Champions Creed

Chapter 159 158: Detonating the Bomb (asking for monthly tickets!)

Shaquille O'Neal was very unhappy because John Gabriel broke the agreement again.

This season, under Roger's mediation, the Sharks and the management reached a "non-interference agreement" just like last season.

Management and players are not allowed to accuse each other in front of the media during the season. If there is anything to talk about, wait until the end of the season.

This agreement is to ensure the stability of the team, and it was also the basis for the Magic to win the championship last season.

After reaching the agreement, the Sharks no longer worried about contract renewal and began to focus on competing for the championship.

Roger also stopped publicly taking sides and devoted himself completely to the competition.

This allowed the Magic to focus on their game and unleash terrifying combat power in the playoffs.

But this season, the agreement was broken by John Gabriel after the team returned from Los Angeles.

Like a poor man whose wife was stolen away, he complained about the meeting between Shark and Logo in front of the media:
"I don't know why Jerry West and Shaquille O'Neal met. We have asked the league to investigate! We met Shaq's big contract demands without hesitation last summer. Why did he do this? I believe that NBA Commissioner David Stern will definitely bring fairness to the league!"

Indeed, Gabriel had no intention of keeping Shark. After three consecutive championships, Shark was bound to leave.

But his plan is to try to convince the Sharks not to use the player option, execute the contract and then trade him, so that the team can at least get some draft picks.

He wanted the shark to leave, but he didn't want it to leave in vain.

But O'Neal's secret meeting with Logo clearly showed that he wanted to jump out of the contract and join the team freely.

You want me to leave the house with nothing? How can I do that?
John Gabriel will never allow this to happen, he wants the alliance to get to the bottom of it!

Gabriel's words undoubtedly made the Sharks furious. You met my big contract requirements? How shameless!
After John Gabriel broke the agreement, O'Neal threw it out the window and blasted him in the media:
"Does anyone remember that the first offer they made to me was 7 years and 6900 million? Why did he say that they had made a lot of efforts to keep me? In the end, I was the one who made concessions. I am the only superstar who did not sign a million yuan contract this summer!"

Logo was also annoyed by John Gabriel's accusation:

"If the league is really going to investigate, it is questioning my integrity, questioning Shaquille's integrity, and questioning Dr. Jerry Buss' integrity! This is a baseless and dirty accusation! Would you be willing to be searched by the police because of a stranger's baseless accusation? Ridiculous!
This is America, a land where we are free to do anything legal! I have freedom of speech, freedom of behavior, freedom of dress. Of course, I also have the freedom to see my friends! "

David Stern called on all parties to exercise restraint and not allow the conflict to escalate further.

Wonderful, this three-way, no, four-way melee is simply amazing.

The Sharks, Magic, Lakers and the league are all involved.

Less than a month into the season, fans have big news to share.

But Roger didn't find it exciting at all.

After all, no one wants to eat their own melon.

At this time, only 8 regular season games had been played and the season had just started for 23 days.

This means that the non-interference agreement lasted only 23 days this season before it was broken.

Last season, the apparent harmony between the two sides lasted until the end of the season.

The agreement this season is unsustainable, proving that the contradictions can no longer be concealed.

Moreover, this incident affects more than just the Sharks and management.

Just today, after the training, the whole team was asked some difficult questions by reporters.

"Saru, do you think the Sharks really want to leave Orlando? What's the reason?"

"Ron, how much do you know about Shaq?"

"Michael, do you think the Lakers are suspected of illegal recruiting?"

"Dom, what do you think about this?"

It's embarrassing for everyone because if one person gets the question wrong, it can easily cause a split in the locker room. You either offend management or you offend the Sharks.

Fortunately, the Magic team is mostly composed of experienced veterans.

They were able to keep their mouths shut and basically evaded the question by saying "no comment" or "I don't know".

The reporters naturally also asked about Roger. They all knew that Roger was a person who was not afraid of offending either the management or O'Neal.

Roger was feeling annoyed as the team had just recovered from the chaos of the preseason.

It's only been eight games and the Shaqs and John Gabriel are already throwing shit at each other.

Is there really nothing else they can do?

Roger didn't want to make things more confusing, so the best way to deal with this kind of thing was to just ignore it.

After a while, who will remember who Shark met in Los Angeles?
Therefore, Roger did not express any opinions in front of the media.

His answer was the same as everyone else's: "I don't know anything."

But Roger underestimated the popularity of this matter.

Because the league has officially launched an investigation into whether the Lakers have any illegal recruiting, there are news related to this matter almost every day.

There is no possibility of any cold treatment at all.

Fortunately, the Magic are still on the winning track.

11月25号，魔术干掉了雄鹿，愤怒的鲨鱼爆砍44分14个篮板：“伱们看我只值8000万吗？阿朗佐和朱万可无法打出这种数据和表现！”

On November 11th, against the Atlanta Hawks, Dominique Wilkins scored a season-high 27 points against his former team.

Steve Smith endured Roger's ugly trash talk for 40 minutes and he had a lot to complain about.

But no one discussed them after the game.

"Roger, do you believe in Shaq? Do you think Shaq will leave?"

"Next question."

Roger refused to answer any questions related to these things, but he told O'Neal privately that he did not make a public statement not because he did not support him, but because he did not want things to get worse.

He still follows the tacit understanding of "speak directly if you have something to say".

Every day, various rumors emerge.

Every day, Magic players face one annoying question after another.

In such an environment, the Magic's start still made history.

On December 12, the Magic defeated the Kings and won 8 consecutive games.

Broke the Houston Rockets' 93-game winning streak in the 94-15 season.

The Rockets eventually won the NBA championship that season.

However, the Magic are not the only focus because the New York Knicks also broke the record.

This also makes the final championship even more confusing: since both the Knicks and Magic have the strength to compete for the championship, who is stronger?
The promotion for the Christmas game continues, and the topic of the two teams, the Magic and the Knicks, has never stopped.

At this stage, the hottest topic among fans is who will lose first.

But people never expected that this topic would end so soon.

Because the Magic started losing after a 16-game winning streak.

On December 12, the Magic lost to the Utah Jazz, a team that has not been very popular but has quietly achieved a record of 10 wins and 15 losses.

After the Jazz introduced Mutombo, their defensive ability became extremely strong.

If it weren't for the Knicks and Magic, Salt Lake City wouldn't have received so little attention.

In this game, the Sharks had to sit on the bench and watch because they left the game early with six fouls.

When he left the court, the team was 3 points behind. Roger led the team alone but failed to make a comeback in the last half of the game, and the team lost 89-93 in the end.

After the game, almost everyone criticized O'Neal's irrational behavior that ruined the game, and believed that he wasted too many unnecessary fouls on Karl Malone.

On the 13th, the Magic lost two games in a row to the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers' two inside players, Dell Davis and Antonio Davis, grabbed a lot of frontcourt rebounds, giving the team many second-chance opportunities.

In addition, the backcourt duo of Reggie Miller and Travis Best were in great form today, so the score was 99 to 95, and the Magic, who had previously won 16 games in a row, lost two games in a row.

This time, the media said that O'Neal did not protect the rebounds well enough.

He tried to link the losses of the last two games to the rumors about O'Neal and the Lakers: "His heart is not in Orlando at all!"

"This is not Shaq's fault alone," Roger told reporters again and again at press conferences.

He is still protecting O'Neal's self-esteem.

The two consecutive losses actually have little impact on the Magic's record. No one would say that the start of 16 wins and 2 losses is not good enough.

What's more, the Knicks also lost to the Miami Heat in their 18th game.

The Magic just lost one more game than the Knicks.

But there are still people who want to make a big fuss about these two consecutive defeats.

The night after losing to the Pacers, O'Neal received a call from his agent, Leonard Armato, in his hotel: "Are you interested in an interview?"

"Not interested in."

"This is an invitation from Jim Gray. Are you sure you don't want to consider it?"

"Who?"
-
ESPN host Jim Gray is making final preparations in the dressing room. He attaches great importance to the upcoming interview.

Because this is likely to be the most explosive interview in the NBA this season.

Mediocre hosts wait for news and hot topics, while Jim Gray, an Emmy Award winner, likes to find and create hot topics.

As the most influential reporter and host in the United States, Jim Gray has countless achievements.

He has covered almost every major sporting event in the world, including the NFL Super Bowl, MLB World Series, NBA Finals, NCAA Basketball March Madness, Olympics, Golf Masters, NCAA Football Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, professional boxing, and more.

He has conducted at least one exclusive interview with many sports celebrities, including but not limited to Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Mike Tyson.

If you think his influence is limited to the sports world, you are wrong.

In addition to sports, Gray has also conducted exclusive interviews with many American presidents. Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush Sr. have all been guests on his show.

What about celebrities outside the United States? Are Nelson Mandela and Gorbachev important enough?
He was the first to report in 1993 that Michael Jordan might retire.

In fact, in the infamous "Decision" show in 2010, he was not only the host who asked James "LeBron, what is your decision?" He was also the planner and one of the main promoters of the entire show.

He was the first to come up with the idea of ​​"Decision" and proposed it to Mavrick Carter, CEO of James' business team:

"Why can't we buy an hour of TV time, you're in charge of the content, you have the final say, I'll do the interview, and you convince LeBron to say his move on the show?"

Of course, in the end, this turned out to be a bad move for James personally. But it was also the negative impact of "The Decision" that made James and his team realize how important it is to take the lead in storytelling, and it laid the groundwork for James to establish a media company in the future.

So you could say that Jim Gray will always play an important role in sports history.

Many key events were promoted and exposed by him.

And tonight, he wants to push for another big thing.

He had long sensed the potential impact of this incident.

If anyone can ignite this bomb, it must be me!

Makeup is over and the live show begins.

Jim Gray walked to the front of the stage with ease: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ESPN, welcome to watch Jim Gray's interview tonight. Today, our guest is the two-time NBA champion, the most dominant center in the league, the Great Shark, the Great Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal! Thank you very much for joining us, Shaq."

“It’s an honor to be on the show.”

"Shaq, we all know that you've been in trouble recently. Can you tell us about your relationship with Jerry West and the Lakers?" Jim Gray is good at asking sharp questions and he won't be polite.

"We were just friends meeting for a meal, it's really not that serious. Jerry is like a father figure to me, he always cares about me and enlightens me. So, I don't understand why John has such a big reaction. Moreover, he tarnished the reputation of Mr. Jerry West, which is simply unreasonable."

"So, the cracks have formed, so how do you deal with that crack and how do you see your future with the Magic?"

"Future? No, I am only thinking about the three consecutive championships. To be honest, the future is too far away, and I can't think clearly about it."

"Speaking of three consecutive championships, what is the difference between this defending season and the previous defending season? We all know that the team has suffered two consecutive losses recently, and you are the target of almost all media criticism. Do you think Roger does not need to be responsible for the loss? Why do everyone point the finger at you?"

"That's what I don't understand, Jim. Our team is too old now and needs athleticism. Karl Malone can easily penetrate our defense, and I have to be diligent and selfless to fill in. But after six fouls, everyone blames me.

We lost Horace, and I don't understand why the team let him go. Because of that decision, I was responsible for almost all of the rebounding this season. But the Pacers? They had two people competing with me. I tried my best, but man, two fists can't beat four hands. At the end of the day, everyone blamed me for not rebounding. It's hard, Jim, this season is harder than any other."

Jim Gray asked a few more unimportant questions to relax O'Neal, and then he suddenly came back with a sharp attack: "By the way, Shaq, you didn't talk about Roger just now. Two consecutive losses, the whole world is criticizing you, doesn't Roger need to take responsibility for the losses? You know, he won two FMVPs, so he should bear more responsibility."

Jim Gray mentioned the key point of "FMVP", which really touched O'Neal's heart.

Jim Gray always gets to the point.

"Roger, how should I put it, he is my good brother, but after winning two FMVPs, I feel like there is some distance between us.

He thinks he is the leader of the team and that he controls the entire locker room. He always speaks to us in a leader's tone and he always looks superior.

He kept saying he was my brother, but he no longer publicly supported me in front of the media. He knew my character and knew that there was no way I could have anything to do with the Lakers, but he just didn't support me publicly.

He said privately that he didn't want things to get worse, but isn't that a bad thing now?

He always says he helped me get a big contract, but what about before that? I also helped him get a big contract!
He kept yelling about the 'non-interference agreement' in front of me, but it was obviously John who broke the agreement first, so why didn't he say this to John?
He said that no one should have special privileges and everyone should train hard. But in fact, he himself has special privileges. Head coach Brian Hill always listens to him and he can play whenever he wants.

He forgot that this is our team!

I don’t know, maybe I still love him, but things have definitely changed between us.”

Surprising statement.

O'Neal was equivalent to firing at Roger on live TV!
Good, Jim Gray has achieved his goal.

This is what he wants to promote today!
He had long seen O'Neal's ambition and jealousy. This is a common problem for championship teams. A player of O'Neal's level cannot be indifferent to Roger's greater attention, a bigger contract and two FMVPs.

It is impossible for two champions to be born in one season, and it is impossible for a championship team to have two bosses, unless the other boss is called David Robinson.

So, he guided the shark step by step to speak out his true feelings.

He knew that the shark must have been holding back for a long time, but just couldn't find a chance to fire.

And tonight, Jim Gray gave O'Neal the opportunity to vent.

This is another great night in the history of sports interviews. Jim Gray believes that soon, perhaps within half an hour, the entire sports news industry will explode!

Half an hour later, it was unclear whether the sports press had exploded.

But Derek McKay's cell phone was buzzing so loudly that it was about to explode.

The ringing continued, waking him from his sleep.

He answered the phone impatiently, and in the receiver came Saroo's horrified voice: "Derek!"

"Damn it, Saru, I'm asleep, you better not be calling to share the bad joke you just saw."

Saroo ignored Mackay's complaints and continued to shout, "We are in big trouble! You must be the first one to arrive in the locker room tomorrow. Roger said he wants to kill Shaq!"

(End of this chapter)