Champions Creed

Chapter 393: The Real Source of Pain (asking for monthly tickets!)
So, in the end, Kobe Bryant could only be the "person closest to defeating Roger."

It seems that this is the greatest achievement of his career.

The finals ended in Game 6, and the Lakers couldn't even force the Warriors into a Game like they did last season.

In fact, Roger believes that this year's Lakers are stronger than last season.

The addition of Shawn Marion and Caron Butler has made the Lakers' fragile flanks stronger.

If Matt Barnes' pass in the final moments was half a second slower, the game might have had a different outcome, and perhaps a Game 7 would have been inevitable.

Fortunately, the hound knew how to assist the king.

Looking at the colorful confetti flying in the sky to celebrate the Western Conference championship, Roger raised his head, opened his hands, and let some of the confetti fall into his palms.

His right index finger was swollen and deformed, his ribs were aching, and his whole body was exhausted.

Kobe Bryant limped up to me and said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

With just two simple sentences, Roger ended the conversation with the person who had recently defeated him.

Roger can imagine how uncomfortable Kobe is feeling now. From the OK combination to now, Kobe's wish has always been to win the championship.

As a result, he kept losing to the same opponent.

The key is that Kobe paid a lot for this.

He played a high-quality game despite his knees that were almost broken by his weight and under tremendous psychological pressure.

Except for the last attack and defense, his performance was perfect.

But this is what Phil Jackson said, a brutal knockout in a heavyweight boxing match.

Cruelty does not just mean that a huge amount of harm has been suffered.

Kobe is also a warrior, his performance deserves respect, and his desire to win is worthy of victory. In the end, he was knocked unconscious in a pool of blood by a punch, which is the essence of cruelty.

A person who is qualified to win is defeated by another person who is qualified to win and is forced to become a loser. All that is left is regret. This is the definition of cruelty.

Kobe Bryant once again became a loser in the Bay Area. He walked to the player tunnel in despair. At this time, a Warriors fan wearing Roger's jersey shouted: "Hey, you are really good, Kobe."

Kobe didn't laugh, but instead quickened his pace.

The pity of the winner towards the loser may be the most painful kindness in the world.

At the following Western Conference Championship awards ceremony, Roger did not go to receive the trophy as usual.

But the host finally found Roger for an interview.

"Congratulations Roger, this is another great victory for you and the Warriors. We all know that before this round of the series, fatalism was very prevalent.

Since the 96-97 season, in all the seasons you lost the MVP, your team failed in the playoffs. In 1999, they lost to the Miami Heat, and in 2003, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. This season, the MVP belongs to Kevin Garnett. According to fatalism, many fans think that the Lakers can win. But now, you killed the Lakers with your own hands and are about to go to the finals. Do you think this is a sign that fatalism has been broken? "

"I never believe in fatalism," Roger replied. "There is no fate in the world of competitive sports. There is only hard work, passion, persistence, toughness and unity. I may not be the MVP of this season, but I can make the MVP go home with nothing."

Roger's answer made the fans at the scene cheer, and then they shouted MVP in unison.

To Warriors fans, the MVP trophy is just a trophy. Trophy or not, Roger is the MVP of the Bay Area.

After saying this, Amar'e Stoudemire held the Western Conference championship trophy high.

Although this is not the ultimate honor, the Warriors are still very happy.

After a season of hard work, they finally got some positive feedback.

Once you do many things too many times, your threshold will increase and the excitement and refreshing feeling will fade.

The same is true for victory. Dozens of victories in a season will excite the players at the beginning. But as the season progresses, the "sense of gain" that victory brings to the players will gradually decrease. This increase in the threshold will make the players bored with the game and even lose interest in winning.

The division championship trophy solves this problem to a certain extent. Although everyone knows that this is not the biggest award this year, a trophy and an awards ceremony are enough to keep all the players eager for the finals after a long season.

Everyone was raising the trophy excitedly, but Jeff Hornacek found that Roger retreated to the back of the crowd and covered his ribs with his hands after fighting against Kobe.

After the award ceremony, Jeff Hornacek suggested that Roger get a check-up.

"It's best if there's no injury. If there is, don't let it get serious."

Roger agreed with this view and went to shoot the film that night.

The result was not ideal, as Roger suffered a fractured rib.

It turns out that the feeling of a bone breaking in the middle is real.

Eric Spoelstra cursed, he would not say something stupid like "I will control your playing time" because he knew very well that without Roger, the Warriors were no match for the Knicks.

But this is exactly why he was angry, he knew it would be painful for Roger to play with an injury, but he still had to do it. Fingers, ribs, Roger's injuries are all in places that are touched frequently, which means Roger's pain is also high frequency.

Jeff Hornacek also sighed. Roger had not suffered any devastating injuries so far in his career. But this season, Roger's minor injuries began to increase.

Roger himself was the most relaxed: "Jeff, you have experience. Tell me, is this what it feels like to be 30? There are broken parts everywhere."

Jeff Hornacek didn't answer because the answer was obvious: this is what a player needs to face at the age of 30.

Even machines will suffer wear and tear from years of work, so there is hardly any professional player who is injury-free at the age of 30.

Death Ray Gun used a joke to ease the serious atmosphere: "Given your private life habits, I always thought that the first place you would have problems would be your groin."

"Come on Jeff, my personal habits are very good, there is no correlation between quantity and habits."

Eric Spoelstra shrugged: "It seems that we have to resolve the battle in the finals as soon as possible."

"And you know that's almost impossible. New York is really strong, and we don't know how strong they are because we have never played against the New York Knicks after they traded for Shane Battier," Roger replied.

"Well, congratulations on having the most painful finals in your career. Literally painful."

"Eric, you must have heard the story of the Smiling Assassin who dragged one leg in Game 88 of the 6 Finals and scored 25 points in a single quarter and fought the Lakers until the last minute. To be honest, that was the most unacceptable defeat in NBA history.

I never liked the assassin, but he was a hero in that game, no one was more like a warrior than him. But after the game, the assassin who was still like a warrior on the field suddenly became weak and started crying.

He was in pain, but his pain did not come from the injured ankle, but from the loss of the game. Years later, recalling that loss, the pain would be doubled, because if the Pistons had won Game 6, they would have established a three-peat dynasty before Michael Jordan. So, this is the nature of basketball, the pain never comes from the body, but from failure.

Don't worry Eric, I'm not going to say anything stupid like I'm not in any pain.

But the people who will really suffer are New Yorkers, and as Mayor of New York City, I'm very good at making them suffer.

Oh, and don’t make my injury public. I don’t want New Yorkers to feel like they have an advantage psychologically.”

Roger said, standing up and preparing to leave the hospital.

The last time Eric Spoelstra left the hospital during the playoffs, he was an obscure assistant turned championship coach.

What about this time?

Spoelstra doesn't know what he can become, he only has one wish - don't come to the hospital again during the playoffs!

A day later, the Golden State Warriors traveled to New York.

The Knicks' 68-win season dyed the entire New York orange. The streets were filled with fans wearing Knicks jerseys, and billboards were filled with advertisements of Knicks players.

A series of large LED screens in Times Square are playing highlights from the Knicks.

New York has had a professional basketball team for many years, but New York has never been so crazy about basketball.

On the night of the game, Patrick Ewing, who came to watch the game, was allowed to enter the home team locker room of Madison Square Garden after a long absence.

The New York Knicks are one of the few teams that have not changed their main stadium for decades. This generation of Madison Square Garden is the fourth generation of the stadium named after it, and it has been in use since 1968. Over the years, the fourth generation of the Garden has always been the home of the Knicks, and it has only been renovated but not relocated, because the fourth generation of the Garden has been too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Compared to the 90s, the locker room at Madison Square Garden has been completely renovated, but there are still traces of its past.

When the smiling gorilla walked in, his expression instantly turned serious.

He seemed to hear Pat Riley roaring, and seemed to hear Charles Oakley showing off last night's record of 1 black vs 3 white.

Finally, he looked at the locker that once belonged to him, but now belonged to Yao Ming.

Next to his locker, the spot that now belongs to Dwyane Wade, briefly belonged to Michael Jordan.

Then, the images from the memory flooded into Ewing's mind.

He still remembered that on the first day MJ came to Madison Square Garden to compete, he sat there, bumped fists with him, and smiled a standard Michael smile, which was a mixture of confidence, arrogance and contempt, making people unforgettable.

No. 23 told the gorilla, "Don't worry man, after the season we'll be wearing rings and playing golf while that idiot Charles is drooling with envy."

Ewing looked down at his hands; they were empty.

He was a little depressed, but he quickly adjusted himself. After all, those things were in the past.

As a New York legend, the gorilla patted Yao Ming on the shoulder, hugged Wade, shook hands with KG, and then told them: "You are much better than me. Come on, end New York's nightmare."

Afterwards, Ewing sat in his seat in the front row of the stands.

Today's game has attracted much attention and countless stars have come.

Just sweeping the camera across the stands, you can find three or four female celebrities who have been fucked by Roger.

When the camera gave a close-up of the beating gorilla, all the fans at the scene stood up and cheered.

This is a very magical moment. Anyone who has watched basketball for a long time knows how much New York fans disliked Patrick Ewing. When he left New York, Knicks fans wanted to take to the streets to celebrate.

But now, all Knicks fans have given respect and applause to this legend.

Just now, the painful memories did not defeat Ewing.

Now, New York fans have put aside their past grudges and given Ewing respect.

It seems that time can really dilute everything.

Then, the man appeared.

Roger arrived at Madison Square Garden with his Golden State Gang in training clothes and his hands in his pockets.

Passing by the stands, Roger spotted Ewing and pulled a hand out of his trouser pocket and waved, "Hey, Patrick, you've gained weight."

The moment he looked into Roger's eyes, Patrick Ewing felt cold all over, and the cold sweat seemed to have completely soaked his clothes.

New York, Madison Square Garden, Roger. These factors made the gorilla recall countless horrifying scenes.

From 1994 to 1997, in just three years, Roger committed countless tragedies in New York, and Patrick Ewing was the direct victim of almost all of them. Time and again, he fell from the clouds of hope to the bottom of the valley.

He thought the feeling brought by the memories would dissipate as quickly as just now, but it didn't.

Watching Roger on the field and hearing the shouts of “Fuck Roger,” that chilling feeling continued.

"Hey, Patrick," Spike Lee shouted from the seat in front of Ewing, pulling the gorilla out of his memories, "How does it feel to be back in the Garden? Enjoy it, we won't lose to that bastard again!"

Patrick Ewing did not answer, his face full of sadness.

Spike Lee shrugged: "You know what? It was because you were so dull in front of the media that people didn't like you that much."

Ewing still didn't answer. Seeing Roger in Madison Square Garden, he felt as if there was a rope around his neck and it was difficult for him to breathe.

At that moment he realized that not all memories were so easy to digest.

PTSD is not exclusive to soldiers.

Roger is right. In competitive sports, the greatest pain does not come from the body, but from failure.

Some memories are like a mountain, a mountain that can never be crossed.

Can New York really escape?
Can I really escape the prison of memory?

Even if the Knicks won 68 games, even if the Knicks' lineup was almost perfect.

But looking at the number 14 that seems to have not changed at all over the years, Patrick Ewing still has no answer in his heart.

(End of this chapter)