Champions Creed

Chapter 89: Silent Roger is the most terrifying existence (two in one!)
"Michael, Struggling on the Brink of Breakdown".

Andrew Sharp's article in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated has put Michael Jordan in the spotlight.

Because this article revealed that Jordan isolated Roger at the All-Star Game, this dark chapter in the brilliant All-Star story was exposed to the world.

Andrew Sharp's source of information is "multiple Eastern Conference All-Star players who do not want to be named." Although Jordan kept silent about this in the interview, Sharp believes: "Since he didn't do it, what is he avoiding?"

The most ridiculous thing about this incident is that Jordan isolated Roger for a long time, but ended up isolating him to become the AMVP and isolated himself to only 9 points in a single game.

"This is just a sign that Michael's dominance is seriously declining," the article ends.

Jordan read the article and his hands were shaking with anger.

It’s reversed, everything is reversed!

It would be fine if it was just some small newspaper or magazine saying this, but this is Sports Illustrated!
This is a world-renowned sports magazine with more than 300 million regular subscribers and more than 2300 million readers every week. It is a magazine that truly has a huge influence in the sports world.

You can also believe that their influence definitely does not come from the unique and extremely seductive swimsuit special.

Revealing Jordan's dirty laundry in this kind of magazine is simply a public execution of Jordan.

"Tell those bastards that I will never accept an interview from them again in my life, never!" Jordan yelled at Falk on the other end of the phone.

When Jordan was playing baseball, Sports Illustrated criticized him more than once, but considering the influence of the magazine, Jordan endured it.

Besides, Jordan knew that his baseball career was a mess, so it was normal for people to talk about it.

But now, Sports Illustrated is going even further!
"Who leaked this? Who was it? We can also dig up some negative information about him, and we can also mobilize our public opinion machine to fight back!" David Falk was also very anxious. Jordan's public image has been in crisis more than once this season.

All these crises and failures have caused his business value to decline at a visible rate.

The decisive summer of 96 is approaching, and Falk doesn't want these things to affect Jordan's century-long contract.

"How the hell should I know who it is? Shouldn't you be the one to tell me?" Jordan was furious.

Jordan actually had the answer in his mind. He felt that if it wasn't Roger himself, then it must be Reggie Miller.

Those two bastards are birds of a feather!
Roger was actually very curious, so he called Miller and asked, "Reggie, did you tell the reporter about that?"

Miller was also surprised: "I thought you said that yourself."

If it's not Roger and Reggie Miller, then it doesn't matter who it is.

There are so many players in the Eastern Conference All-Stars, anyone could have leaked the information. They may have just said it casually, or just thought it was fun. Some things don't have so many complicated reasons.

This is undoubtedly a terrible incident. It is despicable to suppress newcomers by isolating them in the All-Star Game.

This is even more excessive than when the Western Conference All-Stars team double-teamed O'Neal.

Double-teaming O'Neal is at least a normal defensive tactic, but deliberately not passing the ball to teammates is a bit too much.

Soon, almost all TV stations were replaying the 95 All-Star Game.

People also discovered that Jordan, Pippen and Ewing did not pass the ball to Roger and Shark even once during the game.

Jordan's isolationism is gaining ground.

In this regard, David Falk hopes that Jordan will hold a press conference to explain the matter.

But Jordan refused: "No, I just need to continue to win. Victory is the best way to solve all problems."

Jordan knew very well that all these troubles came from the fact that he had not beaten the Magic this season.

Jordan also did not give a specific explanation for the incident in which Isaiah Thomas was not selected as the first player in the Dream Team.

But that doesn’t matter. What people ultimately care about is how many championships he has won.

This time, Jordan still wants to do it.

As the season continues, the Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls are the two teams that are currently attracting the most attention.

During this period, the Magic lost to the Jazz again.

And lost in the second game against the Rockets.

This is a result that Orlando fans do not want to see. It seems that the team is still struggling when facing strong teams in the Western Conference.

But soon, the Magic defeated the Bulls for the fourth time this season, sweeping away all the unhappiness.

This time the Bulls lost miserably, with O'Neal and Roger scoring a combined 67 points, and the Chicagoans were powerless to do anything about it.

Jordan also had a bad touch today, scoring only 36 points with a shooting percentage of 23%.

4-0, the Magic swept the Bulls in the regular season.

But the Bulls also have reason to say that Nick Anderson and Scott Pippen did not play today due to injuries. This is not a complete Bulls team.

Jordan only said one sentence after the game: "See you in the playoffs."

In the playoffs, Jordan placed all his hopes on the playoffs.

He didn't talk about the competition in the regular season because the Bulls are now 6 wins behind the Magic and it is really difficult to catch up.

His regular season is over and he can only enter the playoffs with a second or third place finish in the Eastern Conference.

But Roger's regular season is not over yet, he still has one thing to do.

On April 4, the Magic's fourth-to-last regular season game.

The team traveled to Oakland and will play a game at the Golden State Warriors' home court.

As soon as he arrived at the hotel, Roger told the Shark bluntly: "Shaq, I want to take more shots tomorrow."

"OK, headquarters has approved your request, Agent Roger," O'Neill responded.

He knew what Roger wanted to do. This cruel man would not let go of anyone who dared to be his enemy.

In fact, the bastard didn't even spare women.

Didn’t you see that time in New York, Roger beat up Yasmin the next day?

From the sound, I could tell that the scene must have been very cruel.

While resting in the hotel room, Shark picked up a newspaper and took a look. The local newspaper in Oakland was full of news about Penny Hardaway.

The Golden State Warriors retained the talented guard for 9 million over 7200 years. After completing the signing, Hardaway also promised that he would definitely lead the team into the playoffs.

At this time, O'Neal didn't know how much trouble this signing had caused him in the original history. Now he just watched the fun.

Currently, the Warriors have the same record as the Kings, and are only one win behind the eighth-placed Denver Nuggets. Considering that the Nuggets' opponents in the last four games are relatively strong, the Warriors still have a good chance of overtaking the Nuggets at the last moment.

The premise is that they can beat the Magic today.

Hardaway also said: "The Orlando Magic can't stop us from entering the playoffs."

That's why Roger asked for more shots.

Roger would never let his old friend Penny get his way, and at times like this, he was more than happy to step up and give Penny a kick.

In Roger's opinion, the two most vicious things in the basketball world are maliciously injuring others and blocking others' financial path.

Nothing can be compared to the severity of these two.

If you beat your opponent on the court, you just make him lose the game. In competitive sports, it is normal to have winners and losers.

But maliciously hurting others and blocking their financial resources is destroying their jobs.

Hardaway is not the kind of player who would maliciously hurt others, but he really likes to block other people's financial path.

In the original history, he told the Magic management that the guards' team was now in power and this was his team, so the Magic did not dare to make Penny unhappy.

He had previously told Nike that taking a contract of the same price as Roger would lower his value, so Nike did not dare to make Penny unhappy.

Roger dared.

He loves to upset Penny.

The next day, Roger was surrounded by reporters after entering the Oracle Arena.

Roger and Hardaway's feud is well known to everyone, and he also directly fired back: "Players who have never played in the playoffs are worth 7000 million? That is the worst contract extension in history, bar none."

Hardaway said with a serious face: "I don't want to talk about Roger. I will do my best to bring the team to the playoffs."

"But what if he scores 40 points on you again?"

"Then I will try my best to win!"

Penny will never give up easily today. The scene of him being knocked down by Roger in the All-Star Game is still played from time to time by major TV stations.

He needed a battle to clear his name, and today was it.

At the same time, a middle-aged black man wearing glasses and a suit was preparing to enter the Oracle Arena through the VIP channel.

A sharp-eyed reporter recognized him and immediately stepped forward: "Larry, I'm Sam Amick, a sports reporter for USA Today. Can I ask you a few questions?"

The man's expression was surprised at first, but he soon showed a skillful and kind smile, "Of course, Sam," replied the man named Larry Miller, who is currently the vice president of Nike's basketball department and the future president of the Jordan brand.

"What do you think of the All-Star freezing incident of Roger by Michael Jordan, the spokesperson for the company?"

"We all know Michael's character and his achievements in charity are obvious to all. I believe that it is not something Michael would do and is just hearsay from some low-end magazines."

He called Sports Illustrated a second-rate magazine, which represented Nike's will and counterattack.

"Many people say that the signing of Anfernee Hardaway and Roger was the worst choice in Nike's history. And these two signings were finalized by you personally. Do you regret it now?"

Larry Miller's smile disappeared in an instant, his eyes turned fierce, staring at him and making the sports reporter from USA Today feel uneasy.

Sam Amick felt that this was the vicious look that only a murderer could have.

In fact, Larry Miller did kill someone. He shot and killed someone in a gang fight between black people, but that was when he was 16 years old. Now he is a model of a prodigal son.

However, his beast-like primitive ferocious eyes never faded. He stared at Sam and expressed his unhappiness: "I believe that was the right choice. The interview ends here."

Larry Miller gritted his teeth as he walked into Oracle Arena through the VIP channel.

Regarding the decision to sign Penny instead of Roger, not only is there doubt from the outside world, but Nike is also putting a lot of pressure on him.

He came here today, first of all, to congratulate Penny who just signed a new contract with the Warriors. Secondly, he also wanted to tell the young man to work hard and fight for his reputation!
He hoped he wasn't mistaken!

He hoped Pence wouldn't bring disgrace upon himself!

Don’t let Nike lose its reputation either!

Jordan has already run into problems, and Penny, as Nike's new hope, must not be completely defeated by Roger!

Before the game started, the camera panned to Larry Miller in the stands. According to the convention of American sports broadcasts, after panning to a celebrity, the camera would stay on him for a while, and then his name and occupation would be displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Then the whole America knew that it was this old Deng who gave up Roger and signed Penny.

Larry Miller stared at the court, hoping that Pence was not just talking about leading the team into the playoffs.

O'Neal helped the Magic win the ball, and Sprewell was responsible for defending Roger.

Last season, Roger became the youngest 40-point player in NBA history, surpassing Sprewell.

So today, the madman's defense is very hard. He doesn't want to be someone else's background board, and he also wants to sign a big contract like Penny.

In the first round, the fully focused madman successfully stole the ball from Roger, causing the entire Oracle Arena to cheer.

Then the madman pushed across half court and passed the ball to Penny who was already in the front.

Penny went straight into the penalty area and finally dunked over Harper and scored!

NBC commentator Bob Costa nodded approvingly: "Today's Warriors are very different. They really want to make the playoffs!"

In the second round, Roger missed a mid-range shot due to interference from Sprewell and Hardaway who came to assist in defense.

Hardaway was very excited about his second consecutive successful defense. He was pressed down by Roger and yelled madly: "You can only kneel down and pray that you can sign a contract as big as mine, you yellow bastard."

At the same time, the madman counterattacked and scored a layup, and the Warriors led 4-0.

Larry Miller stood up and applauded, good, Pence is on a good run today.

If he wins the game tonight and a reporter interviews him after the game, he can proudly say: "Luckily, I chose the right person."

Pence pumped his fist and cheered, not realizing that he had gotten into such a big trouble.

Roger didn't like that word, and he didn't like it even more when someone added the prefix "yellow skin" in front of that word.

The victory of this game is not actually important to the Magic, because even if the Magic lose all the last four games, they will still be first in the Eastern Conference.

But it was clear that Roger needed this victory very much now.

He won’t let go of the penny.

In the next round, Roger didn't give the madman any chance.

He took down a madman in a back-to-back shot, then turned around and hit the bank, making it 4-2.

But Penny fought back quickly. This time, Hardaway deliberately played pick-and-roll with his center Clifford Rozier, just to take advantage of the fact that O'Neal didn't like to defend against pick-and-roll.

After the screen, Penny made a mid-range jump shot, and O'Neal just walked out lazily and stretched out his hand.

The basketball went into the net and Warriors fans cheered.

They thought that today this murderous penny would never be slaughtered again!

Penny continued to nod arrogantly at Roger: "See? This is a shot worth 7200 million, asshole!"

6 to 2, the Warriors have the upper hand.

The worst thing was that one round later, Roger's quick stop jump shot after breaking through Sprewell was blocked by Warriors power forward Clifford Rozier, and the Magic once again lost the opportunity to close the score.

"Nice defense. Roger overestimated the Warriors. Penny is not the only Warriors team that wants to make the playoffs today. Everyone will do their best to achieve this goal." NBC commentator Bob Costa felt that the Magic might lose today because the Magic, who have no desires, are not as good as the Warriors in fighting spirit.

O'Neill also came out and patted Roger on the shoulder: "Hey man, let me go first."

"Shaq, give me the ball."

O'Neill shrugged: "Who made me willing to spoil you?"

The Magic team sent the ball from the sideline, and it was still given to Roger.

Roger resolutely broke through Sprewell with the help of the screen, and Clifford Rozier switched defense in time as usual.

Seeing this, Roger pushed the ball out to Horace Grant in the mid-range with one hand. Rozier hurried to Grant's side, knowing how good the Cobra's mid-range shot was this season. At the same time, he was also very glad that he finally forced Roger to pass the ball.

But when Rozier left his defensive position, Roger retracted his outstretched hand. He just made a fake pass!

After breaking through Rozier, Roger took off from the mid-range position, ready to lay up. But the Warriors' defense did not collapse. As the NBC commentator said, Penny is not the only one who wants to make the playoffs this year. Warriors power forward Chris Gatlin attacked from the side and stretched out his hand to block Roger's ball that had not yet been shot.

But his shot missed. Roger held the basketball and pulled his arm back slightly, avoiding the block, and then gently lifted the ball, and the basketball went into the net. Magic fans cheered. The most elegant part of this shot was that Roger did it all with one hand, from the fake pass to the layup after avoiding the block.

With just one hand, he took care of Sprewell, Rozier and Sterling!

4:6.

After scoring the goal, Roger did not celebrate, but ran directly to Penny:

"You know why the Warriors are close to the playoffs this year? Because of Hardaway. Not Anfernee, but Tim Hardaway. You have to be thankful that he played 62 games, otherwise you wouldn't even be close to the playoffs."

O'Neal shook his head. Roger was such a petty guy.

Unlike me, who has such a broad mind and never holds grudges.

David Robinson can attest that the Shark is really big-time. He doesn't beat himself up himself, but instead asks someone to beat him up.

Hardaway continued to play pick-and-roll, but this time his mid-range and long-range shots failed to score. In terms of shooting stability, Penny is far inferior to Roger.

After the shot was missed, Penny soon heard Roger clapping: "You wasted your last chance to take the lead."

"Hehe, you should get ahead of me first."

"Coming soon, Anfernee, coming soon," Roger said as he ran forward.

In this round, O'Neal received the ball in the low post, and Gatlin and Rozier quickly double-teamed the behemoth.

However, their double team attack was no threat to Shark. Shark turned and made a hook shot, but the ball did not fall into the basket, but fell into the hands of Roger who cut in along the baseline. After receiving the basketball, Roger used both hands to abuse the basket. The timing of his off-ball cut was just right. Last season, he defeated the Knicks with his superb off-ball attack.

6 to 6, Roger recklessly displayed his all-round offensive skills and tied the score.

After that, Penny broke through and passed the ball to Sprewell, but the madman's jump shot was interfered by Roger in time and missed the basket.

Anyone who watches basketball knows how much Roger's defense has improved this season. Not only has his on-ball defense improved a lot, but Roger's pursuit defense has also become much tighter.

The Warriors' offense failed again. This is the limitation of a point guard. No matter how good you are at passing the ball, it is your teammates who decide whether the ball goes in or not.

As for Roger, he doesn't need to look at his teammates' faces to score.

On the next attack, Roger and Grant played pick-and-roll.

He shot a three-pointer the moment he got around the screen. Gatlin was a step slower in switching defense. Although he raised his hand to interfere, this interference was insignificant to Roger. The three-pointer was made, 9 to 6, and the Magic took the lead for the first time today.

Roger scored 9 points in a row, leaving the fans in the Oracle Arena a little overwhelmed.

They all thought the tragedy was going to happen again.

But tonight, Penny was not willing to be beaten. After the Warriors attacked, he jumped under the siege of Grant and McKay, scored a beautiful layup through the gap between the two, and caused McKay to foul.

At the free throw line, Hardaway made the extra free throw.

Just when Roger was about to gain momentum, Penny interrupted the momentum with a beautiful 2+1.

9 to 9, the score is tied!
The camera turned to Larry Miller, a senior executive of Nike Basketball, who was smiling broadly.

He felt that tonight, Penny would be able to clear his name.

The madman patted Penny on the shoulder and said, "Nice goal, man. You should go and choke that bastard and let him know whose territory this is!"

Penny thought it made sense. Roger couldn’t be allowed to be so crazy all the time!

So he ran to Roger and said, "It seems like I'm about to take the lead for the second time. Who do you think you are? Don't be like Michael Jordan and say harsh words. You are not him. The only thing you are better than me is that you lost in the finals. That's all. There's nothing to be proud of."

Roger shut up. Even O'Neal was surprised that Roger shut up.

He, who had just been spraying pennies back and forth, suddenly became quiet.

Penny smiled happily. He felt that he was in control of the situation and he felt that he could avenge his previous shame.

He felt he had left Roger speechless.

Roger said nothing more, not a single word.

In this round, when Harper controlled the ball across half court, he only saw Roger raise his hand to request.

But Roger's expression changed. He bared his teeth, and there was a strong sense of hostility between his brows.

This was the first time he saw Roger with this expression.

Harper passed the ball immediately, and even he felt a little uneasy under Roger's stare.

"Does your tooth hurt? Asshole," the madman teased Roger, "Who do you think you can scare? No one is afraid of you here."

Roger still didn't say anything. O'Neal saw it all. This was the most abnormal Roger he had ever seen.

He had a feeling that something was going to happen.

Roger took two tentative steps, pretending to lunge to the left but actually moving to the right.

Sprewell blocked the ball in the right direction, but Roger made a strong push, pushing the madman away a little, and then scored with a jump shot.

"Good shot, Roger!" O'Neal shouted.

But Roger just glanced at O'Neal and returned to defense.

There was no trash talk and not much interaction with O'Neal.

Roger seemed like a different person. Maybe he didn't realize it, but he was definitely a different person.

The game continued, and Hardaway's layup bounced off the rim due to O'Neal's defense.

This missed shot did not cause excessive concern among Warriors fans, because Hardaway's efficiency today was generally high.

No matter how good a player is, he can't score every goal, not even Roger.

But Roger came in again.

Breakthrough, pull the ball between the legs, step back jump shot, and hit the basketball.

The Magic expanded their advantage, and Roger really was like a ruthless agent. He completed the kill, turned around coldly, and left without saying a word.

At this time, even the Magic players were a little scared. They had never seen Roger in this state.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Harper asked.

He got no response.

"Damn it." Harper didn't know why he cursed like that. Maybe he also felt that things were out of control.

One possession later, Pence's pass found Gatlin, but his jump shot missed.

The Magic got another chance to expand the score.

After Horace Grant grabbed the rebound, he made a long pass to Roger. Facing Hardaway and the madman who had already retreated, Roger jumped in one step inside the three-point line and scored a layup from long distance, catching them both off guard.

15:9.

All 15 points of the Magic since the opening were scored by Roger!
The Warriors were forced to suspend the game, and an inexplicable sense of fear spread in Oracle Arena.

During the timeout, teammates walked up to Roger and high-fived him, and Roger did not refuse.

But when O'Neal said "good job" to Roger, Roger just nodded.

He still didn't speak.

He refused to communicate with anyone.

Roger was unnaturally quiet throughout the timeout.

No one from the Magic team bothered to talk to Roger anymore. They tried not to disturb this man who had already entered a certain state.

In fact, this is not the first time Roger has been in this state on the basketball court.

Jordan has seen it.

In Roger's rookie season, Michael Jordan challenged Roger to a one-on-one match.

In a fit of rage, Jordan deliberately elbowed Roger in the face during a defensive move, while smugly yelling "bastard".

Before that, Jordan and Roger had been quarreling with each other. But after that elbow, Roger suddenly became silent.

Soon after, Jordan paid a heavy price for it.

Of course, Penny didn't know about it, Larry Miller didn't know about it, the Magic players didn't know about it, and the fans at Oracle Arena didn't know about it.

They thought that today was the big day for the Warriors to advance to the playoffs.

The game started again, and Roger, who had been silent, was the first to stand up and step onto the court.

O'Neal swore that this was the first time he was scared by a player. If Roger was his opponent tonight, it would definitely be troublesome.

What happened afterwards could not be explained simply by "trouble".

Penny still played in excellent form and he played very well.

But Roger is on another level.

If Penny's scoring was a thrilling dance on the edge of a knife, then Roger's was a performance that followed his heart's desire.

That's right, acting.

The speed at which his scoring increased far exceeded people's expectations.

He hit a long shot from beyond the three-point line and then made a pull-up shot in the restricted area.

He can cut to the basket, catch the ball and shoot, or he can break through and stop to score on his own.

Roger is like the protagonist in the GTA game, choosing his weapons at will and slaughtering everything in front of him.

Everyone knows that the Warriors are the worst defensive team in the league this season, but even so, Roger's scoring momentum is too exaggerated.

The phrase that NBC commentator Bob Costa shouted most in the first half was: "Another goal, God!"

Penny worked very hard. Everyone could see that he really wanted to lead the team to the playoffs.

But everyone could also see that he was completely losing this decisive battle!

On this terrible night, Penny tried hard to catch up, but he watched Roger easily tear the team's defense in half with his offense.

The man scored again and again, and left without saying a word. He was like a killing machine, and he would never stop until he had completely killed his opponent!

Penny was scared.

The Warriors were scared.

They were stunned by the power of Roger's attack.

Their shooting percentages began to fluctuate and they began to feel dejected.

In front of the TV, Kobe Bryant had forgotten the time and was completely immersed in this terrifying scoring performance.

He hated to admit it, but Roger's words kept ringing in his mind: "Boy, even Michael Jordan can't beat me."

Maybe he was telling the truth.

In the last 25 seconds of the second quarter, Penny controlled the last attack of this quarter.

He continued to call Gatlin to come over for a pick-and-roll, which was the safest way for Penny to score tonight, because O'Neal had never respected Penny's pick-and-roll jump shot until this point.

After the pick-and-roll, Penny took a step forward and shot.

But the ball was just lifted up when it was blocked by Roger who came to defend.

Then, Roger picked up the basketball himself and rushed forward frantically.

At this time, the entire Warriors team was chasing Roger, and the five of them almost formed a circle and moved with him.

Larry Miller in the stands clenched his fists and shouted in his mind: "Stop him! Stop him! Damn it!"

Roger was surrounded by Warriors players, but he continued to rush into the penalty area, took the initiative to confront Hardaway who was running in front of him, pushed him away, then jumped, made a fake shot in the air, lifted the ball up and then pulled it back, avoiding the blockade of four people around him, and finally threw the ball steadily into the basket with a soft touch as his body fell.

The whole audience was silent. It was an easy one-on-five situation, but that was not the point. The point was Roger's data at that moment.

At the moment Roger was approaching, O'Neal looked up at the big screen and saw Roger's data.

Then, Shark looked at Harper in confusion: "Man, are you kidding me?"

In the stands, Larry Miller stood up angrily and left his seat: "Sorry, please move aside, please move aside!"

He couldn't bear it any longer. He couldn't stay in this shameful gymnasium any longer.

During this half of the game, Roger seemed to be announcing to the world that Larry Miller, the old and blurry-eyed guy, gave up the shining gold nugget and signed a piece of trash instead.

Neither O'Neal nor Larry Miller's reactions were exaggerated, because at the end of the first half, the score in the data column behind Roger was 40.

"The ball went in! It's crazy, it was almost a one-on-five goal! Roger made 21 of 15 shots in the first half and scored 40 points!
He scored 40 points in just half a game!
He completely ripped the Warriors apart and completely destroyed their hopes of making the playoffs!

The Magic entered the second half with a 28-point lead. The Warriors had no chance and they were deflated!

Anfernee Hardaway was skinned by Roger! "

At the end of the first half, Roger finally spoke.

He walked off the court, looked at coach Brian Hill, and said casually, "It's done."

Brian Hill was stunned. It was the first time he heard a player say this to him after only half a game.

Moreover, he did it in such a calm tone.

just like.
It was as if he had just popped a balloon.

In the second half, Roger did not play again.

The Warriors, who had completely lost their spirit, were unable to launch an effective counterattack.

At the end of the game, the Orlando Magic easily won the game 136-98, completely killing the Warriors and Hardaway's hopes of entering the playoffs.

罗杰半场40分2助攻3篮板，哈达威全场23分7个助攻。

Roger didn't win the penny, he ruined the penny.

Penny set a wrong example to the whole world with his stupid trash talk.

Anything else to say? This was Roger's night. It's hard for me to describe what happened in the first half, I just want to remind everyone that when Roger starts not talking, you should be careful. - Derek McKay on Roger's 40 points in the first half.

The coolest thing about this is that Roger didn't play again after the game was decided. Isn't it more respectable for a player who can score 40 points in the first half and refuse to score more points in garbage time than those who score 71 points? - O'Neal deliberately said in an interview with reporters.

Penny said that even if Roger scored 40 points today, he would try his best to win, but he didn't expect Roger to score 40 points in the first half. We don't need to discuss Penny and Roger anymore. It's meaningless to discuss players of different levels together. -- Ron Harper talks about Roger and Penny.

Larry Miller, the vice president of Nike Basketball, who chose Penny over Roger, left the court angrily at the end of the first half. The reason was simple: he knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life, and few people can face their mistakes. - NBC live commentator Bob Costa.

What is cruel? Cruelty is that the people of Oakland just spent a lot of money to keep what they thought was their future, and Roger immediately announced that they had no future at all, none at all! - NBC sideline reporter Hannah Storm.

After the game, Roger accepted an exclusive interview with Andrew Sharp, a reporter from Sports Illustrated:
"Congratulations, Roger, it's a great victory."

"Thank you."

“What happened in the first half?”

"Nothing, Penny just said something that upset me."

"Can you tell me something?"

"There were some nasty things said about the color of my skin, and I didn't want to say them in front of the camera."

"So you got mad, and you lost your temper. Do you get into this state often?"

"No, there are very few people who can really piss me off. I have a good temper, otherwise I would have been unable to tolerate Shaq's awful rap albums."

"I heard that there was a period in the first half when you barely spoke to your opponent. Why?"

"No particular reason. Can you talk to the dead?" Roger replied with a smile.

After the interview, Roger returned to the locker room. His teammates prepared several buckets of ice water and poured them on Roger's head.

Roger was soaked to the skin, but he was smiling.

He was very happy that he had completed the last thing before the start of the playoffs beautifully.

Preventing Penny from entering the playoffs is just as important as keeping the Magic first in the Eastern Conference.

Roger had dealt Penny the final blow. From now on, no one would ever compare him to himself again.

When talking about himself and Penny, people will always remember that Roger destroyed the 7200 million counterfeit player in the first half.

Now, it's time to get down to the business of the playoffs.

The Magic won the remaining games of the regular season easily without any surprises.

In the end, they tied for first place in the league with the Spurs with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses.

The Magic also became the only team in the Eastern Conference with 60 wins this season.

The two young men, Shark and Roger, experienced for the first time the feeling of looking down on the world.

But they knew very well that this was only halfway up the mountain.

The honor of the mountain top is still waiting for them.

At the end of the regular season, the first round of the playoffs is also announced.

The Magic, ranked first in the Eastern Conference, will face the Boston Celtics, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, in the first round.

Although this Celtics team is the stuff of legendary movie highlights, it does not actually have playoff potential.

Because if placed in the Western Conference, this Celtics team wouldn't even make the top ten.

In the first game of the series, the Magic proved this, beating the Celtics by 40 points.

This made Roger feel even more unbelievable about losing by 58 points in the playoffs.

The Celtics are already weak, but beating them by 40 points in the playoffs is already a rare achievement.

What does it mean to win by 58 points?
In the second game, the movie's essence risked his dignity and scored 24 points and 7 rebounds, but O'Neal dominated the game with a big double-double of 30+17, making the movie feel deeply powerless.

In the subsequent third game, the Celtics completely gave up the game, with O'Neal scoring 20 points and 21 rebounds, and Roger scoring 28 points.

3-0, the Magic advanced easily.

After the first round last year, Roger said in an interview, "I'm three games closer to Pat Riley."

At the time, the 18-year-old Roger only wanted to beat Riley in the playoffs.

A year later, his pursuit was completely different.

Facing Hannah with exquisite makeup, Roger raised three fingers:

"I'm three games closer to the championship!"

(End of this chapter)