Champions Creed

Chapter 49: Rebellious Popular Player

"Good morning Chicago, I'm sure you've heard the sad story. Losing to the Knicks? No no no, I'm talking about Michael Jordan, our hero, who had his orbital bone broken by Roger on the night of his jersey retirement ceremony!
What happened was that after the Bulls' game against the Knicks that night, Michael found Roger, who was practicing extra, and had a friendly one-on-one match with him.

But according to those present, as the game progressed, the two competitive gentlemen began to make more and more aggressive moves.

Finally, during a defensive move, Michael elbowed Roger in the face. Roger accidentally elbowed Michael in the left eye during the next defensive move.

According to Michael's trainer Tim Grover, Michael's left orbital bone was broken into three pieces, but fortunately it did not pierce the eyeball. Now, Michael has gone to UCLA Medical Center, where doctors from the Institute of Ophthalmology and orthopedic specialists will perform surgery on him. They plan to implant titanium alloy into Michael to replace the broken orbital bone.

The director of UCLA Medical Center said that if the operation is successful, Michael's sports career will not be affected.

Thanks to developed modern medicine and the beauty of technology.

The good news is that Michael is still willing to play basketball. Does this mean that we can see the day when he returns? "

On the car radio, the host was describing last night's scene vividly, as if he was there.

Roger, who was sitting in the passenger seat, snorted after hearing this, without any apology: "Oh, the radio didn't mention him calling me a bastard. You know what, Joe? I have discovered that the American media is the most fucking truthful in the world!"

Abunassar, who was driving for Roger, smiled bitterly: "He is Michael Jordan after all. Although he has retired, his influence is still terrifyingly great."

Abunassar also felt that the report was too biased towards Jordan. From what he heard, it seemed that the young and energetic Roger injured Jordan who just wanted to play basketball.

But what was the reality? It was Jordan who first came to pick a fight. It was Jordan who first used a swear word in the trash talk.

These perfectly missing details conceal Jordan's original face and make him look quite innocent.

"But," Abunassar patted Roger on the shoulder, "you may be the first Bulls player who has not been successfully bullied by him. Believe me, he won't bother you again."

Arriving at the Beto Center training base, Roger was surrounded by his teammates as soon as he entered the locker room.

"Shit, is that true, Roger? You blew that guy's eye out?"

"I heard that you were ahead of Michael when the one-on-one match was interrupted? God, I really want to see you two go one-on-one!"

"Weren't you nervous at all? He was the tyrant Michael!"

The old team members couldn't believe that Roger actually attacked Jordan.

First it was Pippen, then Jordan. Even the New York Knicks couldn't handle the combination, but Roger managed it alone!
Pippen did not participate in the discussion, but just watched silently from the side.

Based on his understanding of Jordan, he couldn't imagine how high Jordan's blood pressure was now.

This may be the first rookie in history that even Jordan cannot tame.

Jordan was really angry at this time. He almost blinded an eye because of that kid!
What’s even more infuriating is that he has to pretend nothing happened in front of the media.

As a high-profile sports star, Jordan forced himself to be polite and elegant in front of the media, and to say the smartest remarks for the media to publish.

What's more, he was not in the right in this matter.

He broke into Roger's training without permission, he was the first to use bad words, and he even threw the elbow first.

If the media really digs into what happened last night, it will do Jordan no good. He has not forgotten how badly the "Jordan Rules" and the Atlantic City gambling incident dealt a heavy blow to his public image.

He didn't want to endure such a blow again.

Therefore, he did not lose his temper in front of the media, but just wanted the heat of this matter to pass quickly.

So when he was interviewed, Jordan could only hold his breath and smile at the camera: "I just want to learn from young people. This is how basketball works. It's normal to have some accidents. Roger is great, a good guy. His fighting spirit is just like me. I will continue to pay attention to him."

Finally, Jordan added: "As long as he apologizes to me, I won't be angry about it. Why would I bother with a kid?"

After the interview, Jordan asked Grover to close the door of the ward with a gloomy face.

In the original history, Michael Jordan was injured by newcomers before. His broken ribs were so famous that they were mentioned once in every novel related to basketball.

But Jordan did not have much resentment towards Artest, because their confrontation was not aggressive, and Michael Jordan believed that Artest just injured himself accidentally.

But Roger is different. Jordan thinks Roger's attack was deliberate.

So, he hated this name even more now.

This was the first time he was defeated by a rookie. When he thought about what happened last night, he got so angry that veins bulged.

Thinking of this, Jordan couldn't help but clench his fists and began to talk to himself: "Damn, if I were still on the basketball court, if I were still on the basketball court!"

Soon, Jordan relaxed and realized that he was no longer on the basketball court.

After relaxing, Jordan looked at Grover, the man he trusted most in his team, and said, "Tim, can that guy replace me in Chicago?"

"There is no possibility, Michael. The kid may be a good scorer, but basketball is not just about scoring. You can see that the Bulls didn't win a single game against the Spurs, Rockets and Knicks this season. Don't think about it, just prepare for the surgery."

"That's right, that's right. There is no possibility for him to replace me. Why can he replace me? If I am still on the basketball court, people will find out that he is shit."

Grover seemed to catch something: "What are you thinking, Michael? Do you want to return to the basketball court?"

"Return to basketball? No, I don't have that idea right now."

Jordan didn't want to talk about the subject, and Grover didn't ask any further questions.

But the person who knew Jordan best could guarantee that the gleam that just flashed in his brown eyes was unusual.

Is this really the end of Michael Jordan's basketball career?
Who knows?

As for Roger, he was surrounded by reporters during the media open period after the training.

The reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times squeezed in front of Roger: "Truth, Michael said that if you apologize, he will forgive you for what happened. Have you called Michael? Or are you going to apologize to him publicly at a press conference?"

Roger showed a surprised expression: "Apologize? Why should I apologize? Michael was the one who came to pick a fight. If I had to say something to him, I would tell him: Michael, if you wrestle with a bull, you will taste the horns."

Pippen shook his head. This kid would never submit to anyone, even if that person was Michael Jordan. His knees were too stiff and he couldn't bend them at all.

This sentence undoubtedly made it impossible to repair the relationship between Roger and Jordan.

Because Roger broke Jordan's orbital bone, Roger's public image gradually deviated from what Stern had expected.

Naughty and rebellious, these labels left an increasingly heavy mark on Roger.

He is like Allen Iverson in 1996, and all the media deliberately portray him in this way. On the covers of countless magazines and newspapers, you will see Roger staring at you with a defiant look, because these photos are deliberately selected by the media to strengthen Roger's image.

But this image did not make Roger the object of fans' scorn. Many young fans even thought that players like Roger were cool.

More attractive than those good guys who follow the rules.

Clues can be seen from the All-Star voting. At the end of the first round of voting, Roger's votes were second only to Kenny Anderson, the 91st pick, among Eastern Conference guards.

Of course, there are few star guards left in the East after Jordan retired. But Penny couldn't even make it into the top ten in the West, and his votes were far behind Roger's.

This was the first time that the world discovered that a nice guy was not necessarily more popular than a rebellious genius.

John Anderson of SportsCenter tried to explain this situation: "Roger has a perfect appearance, which makes his bad appearance more attractive. In addition, he almost only disrespects his opponents on the court, but never causes any trouble outside the court. He has never driven over the speed limit, nor carried a gun or a gun. We even often see him in some charity activities. Of course, the most important point is that Roger has been winning. He and the Bulls are on a roll!"

Yes, this may be the most important reason, Roger always wins.

After losing two straight games to the Spurs and Knicks, the Bulls rebounded strongly, winning eight of the next 10 games.

Although Pippen, who was eager to regain his position after his comeback, increased his number of shots in these 10 games, Roger scored less than 20 points in three of them.

But his performance was still outstanding, and because of the game against Penny, people no longer questioned Roger's passing.

For example, in the game against the Cavaliers, Roger scored 22 points and 0 assists.

The NBC commentator was used to this: "Typical Roger stats, typical Bulls victory. Scott Pippen was the filler, Roger was the terminator. What else can I say? This kid is like a ruthless agent, he can kill one target after another even with 0 assists. Truth is a good nickname, but what do you think of Agent 0? Jie Luo is pronounced very similar to Zero."

Watching Roger's popularity and constant victories, Jordan asked himself every day: "Can he replace me?"

It is not known whether Jordan will be replaced, but Webber feels that his position as the No. 1 pick is about to be replaced.

In the "93 Draft Re-ranking" column a few days ago, ESPN Magazine listed Roger as the No. pick. Webber was not even the No. pick, the No. pick was Penny.

But what made Weber even more upset was that his teammate, that damn ugly shark with the worst singing voice, also disliked him and praised Roger all day long.

Fortunately, Christmas is coming.

There's no better Christmas present than getting Roger himself.

Thanks to Fish Also Knows Fish, Stealing Ants, Boil a Kettle of Water for Tea, Between Water and Clouds, Watching the Legend of Joy and other big guys for their rewards. Thank you everyone!

(End of this chapter)