Champion Creed
Chapter 366 - 366 148 Crazy Summer under the Influence of the Butterfly Effect Votes for Monthly Tickets Please!_2

366: 148: Crazy Summer under the Influence of the Butterfly Effect (Votes for Monthly Tickets Please!)_2 366: 148: Crazy Summer under the Influence of the Butterfly Effect (Votes for Monthly Tickets Please!)_2 They decided to wait another year, making the decision wasn’t difficult.

After that came the various crazy transactions of the summer of ’96.

As he promised, Reggie Miller stayed in Indianapolis.

When interviewed by reporters, he even deliberately taunted Jordan, “If Patrick calls me to New York, I’d say go to hell”

There was no doubt this enraged Jordan, poor Reggie Miller didn’t know he was already on Jordan’s hit list.

The Miami Heat retained Mourning with a hundred-million-dollar contract and were prepared to secure Juwan Howard with another hundred-million-dollar deal.

But the Bullets appealed to the league, claiming that the bonuses in the contracts offered by the Heat to players like Tim Hardaway were above the normal value and should be considered as part of the salary cap; therefore, the Heat didn’t have enough cap space to sign Juwan Howard.

As a result, Howard returned to the Bullets.

An angry Riley chose a risky move after losing Juwan Howard; he secured Dennis Rodman with a five-million-dollar contract, who was wearing a wedding dress all day to promote his new book.

Considering Rodman’s performance in making the All-Defensive First Team last season, Riley thought he was suitable for his physical system.

Riley also had confidence in controlling Rodman; if Phil Jackson, that garbage coach who only knows how to manage superstars, could do it, then certainly I can too.

Then, the Heat gave up on chasing Dan Majerle and signed Allan Houston instead to fill the salary cap space.

After a series of moves, The Miami Heat put together a highly competitive lineup.

Bearing in mind that they might trade for Jamal Mashburn midseason, the Heat’s competitiveness was actually stronger than people imagined.

Heat owner Micky Arison had witnessed Roger scoring 54 points and slaughtering the team in Miami last season, he once felt the Heat could not go on anymore.

But now, the Heat has become one of the most competitive teams in the East.

This was why he needed Pat Riley.

Years later, Riley would undoubtedly be very thankful for the Bullets’ appeal because it made the Heat miss out on a terrible contract, and it also allowed them to truly rise.

Riley’s astute management excited all Heat fans, and this issue of “Sports Illustrated” chose the increasingly visible Pat Riley for the cover, however, the title on the cover mentioned two other teams: “For the Orlando Magic, trouble is not just the New York Knicks.”

The Magic, the Heat, and the Knicks formed a very ambiguous triangle.

“Sports Illustrated” was right, the Heat would indeed become trouble next season.

What Roger knew was that the original 96-97 Miami Heat had 61 wins.

Now, they had added Rodman and Allan Houston to the mix.

Maybe they really could do something.

Next season’s Florida derby was going to be more exciting.

But, it was just a bit more trouble.

The West was equally messy.

After the Hawks gave up on signing Mutombo, he received invitations from many teams, but he ultimately chose a place nobody wanted to go—Salt Lake City.

For Mutombo, the Jazz gave away next year’s first-round pick to the Vancouver Grizzlies, asking them to help absorb Chris Morris’s $2.5 million contract.

Even so, Salt Lake City didn’t have enough space to sign Mount Mutombo.

So, the key step for Mutombo to join was John Stockton choosing to take a $2 million pay cut to make room for Mutombo.

Last season’s loss to the SuperSonics in the Western Conference Finals had left Stockton and Karl Malone, the duo who had stood by Salt Lake City for over a decade with nothing to show, very upset.

What was worse, the SuperSonics, after defeating them, didn’t have the strength to even fight back in the finals.

How big was the gap between the Jazz and the championship then?

It was unimaginably chilling.

This year, with a rare big-name free agent willing to come to a godforsaken place like Salt Lake City, John Stockton thought he couldn’t miss this opportunity.

After decades of dedication here, there had to be a result.

So, Stockton chose to take a pay cut, moving Mount Mutombo to Salt Lake City in a Herculean effort.

Of course, everyone loves money, so Stockton’s pay-cut contract was only for one year.

After one year, the team could use Bird rights to sign him to a big contract.

Stockton still had a lot of trust in the Jazz.

Sir Charles Barkley was not affected by this series of butterfly effects; just like in the original history, he left the Phoenix Suns and joined Olajuwon and Clyde the Glide to form a glamorous triumvirate.

Although all three were over 33 and past their prime.

The world still believed that these three could become powerful contenders for the championship.

This crazy offseason increased the pressure on Orlando fans; many teams had armed themselves to the teeth.

And what about the Magic?

They let go of the important starter Horace Grant.

The reason was that the Dallas Mavericks were willing to offer a $10 million annual salary.

For the Magic, who were already burdened with two $20 million annual salary contracts, they just couldn’t afford to match Grant’s contract.

Even though there was no luxury tax back then, for the Magic, paying $20 million to keep Shaq was already an overspend.

The Mavericks offered such a high price because they were desperate, trying to get the talented “3J” to unite, so they looked for a veteran with a successful track record and championship DNA to stabilize the locker room.