NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 144: Cheap bones

In the evening, Meng Jin wanted to find someone to talk to, and after much deliberation, he decided to call Pippen.

"Scottie, I'm going to be a father." Meng Jin didn't say any extra greetings and got straight to the point as soon as the phone was connected.

"I knew this a long time ago. Didn't we talk about this before? You lost your memory?" Pippen said.

"No, not the Madonna twins, the other child."

Meng Jin's words caused Pippen's brain to freeze for several seconds. When he came to his senses, he asked with a little surprise: "Meng, why is your hit rate so high?"

"This was an accident. Do you know Michael Thompson of the Lakers? It was his wife."

"What!? You made someone else's wife pregnant?" Pippen couldn't help but shout out.

"To be precise, it's my ex-wife, but we were still married when we had sex, but I didn't know we were married."

Pippen was a little confused. He interrupted Meng Jin and said, "Okay, okay, what are you going to do now? Give her some money to get the abortion?"

Meng Jin: "I don't think she wants to abort the baby. I promised to give her monthly child support after the baby is born if the child is really mine."

Pippen: "You are such a kind person."

Meng Jin: "Isn't this as it should be?"

Pippen: "In theory, it should be allowed, but in reality, few NBA players take care of their illegitimate children. Look at Karl Malone!"

Meng Jin: "What happened to him?"

Pippen: "Don't you know about this? That guy got a girl pregnant in college, and was sued by her parents. This matter was a hot topic a few years ago. Later, the court ruled that Karl Malone had to pay the girl $125 in child support every week, but he didn't give a dime."

Meng Jin didn't know where to start complaining for a moment. After sighing, Meng Jin said, "I'm not a good person. The girl's parents are good people. They can easily rape Karl Malone and file criminal charges against him."

Pippen: "Maybe they were trying to get some money out of Karl Malone, I don't know."

Meng Jin: "This kind of thinking is normal. The abnormal one is Karl Malone. It seems that I did not hit the wrong person."

Pippen: "Was that a deliberate or accidental hit on you in the All-Star Game?"

Meng Jin: “It was intentional.”

Pippen: "That was a really hard hit. It broke his nose."

Meng Jin: "I didn't go for his nose. I just wanted to teach him a lesson. After all, he showed his elbow."

Pippen: "Okay, why are we talking about Karl Malone? Let's talk about your child. Are you ready to be a father?"

Meng Jin: "Not at all. This time it was an accident. Last time it was because Madonna gave too much."

Pippen laughed: "What about next time?"

Meng Jin: "There won't be a next time. I now carry five condoms with me to prevent any accidents from happening."

Pippen continued to laugh: "If I were a condom manufacturer, I would definitely ask you to be the spokesperson. You would be the best spokesperson."

Meng Jin chatted with Pippen for half an hour and felt much better. Most of the time, people chat with friends just to talk rather than to solve any problems.

In March, the Bulls first defeated the Bucks and then the Knicks.

In the game against the Knicks, the fans at Madison Square Garden turned against the team again. When the game entered the fourth quarter, boos suddenly broke out at the scene.

“Oh~~~~~~~~~~”

The Knicks only lost by 13 points at that time. Jordan and Meng Jin played well in this game, but the other players of the Bulls basically did not perform well, and the game was not completely unplayable.

However, after the boos, the Knicks completely collapsed. This kind of booing was really demoralizing.

After the loss, Ewing quickened his pace and left the court. He only scored 15 points tonight with 5 of 16 shots, and most of the boos were directed at himself.

Looking at Ewing's hurried back, Meng Jin felt that it was really difficult to play in the city of New York. If you perform well, all the spotlights will be on you, and the media and fans will praise you to the sky. Once you perform poorly, those who praise you will immediately attack you and throw you heavily to the ground. Not everyone can withstand such ups and downs.

The Bulls played steadily throughout March, especially starting with their victory over the Suns on the 22nd, when they went on a six-game winning streak.

On April 4, the Bulls played against the Nets. I don’t know if it was because someone wanted to play a joke on Jordan on April Fool’s Day, but Jordan’s jersey could not be found before the game started.

Jordan was very sure that it was stolen because he saw the player's jersey hanging in the cabinet more than ten minutes ago, but when he turned around and looked around, the jersey was gone.

Jordan: "Damn, if I play topless I won't get fined by the NBA, right?"

Meng Jin: "You will be suspended for a season. The NBA image that David Stern has worked hard to build for several years may be destroyed by you. He will not let you go."

"Fuck, of course I understand. I was just saying it casually. Hasn't the security guard found the jersey yet?"

Jordan yelled at the door, and a security guard walked in: "Michael, we searched the passers-by and didn't find your jersey. You may have to change your number tonight."

Jordan looked unhappy: "John, I want to make a bet with you, I must wear my No. 23 jersey when I play tonight."

This security guard is called John Capas. Since the middle of this season, Jordan has developed a habit of betting with him before the game. They bet on everything, and Jordan always manages to control this security guard. After half a season, he has lost hundreds of dollars.

"Come on, Michael, you can't win this time. I've searched the passage thoroughly." John Capas said confidently.

Meng Jin knew at a glance that the security guard was going to lose money again. With Jordan's personality, he would win the bet even if he had to borrow a No. 23 jersey from a fan in the stands. Jordan turned around and called Grant, "Horace, go find the equipment manager. He should have a spare jersey."

The security guard's anus tightened, damn, there is such a trick?
Jordan had spoken, so Grant had no choice but to do as he was told. Meng Jin followed him out of boredom.

Sure enough, the equipment manager had a spare No. 23 jersey, but it had some defects and did not have the player's name on it.

Grant said time is running out and this is the only way now.

Basketball player picked up his jersey and was about to return to the locker room, but Meng Jin stopped him and asked, "Isn't there a marker here?"

As soon as Grant heard this, he got inspiration and picked up a marker and wrote Braised-eggs on the number.

This is how Meng Jin and Grant call Jordan in private. Although Jordan's attitude towards Grant has been much better this season, that is only compared to last season. This season, Jordan still gave Grant a lot of verbal education. Grant finally got the opportunity, so how could he let it go.

If Grant is discovered, it will be easy for him to get away. It will be like this when he gets the jersey. He just needs to not look at it carefully.

When Jordan saw the No. 23 jersey in Grant's hand, he was overjoyed. He put it on without even looking at the back, and then made a gesture of counting money to John Capas.

John Cappas—$10.

John Capas secretly vowed that he would never gamble with Jordan again. This guy always liked to cheat, under the guise of exploiting loopholes.

Jordan didn't notice anything wrong after he came on the court, and neither did most fans, until almost two minutes into the first quarter, when Jordan received the ball in the corner and made a mid-range jump shot.

The camera gave Jordan a close-up, and the fans in front of the TV almost burst out laughing. The number on the back of the jersey was not "Jordan", but "boiled egg".

The commentator on the scene was also laughing so hard that he fell backwards, but Jordan himself didn't notice it until the first timeout when someone reminded him. Jordan pulled his jersey over and took a look, and he almost exploded with anger.

Jordan didn't like this April Fool's joke and he angrily called Grant over.

Grant's acting skills burst out and he said that he didn't know. Grant knew very well that Jordan would find out sooner or later, and would definitely come to question him after finding out, so he had rehearsed this scene dozens of times in his mind.

When Jordan saw Grant's expression, he felt that it was not an act, so he could only get angry at the jersey. He took off the jersey and threw it to the ground.

But soon, Jordan picked up the jersey again, because it was his only jersey now, and he could not play without wearing it. Borrowing jerseys from fans was just a joke. The fan version of the jersey and the player version of the jersey were very different, and Jordan could not wear most fans' sizes.

Jordan could only use a marker to cross out his name, and then he made a hasty appearance after personally ending the prank.

The incident did not affect Jordan's condition. In this game, he got a triple-double of 25 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Bulls to defeat the Nets.

The Bulls completed their mission and won another game in the playoff sprint stage, and the Nets also completed their mission, adding an extra probability to the team in the competition for the No. 1 pick.

A few years later, a post like this appeared on a football forum: "I started watching football late, and I have always had a question: why is Jordan called Black-Boiled Egg? Is it because of his hairstyle?"

The most-liked reply did not contain any text, just a close-up photo of him wearing the No. 23 jersey with the word Braised-eggs written on the back.

After the game, Jordan wanted to find out who played the prank, but no one admitted it, and it became a mystery just like his lost jersey.

Another theory is that Jordan knew it was Grant who did it, but chose to turn a blind eye because the playoffs were approaching and he didn't want to disrupt the harmony within the team. However, this theory is obviously not true because Jordan was destroying the harmony within the team every day.

He would laugh at Cartwright after almost every practice, and after a season, this guy was still upset about the trade between Cartwright and Oakley.

On April 4, after the Bulls' team training, Jordan publicly mocked Cartwright's poor shooting posture on the sidelines.

Jordan even imitated him, and Cartwright finally couldn't help it.

Cartwright did not confront Jordan in public. He called Jordan to the corner and said gently: "I don't like you talking about me like that. I don't like you imitating my shooting movements. If I find out again, you will never be able to play basketball again."

Cartwright's voice was not loud, but the effect was good. Jordan listened to him. In the game against the Hornets that night, he not only did not verbally bully Cartwright, but even passed him a few good balls.

Jordan knew that Cartwright was a ruthless man. He had shown his iron elbows to his opponents more than once this season, and he would definitely do what he said.

Jordan is the typical person who only responds to toughness and not softness. It is useless to be polite to him. You have to be tougher and more ruthless than him to make him respect you. Cartwright regretted it very much. After returning home, he told his wife that if he had known that Jordan was a coward, he should have treated him like this earlier. His wife didn't say anything after hearing this, but just giggled.

After Cartwright came to Chicago, his wife obviously felt that he was unhappy, but when she came home tonight, she saw that Cartwright's face had returned to its former spirit.

In the subsequent games, Jordan and Cartwright reached a wonderful reconciliation. Jordan was still unhappy with the big man, but he had some respect for him. From Jordan's perspective, he felt that Cartwright was a tough guy.

On April 4, the Bulls defeated the tough Pistons. Every game against the Pistons was not easy, and this time was no exception. The game dragged on to the last minute, until Meng Jin hit a key mid-range shot and the Bulls secured the victory.

The final score was 118 to 115. Four Bulls scored in double digits, Meng Jin and Jordan both scored 4+. Six Pistons scored in double digits, with Joe Dumars leading the way with 30 points. Aguirre, who joined the Pistons in the middle of the season, scored 6 points. After coming to the Pistons, his average points per game dropped from 20 to 16, but he had no complaints and seemed to have gotten used to the Pistons' offensive mode. It is impossible for him to score like before in this team. If he still wants to shoot as he pleases like he did in the Mavericks, then what is the difference between him and Dantley? This deal makes no sense.

On April 4, the Bulls ended the Detroit Pistons' winning streak, and on April 6, the Pistons ended the Bulls' winning streak.

Isaiah Thomas was unexpectedly injured and left the game. Just when fans thought the Bulls would win easily, Pistons backup guard Vinil Johnson broke out and scored 30 points and 8 assists.

According to the team doctor's diagnosis, Isaiah Thomas will miss two weeks of games. Isaiah Thomas said he can only rest for a week at most. The Pistons are currently leading the Bulls by 3 wins. He doesn't want to be overtaken by his arch-rivals at the last minute. If this happens, it would feel like eating honey for a season and finding out that there is shit at the bottom of the jar.

In the end, the Bulls got a record of 60 wins and 22 losses. The team was satisfied with this record. After all, the team played very unsteadily in the first half and experienced several consecutive losses.

The Pistons retained their first place in the Eastern Conference with 62 wins and 20 losses, and are also first in the entire league. When the trade of Aguirre and Dantley first happened, everyone said that the people in Detroit were crazy and that the deal was terrible. The Pistons would probably not even make it to the finals, let alone the championship this year.

Meng Jin also thinks so. Although Dantley is lonely, at least he is a serious player. Aguirre has too many uncertainties and is extremely undisciplined.

As a result, from March to the end of the regular season, the Pistons lost only four games, which was beyond everyone's expectations. Sometimes chemical reactions are so magical.

(End of this chapter)