Champion Creed
Chapter 881: 292: Don't worry, I will definitely succeed, David, definitely! (Asking for monthly tickets)

Chapter 881: 292: Don’t worry, I will definitely succeed, David, definitely! (Asking for monthly tickets)

Jason Kidd stood in the darkness of the Philips Arena, silently watching as the Hawks raised the third championship banner of the Roger era.

Roger completely changed the city of Atlanta. Though the Hawks have a long history, they never had much presence on the NBA map.

But ever since Roger arrived, the Hawks have almost become the most prominent team.

Jason Kidd hopes he can achieve all this with the Nets.

His confidence is not baseless; this Nets team indeed has talent, it’s just that Stephon Marbury as the leader was too lousy.

In Kidd’s view, Marbury isn’t even as good as Clown Emperor Jerry Stackhouse.

After all, neither could lead the team to victory, but at least Jerry Stackhouse could still rack up nearly 30 points, far surpassing Stephon Marbury’s ceiling.

Marbury’s playmaking ability? A point guard who can’t lead his team to victory doesn’t deserve to talk about playmaking ability, because he hasn’t made the team any better.

This team doesn’t need someone who can score, it needs discipline and defense.

And Kidd infused these into the Nets.

Furthermore, Kidd believes he can beat the Hawks for another reason—starting this season, the league canceled that annoying illegal defense rule, coinciding with FIBA, allowing zone defense.

Of course, due to the defensive three-second rule, it’s only a truncated version of zone defense.

To ensure entertainment value, David Stern had no choice but to make such a compromise.

The reason for allowing zone defense is simple; Roger is absurdly strong.

Last season, Roger averaged 40 points against the big 3, which made David Stern uneasy.

He fully supports Roger as the leading figure, hoping to mold Roger into the next Michael Jordan. In fact, he already is.

But David Stern can’t let the league become as predictable as it was in the ’60s and ’70s.

Do you think Roger is merely a two-time champion, merely about to clinch a second three-peat?

Believe it, Roger is about to lead the Hawks to four championships in five years!

Aside from the ’50s Lakers and ’60s Celtics, no second team has displayed such dominance.

If you only count Roger personally? He’s about to be a seven-time champion in nine years, which is Bill Russell-level dominance, a height that even Michael Jordan never reached!

Of course, David Stern won’t admit this was to limit Roger.

In the media’s narrative, the NBA’s move is to help American players better adapt to FIBA’s defense.

Considering the Dream Team’s dramatic decline in dominance at the 2000 Olympics, it’s a fairly high-minded reason.

What did the NBA do wrong? All it wanted was to make American basketball great again.

This indeed symbolizes Roger’s dominance, because if the league wants to promote a player and that player consistently underperforms, they would reverse-engineer the rules to benefit that person.

For instance, as we move closer to the 2020s, the more unpredictable the traveling rule becomes.

What will zone defense bring? Put it this way, powerful future Serbian basketball in youth competitions doesn’t allow players under 15 to use zone defense.

Because they believe it makes defense easier, causing players to become reliant on teammates early on and lose defensive initiative and one-on-one defending skills.

That’s the effect of zone defense.

It can make bad defenders perform better, and cause those dependent on offense for their livelihood to have a rough time. It can infinitely minimize one’s defensive weaknesses, dramatically increasing opponent’s offensive difficulty.

Previously, just playing borderline zone defense could make most teams stumble, now openly playing zone defense will undoubtedly make games even more daunting.

In fact, the period from 2001 to 2005 was the most terrifying defensive era in the NBA, even more terrifying than what people impressionistically remember as the rough ’80s and ’90s.

That’s why the Detroit Pistons became so strong, because the highly mobile Big Ben was practically a center born for zone defense.

If last season he was already at DPOY level, after the league allowed zone defense, he’d be a DPOY among DPOYs.

It was because the defense was too daunting that the league introduced the No Handcheck rule, again freeing the superstars, especially the perimeter superstars.

But that’s another story, for now, everyone has to face the challenges brought by zone defense.

Shaq has already started complaining about this.

Just yesterday, in a preseason game, Shaq, who wasn’t having as much fun, poured out his grievances like an aggrieved woman.

“Damn it, I don’t know why they added this rule. Everyone in the NBA is a man, a mature man doesn’t need zone defense, if you can’t play man-to-man, you shouldn’t be here! Tell me, would you like someone assisting on the side while you’re grappling with your girlfriend? That’s ridiculous!”

The era unknowingly turned a new page, and the reinstatement of zone defense will cause some to rise and others to fall.

Jason Kidd believes he’s the one who can rise with zone defense, while the Roger, known for his terrifying offensive power, is bound to fall.

In this era where defense is more significant, the Hawks have precisely lost their DPOY.

All of these tell Kidd that the wheels of time have arrived. As long as you can catch this bus of the era, you can surpass your predecessors.

Every generation of superstars will hand over their crown in an unpredictable season, for another person to wear.

Jason Kidd doesn’t know if he will be the one wearing the crown, but he has to at least make a grab for it!

When the championship rings were being awarded, David Stern patted Roger on the shoulder: “Wish you all the best on your dynasty journey, regarding the shareholder team matter, I just followed the procedure and did everything I should, Steve did violate the regulations.”