Champion Creed
Chapter 386 - 386 154 Roger's must-play items each season Ask for monthly tickets!_2

386: 154: Roger’s must-play items each season (Ask for monthly tickets!)_2 386: 154: Roger’s must-play items each season (Ask for monthly tickets!)_2 No longer fond of joking around, no longer greeting each other with intimacy.

The day before yesterday, Roger suggested going to a movie together in the evening, but Shaq declined.

In the past, Shaq would never have passed up such fun and games.

Of course, they still talked and still referred to each other as brothers.

Yet, it was like playing sports while wearing protective gear.

No matter how thin the brand, you could still feel that barely visible barrier.

Shaq got up to take a shower, Roger grimaced and didn’t think too much about it.

Maybe it was just his own illusion.

After all, why would Shaq have any reason to dislike him?

Roger had secured a big contract for Shaq, making him a championship center during his time with the Magic.

Maybe Shaq hadn’t changed at all, just became more focused and mature.

Roger felt he knew Shaq well enough, and Shaq was definitely not the type of person Penny was.

The sixth game of the season, the Magic were up against an interesting opponent—the Chicago Bulls.

In terms of strength, the current Chicago Bulls were like an aging beauty, long since devoid of collagen, and lacking in allure.

Since the beginning of the season, the Chicago Bulls had three wins and two losses.

Not quite a total collapse, but the whole world knew they had changed.

A team held up by Kukoc and Pippen—how high could it possibly go?

The gap in strength between the Magic and the Bulls had grown significantly, but considering Roger’s personal grudges with Pippen and the Bulls, the game was packed with stories.

On the day of the game, Roger was back in Chicago.

The place where his professional career started.

Back then, people weren’t satisfied with merely getting the Chicago Bulls into the finals.

Yet who could have predicted that would be the best the Chicago Bulls would do in recent years?

Now, Chicago fans were talking about Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady, longing for the next savior to appear.

But once upon a time, they had their own savior.

In many people’s eyes, the Chicago Bulls were already a tanking team, but Scottie Pippen refused to accept such a fate.

He was the captain, and he wanted to prove that he could survive without Jordan.

He wouldn’t say something stupid like “Our goal is still the championship,” but he felt he could at least drag the team into the playoffs.

Not just to prove himself, but also to foil Jerry Krause’s damn plans!

He didn’t need to tank, didn’t need rookies.

He just needed some strong teammates, Krause needed to get him some decent teammates!

However, only he thought so; the entire world could see that Scottie Pippen was not fit to be a leader.

Just the day before yesterday, after losing to the Jazz, Pippen exploded at the press conference: “I don’t understand why we have to tank, I can lead this team!

Damn it, just give me eight teammates who want to win, it’s that simple!”

In other words, he attributed the loss entirely to his teammates.

But in reality, Pippen himself had only made 5 out of 15 shots against the Jazz, scoring just 17 points.

Pippen felt indignant; he had given so much to the Bulls, yet they were unwilling to give him a chance.

As soon as Jordan left, the whole team thought about rebuilding.

Today, Pippen continued to rant on a local Chicago radio station: “I will prove that I am qualified to lead the team, we may not beat the Magic, but I will make sure Roger doesn’t score 25 points!”

Roger was finding himself liking Pippen more and more.

The guy’s sense of humor was severely underestimated.

On the game day, before the battle began, Roger hugged Kukoc as usual.

This season, Kukoc, due to having more opportunities and shooting rights, averaged 18.8 points, 7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game—a significant increase.

“Congratulations, brother, you ousted Michael Jordan by sheer talent, completing what I couldn’t have.”

“Haha, that’s not even funny, man!”

“Don’t be mad, I’ll buy you dinner tonight.”

“Would you still feel like treating me to dinner if you don’t reach 25 points?”

Roger looked past Kukoc at Pippen, “That’s just not going to happen, brother.”

It had to be admitted, battling with Pippen was not easy.

Today, Pippen was like a mad dog; he did nothing but snap at Roger.

One thing you couldn’t deny was that Scottie Pippen was always passionate on defense.

Even toward the end of his career, he would never use age as an excuse, becoming that kind of lone hero who guards half of the court on his own.

Roger’s shooting percentage was kept very low, until he got his rhythm back in the third quarter and finally started to recover.

But another issue arose—the game was about to enter garbage time.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Magic had already taken an 18-point lead.

Usually, a win by about 25 points or so was enough to call it a day.

Roger was foolish; he didn’t understand the importance of staggered appearances.

His playing time almost completely overlapped with Pippen’s, always clashing with the toughest opponent.

If he had staggered just a bit, Roger would have hit 25 points long ago, even without breaking a sweat.

Pippen’s defense was still tight, unaffected by the score difference.

But after regaining his touch in the third quarter, Roger still made a lot of difficult jump shots.

Finally, in the tenth minute of the third quarter, Roger scored 24 points.

The Bulls were trailing by 23 points.

The Magic were on the offense, and Roger was ready to take Pippen one-on-one.

Looking at Pippen, number 33, who refused to give in, Roger felt a bit of sympathy for the bastard.