Champion Creed
Chapter 242 - 242 110 How is one enough

242: 110: How is one enough?

The continuously evolving young King!

(Vote for monthly tickets!)_3 242: 110: How is one enough?

The continuously evolving young King!

(Vote for monthly tickets!)_3 Shaq looked at the ring and grinned as he hugged Roger, “Congratulations, the greatest player.”

“And congratulations to you, the most dominant player,” Roger replied with a smile.

“Just one seems a bit plain though.”

“I feel the same way, Shaq.”

“How about a few more?”

“Of course, starting tonight!”

After that, the first championship banner in the team’s history was raised in the Orlando Arena.

George Karl stared intently at that banner, the very thing he had been chasing his entire coaching career.

This year, he wouldn’t let any surprises happen again!

The championship ring presentation and the banner raising were proud moments for the championship team.

They also ignited the fires of the adversaries watching in the shadows.

No athlete could watch a rival put on a championship ring right in front of them and do nothing.

After the ceremony, the season opener officially began.

After losing Shaq, the Magic’s starting lineup was Harper, Roger, McKey, Grant, and Cage.

The biggest problem with this starting lineup was height; no one was over 210 centimeters.

The SuperSonics’ starters were Payton, Hersey Hawkins, Schrempf, Reign Man, and Ervin Johnson.

George Karl was excited.

Even before the game started, he was shouting from the sidelines, “Take down Roger, destroy him; without Shaq, he is nothing!”

Roger glanced at George Karl; that idiot really had an unpleasant way with words.

The game started, and Ervin Johnson wrestled the ball away from Old Cage.

On the SuperSonics’ first turn, Payton controlled the ball.

Seeing it was Harper defending him, Payton immediately backed him down and surveyed the situation.

He kept pushing forward until he saw Reign Man cutting inside, then Payton finally raised his hand.

But it wasn’t to pass; it was for a turnaround jumper.

Gary Payton was undoubtedly one of the best post-up point guards of the ’90s.

“Swish.”

“Roger, what you can do, I can do too.

But I can win without Shaq; you can’t.

With Shaq drawing defense, my grandma could score 40 points in three consecutive finals games!”

As expected, Gary Payton started talking trash.

The chatterbox never missed a chance to talk smack.

The Magic went on the offense, and as soon as Harper crossed the midcourt line, he was pressed by Payton.

NBC commentator Steve Jones was surprised, “Wait, Gary’s not guarding Roger?”

The fans were also surprised.

They had all been looking forward to a showdown between Roger and Payton, but George Karl’s arrangement was unexpected.

George Karl had done this deliberately.

In the previous seasons, Payton had almost always taken the lead in defending the opposing team’s top player.

The cost was that Payton’s offense would become very unstable.

This season, George Karl decided to let Payton focus more on offense.

He believed the team needed to increase their offensive efficiency to break through their current bottleneck.

So, he didn’t assign Payton to directly guard Roger; instead, he assigned Payton to guard Harper.

As for Roger, without Shaq to worry about, the SuperSonics’ forwards were going to take good care of him.

Before Harper could even pass the ball, Payton’s quick reflexes allowed him to snatch the ball away.

Payton swiftly broke away, scoring with an easy one-handed slam.

4-0, George Karl and Payton were performing a symphony of trash talk.

“Well done, Gary, these softies just can’t handle intense defense; they even cry when guarded by the Miami Heat.”

“Hey Ron, what else can you do besides bringing the ball up and then passing it to Roger?”

The SuperSonics were in control from the start, with Gary Payton pushing his presence to the max.

They were determined to spoil the defending champions’ glorious evening.

But the lords of Orlando weren’t going to allow that.

The game continued, and this time it was Roger bringing the ball past half court.

Tasked with leading the defense against Roger was the German Schrempf; tall enough, but not quick enough.

The best approach against him was to break through.

But just as Roger was preparing to penetrate, he saw Hersey Hawkins leaving McKey to double-team him.

Roger knew right away that dribbling wasn’t going to work; the SuperSonics’ quick double-team would make it difficult for him.

So Roger quickly passed the ball to Grant at the high post.

Seeing this, Hersey hurried back to McKey, leaving Schrempf alone in front of Roger once more.

Then, people saw Roger actually move to the low post on the left side, backing into Schrempf to get into position and calling for the ball from Grant!

George Karl couldn’t believe Roger would make such a choice; Schrempf was a forward after all, and Roger had no advantage in strength.

However, Roger held his ground against Schrempf, not losing out at all, and caught the ball lobbed in by Grant.

Roger, now successfully bulked up to 95 kilograms, was fully capable of holding his own in certain matchups.

In the previous two seasons, Roger’s turnaround jumpers were accurate, but he rarely went into the post to demand the ball.

Now, like Jordan, he could post up the opposition and fire away!

As soon as Roger caught the ball, Kemp immediately doubled down.

But before the double-team arrived, Roger turned and banked the ball cleanly and succinctly.

He didn’t even consider passing; without Shaq, he had to make good use of his unlimited shooting rights.

There wasn’t much of a fadeaway, but the release point was high, a very characteristic Roger-style turnaround jumper.

The basketball hit the backboard and went through the net, the FMVP scoring an easy 2 points!

Roger answered Payton’s turnaround jumper with one of his own, and of course, he also had a retort to the trash talk:

“Know the difference between my turnaround jumper and yours?

People will pay 120 million for mine.

I bet, Gary, you won’t make that much in your entire career.”