Champion Creed
Chapter 157 - 157 084 Another public opinion crisis the Wang dynasty collapse underway_2

157: 084: Another public opinion crisis, the Wang dynasty collapse underway_2 157: 084: Another public opinion crisis, the Wang dynasty collapse underway_2 The legendary Michael Jordan had actually pressured his team into trading away a key player who could bring victory, all to preserve his own status on the team, carelessly disregarding the team’s chances of winning the championship.

This was undeniably an ugly act.

Such a topic, too, was of great interest to reporters.

That afternoon at the Berto Center, it was Jordan who faced a siege.

“Michael, if the Bulls fail to win the championship this year, how will you take responsibility for that trade?”

“Take responsibility?”

“Roger left because of you, didn’t he?”

“Bullshit, that’s a rumor.

I’ve never interfered with the management’s work.

Jerry traded him because the team didn’t need a second scorer, and because we needed to bolster our power forward position.”

“But the scoring duo of Roger and O’Neal didn’t have a problem, did it?

Alright, Shaquille’s scoring average did drop a bit.

But Michael, you’re not the kind of person who’d forsake a championship for individual scoring stats, right?

Are you implying you came back and coerced Krause into trading away Roger, who had personal grievances with you?

So now, with the Magic surpassing the Bulls, aren’t you shooting yourself in the foot?”

Jordan had grown impatient and didn’t want to say another word.

He glanced at the press officer, who immediately clapped his hands: “Gentlemen, sorry, but this locker room interview session is now over.”

“But the media availability period isn’t over yet.” a reporter contended.

“Michael and the other players still need to go through physical therapy, so let’s go, it’s over.”

“You don’t have the authority to do that.”

“Security!”

After the reporters were cleared out, Jordan sat on the bench, his eyes fixated on the large Bulls logo inside the locker room.

This might be the season from which he could not retreat; his honor, his image, his business myth…

If he lost this season, everything would come crashing down!

Indeed, in the original history, Jordan lost in 1995, although his fans always tended to overlook that detail.

But their excuse was valid then; it was not the complete Jordan who had lost, but an abruptly returning Jordan.

And indeed, Jordan did redeem himself, snatching three championships from ’96 to ’98.

Although each of those championships was harder to win than the last, Jordan didn’t run off halfway and stuck it out, shutting everyone up.

But in this history, the key issue isn’t whether Jordan will lose a championship.

After all, competitive sports are inherently about winning and losing, and no professional athlete should be vilified for losing one championship.

You can’t deny Jordan’s previous greatness just because he didn’t win a championship with the Wizards.

The crucial point is that this time, Jordan could potentially be defeated by the very man he had personally sent away.

If the Bulls traded Roger for him and not only failed to win the championship but couldn’t even make it to the finals, that would be a devastating blow to Jordan’s godlike status.

It’s comparable to if in 2011, after the Heat failed to win the championship, Wade forced the management to trade away James that summer, resulting in the 2012 Heat not even reaching the finals.

You can imagine what a tremendous blow that would have been to Wade’s career, carrying the stigma of “ruining the team” and “selfishly ousting a teammate for personal status, leading to the loss of a championship.”

And what if he was eliminated by James’s team?

That would be even more humiliating!

That’s the dilemma Jordan currently faced.

This was his biggest public relations crisis since the Atlantic City gambling incident.

If the Magic won the championship, his image would shift from the great Michael to the selfish Michael.

The next day, the Bulls lost to the Utah Jazz.

The reason was Karl Malone holding Chris Webber to just 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, with 4 turnovers in a single game.

Beyond that, Webber let Malone easily score 32 points.

Webber’s defense was instantly breached, and not even Pippen could catch up!

After the game, Jordan directly stated at the press conference: “Chris’s defense made us run ragged!

I’m very curious, why can’t he ever guard his man!”

The way he was speaking at the press conference, you could only guess how he “tenderly cared” for Webber in the locker room.

Chris, sitting beside him, was already mentally shattered; life in Chicago was nothing like he’d imagined.

Michael Jordan had never shown him any respect, not once.

If his free-throw percentage was low, he was not allowed to drink water after the game but had to practice free throws.

If he performed poorly on the road, he couldn’t even eat the airplane meals the next day.

He was scolded by Jordan every day like a grandson, completely lacking the dignity of a top draft pick.

Most importantly, when Jordan made these unreasonable demands, no one on the entire team dared to contradict him, not even Phil Jackson pretended to see.

When O’Neal slapped Chris last season, at least someone immediately stepped in to pull him away.

But if the same thing happened in the Bulls, Chris felt that most likely no one would intervene.

Under Jordan’s meticulous adjustments, Chris’s free-throw percentage for the season was already down to 48.4%.

That’s 10 percentage points lower than Mutombo, and even 5 points lower than O’Neal.

Just stepping onto the free-throw line made Chris nervous, and if he glanced at Jordan, those two free throws were essentially gone.

Today marked the 34th day Chris had been missing O’Neal.

If given the chance to go back and play with O’Neal, he would not hesitate to accept.

But Chris did not complain to the outside world; he didn’t want to be a “leaker” like Grant.

If he leaked information, his days with the Bulls would be even harder.