Champion Creed
Chapter 319 - 319 134 Some people will never understand asking for monthly votes!_4

319: 134: Some people will never understand (asking for monthly votes!)_4 319: 134: Some people will never understand (asking for monthly votes!)_4 Stevie Smith had become too reliant on his three-pointers, a proficient scorer in the regular season but appearing to shy away from contact in the intense playoff games, always looking to change fate with his threes.

Initially, today he was 1 for 8 from three, but with 1:04 left in the game, Roger, facing Stevie Smith who caught the ball, opted to place his hands behind his back, “Take the shot, loser.

You can’t make it.”

Completely crumbling mentally, Stevie Smith missed the wide-open shot.

“You damn cold-blooded beast!” Stevie Smith cursed after the miss.

“That’s still better than being a loser,” Roger responded with a smile.

106 to 88, Orlando Magic dispatched the Hawks without drawing blood, maintaining their undefeated streak into the Eastern Conference Finals!

Last round, Stevie Smith averaged 22.8 points with a shooting percentage of 51.3% and a three-point shooting percentage of 60%.

This round, he averaged 16 points, with a shooting percentage of 40.4% and three-point shooting percentage of 29.1%.

The difference was clear.

“That’s the cruelty of the playoffs,” Bill Walton remarked as he watched a dejected Stevie Smith, “If you’re not up to par, your opponent will completely humiliate you!

Maybe Roger just wanted to tell the world that a player of Stevie’s caliber couldn’t trouble him at all.”

Hawks owner Ted Turner sighed; he hadn’t expected that the words he said before the series would bring Stevie Smith such misfortune.

All he knew was that his obsession with Roger was growing.

Roger was even-tempered as he shook hands and hugged every Hawks player at the end of the game, which caught Stevie Smith by surprise.

Because it meant Roger held no personal vendetta against the Hawks.

So why did he treat him like a Nazi?

The puzzled Stevie Smith took the initiative to ask during their hug, “Do you have a problem with me?

Why are you so disrespectful?”

Roger looked back at Stevie Smith, confused, “I have no issues with you, Stevie, I just wanted to beat you.”

“What?” That was surely the most nonsensical reason Stevie Smith had ever heard.

“Listen, this is the playoffs.

If you want to be better than me, then you have to cut off my head.

I have no personal grudge against you, but we’re playoff adversaries, so I will use the most ruthless means to destroy you, it’s that simple.

Honestly, you might as well have given the spot to Reggie Miller; he’s more of a fighter than you.

You’re all just wasting time and opportunities.

Goodbye, Stevie.

But don’t be too sad; at least you can tell your kids you’ve been on the ‘Sports Illustrated’ cover with Roger.”

Stevie Smith couldn’t understand Roger’s killer instinct, couldn’t grasp his ruthless passion.

He was a kind-hearted good guy, who had received the sportsmanship award, frequently helped community children, and always played each game calmly without disputes.

But as Steve Jones had said about Grant Hill before, “Kindness is the least useful trait if you want to win in the playoffs.”

It wasn’t just Stevie Smith; some people would never understand this ruthless passion, never become a killer.

After all, only a handful of people can truly be called winners.

Olajuwon in 1986, Drexler in 1990 and 1992, Nowitzki in 2006, LeBron in 2007 and 2011…

Most of these losers lacked that ruthless passion and killer instinct at the time.

Grant Hill couldn’t understand why people criticized him for passing too much.

Stevie Smith couldn’t comprehend why Roger turned it into something like war.

Therefore, they all became victims under Roger’s hand, without so much as scratching him.

Now, finally, Roger was going to meet someone as ruthless as himself, to decide the course of league history.

“I don’t care whether Stevie is happy or not, my job is just to beat whoever is in front of me.” — Roger talking about Stevie Smith

“Honestly, these two rounds were too easy for us.

Chicago Bulls?

They might be a bit tougher, but we can still handle everything.” — O’Neal discussing the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals.

“Stevie, summarize the season for us.”

“We played well, 46 wins, made it to the second round.

I think we played well, everyone did their best.”

“Want to talk about Roger?”

“No, not at all, the guy is a complete asshole, a lunatic, that’s my only comment on him.

That’s all I want to say about him.”

“If fate forced you to choose, would you rather be teammates with Roger for a season, or be locked in a room full of Charles Barkley’s stinky socks for six hours?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Please answer it.”

“Then I’d rather challenge my sense of smell.”

“Is Roger really that bad?

Worse than Sir Charles’s socks?”

“Absolutely terrible.

The biggest fortune of my life is that fate will never make me his teammate.”

“Fate can be quite amazing, Stevie.”

“Impossible means impossible.”

— Stevie Smith in an exclusive interview with “Sports Illustrated.”