NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 129 This is an Inheritance

"I played like shit tonight."

After the loss, Dominique Wilkins said this and disappeared from the reporters' sight.

Wilkins is a real man. He did not put the blame on his teammates. He took the credit for the win and would not blame his teammates for the loss. Besides, he was indeed the main person responsible for the Hawks' loss tonight.

Wilkins hurriedly left the gym and didn't say a word on the way back to Atlanta. His teammates and coaches saw that he was in a bad mood and did not bother him.

People who are familiar with him know that this guy is passionate on the court, but an introverted man in life. Introverts always like to digest things by themselves when they encounter problems.

The next day, when his teammates saw Wilkins again, he was already sweating profusely in the training hall.

Wilkins' training attitude has always been good, and it is normal for him to increase his training volume after losing the game yesterday.

At first, his teammates were not too surprised, until Doug Rivers suddenly exclaimed: "Oh my God! I am not seeing wrong, Dominic is practicing dribbling, or dribbling with his left hand."

The teammates immediately gathered around, this was definitely a spectacle, the teammates discussed in a low voice, and soon they came to a conclusion, this guy Wilkins must have been provoked by Meng Jin last night, this was the only explanation.

Last night, Meng Jin humiliated Wilkins in all aspects, especially the two consecutive hat tricks, which hurt Wilkins' self-esteem.

Wilkins has competed with Dr. J, fought with Bird, and exploded with Jordan, but he has never thought about perfecting his dribbling, let alone perfecting his left-handed dribbling.

The reason is simple. Wilkins said that he can now play back and forth with the best players in the league, so there is no need to practice.

After yesterday's battle, Wilkins' thinking was completely changed. His so-called violent style of play was completely ineffective in front of Meng Jin. In the past, he could unscrupulously use his physical talents to make up for his technical shortcomings. When his physical talents were crushed last night, his technical shortcomings were also infinitely magnified.

A year after retiring, Dominique Wilkins released a documentary: The Years Against the Greats.

"Dr. J amazed me, Larry Bird made me unforgettable, Jordan blew me away, but Meng was the only man who made me change. Today's young fans have the impression that I am a dunk king and a scorer with both hands, but what many people don't know is that before I was 28, my left hand was terrible. I didn't like to use this hand in training or games, because I felt that it was unnecessary to practice my left hand. I could score 30 points per game with my right hand alone. It wasn't until a regular season game against the Bulls in 1988 that I changed my mind. Meng abused me badly that night. He scored 40 points, while I scored less than 20 points. He also pushed down my dunks twice in a row. He was over me every time I attacked the basket. The day after the game, I started practicing my left hand. I knew that if I didn't change and didn't prepare well, I would be humiliated by him in the next match. That year I was 28 and almost 29 years old. Facts have proved that as long as you are determined, it's not too late to work hard."

At this moment, Meng Jin had no idea of ​​the impact he had on Dominique Wilkins.

After playing the Hawks, the Bulls' next opponent is the Kings in four days, which means the Bulls will have three days of rest, which is not common in the tight regular season schedule.

Michael Jordan approached Meng Jin after a training session and asked mysteriously, "Want to go out and relax?"

"Where are you going?" Meng Jin asked.

"Go somewhere that makes you feel happy physically and mentally." Jordan smiled mysteriously.

“Las Vegas?”

After Meng Jin finished speaking, Jordan's expression immediately turned into confusion: "How do you know?"

Meng Jin shrugged: "Guess."

It is not difficult to guess this. Apart from basketball, the only thing that can make Jordan show his mysterious smile just now is gambling. When it comes to gambling, the first thing that comes to Meng Jin's mind is Las Vegas.

"How about playing a couple of rounds?" Jordan asked.

"no problem."

Meng Jin is not addicted to gambling, but he likes to try new things. He has not been to Las Vegas yet.

After landing, Meng Jin and Jordan were fully armed and walked into Caesars Palace wearing baseball caps and masks.

"Michael, do we need to do this?" Meng Jin asked.

Before Jordan entered the hotel lobby, he glanced around and said, "It's better to be careful."

The two went to the front desk and checked in quickly.

Receptionist: "Name?"

Jordan: "Levoy Smith."

Meng Jin looked at Jordan in shock and asked, "You have an alias?"
Meng Jin later found out that Levoy Smith was Jordan's teammate in high school. It was Levoy Smith who replaced Jordan on the team's roster during his freshman year. From then on, Jordan regarded this person as a motivator. He recited the name three times before going to bed every day, and when he was exhausted from training, he would recite the name twice to regain his strength. More than a decade later, the name was still deeply imprinted in Jordan's mind. Sometimes when he needed to give a fake name, Jordan would blurt out "Levoy Smith."

Meng Jin even once suspected that Jordan had developed a second personality. At certain moments, he imagined himself to be Levoy Smith. For this reason, Meng Jin secretly observed Jordan for a long time. Sometimes during training or games, he would deliberately call him Levoy Smith, and in return he would get a roar from Jordan without exception.

This shows that Jordan's mental state is at least normal. It is even more terrifying for Meng Jin that a mentally normal person can do such a thing. This guy's competitive spirit is close to the level of abnormality.

After the waiter finished registering, he looked at Meng Jin: "Sir, what about you?"

"Michael Meng." Meng Jin said without blushing or beating his heart.

Jordan looked at him and said, "You are so cruel!"
After entering the casino, the first thing Jordan did was to take off his hat and mask.

"Aren't you afraid of being recognized?" Meng Jin asked.

"Do you think these guys have time for us? Every gambler only cares about cards and money."

Meng Jin nodded. What Jordan said made sense. He believed it. After all, Danzi was a gambler himself, and he knew the psychology of gamblers best.

"Have the chips been exchanged?" Jordan asked Meng Jin, who had nothing in his hands.

Meng Jin: "Of course."

Jordan: Where?

Meng Jin took out two round cards from his pocket.

"that's it?"

Jordan was speechless. Meng Jin only exchanged for 200 US dollars. Who could afford this?

Meng Jin said that he just came for the experience and didn't want to play too big. Jordan rolled his eyes at Meng Jin and sat down at his favorite blackjack table and started playing by himself.

Meng Jin walked around the casino for a while and became interested in rolling dice. Each dice has six sides, with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 points respectively. After rolling the dice, the sum of the points on the two upward sides is calculated.

如果首次投掷点数总和是7或11，那么玩家赢，如果首次投掷的点数之和是2、3或者12，那么玩家输，如果首次投掷的点数之和是4、5、6、8、9、或者10，那么这个和就成为玩家的“目标点数”。

To win, the player must continue to roll the dice until the point is the same as the target point, that is, "get the point", but before getting the point, if the roll is 7, it will lose.

Meng Jin played for more than half an hour, with some wins and some losses, but he still had two chips in his hand.

Meng Jin did not continue to fight hard. He decided to leave the table and play something else. Meng Jin looked around and saw Jordan playing blackjack with red eyes.

When he walked in, he saw that Jordan had almost lost all his chips. You know, he exchanged 3 US dollars before entering the casino.

Meng Jin lamented that Jordan was losing too quickly. At this pace, if Jordan had bad luck in one night, he might lose hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

A year's salary was gone just like that. Although Jordan's main income now is not salary, this way of losing is still exaggerated enough.

Jordan turned around and saw Meng Jin, and waved at him: "Meng, help me exchange some chips."

"I'm not your servant. Is your butt glued to the seat?"

Jordan didn't want to exchange trash talk with Meng Jin at this time, so he stood up decisively: "Then help me play two games, I'll be back soon."

"What if we lose?" Meng Jin asked.

"It's mine."

Meng Jin felt relieved after hearing what Jordan said. Meng Jin was very decisive and courageous when he asked for the cards.

A mature woman sitting diagonally was immediately attracted by Meng Jin's unrestrained and uninhibited appearance. The bald black man who sat in this seat before rubbed the cards for a long time after getting them. His eyes were almost cross-eyed before he rubbed out the cards. Then he had to think about whether to call or not.

In addition to hesitating in the air, Jordan sometimes hesitated at the gambling table.

Meng Jin's style is completely different from Jordan's, and this mature woman finds it very attractive. This woman doesn't know that Meng Jin is playing with Jordan's money, not his own money, so of course he is free and easy.

After playing a few rounds, Meng Jin also noticed that there was a mature woman looking at him. Meng Jin had seen this person before on TV. She was Michelle Pfeiffer, the actress who played Catwoman. Meng Jin once had a sudden urge to let Madonna dress up in Catwoman's clothes and play COS. He didn't expect that the real person was right in front of him today.

Meng Jin greeted her with a smile, and Michelle Pfeiffer smiled and waved in response. From one gesture and one look, Meng Jin knew that this mature woman was interested in him, which made Meng Jin want to change the battlefield.

However, out of responsibility to his teammates, he had to wait for Jordan to take over.

Meng Jin was very lucky. He drew Blackjack in the fourth hand, an A and a 10, which directly doubled the chips on the table by 1.5 times.

In the next few games, Meng Jin also won. Sometimes the more you care about something, the less you get it, but the less you care, the more unexpected gains you get. This was the case with Meng Jin tonight. He had long wanted to go to the exciting battlefield with Catwoman, and he couldn't wait to lose all his chips, but he won more and more.

Twenty minutes later, Jordan came back and was stunned. He glanced at the chips in front of Meng Jin, which were about 2.5 US dollars.

The team lost 3 points when Jordan was on the court and won 2.5 points when he was off the court, with a plus-minus value of 5.5.

"Where have you been? Why did it take so long?" Meng Jin asked Jordan.

"Just a little thing happened," Jordan said.

Meng Jin didn't care what little thing happened to Jordan, he just knew that he was going to do something big.

Meng Jin moved his butt and said, "Come on."

Not even two steps away from her seat, Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer also threw away her cards tacitly and left the gambling table.

They entered the same elevator, and the moment the elevator door closed, they kissed passionately.

They hadn't even spoken a word before this, just eye contact, and that's how crazy things are sometimes.

Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer took Meng Jin into her presidential suite.

"I heard you're the most dangerous and sexy woman in movie history?"

This was the first sentence Meng Jin and Michelle Pfeiffer said.

"I'm more dangerous and sexy in real life, Meng." Michelle Pfeiffer looked at Meng Jin with a dazed look.

"you know me?"

Meng Jin was a little surprised. How could he become famous so quickly for his basketball skills?

"Of course, your size has spread in Los Angeles. Everyone knows that the Chicago Bulls have a 'big gun.'"

Meng Jin suddenly realized that he did not become famous through basketball.

Meng Jin: "Damn it, tell me which big mouth spread it, I will definitely give her some reward when I go back!"

Michelle Pfeiffer smiled and said: "It's not important. The most important thing now is how to reward me."

An hour later, Meng Jin walked out of Michelle Pfeiffer's presidential suite. The wild cat had now turned into a well-behaved kitten, lying on the bed and falling asleep.

It's not that Michelle Pfeiffer is not strong enough, it's that Meng Jin is too fierce. Except for Madonna, Meng Jin crushes any teammate.

"Michael, you're lucky."

Meng Jin glanced at the chips on Jordan's table, which were a lot more than when he left.

"I changed the chips again." Jordan's voice was a little hoarse, and he lost back the chips that Meng Jin had just won.

"You're unlucky today, do you want to go back?" Meng Jin asked.

"No, the game has just begun." Jordan said and continued to shuffle the cards.

After two games, Jordan remembered that Meng Jin had just disappeared, and turned around and asked, "Where did you go just now?"

Meng Jin: "Let's go somewhere else to play."

Jordan: "Win or lose."

Meng Jin thought for a moment and said, "It's considered a loss."

Jordan: "How much did you lose?"

Meng Jin: "Hundreds of millions? Maybe billions, I'm not sure."

Jordan rolled his eyes at him, thinking that Meng Jin was talking nonsense. He didn't know that Meng Jin was telling the truth.

Jordan didn't finish work until 6: in the morning. Meng Jin didn't calculate how much he lost, but conservatively estimated it to be six figures. Meng Jin felt a little tired as soon as he entered the casino. The casino has enough oxygen, which allows gamblers to maintain excitement for a long time and not feel sleepy even if they don't sleep for a long time.

It is said that the oxygen in Caesars Palace is 60% more than outside, so Meng Jin felt a little short of oxygen when he first came out.

The two did not return to Chicago immediately. They slept in the room they had booked and woke up at noon.

After waking up from a nap, Jordan was in a much better mood. When he saw Meng Jin, he even joked, "If I were the owner of a casino, I would definitely add a game to defeat the capitalists (fighting the landlords), so that I wouldn't lose so badly."

After returning to Chicago to rest for a day, Meng Jin boarded another flight, his destination being Sacramento, where he was greeted by a devilish 6-game road trip.

The first opponent of the Bulls' devilish road trip is the Kings. This year they sent away their core player Reggie Seuss and entered a rebuilding period.

This is definitely good news for Pippen. He has been given more opportunities this season. Kings head coach Jerry Reynolds even let him play as a point guard in two games, with good results.

The Kings currently have only one serious point guard, this year's second-round pick Vinny DeNagro and Michael Jackson, yes, the guy with the same name as the King of Pop.

Although they have the same name but different fates, the King's Michael Jackson struggled in the team and was a water dispenser manager.

The Kings' point guard position is weak, but the competition for small forward is still fierce, including Rodney McCree, who averaged 12.6 points and 7 rebounds per game, Harold Pressley, who averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds per game, and Ricky Berry, who averaged 11 points per game.

So for Pippen, it is easier to get promoted as a point guard. He is also interested in playing point guard and he enjoys the fans calling him Little Magic.

Pippen was also arranged to play at the point guard position by head coach Jerry Reynolds in this game, but he struggled at the beginning. Jordan hit him hard and stole the ball from him twice in a row. The coach asked him to rest temporarily.

这场比赛皮蓬出战26分钟，全场数据是9分6助攻4篮板6失误。

Jordan's pressure defense made Pippen's assist-to-turnover ratio very ugly tonight. In fact, Pippen's ball control is not bad. If he really can't control the ball, the coaching staff will not let him play point guard, but the focus is there. If he doesn't do a good job of protecting the ball, Jordan will steal the ball from him and make him doubt his life.

Although Pippen was being taught a lesson by Jordan for most of the game, he also had his highlight moment. Halfway through the second quarter, Pippen received a pass from his teammate and Jordan seized the opportunity to steal the ball when he started.

Pippen raised the ball high and took his second step directly in the opposite direction of Jordan.

After dribbling past Jordan, Pippen dunked with one arm.

Pippen pumped his fist excitedly. This was the result of a summer of special training. During the draft training camp, Meng Jin encouraged Pippen to dunk over Jordan's head, and today he really did it.

During the halftime break, Jordan angrily approached Meng Jin and asked, "Did you teach me this rubbish?"

Meng Jin said calmly: "This is a kind of inheritance."

Back in the second half, Jordan and Meng Jin played the Bulls' classic whirlwind fast game. The Kings couldn't hold on and the score difference quickly reached nearly 20 points.

Jordan and Meng Jin clocked out in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter turned into garbage time.

最终芝加哥公牛119比97客场拿下国王，孟进全场30分6篮板2助攻2盖帽，乔丹今晚手感滚烫，但他出手次数不算太多，15投11中，加上罚球拿到25分15助攻10篮板。

The reason why Jordan controlled his shots was that the Bulls' role players were also in excellent form. In addition to Meng Jin and Jordan, there were five other players who scored in double digits, namely Cartwright with 5 points, Grant with 18 points, Sam Vincent with 12 points, Korsin with 12 points, and Paxson with 10 points.

(End of this chapter)