Champion Creed
Chapter 264 - 264 117 Voting Requesting monthly votes!

264: 117: Voting (Requesting monthly votes!) 264: 117: Voting (Requesting monthly votes!) The media always picks the photos.

Seeing the front-page photo of Saru crying while holding a framed picture of O’Neal, everyone thought Shaq and Reggie Lewis (NBA player who suddenly died of a heart attack in ’93) had joined paradise together.

A single picture at the start, the content relies on the readers’ imagination.

Only when the readers excitedly bought newspapers did they discover that yesterday’s game wasn’t even slightly related to Shaq, and he was still very much alive.

But what could the readers do?

They couldn’t get their money back for the newspapers.

It just goes to show that the idea of attracting clicks with enticing cover images, something video apps are known for, was something the American newspapers of the ’90s had already mastered.

O’Neal was impressed too.

It had only been a few days since he had been back to Orlando, and the villagers had already started rumors of his death!

But it’s undeniable, this was the game O’Neal was most involved in this season.

From this perspective, Roger’s handling of the matter was quite effective, even if his methods were slightly sinister.

Regardless, Roger was quite happy to make a comeback, win handsomely, avoid a four-game losing streak, and score 40 points.

Another thing that lifted Roger’s spirits was that Saru had almost reversed his public image overnight.

Before this, due to his poor athletic performance, Saru was often dragged through the mud by the media.

But yesterday’s game was enough to shut all the media up.

Of course, in the long journey to the championship, a single good game is hardly noteworthy, but it was at least a good start to Saru’s resurgence.

He needed to regain his confidence first, and then he could play better and better.

Although he might not return to being the top contender for Best Sixth Man with an average of 18.9 points per game, Roger felt he could definitely become an excellent role player.

After yesterday’s game, Saru became more lively too.

He remained polite, continued to train hard and, while maintaining these qualities, he also developed a bit more of a sense of humor.

Today, at the end of regular practice, Saru invited everyone in the locker room to a charity dinner he was hosting in a few days.

“There’ll be delicious food and exquisite wine waiting for you, and I’ve even invited the best symphony orchestra in Florida.

Don’t worry, coach, I’ll make sure they don’t drink too much.

You can bring your wives, or your girlfriends, just don’t bring them both at the same time.”

Harper asked, “What about single dogs like Roger?”

The locker room burst into laughter.

Roger gave Harper a glare but said nothing more.

Single dog?

Ha!

In a little while, Roger would be starting his French lessons with Laetitia Casta at his home!

In this positive locker room atmosphere, the Orlando Magic got back into a rhythm of consecutive victories.

On November 20, in Roger’s second game after returning, the Magic traveled to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors fans, seeing Roger, were as nervous as if they had seen the grim reaper.

Everyone was extremely tense.

They all remembered Roger’s 40 points in one half at Oakland last season; it was every Warriors fan’s nightmare.

Anfernee Hardaway did well today, making 11 out of 22 shots, scoring 29 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out three assists.

But Roger responded with 35 points, six assists, and four rebounds, and the six assists also marked a new career-high for him in a single game.

As expected, the Magic defeated the Warriors again.

The TV mogul Chris Cohan, who bought the Warriors for $1.3 billion in 1994, was present at the game.

Initially, he bought the team betting on Hardaway, thinking Hardaway could turn the Warriors into a super popular team with countless national broadcasts, which would ultimately fully exploit the market in the Bay Area and make him a fortune.

But what happened?

He felt like his $1.3 billion had been completely wasted!

If we talk purely about individual performance, Penny was indeed not bad, but being defeated repeatedly by Roger made him worthless.

Today, after the game, not even one person asked Roger what he thought of Hardaway’s performance.

Because they were no longer considered as being on the same level.

On the 22nd, the Magic won another game against the newly joined Vancouver Grizzlies.

There’s not much to say about this game; the Grizzlies neither had the capability to win nor the spirit to fight.

The whole team was now looking forward to the 1996 NBA draft.

If Tim Duncan declared for the draft, that would be fantastic.

If Tim Duncan didn’t enter, the Grizzlies still had many other quality options.

Grizzlies fans were even thankful to Roger for making sure the team lost solidly because the Grizzlies had actually won two games in the past week, which was totally contrary to their plans.

The neighboring Toronto Raptors have only won one game so far!

Thanks to Roger, the Grizzlies were back on track.

On the 23rd, Roger met Kevin Garnett, who was under the same agent as him.

He invited Garnett to dinner before the game where Garnett, like he had met a caring older brother, talked with Roger about the awful weather in Minneapolis and the huge gap he felt moving from a high school star to an NBA substitute.

Their dinner lasted a whole four hours, until 11 pm, when Roger’s trainer cum driver Abunassar finally picked him up.

After getting into the car, Roger was very tired.

“That was the toughest dinner I’ve ever had.

I nearly used up all the English vocabulary I knew just to keep the conversation going.” Roger complained.

“What made the conversation so difficult?

You and Kevin should have a lot in common.”