Champion Creed
Chapter 428 - 428 165 Now cake is no longer exclusive to Orlando request for monthly tickets!_2

428: 165: Now, cake is no longer exclusive to Orlando (request for monthly tickets!)_2 428: 165: Now, cake is no longer exclusive to Orlando (request for monthly tickets!)_2 Considering that American feminism is at the forefront globally, Roger couldn’t conveniently express the original words.

Roger might not fear Jordan, but he couldn’t help but fear the old boxer.

Regardless, Roger provided Pat Riley with some fresh material for nightmares.

This was what the 1997 NBA faced with the Orlando Magic: when you held down one, another would pop up and kill you.

Moreover, they were even more bloodthirsty than in the past two years.

Entering 1997, the basketball world seemed to revolve only around the Orlando Magic.

They clinched victory after victory, setting one record after another.

So far this season, the Orlando Magic had never been defeated consecutively.

It was well known that Michael Jordan had set a daunting record: from 1990 to 1996, any Chicago Bulls team with Michael Jordan had never lost three consecutive games.

If Roger hadn’t driven Jordan away, that record would have persisted until 1998.

But this season, the Magic had not even lost two games in a row.

They did lose games and even experienced alternating wins and losses.

But they never lost two consecutive games.

The second record, the Magic had never lost at home so far this season.

If both records could be maintained until the end of the season, it would undoubtedly add a lot of points for Roger and Shaq in the MVP competition.

The terrifying winning streak of the Magic continued until the All-Star game in February.

During this period, the Magic lost once to the Knicks, but they quickly won back a week later.

Moreover, in that game, Roger and Shaq jointly scored 77 points.

Jordan tried his best, scoring the game’s highest at 46 points, but Ewing was completely lost, only scoring 13 points with 11 rebounds.

After the game, Michael Jordan stood hands on hips at Orlando Arena, staring at the two championship flags above him for a long while.

He knew if a third flag hung in the arena skies come next autumn, it might mean that he was no longer in the league.

Yes, Jordan had made preparations.

If he could not win the championship this season, he would seriously consider retiring.

Perhaps, to become a great owner?

After defeating the Knicks, Roger and O’Neal went to the 1997 Cleveland All-Star and participated in the celebration honoring the top 50 players during the All-Star halftime.

Of the top 50 stars, eleven were active players, including Roger and Shaq.

All the selected players, regardless of how many years they had been retired or where they were, had come to the celebration—except for two.

One was Pete Maravich, who had passed away.

The other absentee was Jerry West.

A week earlier, he announced that he needed a minor nasal surgery, so he regretfully could not attend.

But the whole world knew this was just an excuse; the real reason Jerry West didn’t attend was that the league had indeed initiated an investigation early in the season against him, Jerry Buss, and the entire Los Angeles Lakers to ensure there was no illegal recruitment.

So, the Logo not attending the celebration was actually a way to express his dissatisfaction and protest.

This was typical of Jerry West; he feared neither David Stern nor anyone else.

In fact, the current Logo had mellowed quite a bit; if he were ten years younger, Jerry West would definitely have attended the celebration and then pointed directly at David Stern’s nose: “How dare you question my integrity, you fucking Jews?

Do you even have the right to talk about integrity?”

During the photo session for the top 50 stars, standing next to Roger was the Iceman.

He just smiled at Roger, without much interaction.

Looking at the Iceman, Roger still felt somewhat sentimental.

Initially, Roger just wanted to catch up to his role model.

But now, he realized how far he had forged ahead.

After the celebration, “Sports Illustrated” interviewed Roger, asking him “about the top 50 stars, who do you think most deserved but missed out?”

“I really know nothing about the selection criteria, but certainly, there are players who should have been on that list, those who had already made a big name in the league.

For instance, Dominique Wilkins.”

Alone at home and feeling down, Wilkins gave a resigned bitter smile, which still couldn’t change his view of Roger as a bastard.

However, Roger was indeed a bastard worth following.

Apart from the top 50 stars, the league also selected the top ten NBA teams in history.

This list was chosen through voting by members of print and broadcast media that regularly reported on the NBA.

Of these ten teams, three were from the 60s, one from the 70s, four from the 80s, and two from the 90s.

The two teams from the 90s were the ’91-’92 Chicago Bulls, as well as the ’95-’96 Orlando Magic!

Indeed, the historic 72-win Bulls did not make the list, replaced instead by the Magic team that had defeated the 72-win Bulls!

In other words, last season’s Magic was considered one of the ten strongest teams in NBA history!

It proved that championships truly trump all.

The top ten teams selected by the NBA were all championship teams.

No matter if you had 72 wins, no matter if you were the all-time leading scorer, no matter how popular you were, it was all useless.

Only championships served as the ultimate measurement of greatness.

First, being chosen among the top 50 stars, then leading a team that was selected as one of the NBA’s top ten teams, it is hard to imagine that Roger and Shaq, not yet 25 years old and just starting their careers, had already created such impressive feats.