Champions Creed

Chapter 414: 413: We won’t let you lose again (ask for monthly tickets!)
Monta Ellis was suspended for 35 games by the Warriors.

The news that this first-year rookie, who was doing well in the Development League, training hard and was extremely popular, was arrested for speeding has spread throughout the Bay Area, but outsiders did not expect the team's suspension penalty for him to be so severe.

The league simply fined Monta Ellis to do some community service.

After all, in this league where everyone is highly educated and cultured, if you have never been caught by the police for speeding, you would be embarrassed to say hello to your teammates in the locker room.

But the Warriors have very strictly imposed a 35-game suspension on Monta Ellis. Monta Ellis can no longer participate in either NBA or Development League games.

You know, the last time Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson helped Roger beat up James, they were only suspended for five games by the league.

Therefore, the Warriors' internal suspension can be considered severe, even a little too severe.

The reason why the punishment was so severe was not only because Monta Ellis violated the contract terms and rode his bike without permission, but also because he sprained his ankle ligament when he fell off his bike. What's even more infuriating is that he lied that he was injured in training and wanted to cover up the truth.

Due to the double fault, Monta Ellis will miss 35 games.

In fact, because of the ankle injury, even if the team does not suspend him internally, he will not be able to play in the next 8 to 10 weeks.

The difference is that due to the internal suspension of 35 games, Monta Ellis' annual salary will be reduced.

This infuriated his agent, Jeff Faried.

A day after the Warriors made the suspension decision, he rushed into Bob Buss' office with Monta Ellis.

"This is totally unreasonable! My client's annual salary this season is only $40. After deducting various taxes, he won't get much. If he is suspended for another 35 games, Monta's income this season will be incredibly low, but he has a big family to support! He is hard-working, serious and talented. He has never caused any trouble for the team, and the team doesn't have to do this! We could have discussed a solution to the problem, but the team made a unilateral decision in a domineering manner. Now we have to launch our own offensive to protect Monta's rights and interests!"

Monta Ellis sat next to his agent in silence, with his head down.

He knew he had done something wrong, so he felt guilty.

But he really didn't want to lose so much money.

Jeff Faried tried to gain the upper hand in momentum, but Bob Buss calmly fiddled with the tea set on his desk and poured a cup of tea for Monta Ellis and his agent respectively - all of which Bob Buss learned from Roger.

"Try this. This is the tea that Roger asked someone to bring back from China. He said the tea here is all rubbish."

Bob Buss's stable mood makes Jeff Faried less domineering.

He took a sip of tea, but still said unceremoniously: “No matter what, Bob, I will not leave today unless the team withdraws or reduces the internal suspension.”

"Sure," Bob Bass said calmly, "We can talk about anything, but Roger told me that he will come and talk to you in person."

"Roger?" Jeff Faried was a little nervous. It seemed that the rumors were true.

Roger is the actual controller of the Golden State Warriors, and he is the guy who made the decision to suspend Monta Ellis for 35 games.

A few minutes later, Roger pushed the door and walked into the office.

He ignored Jeff Faried and walked over to Monta Ellis and touched his head like an older brother would touch a younger brother.

"I knew you could do it. You've grown even faster than I thought. Look, it's only been two months since the season started and you're already on the front page."

Monta Ellis didn't dare to look Roger in the eye, he buried his head even deeper.

Jeff Faried decided to be a hero and tried to stand up for Monta Ellis to break Roger's rule over the office: "That's enough, Roger. Hasn't the media hurt this young man enough? As Monta's teammate, why do you have to add insult to injury?"

Roger sat down, casually put his legs on the desk, and complained, "Why doesn't Poki give us a Russian secretary?" He acted as if he was the general manager.

Roger leaned back in his chair and looked at Jeff Faried, his emotions as stable as Bob Bass's: "Injury? What about the harm Monta did to the team? Listen, the injury was caused by his own stupid choice, and his stupidity hurt the team, so we have to punish him."

"Hurt the team? God, you make it sound like the team gave Monta a lot of playing time this season! Monta is not a main rotation player this season, how can his injury hurt the team? Charles is right, you want to be everyone's dad, you want to be above everyone and show your power, but you don't have to suspend Monta for 35 games. Maybe that little money is not worth mentioning to you, but for Monta and his family, this is a problem like climbing Mount Everest."

Monta Ellis was sweating profusely. He admired Jeff Faried's courage. No one in the Warriors dared to speak to Roger like that.

He thought Roger was going to get angry, but Roger's tone remained calm.

“Let me tell you how it hurts the team.

You know, the one who was most angry when Monta sprained his ankle while cycling was not me, but Gary.

Gary Payton would play one-on-one with him after training until he was exhausted every day, teaching him defense, hoping that he would be able to stand on his own one day.

It's not just him. Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson would tirelessly pass the ball to Monta during training games, and Marcus and Dikembe would ignore his rookie status and actively cover for him during the game.

Eric let him play in the Development League to keep in shape while training with the Warriors. And whenever there was a chance, he would immediately let Monta play.

As for me, I don't do nearly as much as they do, but I do what's asked.

I helped him get tickets for his family, got him a special parking spot, and whenever he needed me, I would drop what I was doing and coach him, and I gave him my trainer, and he got the same treatment as Amare, who, as you know, was the third overall pick.

We all consider Monta to be our brother and a member of the Golden State Gang family.

But he let us down, big time!"

Having said that, Roger's eyes became sharp.

"We all expect him to continue to improve and become a great player who can sign a million-dollar contract next year instead of making $40 a year.

We were all working hard, and what did he do? He went speeding and sprained his ankle. It made all of us look like idiots, just like Nike was stupid for expecting LeBron James!
Do you think this is a kind of harm?"

"But."

"Shut up Jeff! I'm not done yet! Monta, you can let us down, but you can't let Antoine down. You know what he has done for you, and you know what you are carrying. He and we thought you could make us proud, but you are stupid!"

Bob Bass on the side was very curious, he didn't know who Antoine was.

Jeff Faried wanted to refute something, but Monta Ellis said the first sentence of the day: "Forget it, Jeff, I accept this punishment and take it as a lesson."

"What? Monta, we will lose money because of this"

"I brought all that damage upon myself, Roger. I'm sorry."

After saying that, Monta Ellis stood up and left the office directly.

When he returned to the training ground, Gary Payton used almost all the insulting words on Monta Ellis, and he cursed him for a full ten minutes without repeating himself.

Stephen Jackson shrugged: "The media said that Gary's mouth would stop talking two months after his death. Now I believe it."

Gary Payton was really angry and felt that his kindness was wasted.

It's as disgusting as lending your hard-earned money to a friend to help him get through a difficult time, only to have him use it all to go find a princess.

Looking at Monta Ellis being scolded on the training ground, Bob Buss was actually a little worried: "I also think 35 games is too many."

"If you don't remember, you won't make the same mistake again," Roger replied.

"By the way, who is Antoine?"

"His brother was once the strongest high school player in Mississippi. Whether it's static or dynamic talent, he seems to be much better than Monta."

"What? Monta was the second best high school player in the U.S. last year, second only to Greg Oden. If his brother is that good, why haven't I heard of him?"

"Because his brother witnessed his friend being shot and killed on the street, he became confused and gave up basketball. But he did not give up on his brother. He supervised him, protected him, trained with him, and gave everything for him. He lost his basketball dream, but he is Monta's hero. In fact, this is why Monta is so rebellious but works so hard. The annual salary is one aspect, and the other is that he is also carrying his brother's dream."

"How do you know so much?"

"Gary was the one who talked to us. Monta told him everything. It was unbelievable that anyone would like an old bastard like Gary."

Roger said this, looking at Gary Payton who was still cursing on the training ground.

He is probably the most disappointed person on the Warriors.

He pretends to be aloof on the surface, but in fact, he has completely integrated into the Golden State Gang.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have made such a fuss for someone who had nothing to do with him.

Monta Ellis' suspension has become the biggest sports news in the Bay Area during this period, and the regular season is still going on. At the end of January, Amar'e Stoudemire returned to participate in a few days of training, but his condition was very, very bad, and his knees could not work normally in high-intensity exercise.

The Warriors medical team also conducted a full-body assessment of Amar'e Stoudemire and ultimately confirmed that he would need to rest for a few more months.

Although this was known long ago, and before the surgery, the chief team doctor Chelsea Ryan said that the possibility of Stoudemire returning during the season was very small, less than 1%. But when the results came out, Amar'e Stoudemire still felt frustrated, after all, there is a difference between 99% and 100%.

The miracle didn't happen to him and he is now 100% done with this season.

In February, in Houston, LeBron James won the All-Star MVP for the first time in his career. Nike media did their best to almost equate the gold content of the AMVP with the regular season MVP, just as they madly boasted about the mid-season championship 20 years later.

Of course, the fans are not stupid.

No one will really care about the AMVP award. People will only remember that LBJ lost to Roger for three consecutive seasons.

In fact, the hottest topic of this year's All-Star Game is that the Warriors do not have a second All-Star player besides Roger, but the Warriors are one of the teams with the best record in the Western Conference.

Such a contrast is fascinating.

Entering March, the Warriors' record has experienced great ups and downs as they entered a period of fatigue.

No matter how perfect Eric Spoelstra's rotation is, his strategy is too energy-consuming.

The long season made all the Warriors players feel breathless in March.

In April, in order to ensure the health of the players, Spoelstra also intended to reduce the requirements on the defensive end.

He won't worry that the team will let down their guard because the Golden State gang knows what their goal is.

During this period, Monta Ellis finally returned.

He is still a killer in the Development League, and even had two single-game performances of 40+.

Monta Ellis was not idle during the suspension period. He worked hard to train his body, strengthen his confrontation ability, watch game videos, and use various methods to make himself stronger.

All of this was reflected after the return.

In the last game of the regular season, Eric Spoelstra gave two rookies, Monta Ellis and Brandon Bass, 25 minutes of playing time.

Brandon Bass, as a person who prepared silently, seized the opportunity and scored a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

But Monta Ellis, who was in bad form, messed it up. He only made 9 of 2 shots, and his shot choices were very unreasonable.

But after the game, Gary Payton did not criticize him.

He just told the kid, "Don't worry, if you have a chance to play in the playoffs, remember this."

No one knows Monta Ellis' strength better than Gary Payton. After a season of growth and hard training, he definitely has the level to play as the sixth man in the NBA.

It's just that the kid was too impatient today and wanted to show off too much, so it backfired, but this is by no means a true reflection of his strength.

If he can play in the playoffs and stay calm, he will be a big hit.

After the regular season, the Golden State Warriors ranked third in the Western Conference with 57 wins.

This is one of the few seasons in Roger's career where his wins did not exceed 60.

The Lakers, who are first in the Western Conference, have 65 wins, and the Spurs have 63 wins, both of which have a large gap with the Warriors.

Although the Warriors are very strong as a team, their lack of talent is still reflected in their record.

After the game, reporters on the scene also asked Roger whether he was satisfied with the regular season record.

Roger waved his hand. "There's nothing satisfactory about it. Just like you can't judge whether a movie is good or not when it's only halfway through. Of course, the exception is the particularly bad kind of movie."

"As we know, your motivation for playing is to conquer. So if you lose in the playoffs and you don't get the pleasure of conquering, will you lose interest in playing? I believe all teams will take advantage of this season to beat you because this is their best chance."

Roger did not answer the question, but said categorically: "No one can beat the Golden State Gang this season. You only see that our lineup on paper is not brilliant enough, but no one really knows how strong we are. The best chance to beat us? That's just what you think."

Back in the locker room, everyone was extremely excited.

The experiences of the past two years have made the entire Warriors team deeply understand one thing - the playoffs are where victory is decided.

So even though the number of wins this season is not more than 60, it does not affect everyone’s mood and confidence.

The real battle has just begun, and even their fatigue has been swept away by the arrival of the playoffs.

In the excited atmosphere, only Gary Payton sat in the corner without saying a word, looking very worried.

He never won a playoff game, never won a playoff game in his career.

Especially in the past two seasons, he looked full of hope before entering the playoffs, but was severely knocked to the ground by reality.

The playoffs were an oppressive cloud hanging over him, suffocating him.

He always worries about the playoffs more than anyone else.

If he still can't win the championship with the Warriors, his career will be completely ruined.

His sacrifices, his compromises, everything he did, would be meaningless.

At this moment, someone pressed his shoulder.

Gary Payton looked up and saw Roger.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's okay, I just want to tell you not to worry about it."

"I didn't." Gloves' pride certainly wouldn't let him admit it.

But Roger ignored his answer and said to himself: "Look at this locker room, look at these people who have fought side by side with you for a season, and then look at me. There is nothing to worry about, Gary. We will not let you lose again."

Gary Payton looked around the locker room. He didn't know when he really trusted these guys.

Jason Richardson is an accurate three-point shooter.

Matt Barnes is like a mad dog.

The talented Boris Dior.

Dikembe Mutombo is rock solid.

The energetic Marcus Camby.

Stephen Jackson, a man of great righteousness.

The solid and reliable Tayshaun Prince.

Brandon Bass works silently.

Monta Ellis who admits his mistakes and corrects them.

And the guy who likes to be someone else's dad.

I don't know when it started, but he began to trust and like everyone here.

Including Roger.

Payton didn't say anything to Roger, but in the following locker room interview he told reporters: "Nonsense, of course I will retire with a ring, this year!"

"Why are you so confident?"

"Why? Look around you, we are the Golden State Gang!"

(End of this chapter)