Champions Creed

Chapter 106 Chapter 105: Then I should be called the Emperor (ask for monthly votes!)

Michael Jordan's eyes were bleeding.

Yesterday, during the game after the filming of the movie, Jordan took an elbow from Miller, which hit him right in the eye.

Miller shrugged his shoulders with a playful smile and said, "You were the one who told us to move more aggressively. I don't need to apologize, right? Besides, your eyes are protected by titanium alloy, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

Reggie Miller really didn't mean it, and he also thought that these minor bumps and bruises were normal.

There was no referee in this kind of makeshift game, so if there were any fouls, you had to call them yourself, but Jordan did not call this foul.

Because calling a foul is considered a very shameful thing by these stars.

If you have the guts, just hit the ball in. If it works, it’s fine. If it doesn’t, it’s not. What does it mean to call it a foul?

The stars of the 90s had this kind of character. Why did AI prefer football to basketball? Because he thought basketball was too sissy.

That's right, he thinks basketball in the 90s was too sissy.

This shows how the players view confrontation at this time.

This morning, Jordan woke up and found that the whites of his eyes were full of blood.

Grover urged him to get checked out, but Jordan waved his hand: "It happens all the time. I can't stop and go to the hospital for a checkup just because of something like this. Tim, get someone to buy me the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, including the swimsuit issue!"

Although Jordan is a tough guy, it is normal for him to take care of his eyes after they are injured, right? What's wrong with men taking better care of their eyes?
In the afternoon, after completing today's filming, Jordan found Grover and prepared to start training.

By the way, I asked him for the latest issue of Sports Illustrated: "Have you bought it? If you have, give it to me as soon as possible."

Grover hesitated and handed over a swimsuit special.

Jordan suddenly felt his eyes hurt because the cover of this swimsuit issue was actually Australian male swimmer Ian Thorpe.

Don't you guys understand what the fun part of your book is? Who the hell wants to see male athletes in swimsuits!

Jordan sighed in disappointment, then looked up and asked Grover, "Where's the original issue?"

Grover scratched his head. "I don't think you want to read the original, Michael."

"Why? I see. Roger is on the cover, right? Give it to me! I want to see it!"

"Forget it Michael, your eyes haven't recovered yet."

"Give it to me!" Jordan shouted.

Grover couldn't persuade Jordan, so he could only wave his hand and have someone hand the original issue of Sports Illustrated to Jordan.

The cover of this issue of Sports Illustrated features Roger blowing out smoke rings, holding the FMVP in his hand, and stepping on the O'Brien Cup.

The title is very eye-catching: the old king is in the past tense, and the young king is in the present tense.

Jordan gritted his teeth, opened the magazine, and found Roger's interview.

Then, he saw those very nice words Roger said.

"Warner won't look for me because Space Jam can only cast losers."

“I want to surpass Michael.”

"That's a very stupid condition."

After reading it, Jordan closed the magazine angrily.

His eyes really hurt!
Although Roger won the Dream Team, the value of Jordan's comeback is still declining!

At the same time, Roger was also on the training ground. Of course, Roger, who had just won the championship, would not resume training so soon. Although he worked hard, he would not feel uncomfortable if he did not train for a day.

In fact, Roger was not training himself, but acting as Kobe's training partner.

The draft is about to begin, and Jerry Stackhouse has threatened to challenge Kobe Bryant after the draft: "I heard Roger is teaching Kobe how to play, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to destroy that shield, and then I'm going to kill Roger himself!"

To ensure everything went smoothly, Roger asked Kobe to come to Orlando to practice with him for a while.

He also asked his old friend, Louisiana State University forward Andre Patterson, to be Kobe's one-on-one partner.

Roger takes Kobe in the usual basic training, while Andre takes over the one-on-one training. The purpose is only one - to make Kobe adapt to the higher level of confrontation.

Don't ask why Roger didn't play one-on-one with Kobe himself, because according to the agreement, Kobe had to beat Stackhouse to be qualified.

Roger cannot break this rule, otherwise Kobe's desire to win will not be so strong.

On the first day, Andre defended Kobe like a headless fly.

The next day, Kobe was able to score over Andre.

On the third day, Andre was surprised to find that he actually lost to Kobe, a high school student, in some games!
Kobe adapted to high-level confrontation much faster than Andre expected!
While having dinner that night, Andre kept shaking his head and sighing: "Damn it, it's because of monsters like you that it's so difficult for ordinary players like us to survive!"

Roger smiled and said, "Thanks to us. Without us, the NBA would still be in the era of average salary of hundreds of thousands. By the way, Andre, when are you going to participate in the draft?"

"I won't consider it for now. I want to transfer to UC Riverside, where I will have more opportunities to perform."

"If I transfer to another school, I will have to serve a year on probation, right?"

"Yes, but that's the only way for me to make it to the NBA. I have to put up better personal numbers. I'm not like you, Roger, who can be picked fourth overall without playing college basketball."

"Just try your best, you can do it."

Roger did not continue the topic. Sometimes it is better not to talk about work between friends, especially when there is a huge gap in their career achievements.

In this situation, no matter how you talk, it will hurt your feelings.

In fact, Roger wanted to recruit Andre into his training team. He was qualified to be a sparring partner.

But Roger would not directly tell Andre to give up his NBA dream and drop out of school to help him. It would not be too late to recruit that guy when he is willing to do so.

The next day, Roger participated in his first championship parade.

This was also the first time that Orlando held a championship parade, but it was held in a very unique way.

The players' double-decker bus was filled with princesses, which was definitely the first time in history.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re all Disney princesses.

Because the team missed the June 1st parade at Disneyland, they agreed to have Disneyland participate in this championship parade.

Therefore, this was probably the most fairy-tale championship parade ever.

Halfway through the parade, Ron Harper nudged Roger with his elbow and said, "Hey man, Snow White said she wondered if she would have the honor of having dinner with you."

Roger looked in the direction of Harper's finger and saw Snow White, who was very powerful and had very white skin, waving at him gently.

In the era when zzzq had not yet swept the United States, the actress Disney found to play Snow White was still very beautiful. The white double balls that were about to appear were indeed Roger's favorite.

But he still had concerns: "Forget it Ron, I don't want to attack children's fairy tale characters."

"She's the Snow White that kids love now, but how do you know she won't turn into a controlling queen at night? Relax, Roger, we all know you had an affair with that model. Hey, the champion can't be alone all summer." "Well, it's nice to listen to fairy tales occasionally."

"By the way, this is for you." Harper secretly handed Roger a package.

"what?"

"Chili noodles."

"Ah this."

"Hey, even though you're the Finals MVP, you still need to learn from us veterans."

As we were chatting, the parade bus had reached its destination.

There, countless fans, Orlando fans and city government officials were already waiting.

When it was Roger's turn to speak, he only talked about the most important things:
"Yes, I will opt out of my contract this summer, but that doesn't mean I will leave Orlando. I will definitely stay, and I will bring more championships to Orlando with Shaq!"

This is undoubtedly the news that Orlando fans most want to hear at today's championship parade.

Last night, Rich DeVos had personally promised Roger: "We will offer you a new contract at a slightly higher standard than Patrick Ewing."

DeVos certainly knew that James Dolan was wealthy. The American cable company behind Dolan was already rich, and New York was one of the most profitable teams in the league. So it was a foregone conclusion that New York would offer Ewing a salary of tens of millions a year.

But DeVos has to keep Roger. If he wants the Magic to continue to make a positive profit, he has to keep Roger.

At least now that the return on investment is still very considerable, DeVos is willing to spend money.

He knew that the team would have to renew the contract with the Sharks in 96, which would put a lot of pressure on the team. But he could not care less now and just wanted to keep Roger first.

Things that happened in 96 should be considered in 96.

With DeVos' promise, Roger gave fans peace of mind today.

Of course, Roger didn't say he would never leave Orlando.

He never promised something he was not sure about.

A real man doesn't make five promises a day, but keeps his promises.

The night after the championship parade, Roger watched the draft live with Kobe and Andre.

This year's draft is a little different from the original history because the Minnesota Timberwolves drew the second pick.

This is enough to prove one thing - at least David Stern really did not manipulate the 1995 NBA draft.

Roger is also curious about who the Timberwolves will choose with the second pick.

After the draft began, the Warriors took Joe Smith with the first pick as usual. The greatest achievement of his career was the yin-yang contract.

When it came to the Timberwolves with the second pick, they still chose Kevin Garnett, who was just a high school student!
Without a keen eye, the Timberwolves could choose a more mature power forward than KG with the second pick, such as Antonio McDyess or Roaring God.

But they chose KG.

Garnett's draft report was given on the TV screen:

"He's very fast and very athletic. It's said that he can touch the top of the backboard. He has big hands and a great touch. He's also an excellent passer, even comparable to Bill Walton. His high school coach said Kevin is the best big man he's ever seen passing the ball, and he also has excellent ball handling skills. Although he weighs only 215 pounds, he plays very tough."

The last sentence made Roger almost laugh out loud. Yes, yes, it was so true.

After the Timberwolves made their choice, the host gave a simple reason: "KG's agent is Eric Fleischer, who happens to be Roger's agent. He made the entire league believe that KG can be as successful as Roger. At least Roger's success made the league believe that high school rookies are not such a dangerous choice."

You know what, Roger felt quite a sense of accomplishment after hearing this.

Just because they were a little bit too strong, high school rookies collectively moved up a level, which changed the league's attention to high school students.

He became the man who changed history.

If Roger hadn't set a good example and the Timberwolves had gotten the second pick, their choice would definitely not be KG.

If that's the case, Roger's nickname should be the Emperor Emeritus, after all, it was he who paved the way for the little emperor.

In an interview, Garnett, wearing a Timberwolves cap, also said: "Roger's success gave me the courage to choose to skip college. I'm glad to have a pioneer like him to give us confidence. As for whether I can do it, we'll see during the season."

The third pick still belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers. Just like in the original history, they picked up another Jordan successor, Jerry Stackhouse, who claimed to be Roger's lifelong enemy.

The 76ers were very satisfied with the results of his tryout. Stackhouse has excellent athletic ability and comprehensive skills, and he does have some of Jordan's shadow.

Although Antonio McDyess and Roaring God were also attractive, the 76ers general manager told everyone: "We don't want to be the Portland Trail Blazers in 1984."

Although they mocked the Trail Blazers for losing Jordan, only God knows whether the 76ers were psychologically traumatized by Sean Bradley and dared not to draft a big man again.

In short, Stackhouse became the third pick. Yes, another third pick guard from North Carolina. Even Stackhouse's draft fate was based on Jordan's template.

After putting on the 76ers cap, Stackhouse accepted an interview with reporters. This guy looked rebellious and confident.

"Jerry, you were one of the strongest scorers in the NCAA last season, but the NBA is different. Do you think you can quickly adapt to the NBA environment?"

"I have no doubt that I can. In fact, I could have done it two years ago. If I had entered the draft right out of high school, I would be an All-Star now."

"We all know that you and Roger played against each other in the McDonald's All-Star Game two years ago. It was the most bizarre game in the history of the McDonald's All-Star Game because Roger's team only had four players in the end, but he led the team to victory with a 4-point performance in a single game. What makes you feel that you and Roger are players of the same level?"

"It was precisely because we were slack in the four-on-five match that Roger had the opportunity to take advantage. If we played normally, I could beat him. In fact, I could beat him right away. But he kept avoiding me and even used a high school student as a shield."

"You mean Kobe Bryant from Lower Merion High School? We heard he was training with Roger and called himself Roger's student."

"Yes, that's him!"

"Did you meet him?"

"Not yet, and he doesn't dare to see me." Stackhouse lied. In fact, Kobe had already looked for Stackhouse who was trying out with the 76ers, but Stackhouse's agent did not allow him to play one-on-one with Kobe.

Although the probability is very low, the agent is worried that if Stackhouse loses, it will greatly affect his draft pick.

Now that the draft is over and the matter is settled, the agent has relaxed the restrictions.

So, Stackhouse is about to start his road to fame.

Torture the high school students first, and then force Roger to come out and face it.

Then defeat Roger one on one.

In this way, your business value will skyrocket!
So he told the reporters: "I will go to see Kobe Bryant the day after tomorrow. If you are interested, you can come and watch the one-on-one match at Lower Merion High School. Roger can't deny it in front of the media. If I win, he has to come and fight me one-on-one!"

Stackhouse is confident.

He felt that a bright future was just around the corner.

Roger's student? Nothing to be afraid of!

(End of this chapter)