Champion Creed
Chapter 599 - 599 213 Advantage in Salt Lake City Seeking monthly passes!_3

599: 213: Advantage in Salt Lake City (Seeking monthly passes!)_3 599: 213: Advantage in Salt Lake City (Seeking monthly passes!)_3 “This is the first time you’ve faced the same opponent in consecutive finals; do you think there’s anything different about it?”

“Nothing’s different.

Take out the opponents, then bring the championship home.

No matter who they are, no matter how long they’ve rested, that never changes.”

—Roger during a press conference interview.

At this time, Stockton and Karl Malone were drenched in sweat at the gym.

These two training maniacs hadn’t slackened off even before the finals began.

Why were they working so hard?

Because they had never won MVP.

Take a look at a day of training for a former CBA MVP.

Aerobic exercise: running on the treadmill in three sets, each lasting 17 minutes.

Core training: three sets of 15kg weight plank supports.

Shooting training: a leisurely 300 shots without opposition is enough.

That’s the privilege of an MVP.

No way around it; if Karl Malone and Stockton are inexperienced, they need to train more.

“Karl,” John Stockton, always with a stoic expression, now had his eyebrows knitted together, “how confident are you this time?”

“A hundred percent!” Malone, who was lifting light dumbbells, replied decisively.

Karl Malone isn’t overly arrogant.

Although most media still favored the Hawks, Malone could openly claim “the advantage is ours” in this year’s finals.

First off, he and his team had rested for a full week.

The fatigue the Jazz players carried throughout the long season was nearly gone.

Furthermore, because they had home-court advantage this year, the Jazz didn’t have to fly back and forth.

They just needed to rest up in Salt Lake City and wait for the Hawks to come knocking.

In contrast, those Atlanta bastards.

After a day’s rest back in Georgia, they had to immediately come and breathe the thin air of Salt Lake City.

It wasn’t just physical exhaustion; jumping straight from one tough battle into another always leads to feelings of ennui and fatigue.

For the Hawks, it was undoubtedly a form of torment.

Secondly, Karl Malone has never feared being isolated against Roger and Shaq.

He told Stockton:

“Without Shaq, what’s Roger?

Our defense can handle him.

He’s got no assistance, he’s got nothing.

Look at Shaq; over there in the Lakers, he’s got three so-called All-Stars, but what can they do to help Shaq?

They can only watch as Shaq gets slaughtered by us.

Shaq and Roger, they need each other.

Separated, they have no fighting power.”

Beyond these reasons, Karl Malone’s confidence also came from sweeping the Lakers 4-0 and the Spurs 4-1 in the series.

After the Jazz battled to a tense Game 5 victory over the Rockets’ three giants in the first round and narrowly avoided an upset, Malone had braced himself for more tough fights ahead.

After all, the Rockets were fading, and the Lakers and Spurs were considered the West’s top contenders this year.

So what happened?

The Spurs’ twin towers weren’t as difficult as imagined.

Malone effortlessly averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds over them each game.

In contrast, Duncan only managed 21+8, and the Admiral was even worse, scoring 18 points at a 39% shooting rate.

Then against the Los Angeles Lakers, it wasn’t just the L.A.

fans who were shocked; even Malone, the opponent, was taken aback.

Because it was the easiest Western Conference Finals he had ever played.

Each game, Malone felt he could crush the Lakers.

Each game, he saw O’Neal as nothing but a powerless clown.

With a 56% shooting rate, averaging 30+10+4, Malone even had better stats than in the Western semifinals.

The Jazz hardly broke a sweat before they swept the so-called championship-favorite Lakers out the door.

In short, here’s the deal: so far in the playoffs this year, Karl Malone has effortlessly taken down five of the top 50 giants, a super-rookie who was fifth in the Rookie of the Year race and twice an All-Defensive team member, as well as two championship-favorite teams.

And Malone achieved all of this feeling no pressure at all.

Malone now feels like a gamer who accidentally stumbles into the lair of the final boss on the very first level and then finds fighting the minor enemies incredibly easy afterwards.

The victories in these two rounds brought Malone’s confidence to an unprecedented high, as unshakable as that of the man who eyed the first place in history after winning four championships.

Karl Malone firmly believed that if the Hawks struggled against an average-talent team like the Pacers until the final moments of Game 6, there was no way they could beat the Jazz!

He would not allow Roger to jump up on the technical table in celebration in front of him again.

He would not tolerate the media saying again that he and Stockton didn’t have the championship gene.

And he would certainly not permit Roger, that scoundrel who once made him bleed, to strut around triumphantly.

John Stockton was equally confident, but he still reminded his partner: “Karl, Roger’s not without help.

Scott and Stevie Smith, they both have significant clutch performances.”

“Hmm, maybe.

But we’ve got plenty of ways to deal with those two guys.

We won’t lose: this time, we definitely will not lose again.

If anyone wants to stick out their neck to help Roger, let them taste the intimate embrace of hell.”

Malone set down the light dumbbells and rubbed his elbows.

Well, Duncan and the Admiral would surely know what he meant by that.