Champion Creed
Chapter 325 - 325 137 Shut up you're not even the best player on your team asking for monthly passes!

325: 137: Shut up, you’re not even the best player on your team (asking for monthly passes!) 325: 137: Shut up, you’re not even the best player on your team (asking for monthly passes!) Six games, not a single one with a point difference in double digits.

Fierce hand-to-hand combat, the ultimate offense and defense, star players stepping up, role players exploding…

In the past six games, Orlando fans and Chicago fans could almost find everything they had anticipated before the series.

But the one thing they most hoped for did not happen—that was victory.

Both teams had had chances to finish off the other.

When the Bulls led 2-0, if they had continued their efforts in G3, it would have been akin to sentencing the Magic to death.

When the Magic led 3-2, if they had managed to hold steady in G6, they would already be preparing for the Finals by now.

But to fret over the past is the most foolish thing in the world.

For them, what mattered most was seizing the moment.

The day before the Eastern Conference Game 7, the Western Conference Game 7 had already taken place.

In the future, perhaps countless writers will use various styles to depict the great rivalry between the ’96 Bulls and the ’96 Magic, focusing especially on the upcoming Game 7 battle.

But certainly few will care about the SuperSonics versus the Jazz Game 7; Western Conference teams had been completely relegated to supporting roles.

However, in reality, this round was also full of drama.

The Seattle SuperSonics’ progression was astonishing; in the Western Semifinals, they had swept the reigning Western Champions, the Houston Rockets, who had reached the Finals the previous two years.

During that series, Dream was limited to an average of only 18 points per game, the most embarrassing being G1, where the reigning number one center only scored 6 points, even less than 8!

Luckily, the internet wasn’t well-developed in the ’90s; otherwise, it’s hard to imagine what kind of roasting Dream would have endured.

The SuperSonics effortlessly took down Dream’s Rockets, which made everyone believe they could easily dispatch the Jazz as well.

In fact, the SuperSonics did have the opportunity to advance easily; they led 3-1 at one point.

But their slackness in G5 and G6 let the Utah Jazz catch their second wind.

Today’s Game 7 was extremely intense, but key free throw misses by Karl Malone in clutch moments ruined the Jazz’s good fortune.

Free throws—this key factor is often overlooked by many fans.

After all, in a game, free throws are probably the least entertaining and boring part of it.

At least during time-outs, there are acrobatics and cheerleader performances to watch, but free throws?

They really struggle to interest fans.

But oftentimes, the victory of a match is precisely connected to those most boring free throws.

In the 2013 Finals, Game 6 between Spurs and Heat, with 19.4 seconds left and the Heat down by two points, Leonard had the chance to seal the win for Spurs by making two free throws.

He only made one, and what followed is well-known—Chris Bosh snagged the offensive rebound, and Ray Allen sank the game-tying three-pointer.

In the 2006 Finals, Game 3, with the last 3.4 seconds, Nowitzki had the chance to tie the game with free throws, but the trembling Nowitzki only made one, enabling the Heat to take G3.

If not for that free throw, the Mavericks could have led the Heat 3-0, and maybe Nowitzki’s first championship would have come earlier.

In the last Eastern Conference Game 6, if not for O’Neal’s debilitating free throws leading to repeated hacking, Kukoc wouldn’t have had the chance to turn the tide at the last moment.

As for Karl Malone, what he relished the most was the missed free throw in ’97, famously known as “The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays.”

But in fact, before that, Karl Malone was already “rich in battle spoils.”

There, in this year’s Western Finals’ final moments, Karl Malone’s free throws once again buried the Utah Jazz.

Actually, throughout the game today, Malone’s free throw accuracy was terrible.

He took 12 shots, making only 6 of them.

While the Reign Man he was marking succeeded in making 10 out of 11 attempts, his shooting percentage was like firing at point-blank range.

At the end of the game, Stockton and Karl Malone stood with hands on hips, looking thoughtfully at the celebrating SuperSonics players.

This duo had been playing together for a full 11 seasons, like two living statues in Salt Lake City, never moving from their spots.

They had lived through the era of black and white dominance, the miracles of Michael, and the meteoric rise of Roger, witnessing one era of change after another.

Yet, they always ended up as spectators of the times, turning into dust of history.

This was their closest shot at the Finals, even closer than in 1992 and 1994, so close that only sinking a few damned free throws would have made their dream a reality.

However, dreams ultimately shattered because of a few seemingly insignificant free throws.

Stockton patted Karl Malone on the back, and Jerry Sloan left the court with a stern face.

Malone stared at the orange hoop inside the Tacoma Dome, expressionless.

He had not expected to fall because of free throws one day.

Free throws, they are far more important than people think.

This saying applies just as well to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The following day, the entire city of Chicago was filled with a suffocating, oppressive atmosphere.

Because tonight, their perfect season might be elevated, but it was also at great risk of being destroyed in an instant.

If they lost this game, then the 72 wins, MVP, Coach of the Year, three All-Defensive First Team players would all become meaningless.

Of course, the same was true for the Magic.

Losing this game would mean a failed defense of their title, and all of Roger’s talk about back-to-back championships, three-peats, would just be the bragging of the incapable.

Phil Jackson knew the kind of pressure his players faced, but instead of motivating them, the psychology-savvy coach told everyone before the game, “Face reality; you may lose today.

Prepare mentally for that possibility.”