Champion Creed
Chapter 726 - 726 249 A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf Vote for Monthly Tickets!

726: 249: A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf (Vote for Monthly Tickets!) 726: 249: A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf (Vote for Monthly Tickets!) In the middle of the night, a sleeping Roger suddenly opened his eyes.

Next to him, the scarlet Gisele Bundchen had already fallen into a deep slumber.

Since the weather in Georgia was hot, she wasn’t covered by a blanket.

Moonlight spilled over her, casting a thin silver veil upon the slender girl that made her look as ethereal as a Renaissance painting.

Roger had always liked to admire such a sight.

But now, he wasn’t in the mood.

He glanced at the clock—just 3:17 a.m.

“Damn it, it’s always around the same time,” he cursed under his breath, rubbing his tired eyes before relaxing his body and staring at the ceiling.

This wasn’t the first time he had awoken abruptly in the early hours.

This habitual midnight awakening had been going on for quite some time.

When did it start?

Probably after last season’s failure.

He would always wake up suddenly, eager to check the time and date, to see how long it was until the Eastern Conference final.

Then he would sigh, feeling the lengthy passage of time.

The defeat in that round of the playoffs had plagued him, leaving him restless.

He knew he had the ability to handle the Heat this season, but alas, he had to wait for the next opportunity, enduring the agony day by day.

A year, half a year, three months, a month…

Now, only a few days were left.

It was almost time.

Soon, he would reclaim everything that was his.

Just one more set of playoffs, and all this suffering would finally reach its conclusion.

—————–

The title of the strongest team in history is too broad.

So Bill Simmons described the Hawks, who averaged a 32-point victory in the first round, as “the toughest team to beat in history.”

And Roger’s best sidekick, Shaq, extended a helping hand at this moment, pushing Roger forward, proving that the Hawks were indeed the hardest team to beat

The strength of a team is relative.

Unlike the Hawks, who breezed through to the next round, the top seed Los Angeles Lakers from the West faced stiff resistance from the Sacramento Kings in the first round.

Just how formidable?

The Lakers were nearly upset in a historic “black eight.”

Chris Webber, a man who had despised Shaq for a full seven years, finally stood tall in the spring of 2000 after seven years of back issues.

During the first two games of the round, the Lakers comfortably led 2-0 as expected.

And Shaq continued to humiliate Webber as always.

“Without the Kandi Man, Chris could have competed for the most underwhelming number one draft pick in history.

Now you understand why my time with him in Orlando ended in failure, don’t you?

Now you understand why Michael’s time with him in Chicago didn’t work out, right?

There’s also Grant Hill who suffered.

God, Chris has never been a success; whoever’s on his team is doomed to fail.”

Shaq mercilessly ridiculed Webber, something that hadn’t changed in seven years.

Because Webber was one of the few people he disliked but who wouldn’t cause him to stumble.

It was like teasing a dog in a cage; no matter how much you provoked it, it couldn’t harm you.

But this year, Shaq was bitten hard.

In Game 3, all Lakers players thought they could sweep the Kings that night, advancing to the second round with heads held high like the Hawks.

Instead, O’Neal was contained to 8 out of 22 shooting, with a free throw percentage of only 35.7% under the Kings’ double-team.

Webber, on the other hand, put up a strong show with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists, narrowly missing a triple-double.

His usually criticized free throws were also successful, hitting 7 out of 8.

This could be said to be Webber’s best playoff performance in his career, and he also led the Kings to their first playoff victory since 1981.

That’s right, for the past 19 years, the Kings had not won a single playoff game.

They had been in the playoffs several times but never won even a game.

That was a very long time.

In 1981, Magic Johnson was only a sophomore, the rivalry between Magic and Bird was just beginning, and people were still debating their futures.

And now?

Even Michael Jordan, who followed after Magic and Bird, has had his career set in stone.

So the significance of this victory to Sacramento fans goes without saying.

It also meant a great deal to Webber.

He had been scarred by the Magic era, hurt by the Bulls era, and disillusioned by his time in Detroit.

Finally, in Sacramento, Chris Webber caught up with the self he had been hoping for.

After winning the game, Chris Webber walked off the court and embraced a bespectacled, white-haired old man.

That was Pete Carril, an advisor and assistant coach for the Kings, who served as the head coach of Princeton University from 1967 to 1996 and is the only college coach in history to achieve 500 victories without relying on players on basketball scholarships.

The famous Princeton System also originated from him.

When Chris Webber had gone through three rounds of failure in his career and stated at a press conference that he had “no intention of moving forward” and didn’t even want to report to the Kings, it was Pete Carril who called him and said, “Stop complaining, big guy, come on, I’ll make you the centerpiece.”

That sentence saved Chris Webber’s professional career.

At that moment, Pete Carril wrapped his arm around Webber’s neck, smiling like a father, “See, I told you, Princeton can make the smart man defeat the strong man, you did it, Chris.”

O’Neal, watching the Sacramento fans’ cheers and the touching moment between Webber and Pete Carril, was livid.

For Kings fans and Webber, it was a night of victory.

But for the Lakers and Shaq, it was a night of shame.