiasm did not decrease in the slightest.

Everyone was surprisingly energetic, everyone enjoyed their time together, and everyone moved in unison, like an army of uniformly programmed robots in a sci-fi movie, with Roger being the one giving the orders.

Such a team is difficult to beat.

Even though Roger's only All-Star teammate is Amar'e Stoudemire, and on paper this lineup is far inferior to the Lakers and Knicks, Roger is confident that this team will be hard to beat.

This atmosphere makes Roger full of confidence for the next season, no, not just the next season. Maybe in San Francisco, Roger can really achieve the greatest goal.

At this time, the heads of Matt Barnes, Jason Richardson, Stephen Jackson and Boris Dio appeared in Roger's sight.

They had evil smiles on their faces, as if aliens were staring at the bodies of Earthlings with excitement.

Roger took off his sunglasses: "What's wrong?"

"Roger, do you know what the most important part of a pool party is?" Stephen Jackson asked.

"Bikini beauties?"

"No, the most important part is throwing someone into the water!"

The next second, Roger was lifted up by four men and thrown into the swimming pool.

Eric Spoelstra and Jeff Hornacek looked at everything under the parasol. The Filipino coach said with emotion: "This is the most beautiful team I have ever seen."

"But you know it's never easy to win three consecutive championships. We don't know what troubles we will encounter."

"I hope Cutino is the biggest trouble." Eric Spoelstra finished the wine in his glass. This was his biggest wish.

After the party, the gang disbanded temporarily, but Roger had no time to rest as he had to travel around the world to participate in various business activities.

What's strange is that Roger didn't have any scandals with any female stars this summer.

Tom Brady couldn't believe this was true. All signs indicated that Roger really wanted a stable partner.

In early September, Roger began to gather people for a private training camp.

In addition to the Warriors' own players, players from other teams such as Paul Pierce of the Pacers, Kurt Thomas who was traded to the Cavaliers, and Michael Reed who was abandoned by the Cavaliers also participated.

Gary Payton was also on the invitation list. Generally, Roger's training camp would not invite veterans. But Roger didn't want the glove to pick up the ring. That guy needed to play a role in the next season.

Veterans like him often need more time to find their form.

Payton arrived at the first day of training camp and he still had that pride.

In the locker room, he didn't talk to anyone because those who came were "ordinary players" and not "superstars" like him.

He had a high opinion of himself, like a noble white swan swimming among a group of wild ducks.

Watching Matt Barnes and Jason Richardson childishly fighting in the locker room, Gary Payton curled his lips in disdain: "This is Roger's team, huh?"

Walking onto the court, Gary Payton shouted in the middle of the field after warming up: "Who's in charge of my training?"

Joe Abunassar personally stepped forward and said, "Sir, I will personally be responsible for your training."

"Very good," Gary Payton looked at Abunassar with a proud look, "Next I'm going to practice 500 more jump shots. Go pick up the ball."

"No no no Gary, according to Roger's plan, your next training item will be physical fitness."

"What?" Payton was stunned. "Roger's plan? Roger isn't even here!"

"Due to business activities, Roger will not arrive until tomorrow, but he has customized training plans for everyone."

"What qualifications does he have!? I can practice whatever I want! Does he think he can control me?"

"Stop yelling about the broken gloves," Matt Barnes couldn't stand it any longer. Joe Abunassar was a Warriors player and he wouldn't allow anyone to yell at the trainer. "I think you haven't figured out the situation yet. In the Golden State Warriors, we all have to follow Roger's rules. If he tells you to train, you should do it honestly, otherwise you will be exhausted like an old dog in the finals last season."

"Say it again, you bastard!" Payton threw the ball at Barnes, trying to maintain his last bit of dignity as a superstar.

Barnes is naturally not afraid and is ready to let Gary Payton experience what it means to be bullied by the Golden State gang.

However, there were still calm people at the scene. Paul Pierce stopped Barnes, and Kurt Thomas also hugged Gary Payton.

Seeing someone holding him back, Gary Payton got even more excited: "Listen, you rubbish who barely started a few games, when I was leading the team to the finals, you were still in a white school watching people spit on your sister's head! I can do whatever I want, and you rubbish can't control me!"

As soon as Gary Payton finished his harsh words, Joe Abunassar started laughing.

This trainer who has always been very humble was actually mercilessly mocking Gary Payton, the former superstar.

Payton was very embarrassed. It was bad enough that Matt Barnes had a quarrel with him, but a trainer dared to laugh at him?

Gloves was about to curse when Joe Abunassar patted him on the shoulder.

"Forget it Gary, on the Warriors, if Roger told Amar'e Stoudemire to run into a wall, Stoudemire would only ask one question: How fast?

That's the King's franchise, that's Roger's team. If you want to have a perfect championship season in the Bay Area, if you still want to wear that ring, believe me, you have to learn to listen to the King.

Next, I will be in charge of your training. We will train your physical fitness and we will talk about shooting later."

Joe Abunassar's tone and look left no room for doubt.

Gary Payton couldn't believe what he heard. He shook off everyone's hands and walked straight out of the training ground.

(End of this chapter)