NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 103 Winning can cover everything

Jordan was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.

After returning, Grant and Meng Jinle went crazy. Talking about Jordan's expression at that moment, Grant said that this was definitely the most successful prank he had ever played.

After retiring, Grant took the initiative to talk about this incident in a radio interview.

The radio host looked horrified: "You were a rookie at the time, and the coach's tactic was to give the last shot to Jordan, but you didn't pass the ball?"

Grant nodded. "Yes, that was pretty much the case."

The radio host said, "Everyone knows Michael's temper. He was an All-Star at the time, and you were just a rookie. Aren't you afraid?"

Grant smiled and said, "I did it on purpose. I admit it now. I did it on purpose. I'm not afraid of him!"

Grant was very tough in the interview. It's human nature to show off. But back to the night when the Bulls defeated the Lakers in 1988, Grant couldn't sleep.

The moment he passed the ball to Meng Jin was miserable, but thinking of Jordan's endless torture in the future, Grant suddenly couldn't sleep.

You know, Jordan has never been a big-minded person. Sure enough, during the training the next day, Jordan found ways to make things difficult for Grant and insulted Grant.

Towards the end of the training, Meng Jin and Jordan had a small conflict, and the two pushed each other. Seeing this, the coaching staff and teammates quickly pulled the two apart to avoid the escalation of the conflict.

Jordan left the training ground cursing. Head coach Collins found general manager Krause and he felt that the situation was a little out of control.

Krause cursed Jordan. He felt that Jordan was now the biggest cancer of the Bulls. He destroyed the team's chemistry and the harmony of the team. He seemed to have forgotten that he was the culprit who ignited the fuse.

Krause even found owner Reinsdorf and suggested that he send Jordan away. Krause's reason was that as long as Jordan was around, the Bulls would never win the championship.

This isn't the first time Kraus has made this point.

In public opinion, Jordan was too selfish. His style of dominating the ball seriously squeezed the space of other players. The entire Bulls team no longer looked like a team, and the other players seemed to be serving Jordan alone.

Personally, this fat guy really hates Jordan. Of course, Jordan's disgust for him is no less than his disgust for Jordan.

The boss interrupted Krause halfway through his speech and said he would not consider trading Jordan.

During this time, Reinsdorf has been busy with the baseball team. He is considering moving the Chicago White Sox to Florida. This idea has been strongly opposed by Chicago fans. Now Reinsdorf is under a lot of pressure.

If the Bulls were to come out with news of trading Jordan at this time, the fans would definitely kill themselves.

On March 3, Jordan's father invited Meng Jin to go shopping in a second-hand store. Both of them have a hobby of buying vintage items. Meng Jin likes vintage glasses, while James Jordan pays more attention to hats.

James Jordan currently runs a Nike store called Flight23. Thanks to his son, he can always get the latest supplies first, even some unreleased ones.

However, James Jordan is not a good operator. Despite having such a big advantage, he made a mess of the store.

James Jordan was an alcoholic. His way of dealing with crises was to ignore them, and he turned a blind eye to the bills owed to suppliers.

James Jordan is not good at business, but he is a good friend. He and Meng Jin have the same hobbies. After shopping, they went to the bar together to have a few drinks.

After a few drinks, James Jordan opened up to Meng Jin: "When will Michael grow up? When will he realize that Juanita is not right for him?"

Juanita is Jordan's current girlfriend. The two met in December of Jordan's rookie season. At that time, a friend of Jordan held a party at Bangeli's restaurant in Chicago, and Jordan fell in love with this beauty at first sight.

Meng Jin didn't know much about Juanita. They had met briefly once, probably in January. Meng Jin had a good first impression of her, thinking she was a lovely and polite person.

Jordan's parents strongly opposed Jordan and Juanita being together, just like Kobe's parents opposed Kobe and Vanessa being together in his previous life.

However, the two handled the situation in completely different ways. Kobe directly broke off relations with his parents, while Jordan was more obedient to his parents. His relationship with Juanita was on and off in the first year, and it was not until last year that their relationship stabilized. Jordan felt that he had found true love and began to ignore his parents' opinions.

"James, you are pushing too hard. No one likes the feeling of suffocation. People have a rebellious mentality. The more you forbid him to do something, the more he wants to do it." Meng Jin said.

James Jordan took a sip of wine and said, "Meng, you are right, but you have never been a father, so you don't understand our feelings. After Michael became famous, all kinds of beauties threw themselves at him. Everyone could get benefits from him. We must stand in front of him and help him check. He is still too young now."

"This takes time. If you try to break up the couple, Michael will hate you forever," Meng Jin said.

"Juanita is not allowed into my house anyway, that's what Michael's mom and I both agree on," James Jordan said.

Meng Jin smiled and said, "It's rare that you two have the same opinion."

Meng Jin knew that Jordan's parents had reached the point where they were at loggerheads.

"This may be the only time we agree on something." James Jordan smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I think you should pay more attention to Michael's performance on the court than off the court. Have you watched his games recently?" Meng Jin asked.

James Jordan nodded: "Never miss a single game."

"He's been too crazy recently, shooting 30 or 40 shots per game, treating his coach like air and his teammates like decorations."

Meng Jin couldn't help but complain about his son in front of his biological father. Meng Jin's words were already very tactful. To put it bluntly, it means: Your son has gone crazy, can you please control him?

James Jordan sighed, "I came here to talk to you about this today. There is something wrong with Michael's recent playing style. He is used to taking a lot of shots by himself. He has been doing this for the past three years." Meng Jin shook his head, "It's not a habit. Michael is angry. He cares too much about the media's opinion. A player who is angry can't lead the team to win."

"Besides, Michael's anger was in the wrong direction. Does he still need to prove himself by scoring high points? He will only drift further and further away from his teammates, and the media will find more evidence to discredit him."

After Meng Jin finished speaking, James Jordan immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

He thought for a moment and then said, "I will go talk to Michael. I will definitely talk to him. I know exactly what this kid really wants."

……

……

After returning home, Jordan's father called him into the room and looked at him seriously.

"Have you drunk too much?" Jordan smelled the alcohol on his father, and then continued, "I'll help you go to bed and rest."

James Jordan pushed Michael Jordan's hand away: "I am sober. There is only one person in this room who is not sober, and that is you."

Jordan didn't care what his father said. He thought his father was drunk and wanted to reach out to help him again.

However, the next second, his father's words made him stand still.

"Michael, what are you afraid of?"

Jordan was stunned and repeated his father's words: "What am I afraid of?"

James Jordan looked into Jordan's eyes: "Are you afraid of the media's voice? The outside world's opinion? Or are you afraid that your teammates will score more than you?"

This teammate specifically refers to Meng Jin, and both of them are very clear about it.

Jordan didn't respond for a full ten seconds. James Jordan's words hit him straight in the heart.

During this period, Jordan fell into a very contradictory state. On the one hand, he wanted to monopolize the limelight, accept the cheers of the fans, and accept the praise of the media.

On the other hand, he wants strong teammates to share the pressure with him and lead the Bulls to a higher level together.

At the beginning of the season, Jordan wanted Meng Jin to develop quickly so that they could start a career together. However, when Meng Jin's rise exceeded his expectations, Jordan felt a sense of crisis again.

Why did Krause's words cause such a big reaction from Jordan?

The reason is here.

If Krause says Grant is an extended version of Jordan, do you think Jordan will pay attention to him?

Humans are such complicated animals that sometimes even Jordan himself can't figure out what he is thinking.

James Jordan continued to look his son straight in the eye: "If you have confidence in yourself and you believe that you are the best player in this league, you shouldn't have this mentality."

"A good player, a truly dominant player, never hesitates to share the ball with his teammates."

"Would Magic Johnson not pass the ball to his teammates? Would Larry Bird just focus on his own offense?"

"If you want to be great, you must continue to know one thing, that is, the power of a group of people is greater than the power of one person. If you want to make a difference, you must believe in your teammates and make your teammates better. This is not difficult for you. In my eyes, your passing ability is no worse than Magic and Bird. Now you have a teammate like Meng by your side. Your chance to create great moments is right in front of you. Come-ON son, don't mess it up!"

After saying this, the old man gave Jordan a hug. Tears welled up in Jordan's eyes. On the court, he was the omnipotent scorer, but at home he was always his parents' child.

Jordan felt relieved by his father's words. He had been immersed in his own mental struggle in the past few weeks and was unable to extricate himself. Now he was no longer entangled.

The next day, Jordan came to the training hall as usual and talked trash to his teammates as usual. The only difference was that he started sharing the ball with his teammates.

Although Jordan didn't say anything, Meng Jin knew that his action was already an apology to everyone.

In the game on March 3, Jordan scored 12 points, 30 assists and 11 rebounds. He took into account both scoring and assists, and was no longer obsessed with triple-doubles.

Meng Jin scored 27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. This was the most comfortable game he had played in the past two weeks.

The other teammates felt similarly. When the ball was no longer monopolized by Jordan, the Bulls' overall offense became smooth again.

Tonight the Chicago Bulls defeated the San Antonio Spurs 121-98.

During the game, after the two completed the connection, they pointed at each other to celebrate. Seeing the two showing their "love" again, head coach Collins on the sidelines smiled again.

It is true that winning can cover up all contradictions.

In the previous time and space, the Bulls were actually in a mess, but that did not prevent them from winning the championship.

The constant integration and collision brought huge conflicts and various conspiracies to the Bulls, and ultimately led the team to unprecedented success.

Meng Jin felt that since it was possible in his previous life, there must be no problem in this time and space.

(End of this chapter)