Champions Creed

Chapter 81 080: In competitive sports, everything depends on the champion (asking for monthly tickets!)

Roger's Rule proposed by Bill Walton will undoubtedly become a very popular new term in the basketball circle starting tonight.

Just as popular as Roger did it too.

Before this, the only similar term in the basketball world was the Jordan Rule.

But the Jordan Law is not something very positive for Jordan himself.

The Jordan Rules have two meanings: one is the defensive rules formulated by the Bad Boys to deal with Jordan, and the other is the infamous book of negative information. Both of these meanings are harmful to Jordan.

But Roger's method is different. This is a complete compliment to Roger.

The game went on, but Drexler's start was almost a microcosm of the Trail Blazers.

The more embarrassed Roger makes Drexler, the more embarrassed the Magic will make the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers' inside line was easily destroyed by O'Neal, and Drexler only scored 12 points in the whole game under Roger's tight defense.

Roger scored 20 points, but that was because he sat on the bench with O'Neal for the entire fourth quarter, studying the latest model of Hummer H1, and the game was over after three quarters.

"This H1 is more like a car from the civilized world. The previous one was too hardcore, basically a military vehicle. The 94 model has added a lot of comfort features, such as electric windows and such." O'Neal talked incessantly to Roger. Ever since he knew that the stretched Ferrari could not be driven on the road, he completely gave up his dream of a sports car.

Roger now feels speechless when listening to the configurations of these vehicles. Not only do they lack refrigerators, color TVs, or large sofas, but the back seat space is also not enough for people to squat and press their heads.

The practicality is appallingly poor.

At this time, the buzzer sound finally sounded.

122 to 94, the Orlando Magic defeated the Trail Blazers by 28 points at home.

Rod Strickland took 11 shots today but only scored 9 points, while Roger took only one more shot but scored 1 points. Rod proved with his actions that the difference between him and Roger is not just as simple as the number of shots, but their difference is all-round.

Roger was right to ignore him for the entire game. A man like him would justify himself.

Tonight was naturally not a good night for Drexler, as he became the first victim of the new term "Roger's Law".

After the game, Roger teased the glider in front of the camera: "When you are the best player in the game but still lose the game, you may be able to say it is a problem with the team's lineup. But Clyde. Damn, he was not even the fourth best player today. Me, Shaq, Horace and Clifford all performed better than him. When Clifford Robinson scored 32 points and he only scored 12 points, how could he have the nerve to say that I relied on the lineup to beat him? Even if he had to say it, it should be said by Clifford."

Roger's words hurt Drexler a lot. He went from being a member of the Dream Team and the second best shooting guard in the league just one step away from a championship ring to an old guard who was trampled on by newcomers at will.

All this happened in just a few years.

The cruel thing is not that the league starts to promote newcomers, but that the newcomers are really more capable than you.

Drexler is tired and doesn't want to waste any more time with the Trail Blazers.

He no longer owed the City of Rip anything.

PJ Carlesimo, a stubborn guy, obviously didn't realize that his team's top scorer was in a bad mood. After the game, he caught up with Drexler as he walked into the player tunnel and yelled, "Damn it, this is such a humiliating loss. How could you play so inefficiently under Roger's defense? How could you shoot so casually? If you do this again, I'll make you a substitute!"

To be honest, there was a reason why Calesimo was strangled.

If you look at his resume, you will find that he has a bad relationship with the players of whichever team he is on.

It’s nothing to piss off a player and fall out with him. Which coach hasn’t fallen out with a player?

But pissing off one player after another and falling out with them all is not a player problem.

Caresimo knows that he has no power in Portland, so in order to establish his own authority, he often issues threats such as "I'm going to make you a substitute" and "I'm going to exclude you from the roster."

Drexler always accepted it, but today, he didn't want to endure it anymore: "Whatever you want, PJ."

Carlesimo was angry: "What's your attitude? You just played in the finals. People who don't know would think you won the championship! We all have done things for the team and everyone has contributed. Don't give me a condescending attitude!"

Drexler stopped and punched the door to the locker room: "Don't yell at me you idiot, call Bob and tell him I'm out!"

"Ah? What do you mean? What's wrong with you?"

"God, trade me, trade me! I'm tired of Rod, that idiot who thinks he's so great. I'm tired of Bob sitting in his office and watching the roster get older and older without doing anything. I'm also tired of you, PJ! Put away your self-righteous toughness, you will never catch up with Rick (Adelman) in your life!"

Drexler could no longer keep these words in his heart, and he could no longer endure the days of being dominated by the newcomers.

So the press conference that followed was quite lively because Calesimo directly told the conversation between the two.

Trail Blazers general manager Bob Whitchett was shocked.

One dared to tell the head coach to trade me directly after the game, and the other dared to disclose the matter immediately.

Well, well, with you two, this pair of talented people, the Trail Blazers can complete their reconstruction without me.

Drexler's public departure has put him back in the spotlight during this period.

Everyone was discussing which team Drexler would go to, and Drexler's trade became a hot topic throughout December.

Terrible Roger, he beat Clyde to the point of running away. Now, let's guess where Clyde will glide to. Maybe Patrick Ewing needs a more reliable scorer than Starks? - The New York Times

I like the term Roger's Rule. Bill Walton is a commentator who knows how to summarize. As for Clyde, he should be thankful that I helped him escape from hell. I hope he can find a good team, and I hope he doesn't meet us after the transfer. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if he still can't beat us after changing teams, and it would make his lineup advantage theory even more untenable. - Roger commented on Drexler's request for a trade after the game.

Let that idiot run away if he wants to, my team doesn't need a coward like him! -- PJ Carlesimo angrily answered reporters' questions.

I won't say anything to keep him. If Clyde leaves, it will definitely be good for my development. I am such a real person. Roger? I have no opinion on Roger. Before the game, I said that the difference between me and him is only the difference in the number of shots, which means that the team does not need to squeeze my shooting rights, but in fact, I only admire Roger, really. As I said, I am a very real person. - Rod Strickland on Roger and Drexler.

Throughout December, Drexler was linked to nearly half of the league's teams.

While everyone was concerned about Drexler's future, the Magic's record was improving. As Roger said, as long as there is no problem in the locker room, everything else is a minor problem. After defeating the Trail Blazers, the Magic won consecutive games. The most important thing is that Roger and the Shark defeated the Bulls for the second time this season in the Christmas game!

For the second consecutive year, the Magic and the Bulls met on Christmas Day.

Only last year, Roger was still wearing the red No. 14 jersey and leading the Bulls to expose the Magic.

This year, he wore a Magic jersey and buried the Bulls instead.

In this game, Roger and Jordan did not stage another scoring battle.

After losing to the Magic last time, the Zen Master talked with Jordan for a long time, and it was nothing more than the same old stuff: "We need our teammates to integrate into the team" and "You have to trust your teammates more."

Jordan had mixed feelings about the triangle offense. He knew it helped him win three championships, but it made him feel like he was dancing with shackles on his feet.

However, given that the Zen Master was his most trusted coach, he did it anyway.

This move worked, and everyone on the Bulls performed well today.

Jordan scored 29 points, Pippen 21 points, Webber 16 points, and Kukoc 12 points. The entire Bulls team was integrated into the offense, and everyone played with energy.

But the Magic still won 103-97.

There are two reasons. First, the Bulls' rebounds were snatched away by the Magic.

O'Neal only scored 19 points today, but he grabbed 22 rebounds, including 14 offensive rebounds, which is rare to see more offensive rebounds than backcourt rebounds.

Horace Grant had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Whenever he faced the Bulls, he seemed to be injected with chicken blood.

Trivia: In the original history, Grant averaged 95+18+11% shooting in the 64 series against the Bulls, his best performance in his career. Some people like giant lizards, but Grant only loves the Bulls, and he gets tough when he meets them.

The second point for the victory was Roger, who scored 33 points today and provided strong firepower output for the Magic.

Once again, his personal score exceeded Jordan's and led the team to victory.

The last time they lost, Jordan said Roger just won one game and he would be back soon.

This comforted those hurt Chicago fans.

But today, when the Bulls lost to the Magic again, Chicago fans were desperate.

If this were a series, the Bulls would have one foot off the cliff.

The last Christmas battle was won because of Roger. This Christmas battle was lost because Roger was on the opposite side.

It was the Bulls themselves who delivered the key to victory to Orlando!

"Someone should be held accountable for this damn thing! Whoever advocated trading Roger should go to hell!" An angry Chicago fan ranted to reporters outside the United Center after the game, his emotions so intense that it seemed like the Chicago version of "Geneva, give me your money back."

The pressure was mounting on Michael Jordan, his return, his decision to edge out Roger, all of it, seemed like a complete mistake.

And these two games were just the beginning of the consequences of these wrong decisions.

Jordan couldn't say anything like "they just won a game" this time. In fact, he didn't attend the press conference at all.

The reason is groin discomfort. Smart Groin, a good helper every goat needs.

After the game, Phil Jackson defended Jordan: "Can you bastards stop asking all kinds of boring questions? Michael is a human being after all, and as long as he is a human being, he will definitely experience failure! We lost 91 games in the regular season in 21, 92 games in 15, and 93 games in 25. But did these affect our championship? No! Today, this is just a damn regular season loss!"

But Phil Jackson's defense was caught by the New York Times.

The next day, the headline of the New York Times was: "Yes, He's Only Human! Michael Jordan Is Falling from His Piece!"

The fall from the altar is all-round.

After the Bulls lost the Christmas game, the results of the first round of All-Star voting were officially announced.

The person who ranked first in the total number of votes in the first round was Grant Hill, followed by Roger, and then Jordan!
This is the first time since 1986 that Michael Jordan has not been the All-Star voting leader at that time.

Although this is only the first round of voting, Jordan has won the most votes in every round of voting in the past nine years except for his retirement season.

The Christmas game loss, the All-Star voting deficit, whether Jordan admits it or not, his rule has become increasingly loose. The more Roger uses him, the looser he becomes.

Now, he must defend his only bridgehead - the championship.

The best outcome this season is that the Bulls win the championship, and the worst outcome is that neither the Bulls nor the Magic win the championship.

And if the Magic win the championship this season, Jordan's reign will be completely ended.

After the December games, the Magic entered 12 with a record of 23 wins and 6 losses. There was still half a year before the start of the finals.

In half a year, people will know whether Jordan will be crushed by the wheels of history or go further.

For the Magic, they have had a very perfect two months and have had a perfect start to the season.

But troubles also began to follow. If the Magic wanted to continue this perfection, they would have to pay a high enough price.

Magic general manager Pat Williams met with Roger and his agent Fleischer on New Year's Day.

They want to renew Roger's contract in advance.

As it stands, Roger has no reason not to opt out of his contract when the salary cap increases in 95.

He retained the player option to seize this opportunity.

In this era, renewing the contract with a star player is a very troublesome matter, because there is no concept of maximum salary, so it is impossible to know how much to offer. In the case of Roger having early bird rights (when a player is traded, the bird rights will also be traded), there is no upper limit on Roger's salary next season. How much to offer is entirely up to the boss.

Next season, the salary cap will increase again.

So, Pat Williams never knew at what price to renew Roger's contract.

The hardest part is that the Magic need to consider more than just Roger, because the shark's contract will also expire in 96.

However, the instruction from team owner DeVos to Pat Williams was: "Keep Roger as the highest priority."

The league is indeed in the era of outside players. Although Michael Jordan dropped to third place in the All-Star voting, he is still above inside giants such as O'Neal, Olajuwon, Ewing and David Robinson.

The top three players in the All-Star voting are all perimeter players, and the top three players in jersey sales are all perimeter players.

Even though Olajuwon won the championship last season, it still couldn't stop the popularity of outside players from soaring.

So even though Roger is a latecomer, DeVos would rather keep Roger.

Of course, the Magic's goal is to keep both Roger and Shark, but if they have to choose one, they prefer the outside line.

Pat Williams offered Roger a 9-year, $8000 million contract, which means Roger's average annual salary is about $888 million.

Considering that David Robinson, the highest-paid player this season, has an annual salary of 730 million, this is undoubtedly a very sincere offer.

But Fleischer decisively refused: "Roger and I expect to get a contract of at least eight figures a year. You and I both know that starting from next season, annual salary of tens of millions will become the norm."

"But we have to keep Shaq." Pat Williams spread his hands.

"Shaq's contract doesn't expire until 96, and he also has bird rights, so we don't affect his contract renewal at all," Fleischer replied with a smile.

Theoretically, Roger and the Sharks do have the conditions to sign big contracts at the same time.

However, this will have two effects. The first effect is that after the salary space is locked, it will be difficult for the Magic to make the same kind of thorough reinforcement as last summer for many years to come.

The second impact is that the wallet of team owner DeVos will be severely damaged.

What the Magic wants to avoid now is actually the second impact.

DeVos is not a boss like Paul Allen, or future Mark Cuban and Steve Ballmer who will do anything to win the championship. He certainly wants to win the championship, but he also has to balance income and expenditure.

There was no luxury tax in this era, but because there was no cap on player salaries, the cost of keeping two super-high-paid players was still very high.

Pat Williams' expectation is to keep Roger and the Sharks' asking price as low as possible so that the owner will not feel pressured even if he takes the contract.

But at present, this plan is difficult to implement. Roger wants an eight-figure contract, what about the shark?
"So, does this eight-figure contract have a specific amount?" asked Pat Williams.

If it is 1000 million, that is not unacceptable.

If it's 1200 million, he'll have to think about it.

If it's 1500 million, that's a fantasy - the NBA salary cap this season is only 1500 million.

But Fleischer did not give a specific amount: "It depends on what other teams will offer in the free agent market next year."

"Hey, we made that deal because you promised to renew your contract with the team!" Pat Williams frowned.

"Of course, of course," Fleischer pressed his hands down, signaling Pat Williams to calm down. "What we mean is, let's see how other teams renew their star players under the new salary cap, such as Patrick Ewing of the Knicks. Then, we can set our own standards."

Fleischer knew that Ewing and his agent Falk would not miss this opportunity, and they would definitely work together to come up with a shocking big contract in this summer when the salary cap is skyrocketing.

So what Fleischer meant was that Roger's contract should at least not be lower than Ewing's. The Knicks' offer to Ewing was Roger's standard.

Pat Williams felt that he was being coerced again. This was forcing the Magic to offer the highest market price.

There is nothing wrong with what Fleischer did. Although Roger had a great time with the Magic, you wouldn't be stupid enough to talk about feelings with capital, right?

Wade also wanted to have a relationship with the Heat, but how did Pat Riley treat him? How did his brothers treat him?
Under Fleischer's request, it is impossible for Pat Williams to renew Roger's contract in advance.

As for whether the Magic will agree to this contract in the end, it all depends on whether Roger and O'Neal can win the championship this year.

If Roger fails to win the championship, the Magic will have a reason to lower the price.

If Roger wins, the negotiations will go extremely smoothly.

Jordan's dominance, Roger's contract... all of it depends on the championship.

Competitive sports only depend on the champion.

At the end of the negotiations, although no direct agreement was reached, both sides at least had a preliminary understanding of each other's ideas, which was considered some progress.

As they stood up to leave, Fleischer and Pat Williams made a joke, but also a warning: "Don't break Roger's Law."

Don't displease the truth.

After leaving the office, Pat Williams rubbed his temples.

In 95 it was Roger, and in 96 it was the Sharks. The Magic finally had this kind of happy trouble, the trouble that a championship-contending team should have.

Well, the Bulls don't have that worry because their other core is simply too good and too cheap.

The key to whether the Magic will keep this combination at all costs lies in whether they can really win the championship.

So far, the Magic have dealt with Drexler, Olajuwon, and even Jordan himself, twice.

But there are still many people who are capable of taking the crown, and Shark and Roger still have a lot to do.
-
Roger decided to use his player option and did not renew his contract with the team in advance because his asking price exceeded the Magic's expectations. It seems that the two sides will have to start a serious negotiation in the offseason. 97% of fans believe that the team should keep Roger at all costs, even if Rich DeVos trades the entire Amway Group. After all, the tragedy in Chicago is right in front of us. - Orlando Sentinel.

Hey, Roger is a known great player, he deserves more money. The DeVos family is backed by Amway, every household in America buys their products, they have no shortage of money to make every player a satisfactory income. So, don't joke with Shaq, get Roger a contract, and then we'll kick everyone's ass. - Shaquille O'Neal on Roger not renewing his contract early

Who is Shaq? Why should I lose sleep over him? Shaq said that those who talk about him are jealous of him, but what should I be jealous of? Jealous that he was second in scoring last season and I was the scoring leader? - David Robinson talks about the upcoming matchup with O'Neal.

The deal is done! The Houston Rockets sent the signing rights of Otis Thorpe, Marcelo Nicola and the 95 first-round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray! Cheers, we are striding towards defending the title! The era of Hakeem has officially arrived! - Houston Chronicle.

Next time, I will never lose to Roger again. If we meet in the finals? Unfortunately, Roger will encounter the same thing as last year. I am a native of Houston, and I have wanted to fight for Houston since the day I played basketball. Now, I am ready to give everything for this city. - Drexler talked about whether he could win Roger after joining the Rockets.

(End of this chapter)