Champions Creed

Chapter 47: The first close contact with the devil

Anfernee Hardaway was completely defeated this time.

Complete defeat means that Nike found after the game that they couldn't even find the angle to wash.

Playing the game of "honor in defeat" and "spiritual victory"? Roger chased Penny throughout the game, while Penny kept avoiding Roger. Obviously, Roger's spiritual attribute is stronger.

比合理？罗杰的40分0助攻确实不太合理，但拿哈达威循规蹈矩的20分10助攻去碰瓷史上最年轻的40分先生，只会显得愚蠢。

Continue to market Penny's sunny boy image? He kicked over a trash can after the game, and at the press conference he only said "Yeah, Roger always makes those damn shots" before throwing away the microphone and leaving angrily. All of this is inconsistent with his original image.

Moreover, Penny is still young. If he were 39, Nike could still use the age angle to make an appeal. A simple sentence like "What else can you ask a 39-year-old veteran to do" would shut everyone up.

But young Penny is obviously not suitable for this kind of washing.

Nike was unable to provide any protection for Penny this time. The successor chosen by Jordan was nailed to the pillar of shame by Roger.

Speaking of Jordan, he also became one of the protagonists of this game.

Roger's remarks about Jordan after the game undoubtedly caused an uproar.

In the 90s NBA, disrespecting Michael Jordan was a symbol of rebellion.

In 1996, the genius from Philadelphia was criticized as a villain by the media for many years just because he said, "I don't respect anyone on the court, including Michael."

What's more, Roger himself is a Bulls player. As Jordan's junior, he didn't give Jordan any face at all, which is even more "heinous".

But Roger didn't care about this. He didn't think there was any benefit in licking Michael Jordan.

What's more, it was that old bastard who looked down on him first.

What? You look down on me, so I have to say, "Michael, please let me be your successor"?

Roger doesn't want to be a hot sheep, let alone a hot sheep who is an old black goat.

Roger also knew that his remarks would give some media an opportunity to criticize him, making his image even more rebellious.

But does a perfect image work for athletes?

As long as they can win, a complete jerk like Michael Jordan can become a saint. Roger's little tricks are nothing compared to what Jordan did.

Logically speaking, the team's younger generation's disrespect for the most successful senior in the team's history would cause dissatisfaction among the management.

However, Klaus is absolutely in love with Roger now!

He has been a grandson in front of Jordan for so long, but he has never been so happy!

That old bastard thinks he can still rule the world, huh? No, this is Roger's time!

This league really needs young people like Roger!

The day after the match, Krause grinned in front of the media: "Don't get me wrong, I believe Roger definitely respects Michael. But as a fighter, Roger has the right to justify himself. Michael said he was not good enough, but he defeated the person Michael thought was better. Isn't this desire to win the most rare quality in Michael?"

Finally, Klaus did not forget to play a veiled trick: "A competitive athlete like Michael must love Roger to death. He must be very pleased that the team now has a fighter like him. Angry? Michael is not such a petty person."

When Jordan is angry, he is petty. When he is not angry, he feels uncomfortable.

Seeing Krause's face on TV, Jordan's mood can be described by the words of the movie "Nobody": "I love you Roger, the fried dough twist seller!"

Jordan was already annoyed by being disrespected by a rookie. Now, the person he hated most in the world besides assassins was hitting him in the face.

It has always been me, Michael, who has been the one to attack people in the face, regardless of whether they are men or women.

How dare this fat guy!

However, Jordan cannot scold Krause in front of the media now.

After all, he will have to return to the United Center to attend the jersey retirement ceremony after a while.

Although he hated Klaus and Roger, the jersey retirement ceremony was his moment of glory after all, and he didn't want to embarrass everyone.

Jordan's jersey retirement ceremony has been tentatively scheduled for before the game against the New York Knicks on December 12. At that time, Jordan wants to see with his own eyes whether the 3-year-old kid is still as cool as he was on TV when he sees him!

Before that, Pippen returned for the final game in November.

He held his breath and scored 37 points against the Spurs, plus 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

He was eager to prove that the Bulls were still his team, so he took the power of shooting in the first game after his comeback and temporarily put the organization aside.

Roger didn't perform well today, scoring only 15 points, a new career low.

His ability to fight is not strong enough now, and he consumed too much of his touch facing the iron wall formed by the Admiral and Rodman.

So, Pippen's good statistics ended up being in vain.

But Pippen was in a good mood, at least he beat Roger today.

See who's the boss, huh?

Then the sideline reporter asked him this: "Scott, how do you feel about scoring the second-highest score for the Bulls this season, second only to Roger?"

Pippen:.
You don't need to emphasize the second thing! Regarding Pippen's 37 points, the reporter only mentioned it briefly.

In the subsequent press release, no one cared about Pippen's 37 points, nor did anyone care about Roger's 15 points.

Everyone only cared about one thing - Michael Jordan was going home.

Although Roger was very angry about Jordan's previous contempt for him, he also angrily criticized Jordan after the game.

But Roger didn't want to spoil everyone's fun for such a big event as jersey retirement, so he said something bland: "I'm very happy to witness this glorious moment."

A man needs to be tough, but being tough regardless of the situation will only hurt you.

If you keep complaining about everything, it will only make you look uneducated.

But Michael Jordan misunderstood Roger's words.

"He is still an 18-year-old kid. When I tried to confront him face to face, he got scared." On the smoke-filled gambling table, Jordan, holding a cigar, smiled proudly in front of Feizhu.

He seemed to be showing off to Feizhu: "Look, Charles, even though I've retired, everyone is still afraid of me."

Barkley disagreed: "I think Roger just said something polite, it doesn't mean he's afraid of you. I played against that guy, he's got guts."

"Because it was you, he looked brave. If it was me, he would just cry after the game."

"Fuck you Michael, don't talk like you're always going to win, you can't win on the baseball field. I'm not saying anything bad, I can hit a better baseball than you with a golf club. No, I can hit a higher batting average than you with the club in my pants!"

"Oh, let's not talk about the baseball field. You have to admit that I always win on the basketball court. Just wait and see, Charles, when I return to the United Center, that arrogant kid will only be respectful to me."

So, on December 12, before the game between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks.

Michael Jordan was like an emperor returning to his territory, looking down on all living beings and accepting everyone's worship.

When the No. 23 jersey was raised, Jordan glanced at Krause. Well, even Krause, that idiot, had to applaud himself crazily with tears in his eyes.

Where's Roger? Jordan turned his head and saw, as expected, Roger was standing at attention and clapping respectfully.

Look, he doesn't even dare to fart in front of me!
Michael Jordan likes this feeling. He enjoys the sense of superiority brought by his prestige. He likes the expression that everyone is afraid of him.

But Jordan still felt it was not satisfying enough.

He decided to further enhance this sense of superiority after the game.

Jordan's jersey retirement ceremony was perfect, but the result of the game ruined the night.

In last season's playoffs, the New York Knicks only allowed Jordan to shoot 40% of the time. This season, their defense is as tight as ever.

于是罗杰和皮蓬的得分都没上20，罗杰41%的命中率拿17分，复出后故意增加了出手数的皮蓬35%的命中率拿16分。

Scott Pippen, the perfect second-in-command, always magically performs worse than Roger at such moments, making Roger's performance seem not so bad.

The media criticized Pippen, saying he was no better than a rookie.

But in fact, Roger's game was also difficult. At this stage, his confrontation ability is indeed a bit difficult to withstand such extreme muscle defense. But if a high school student who has only played in the NBA for a month can easily ravage the Knicks' defense, then the Knicks' defense will not be one of the best in history.

The Bulls lost by 9 points, their biggest loss of the season and their first losing streak of the season.

After this loss, the Bulls' record is 9 wins and 5 losses. Considering that Pippen was not there for a while, this record is actually OK.

But Roger still felt a little unwilling that he failed to score 20 points in two consecutive games.

At the end of the game, he still stayed in the United Center to practice his finishing in confrontations and off-ball offense. The Knicks' defense is no joke. If he meets this steel group in the playoffs, Roger doesn't want to post such humiliating data as 8 points in a single game.

Halfway through the practice, Roger suddenly heard a voice: "You disdain to be my successor? You are not qualified to be, rookie. Less than 20 points in two games, I feel sorry for you."

Roger turned his head and saw Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan in his practice jersey.

The king of Chicago wants to relive the days when he always won.

The emperor of Chicago enjoys destroying anyone who tries to be his enemy.

The emperor of Chicago wanted to take his sense of superiority to the next level.

Roger didn't know why Jordan changed his jersey and came to the court, and he didn't know why he suddenly started to scold him.

Is this the great leader Michael Jordan? He is indeed extraordinary. It was only their first meeting, but Roger already started to dislike him.

"Don't feel sorry for me Michael, at least I haven't scored 18 points in a single game in the NCAA tournament like you did when you were 6 years old." Roger responded very kindly.

This was Roger's first close encounter with the Chicago devil.

※※※

Thanks to the rewards from the big guys such as Bendan Cuicui Xiong, Yu Yian, etc., thank you all! The eighth on the new book list, thanks to everyone's love, I can be sandwiched between the great gods, thank you all for your strong support!

(End of this chapter)