Champions Creed

Chapter 82 081: This time, I asked for help! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)

The transition of power in the NBA world is inevitable.

This alternation process does not necessarily lead to bloody conflict, just as after Bill Russell retired from the battlefield in 69, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others naturally took over the crown he left behind without any direct and fierce fighting between them.

But this process also has the potential to turn the basketball court into a bloody battlefield, with the potential for close combat, just as Jordan did to the Pistons and Lakers.

He snatched the crown in a victory of blood and sweat. He didn't put it on himself, but snatched it from someone else.

It is foreseeable that this transition of royal power will inevitably be filled with bloody struggles.

Because Michael Jordan was in his prime, but the people under him couldn't wait any longer.

Among them, the youngest is only 19 years old.

Roger and Shaq are now considered the combination with the greatest chance of dethroning Jordan, but having the best chance does not mean they will definitely have the last laugh.

Michael Jordan wasn't the only enemy Shaq and Roger faced in their quest for the throne.

On the banks of the San Antonio River, the silver and black army led by the admiral was also eyeing the royal power.

The Magic's first nationally televised game in 1995 will be on January 1th, against the San Antonio Spurs, currently No. 10 in the Western Conference.

The last time the Magic faced the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, it was still the Utah Jazz, and the Magic lost.

Facing the No. 1 team in the Western Conference this time, Orlando fans naturally hope that the team can avenge their previous defeat.

After all, no matter how many times you abuse Jordan, the team still has to reach the finals to win the championship.

The Magic will definitely face a Western Conference team in the finals.

The Rockets, Spurs, Jazz and Suns are the four Western Conference teams most likely to reach the finals. Currently, the Magic have only beaten the Rockets in this list.

Now, the Rockets have added Drexler. Although the glider alone is not enough to fill the gap between Roger and the Shark, it is another matter when he joins forces with Dream.

It's like Pau Gasol never won a single series with the Grizzlies, but won two championships after partnering with Kobe.

As a result, the Magic's only win against a Western Conference powerhouse now becomes unconvincing.

Therefore, people are still unsure whether Roger and Shark are qualified to take over the throne.

They still need to beat more opponents, more opponents from the West.

The San Antonio Spurs and David Robinson became the touchstone. The Spurs' record came from behind to surpass that of the Jazz, and David Robinson was far ahead in the MVP rankings.

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated features the Admiral on its cover with the title: Will the perfect player be the ultimate champion?
This is why this battle is so highly anticipated. If the Magic can't deal with the Spurs, then there's no point in talking about winning the championship.

However, what was surprising was that before this focused confrontation, the first person to open fire was the admiral who had always been known for his good-natured image.

The admiral certainly wouldn't suddenly change his temperament overnight. No matter how powerful Dennis Rodman is, he wouldn't brainwash the admiral and make him as outspoken as himself.

The reason why David Robinson took the initiative to attack was because the grudge between him and the shark had already formed.

It all started with the 93 All-Star Game. As usual, the players would not play defense for most of the All-Star Game. This game is ultimately about performance.

But it was different in 93. When O'Neal, as a rookie, received the ball on the court, he was actually attacked by two or even three people.

It was agreed to be just a performance, but the Western Conference All-Stars team ended up playing for real and staged an NBA All-Star version of "Lust, Caution".

Of course, it is normal to play seriously in the All-Star Game. But the key is that the Western Conference All-Stars only defended O'Neal seriously.

It was obvious that he was being targeted.

In the end, O'Neal made a shameful 93 of 12 shots and scored only 2 points in the 8 All-Star Game.

In the All-Star Game, you rarely see a center hit such a percentage.

If you are a player like Yao Ming who is not good at performing, then at most you just take fewer shots. But taking 12 shots and only hitting 2 is definitely abnormal.

The young and energetic O'Neal was naturally very unhappy after the game: "Did you see that? They actually triple-teamed me in the All-Star Game. Some people said it was spontaneous by the players, and some people said it was arranged by the coach. But no matter what, I will seek revenge on them, one by one."

David Robinson was the only Western Conference All-Star to respond to O'Neal: "No one mentioned double-teaming Shaq before the game. No one even said the word double-team. But if you always say you are better than others in everything, you can't blame others for targeting you intentionally or unintentionally. If you ask me, are we a little serious? Yes! He said he would beat us on the court, but you have to understand that no one will let you do it easily."

David Robinson essentially admitted that they deliberately embarrassed O'Neal at the All-Star Game.

After all, the Sharks have threatened the status of this group of older generation centers since the first day they entered the league.

At this point, the feud between O'Neal and David Robinson began.

This feud reached its climax in the competition for the scoring title last season.

Last season, when Roger and Pippen were battling each other in the locker room and Jordan was fidgeting outside the basketball court, the competition for the scoring title between the two giants, O'Neal and David Robinson, was extremely fierce.

Before the final game of the regular season, O'Neal had accumulated 2345 points, 33 points ahead of Robinson, who was second on the scoring list.

It looks like the Shark is about to win the scoring title in his second season in the NBA.

But Robinson did something that may be the biggest black spot in his career. In the last game of the regular season against the Clippers, the entire Spurs team passed the ball to the Admiral and even let him stay on the court in garbage time to continue scoring.

John Lucas, the Spurs coach at the time, even ordered his players during a timeout: "Foul the Clippers as soon as possible, let them shoot free throws, save time, and then let David score singles!"

Most players know how to act when they want to score points, at least when the score difference is around 10 points and there are more than 20 seconds left in the game, they will score one or two points under the pretext of wanting to win.

But David Robinson and the entire Spurs team simply stopped acting and just played it safe.

In the end, the Admiral scored a career-high 71 points in a single game, the first 1978+ in a single game since David Skywalker Sampson in 70. To be honest, the Admiral's touch in the game was indeed amazing and his ability was indeed strong. Although he was double-teamed or triple-teamed from time to time in the game, he was still able to score. It is undeniable that not every loser can score 71 points.

But it is also a fact that he still played in garbage time when the team was leading by several tens of points.

With this battle, the Admiral surpassed O'Neal on the scoring list and became the scoring champion.

Thus, the feud escalated.

O'Neal was naturally sarcastic: "This 71 points is good, but for me, the team's 50 wins are more important than the scoring title. What's more, it's an undecided scoring title."

Magic coach Brian Hill also supported the Shark: "Of course we want O'Neal to win the scoring title, but we won't do something as ridiculous as the Spurs did. Scoring in garbage time is not what a great player should do. It is an insult to the game of basketball."

Therefore, the always elegant David Robinson would take the initiative to attack O'Neal when they were about to meet this time.

People are multifaceted. Maybe the admiral has a good temper, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a temper about everything.

O'Neal immediately responded to David Robinson's remarks: "I have nothing to say to those players who are just trying to increase their stats. He and his friends who are deceiving themselves and dyeing their hair in all kinds of colors should just play the game of 'finding a way to get David to score 70 points in every game.'"

O'Neal's response was not unexpected. How much did he hate the Admiral at this stage? He even made up a story in his first autobiography about how he asked David Robinson for an autograph in high school, but David Robinson drove him away.

But it is well known that Robinson would never do such a thing with his personality. After O'Neal retired, he admitted: "I'm sorry, Mr. Robinson, I made up those stories."

The fact that O'Neal could even make up stories to discredit him in his autobiography shows how bad their relationship was.

However, O'Neal's attack was so wide-ranging that he criticized the entire Spurs team, especially the guy who dyed his hair in various colors.

So Dennis Rodman, the Spurs ambassador, one of the NBA's top 2000 philanthropists, and the winner of Madonna's $ million pregnancy prize, applied to join the team fight:
"Shaq is a moron. What championship is he talking about? The fact is that in the past two seasons, in four games, he has never beaten the Spurs. And in no game, yes, no game did he score more than David. That's it, he wants to fight for the scoring title with his big ass? We can handle him like a sandbag. With this level, he talks to me about the championship? I have two championship rings, and I will get the third one this summer, but you, an idiot, will never get one in your life.

He's just a little bigger, that's all he has.

Come on, bring your high school friend to San Antonio, Uncle Danny will teach you a lesson.

Roger's Law? Bullshit, I don't believe in that."

How to make someone feel bad? Just tell the truth.

Rodman was telling the truth. O'Neal had never beaten the Admirals in his career, not even once.

O'Neal was so angry that he lost his appetite and only tasted five servings of airplane meals today.

So on the plane, he rolled on the ground holding Roger's trouser legs and said, "You have to let them know what the truth is!"

Roger was convinced. Why did he feel like his son was being bullied and was asking his father for help in revenge?
However, with so many sons, Roger doesn't feel like an old father.

But remembering what Shaq had said for him before regarding the contract extension, Roger looked at him with a little more fatherly love: "Don't worry Shaq, this small town in Texas can't hold us. Now, let's focus on the game in front of us."

The Magic still have three games to go before January 1th.

Roger seemed to be showing his value to Pat Williams, and also seemed to be warning Rodman and the Admiral who spoke rudely. After entering 1995, he started his sprint mode, and his performance in three consecutive games was quite explosive.

1月4日对阵篮网，奥尼尔全场25分，但最备受瞩目的是16中11，全场33分4个篮板1助攻的罗杰。

On January 1, facing the Timberwolves, O'Neal committed a lot of fouls because of a conflict with Christian Laettner. He fouled out with six fouls and only got 6 points and 18 rebounds.

But Roger scored 24 points with 13 of 34 shots and continued to lead the team to victory.

1月8号面对活塞，面对人气超高的新贵格兰特.希尔，罗杰19中13，以68%的夸张命中率拿下了37分！
Grant Hill still scored 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, but was overshadowed by Roger's terrifyingly efficient 37 points.

To paraphrase the NBC commentator: "Two points from a great assist is still two points. Since Roger can score two points directly and efficiently, why should we discuss his assists?"

Grant Hill shrugged after the game: "He is not Jordan's successor at all. He is the heir to the throne."

The Pistons fans all shook their heads. From Hardaway last year to Hill this year, no Jordan successor could escape unscathed from Roger's hands.

In fact, even Jordan himself was abused by Roger twice this season.

In the three games since 1995, Roger averaged 34.6 points per game and his shooting percentage was over 50%.

Roger has been in great form recently, which makes the Sharks very happy. When he faced the reporters after the game, he shook his finger at the camera:
"Who is the real scorer? David Robinson? He's just a fake. Shaquille? I'm really not good enough. Michael? He's just a loser. So I reject these answers, I choose Roger! San Antonio, you will see how the real scorer plays soon!"

O'Neal had a sense of arrogance, as if he had been bullied at school and finally found a good brother to vent his anger for him.

This time, I’ve called for help, and none of you can run away!

It wasn't just the Sharks who were confident in Roger. On the next day's SportsCenter show, John Anderson raised three fingers when talking about Roger:

“I just want to tell you three things about Roger.

First, he would become one of the first NBA players to earn over 1995 million dollars in the summer of . Unless Pat Williams had a brain stuck in a door, this would definitely happen.

Second, Clyde Drexler may not be able to fulfill his promise. Hakeem is great, and so is Clyde. But Roger and Shaq are another concept.

Third, the Admiral may really have sleepless nights tonight, but not because of Shaq, but because of Roger who is in great form. I know the Admiral is number one in the MVP rankings, but no one can ignore a Roger who is on fire. Shaq brought a tough guy to help him deal with the trouble this time. He is a better scorer than the scoring champion, and he is also a worse bad boy than Dennis. The Admiral's domination over Shaquille O'Neal may soon come to an end."

Although the enemies are strong, Roger's performance since 1995 has made people willing to believe that the 19-year-old champion can handle any trouble.

He defeated Jordan twice, he made Drexler surrender, he made Olajuwon afraid of three-pointers, his scoring ability was so terrifying. He was already among the best in this bloody battle for the throne.

Next, it's just a matter of letting another opponent continue to bleed.

(End of this chapter)