Champion Creed
Chapter 442 - 442 169 I seem to have said this to someone else before asking for monthly pass!_2

442: 169: I seem to have said this to someone else before (asking for monthly pass!)_2 442: 169: I seem to have said this to someone else before (asking for monthly pass!)_2 In the unwavering efforts of the Players Union President, the contradictions between the parties were successfully magnified, a tribute to Patrick Ewing.

However, owners shouldn’t get angry just yet, wait until negotiations start, and Ewing’s sweet-talking brother will take good care of their feelings.

(If you can’t play, just sell the team, that phrase is so “reassuring”.)

As a result, a series of news about labor negotiations appeared in major media outlets.

Roger greatly admired Ewing, admiring him as a person who dared to speak the truth.

After all, the Gold Club was not cheap.

Anyway, for Roger, this was good news, at least the media wouldn’t be so bored as to analyze the footage of his elbowing Malone over and over again.

Not sure if it was related, but even though Roger knocked Malone out cold with an elbow, he wasn’t penalized by the league.

Hardly any journalists even asked about it.

First, perhaps because such incidents were not uncommon in the ’90s.

Secondly, the focus of both the league and the media was now on preparing for the labor negotiations.

This kind of negotiation is not as simple as the company boss whimsically calling you to a meeting on your day off and then talking a bunch of nonsense.

What the owners want to achieve, the effects they’re hoping for, and the demands of the players must all be planned and prepared for in advance.

Otherwise, if everyone at the table talks without thinking like Ewing, each of them saying millions in annual salary isn’t enough to feed a family, how can the negotiation proceed?

In the meantime, Roger led his team to a few more wins.

On February 26th, facing the San Antonio Spurs, the Magic still won by 21 points without Shaq.

Popovich’s extreme tactics saved the team.

Because the Magic’s frontline was too short, Will Perdue, a 213 cm former Bulls center, exploited his height advantage at one point.

Feeling like he was possessed by Skyhook, he effortlessly hooked shots, scoring 12 points in the first half on 7 of 6 shooting.

In the second half, Popovich, in a moment of desperation, displayed the response capabilities of a top coach.

He quickly and decisively benched Perdue, which stabilized the team and secured the loss.

Roger swore that after the game ended, a losing Popovich was smiling.

However, during the press conference, Popovich told reporters, “This was a very heartbreaking defeat, as you know, the team still needs to work hard.”

Indeed, they still needed to work hard, as the Celtics had four less wins than the Spurs.

If the Spurs don’t push themselves, the Celtics are set to firmly claim the last place position.

On the 28th, Roger was at home facing the Clippers.

Roger scored 34 points in three quarters.

The Clippers simply couldn’t stop him, losing decisively.

The game was reminiscent of Zhang Ziyu’s one-man onslaught against the Japanese team at the U18 Asian Championship in 2024.

Elgin Baylor sat in the box, watching his team being easily defeated yet again, wondering how things had come to this.

Last year’s draft saw the Lakers offering All-Star forward Ceballos, who only played two games this season before being out for the rest.

Divac was indeed a good player, but not the kind that could change the tide of battle.

Their addition did not make the Clippers any better.

If he could, Elgin Baylor truly wished God would give him another chance.

In this world, there is always someone who wishes God would give their life another chance.

If God gave Isaiah Thomas from 2024 another chance, Thomas would definitely erase Anucha Brown Sanders from the world completely—not because he believed harassing this woman led to a loss of ten million dollars, but because everyone mocked him for getting entangled with such an ugly woman, which he found extremely embarrassing.

And if God gave the current Elgin Baylor another chance, he would definitely refuse the Logo’s trade and instead pick Kerry Kittles with the seventh pick!

Hmm, some people are simply hopeless, even if God gives them several chances.

Effortlessly, the Magic clinched a three-game winning streak even after losing Shaq.

This is why Roger was confident about keeping his position.

Because not all of the upcoming games for the Magic were against strong teams.

The Knicks had a tough job closing a four-win gap.

After the game, when interviewed, Roger was initially distracted, as there wasn’t much to discuss about the game.

But a journalist asked an unusual question, “Roger, what do you think about General Manager John Gabriel’s comments on the luxury tax rules?”

“Sorry, I haven’t seen the news on that, so I can’t comment on my thoughts at this time,” he replied.

The press conference ended, and it wasn’t until he saw the TV that Roger found out what John Gabriel had said.

With the labor dispute making headlines, NBC interviewed many team executives recently to get their thoughts on the possible rules in the new labor agreement.

John Gabriel was asked about the potential luxury tax rules.

He was quite resistant:

“Mr.

DeVos and I do not support this measure, it is unfair to teams like ours without huge commercial supports yet sustaining superstars.

We already spend a lot to maintain the roster, so why should we be fined just because it’s expensive?

It’s absurd.

I know the league is trying to prevent top players from flocking to super metropolises, but there surely are better ways – perhaps a hard salary cap would do.”