Champions Creed
Chapter 431 430: The last chance to defeat him
Chapter 431 430: The last chance to defeat him (ask for monthly ticket!)
Jim Gray, host of "The Decision," doesn't think he'll be surprised by any decision LeBron James makes tonight.
Because he knew too well what kind of person Roger was. He was definitely a guy who would push people to extremes.
Jim Gray still remembers how he was forced to leave ESPN by Roger in 1998.
In the 96-97 season, the fuse for the final swan song of the Orlando dynasty was Jim Gray's exclusive interview with Shaquille O'Neal.
He deliberately induced Shaq to answer many sharp questions on the show, and let Shaq publicly express his dissatisfaction with Roger and the status quo on the TV show. This directly triggered the famous "bloody election" and split the Orlando dynasty.
After that, he said a series of disrespectful words to Roger, including but not limited to: "To be honest, I really want to see the failure of that guy who won the game by missing a call and was so proud of it."
He stood completely against Roger. He was the first and only media person Roger met in his career who stood completely against Roger.
Why is he the last one?
After the collapse of the Orlando dynasty, Roger came to Atlanta, created a savior miracle, won four consecutive championships, and officially became the most popular basketball player in active service.
ESPN certainly wanted to befriend the greatest player of the time and invite him to an interview, but Roger's condition was simple: "Only if ESPN doesn't have Jim Gray."
The result is obvious. It was not difficult for ESPN to choose between the two. Since then, no media person dared to openly oppose Roger.
At that time, Jim Gray put aside his dignity and begged Roger, he didn't want to lose his job.
The response he got was so cold that he would never forget it.
"What are you looking for me for? Can't you find Shaq's number?"
This is how Roger replied to him. Facing a person who gave up his dignity and begged him, Roger was so cold-blooded, ruthless, cruel and unyielding.
You can't see any trace of mercy in him. You can only see the arrogance and majesty of an emperor.
He doesn't care whether his enemies live or die.
He doesn't care if he's pushing you over the edge.
Because in Roger's view, all of this is your own fault. This is the result of standing against him.
He took great pleasure in watching his opponents rot without dignity.
Of course, Jim Gray returned to ESPN two years ago. After all, when the hatred between Roger and Shaq was diluted, there was no longer much rift between Roger and Jim Gray. He maintained a good relationship with ESPN and did not care whether Jim Gray worked at ESPN or not.
But Jim Gray never dared to provoke Roger again, and never dared to mention what happened that year again.
He would remember for the rest of his life how cruel Roger's final trial was in 1998, and he didn't want to go through it again.
Roger may have changed a lot since 1998, but the way he treats his opponents has never changed.
This is Roger, and if you consider him an enemy, he is probably the worst enemy.
Therefore, Jim Gray would not be surprised no matter what extreme choice LBJ made.
Even if that choice is to join the Lakers, who already have three All-NBA players.
If you want to defeat a man like Roger and want to stand up to him, you need some unconventional methods.
Otherwise, you will only fall into the abyss.
LeBron James has actually fallen into the abyss. He made it to the finals last season, but he still couldn't change one fact: he has never defeated Roger.
In the regular season last season, the Cavaliers were defeated by the Warriors twice and were swept in the finals.
LBJ has been in the league for four years, but he has never won a game against Roger.
but.
Jim Gray couldn't help but wonder, if LBJ left Cleveland, which loved him, tolerated him, and supported him, would he be considered a bigger bastard than Roger?
Jim Gray also began to become like all the fans in the United States, full of expectations for the final decision.
The "Decision" show will begin as scheduled at 7:8 p.m. Eastern Time on July 21.
Roger and Brandon Roy sat on the sofa and became part of the group watching the show.
Brandon Roy is under a lot of pressure. He believes that he forced Monta Ellis away, and he needs to prove that he can fill the firepower gap left by Monta's departure.
If the Warriors fail to win the championship next season, it will be his problem.
Where LBJ chooses to join will directly determine how difficult it will be for the Warriors to win the championship next season.
Roger didn't think too much about it. He was more interested in the show itself.
In fact, Roger was consulted on the birth of this program.
Because the idea for the show came from an email received by a reader of Roger's die-hard fan, ESPN sports columnist Bill Simmons.
"Bill, do you think LeBron would invite some of the teams he might choose to join to join him on live television on a certain date for a show called 'LeBron's Choice'? Have those teams recruit LeBron on the air, have a great debate, and then have a reverse draft where the players choose the teams?"
Bill Simmons doesn't like LBJ, but there is no one in the world who doesn't like the US dollar, and he thinks this idea is very promising.
So he asked Roger if he minded, and then pitched the idea to Maverick Carter, a friend in LBJ's inner circle and LBJ's business partner, during last season's All-Star Game.
But later Bill Simmons thought that this idea could not be continued, because it seemed not decent to let LeBron announce his "escape" in this way, which would definitely cause huge controversy. Moreover, it was unrealistic to let the teams publicly recruit LeBron on live TV, and no one would agree to participate in this "basketball marriage" show.
Bill Simmons decided to withdraw from the project completely.
Then Jim Gray took over, but he simplified the program. No other teams participated, no debate, just let LBJ announce his decision on a live TV show, a decision that everyone watched.
Even so, the show has been controversial.
As soon as the program plan came out, NBA Commissioner David Stern personally approached ESPN and hoped to cancel the program because he believed that the impact of the program would give players too much say and would completely tip the balance of power that had been tilted by Roger for many years towards the players.
The concept of "player empowerment" will be refreshed again.
You know, in the past, when a team traded a player, at most they would hold a press conference, but now players' choices of teams are broadcast live on TV. What does this look like? It looks like Cavaliers owner Daniel Gilbert watching himself being cuckolded on a national live broadcast.
From now on, the players' right to speak will completely override that of the team, and this will be a "political convenience for free agents."
The NBA introduced the "restricted free agent" rule to protect the interests of small markets, so that the talents they select will not run away after the end of their rookie contracts, giving teams the initiative.
But LeBron James, for the first time, only signed a 1+1 contract after the end of his rookie contract to give himself the initiative. There has never been anyone in NBA history who only signed a 1+1 contract after the end of his rookie contract, because after the end of the rookie contract, a player gets the first big contract in his career, and the first big contract is definitely a big contract that he wants to put in his pocket.
But just like when he was in high school, LBJ refused Reebok's signing fee of 1 million, he once again made an unconventional decision. The Cavaliers have already said that if LBJ renews the 1+ contract, they can only choose to sign first and then trade, so as to avoid LBJ becoming an unrestricted free agent and leaving in vain after a year.
If this approach is successful, and succeeds on a nationally televised show, more and more players will surely follow suit, and the restricted free agent rule that provides protection for teams will become a piece of waste paper.
But David Stern's proposal was ignored by ESPN. ESPN President John Skip believed that this program would create a ratings miracle. As for the change of the initiative in the NBA? None of his business!
So tonight, "The Decision" will be broadcast as scheduled.
The biggest suspense of the summer is about to be revealed, and all the viewers in front of the TV are excited, just like the part in the movie about the plumber and the single MILF where the two start to take off their clothes.
The show was held at the Boys & Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Donovan Mitchell, who was only 13 years old, was one of the audience. He was attending school in Greenwich at the time and strongly urged his mother to let him participate in this historic show.
But the show let him down, and let down fans across America.
Because in the first half hour of the show, Jim Gray and LBJ were talking about some extremely boring things, interspersed with some advertisements.
Fortunately, they didn't wait until the end of the one-hour special to reveal the answer. When the show was 30 minutes in, Jim Glenn finally asked the question everyone was waiting for: "LeBron, what is your decision?"
Then, there was an answer that Roger could recite in its entirety backwards, except that the team name had been changed and it appeared three years earlier.
"It's been very difficult this fall. This fall, I'm moving my talents to the West Coast to join the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade. I feel like that's going to give me the best opportunity to win, and win for multiple years, not just in the regular season, not just winning three games in a row or five games in a row, I hope to be able to win a championship, and I feel like I can compete there."
"WTF!!?" Brandon Roy in front of the TV couldn't believe this was true.
LeBron James actually announced that he would join the Lakers and join Kobe Bryant's team.
Does he really not care about his reputation anymore?
Kobe + Billups + Howard, that's already strong enough. Add James? Four All-NBA players on one team? Four of the Dream Team's starters gathered in the NBA? Unprecedented!
To be precise, this is a combination of two MVP-level players (Kobe ranked third in MVP last season and LBJ ranked fourth) and two best-team players.
If it was in Roger's first championship season, the lineup would be Shaq + Mailman + Olajuwon + Drexler.
Moreover, the combination of this lineup seems very reasonable, unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks, which appear to be brilliant but are actually top-heavy.
Many years later, a similar team will be born, and they will be called "Universe Warriors" by fans, which shows how terrifying this lineup is.
The moment LeBron James announced the result, the Los Angeles Lakers became the most explosive super team in NBA history!
Jim Gray was as calm as he expected and was not surprised by the result.
Because only such a super team can compete with Roger, from a utilitarian point of view, LBJ's choice is understandable.
Roger was equally calm. He whistled and applauded LBJ's decision. He waited for the backdrop he had always dreamed of.
"Roger, this is nothing to cheer about," Brandon Roy shook his head. "If their locker room doesn't explode, then the Los Angeles Lakers will definitely be a bad opponent."
"Don't worry Brandon, it's just a team made up of losers, and a negative number added to any negative number is a negative number."
Brandon Roy glanced at Roger and found that Roger's face was full of anticipation.
He never seems to care what his opponent becomes because he is absolutely confident in himself.
You can call it arrogance, but for a player with 11 rings, arrogance is his privilege.
Brandon Roy took a deep breath. He was not Roger, and he did not have such strong self-confidence.
All he knew was that he had to work harder this summer.
He will have to make a bigger contribution next season.
Kobe has LBJ, Chauncey Billups, and Dwight Howard around him.
Brandon Roy only wanted to do one thing, to make Roger say with relief: "So what? I have Brandon by my side."
-
ESPN's one-hour special was a success. At the moment when LeBron James made his decision, a total of 1310 million people in the United States were watching. Half an hour later, the show ended with an average of 994.8 million viewers, making it the highest-rated studio show in ESPN history.
But ESPN's success does not represent LeBron James' personal success.
After the show ended, the world's reaction was completely different from what LBJ and his team had expected.
They thought this live broadcast would cause controversy, but they didn't expect the controversy to be so big.
LeBron James wants to get rid of his identity as a clown. He wants to transform from a clown into a winner.
As a result, he went from being a clown to a villain hated by everyone.
What did he see the next day?
Los Angeles fans did not welcome him the same way that Atlanta fans and Bay Area fans welcomed Roger, because every time Roger went to a city, he was the master of that city. But now, Los Angeles is Kobe's city. Even if Kobe doesn't mention it, Los Angeles fans will tacitly accept it. In the news, his jersey is burning in Cleveland and turning into ashes.
He did not become the new master in the new city, and the old city abandoned him as the former master.
In addition, bad public opinion followed.
Team owner Daniel Gilbert wrote an open letter to fans on the Cavaliers website, condemning James' decision as narcissistic, selfish, heartless, shameful, and cowardly betrayal. He also promised that the Cleveland Cavaliers will win an NBA championship before this coward who calls himself "The King" wins an NBA championship.
The Associated Press added The Decision to The Move (the Cleveland Browns were moved), The Drive (the Browns were reversed in the 87 playoffs), The Shot (Jordan's buzzer-beater against the Cavaliers) and The Fumble (the Browns made a fatal mistake in the final moments of the 88 playoffs and missed the Super Bowl), making it a new member of the "Cleveland Sports Hall of Shame".
Even LeBron James' "good teammate" MJ joined in the fun: I left Chicago and worked with Patrick, but that was more because of salary issues. And I would never take the initiative to contact Magic, Larry or Roger to play on the same team if the team met all my wishes, because I want to beat those guys more.
The Jazz will certainly not be absent from this feast of LBJ being blackened to charcoal: it would be an honor to stay in Cleveland and win a championship as a leader. Now, no matter how many games he wins in Los Angeles, it is obviously Kobe Bryant's team. In Los Angeles, LBJ can win as many games as he wants, but he will never be Roger, or even Michael Jordan.
Of course, Nike would not let LBJ's reputation collapse like this, and they also launched their own publicity machine.
New York Times writer William Rodden believes that the vicious personal attacks by Cavaliers owner Daniel Gilbert are extremely immoral and that there is nothing wrong with James' pursuit of a championship.
Dave McMenamin, the biggest bootlicker of LBJ's team, complained about the world's injustice to James: "He left by signing and then trading, which allowed the Cavaliers to get Shawn Marion, Andrew Bynum and first-round draft picks in 2008, 2012 and 2014. What else do they want? LeBron could have just walked away!" (In fact, he couldn't, because if James didn't agree to the sign-and-trade, the Cavaliers could force a contract match to disgust him for a year)
However, among all the mouthpieces that excused James, the most powerful one was American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who directly played the race card that can run rampant in America.
"Daniel Gilbert is the embodiment of the slave owner's mentality. He treats LeBron as a runaway slave. There is no betrayal between them. LeBron and him are business partners, and LeBron has fulfilled his contract with the Cavaliers, which means that the cooperation between LeBron and him is over. So in this democratic country, where LBJ goes next after fulfilling his contract is entirely his own business. If anyone still has doubts about this, it is a doubt about the democratic power of this country!"
But these voices were drowned out by the flames of Cleveland and the abuse from around the world.
LeBron James has become the ultimate villain that everyone wants to kill.
Saying LeBron is innocent is like those women who uploaded videos on Pornhub saying they are still virgins.
At this time, James, the person involved, was looking for a new place to live in Los Angeles. When he returned to the hotel at noon, Rich Paul found that LBJ's eyes were bloodshot, staring at the picture of his jersey being burned on TV.
What was he thinking about?
Maybe wondering why things turned out like this.
Maybe he was wondering what his efforts for Cleveland were all for.
Maybe I'm wondering how I should face this world.
Maybe he was thinking the accusations weren't fair and that he at least left some legacy behind with the Cavs.
But no matter what he was thinking, no matter what the result was, nothing could be changed.
LeBron James has made a decision that will completely upend his career.
This is what it takes to beat Roger.
To defeat a devil, you have to make a deal with another devil.
Rich Paul walked up and patted his best friend on the shoulder.
"You can look back, but you can't go back. What's on TV is your past, and our future is right outside the window in front of you."
As he spoke, he pointed to the Staples Center in the distance.
LeBron James nodded, turned off the TV, and decided to forget about it.
"Let's go win!"
-
The biggest suspense of the 2007 offseason has been revealed.
But not the final suspense.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, they have already won a big victory in the transfer market.
But for other teams, they still need to continue working hard in the transfer market.
In addition to the Pistons, Magic and Cavaliers, there is also the fallen Supersonics waiting to be divided up by the powers this summer.
The Seattle SuperSonics did not achieve any outstanding results during the Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis era, and the team's new general manager Sam Presti has high hopes for Kevin Durant, the team's newly selected second pick.
He believes that the team should train Kevin Durant as the absolute core from the first season, and no one can suppress him in tactical position and shooting rights.
So the Supersonics put both Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis on the shelf.
Because the Boston Celtics in this timeline are completely uncompetitive, they are naturally not interested in Ray Allen. The 32-year-old Ray Allen is not the kind of cornerstone player who can lead the team out of trouble alone.
In the end, the New Orleans Hornets traded Peja Stojakovic, Desmond Mason and the 2007th pick in 13 for Ray.
Chris Paul, who is entering his prime, has found a backcourt partner who is almost a perfect fit for him.
The New York Knicks traded Shane Battier for Rashard Lewis. They decided to abandon some of their defense in exchange for more powerful outside firepower to fill the team's biggest gap.
In addition, the Dallas Mavericks traded for Jason Kidd with a series of chips, including Devin Harris. The experience of being swept in the Western Conference Finals last season made Mark Cuban begin to reflect on his team building ideas. This time, he finally recruited a player who is not good at scoring.
At the same time, the Mavericks fired current head coach Avery Johnson and signed Rick Carlisle, who led the Pistons to win the championship.
Many people believe that General Johnson was fired because of his poor performance in the Western Conference Finals sweep, but this was at most just a fuse.
The very reason he was fired was that he actually proposed to make Vince Carter the core, lower Dirk's tactical status and change the role he played.
Avery Johnson's experience tells everyone that before you get angry at a player, you'd better find out whether he is the boss's man.
This is another crazy summer of arms race, and except for the Golden State Warriors, most championship contenders have changed to varying degrees.
Why is the entire league so crazy?
Because a report by Yahoo Sports great Woj caused an earthquake.
"Whether or not Roger gets his 12th ring, this will most likely be Roger's last season."
If someone else had written this article, it would at best be seen as a piece of buzzworthy but unreliable news.
But Adrian Wojnarowski's reports are different. This amazing man is known for his accurate and timely news.
How timely is it? Many NBA team general managers will see Woj's news about the trade online one minute after the trade happens. Some players even learned about their trade from Woj's news before they received a call from their agent.
God knows how he got the news so quickly. Maybe he really was the one who said "You installed surveillance cameras in my house."
This time, Woj's source was the secretary of Kings minority owner Vivek Ranadivé.
Vivek Ranadivé's daughters Anjali and Abby Hornacek were both studying in Los Angeles. While attending the school's anniversary celebration, Abby's mother mentioned the incident in a casual chat with Anjali's mother. In the office, Anjali's mother told Vivek Ranadivé the news, and his secretary happened to be in the office.
Woj concluded through news sources and his own analysis: Roger's last dance is coming.
For Roger, if he successfully wins 12 championships, the NBA world will no longer be challenging or fun for him, and there will be no reason to continue.
Money? Come on, Roger's business income has long surpassed his salary from playing in the NBA.
The Google shares he holds alone are worth a fortune, not to mention the lifetime dividends he will receive from Reebok.
Similarly, if Roger is defeated, he will definitely retire, because the capital behind him will not allow him to risk being defeated twice in a row to pursue 12 championships. In that case, even if he wins 12 championships, his godhood will be damaged.
Neither Roger himself nor his team responded to this, but Woj's revelations still made everyone willing to believe that it was true.
This means that this is most likely the last chance for each team to defeat Roger!
They all need to be fully prepared!
When the news broke, Roger and Brandon Roy were in Shanghai participating in a China tour.
It rained heavily in Shanghai on the day of the event.
When Roger and Brandon Roy returned to the hotel, Roy returned the umbrella Roger had given him.
It is a Roger co-branded umbrella with a very Chinese-style appearance and has a great collection value.
Seeing Roy handing him the umbrella, Roger waved his hand and said, "Keep it. Use it to keep out the rain in Seattle." (Roy's family still lives in Seattle, and Seattle rains a lot.)
"Roger, is Woj's revelation true?"
"So what? It won't affect our goals for next season."
Roy took this as a positive answer, because given Roger's character, if it was false, he would definitely say: "You'd better not believe a word that old bastard said."
Roy left the umbrella and took a deep breath.
Therefore, he really cannot fail next season, and he cannot become the weak link of the team.
He didn't want to be a stain on this great career.
He returned to his room, put down his umbrella, went to the hotel gym, and called Joe Abunassar.
He was going to get better, he was going to become a more powerful Hand of God.
Half an hour later, Joe Abunassar looked at Roy, who was sweating profusely, and thought about a question: How would the last year of Roger's career end?
For most players, their last dance is a stumbling, aging one.
The Magic ended with a Finals defeat and HIV.
Michael Jordan's end was just the playoffs.
Larry Bird passed away due to a serious back injury.
Even Gary Payton, who had a good ending, left with the championship as a role player.
But what about Roger?
Look at Brandon Roy, he is still improving and will make this already strong team even stronger.
Roger himself shows no signs of slipping.
The Warriors' strength next season is immeasurable.
So how does Roger's last dance end?
Joe Abunassar felt that it would be an unprecedented and brilliant ending.
(End of this chapter)
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