Champion Creed
Chapter 717 - 717 246 You will always be my favorite second-in-command asking for monthly votes!_5

717: 246: You will always be my favorite second-in-command (asking for monthly votes!)_5 717: 246: You will always be my favorite second-in-command (asking for monthly votes!)_5 As people knew, the Magic Team had a powerful inside offensive capability, but their perimeter response was terrible.

Throw Roger into the mix, and it’s a threepeat.

The Hawks’ inside offense was almost negligible, but their perimeter response was decent, almost the exact opposite of the Magic.

Throw Roger in there, and it’s a championship.

Today’s Eastern Conference All-Stars, the lineup was absurdly unbalanced.

The best big man, Alonzo Mourning, at 208 cm, had to face the siege of three superstar centers—Garnett, Duncan, and Shaquille O’Neal.

You could imagine the horrific scene of a frail actress facing three black male actors, but tonight Alonzo Mourning was even worse off than her.

But throw Roger into this distorted lineup, make a slight adjustment in the fourth quarter, and the team was actually leading.

He wasn’t picky about lineups or teammates.

He wasn’t like other stars, constantly having issues like “XXX team doesn’t fit XXX star’s style,” “XXX teammate doesn’t fit XXX star’s basketball,” or even “XXX must partner with another star of equal caliber to work.”

As long as the team’s players weren’t a complete waste, Roger could lead them to victory.

This was unbelievable, such a leadership ability was quite exaggerated even historically.

AI would never again say something stupid like he was on par with Roger, at least not this season.

After making a free throw, the Eastern Conference All-Stars led by 5 points.

Shaquille O’Neal was habitually being crushed by Roger.

A round later, Duncan took a mid-range jump shot over Carter’s head.

But tonight, Duncan’s shooting touch was really off, the basketball hit the rim again.

The Iron Man Mourning was almost crazily contending with O’Neal, while Roger blocked the lean KG and then grabbed the rebound.

He didn’t act superior just because he was a star; if needed, Roger would seriously do these blue-collar tasks.

After that, Roger personally led the counterattack; his ability to rush directly to the basket after grabbing the rebound was not bad, managing to launch one or two full-court fast breaks per game.

Roger leaned on Kobe, jumped into the air, gently released the ball, completed the finish, and crashed out of bounds.

If someone were to keep a statistic, this year’s All-Star might be the one with the most player falls.

The intensity of this game was indeed close to that of the playoffs, but it was futile.

The capable players still perform, and those destined to lose will still lose.

The game was down to a 7-point difference, Roger had scored 22 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and provided 9 assists.

He waved his fist, and the entire crowd moved with him.

David Stern clapped from the stands; this was the 2000 All-Star game he had been hoping for.

The turmoil and low points of ’98, with Michael Jordan as the center of promotion, represented the passing of an old era.

In the new era, that guy might create even more terrifying brilliance.

For the rest of the game, Roger was continuously on the court, continually controlling the entire game.

He assisted the shooters to score through his passes and punished Kobe, Kidd, and Old Payton’s solo defense with his own offense in turn.

But the most impressive image of Roger today was how he repeatedly blocked KG, contended with KG, wrestled with KG, and snatched rebounds from KG.

He turned the All-Star game into a war, and was winning that war!

Indeed, this was why Kevin Garnett admired and respected Roger.

Roger was a fighter, and he looked up to fighters.

O’Neal’s occasional slam dunks were still dazzling and still put Mourning in a difficult position, but compared to everything Roger did, they were just some slams.

In the last 43 seconds of play, the Eastern Conference All-Stars were up by 8 points.

If the West couldn’t score in this round, they would lose even a theoretical chance to win.

If the East could defend this round, they could embrace both honor and applause.

This round would be the night’s Battle of Stalingrad.

Kidd controlled the ball beyond the three-point line.

At that moment, AI wanted to press forward, but Roger immediately grabbed AI’s jersey and pulled him back, “Don’t bother him, just guard the breakthrough!”

Kidd’s mouth twitched; he never expected to be humiliated like this.

Roger’s strategy was indeed correct; betting on Kidd’s three-point shot was the best defense at that moment.

Grinding his teeth, darn it, Roger, do you think I really won’t shoot?

Well, good to know.

Kidd ignored the open space in front of him, searching for a passing target.

Though Kidd’s personal life was messy, many might not know that Wade’s second wife was once Kidd’s lover.

But life is life, and the game is a game.

On the court, Kidd would never be reckless.

He definitely wouldn’t take a wild shot at this time.

However, Kidd couldn’t find a suitable passing target for a while, because the East’s defense was really too tough.

Mourning was doggedly contending with O’Neal, Carter like a blue-collar worker screened Duncan.

Roger tangled up with Garnett, T-Mac closely marked Kobe.

This round, Pat Riley had specifically put T-Mac on to guard his good friend.

Kidd embarrassingly waited at the top of the arc unguarded and eventually passed the ball to Shaq, who had finally freed himself from Mourning’s entanglement.

Shaq received the ball in a higher position this time, so he was still a distance from the basket.

Thus, he turned his back, got past Mourning, and charged at the basket!

Just as all the fans were expecting another powerful crush on the rim by Shaq, Roger appeared outside the charge circle, hands guarding his groin.

Doug Collins stood up incredulously, “Wait, is Roger trying to draw an offensive foul on Shaq!?”

This was simply suicidal!

ESPN magazine had once voted the “Three people you absolutely wouldn’t want to draw offensive fouls from in the ’90s.”