Champion Creed
Chapter 570 - 570 205 Hi SPOY Vote for monthly ticket please!_2

570: 205: Hi, SPOY (Vote for monthly ticket please!)_2 570: 205: Hi, SPOY (Vote for monthly ticket please!)_2 Finally, standing in the middle of the court, Roger raised his arms, “Come on, let’s do this together!”

At that moment, the people of Atlanta also raised their arms toward the direction of Roger from all around, echoing his movement.

It was as if a savior had descended upon the earth.

The screen faded to black, and three simple words appeared: “One team, one city, one goal.”

Last was the Reebok logo.

This commercial was very successful.

The black-and-white imagery, the rousing shout, coupled with grandiose music—each viewing could stir up emotions, creating a considerable stir in Atlanta.

Reebok even turned the last shot of the commercial, which featured Roger surrounded by people like a messiah, into a gigantic poster displayed throughout Atlanta’s large billboards.

From the advertising to T-shirts and posters, Reebok created an atmosphere where “the whole city was tied to Roger.”

They made every Atlantan believe that Roger was their most trustworthy person!

The outstanding sales of the commemorative T-shirts proved that racial barriers had been completely shattered; all these marketing strategies were working.

Roger, this Asian, had become the chosen son of all Atlanta, no, the entire state of Georgia.

Now, the Hawks and Roger were at the very center of traffic in Georgia.

The situation of the Hawks was similar to the 2008 Olympic “Redeem Team.” If the 2004 and 2006 Dream Teams hadn’t experienced defeat, the 2008 team wouldn’t have garnered such attention.

But precisely because of the humiliations in 2004 and 2006, the Redeem Team became so special.

The Warriors and the Falcons were like the United States team in those years.

And the Hawks had become that Redeem Team!

The concept of a savior was widely spread, and while Reebok was capitalizing on this, the Hawks just defeated Roger’s former team, the Orlando Magic.

By then, the Hawks’ record had reached 37 wins and 11 losses.

In January’s games, the Hawks lost only four games, but three of those were to teams from the West.

They were defeated by the Spurs, Suns, and Timberwolves, respectively.

Atlanta seemed to have been cursed; whenever the city’s teams played against teams from other divisions, the chances of an upset were incredibly high.

Thus, in the midst of the hot hype of the “savior” image, the Hawks indeed needed to defeat a strong team from the West to reassure their fans.

Very coincidentally, on February 5th, the Hawks were set to face off against a strong Western team.

On the afternoon of the 4th, Roger and the team took a flight to Seattle, to face one of the best-performing teams of the season.

After losing Reign Man Kemp the previous summer, nearly all of Seattle believed that the team was on the verge of decline.

But Vin Baker, newly joined, filled Kemp’s void almost perfectly, and the SuperSonics’ performance improved compared to the previous season!

Vin Baker was having an outstanding season, with a career-high shooting percentage and the fewest three-pointers taken in his career.

Moreover, the media rarely caught him drunkenly stumbling about.

Perhaps it was the iron-blooded atmosphere of the SuperSonics that influenced him, or maybe it was Payton and George Karl pushing him to his limits.

In any case, he showed the best professional attitude of his career with the SuperSonics.

So the strength of the SuperSonics was formidable, and the people of Seattle believed that, with Jordan’s retirement and the split between Roger and Shaq, their era had arrived.

It wouldn’t be easy for the savior to perform miracles against such a team.

Inside KeyArena, while both teams were warming up, Bill Walton brought up the recent hot topic of the “savior”:

“After both the Warriors and the Falcons suffered dreadful failures, Roger appeared as the savior of Atlanta.

Undoubtedly, his achievements in Orlando over the past three years were great; that is unquestionable.

But Atlanta’s situation is entirely different from Orlando.

Scott and Steve are both good help, but they’re not top three MVP-level players.

In other words, the success Roger had in Orlando might not be replicated in Atlanta.

The Hawks’ heavy loss against the Utah Jazz at the beginning of January made people link their experiences to those of the Warriors and the Falcons, believing that the Hawks struggled against Western conference teams.

What do you think, Steve?”

Steve Jones nodded, “I think these are unwarranted worries.

As we know, the Hawks can crush the Spurs and beat the Lakers; these are also strong teams from the West.

It’s just unfortunate that they lost to the Jazz twice, which doesn’t prove anything.

Linking the Atlanta Hawks with the other two teams is completely illogical.

MLB, NFL, and NBA are three entirely different competitive environments, with no comparability at all.”

Steve Jones made a good point, but psychologically, many fans still felt fear towards teams from the West.

This fear caused some obstacles to Roger’s “savior” marketing.

Roger needed a clean and beautiful victory to solidify his image as a “savior.”

But the SuperSonics were indeed not an easy opponent.

They were not just strong but were also absolutely determined to fight the Hawks to the end.

The 1996 Finals were the most painful memory for George Karl, Payton, and all SuperSonics players.

They had given their all and fought for a season, finally breaking the first-round curse and reaching the Finals.

What happened then?

Roger and Shaq didn’t let them win a single game!