Champion Creed-Chapter 1014 - 328: 38-Year-Old Super Villain (Thanks to the generous reward from Household Steward Hero)_3
But on second thought, any team wouldn’t spend too much on trading a guy who hasn’t played seriously for two consecutive years. No one would expect Camby’s potential anymore.
A player who has wasted two years during the golden period for improvement, no matter how much potential he had, he would be ruined.
Looking at his own cheap trade value, Marcus Camby felt quite helpless.
But it doesn’t matter anymore, as long as he can go to the next place to continue collecting salary and stats.
The regular season schedule was still ongoing. After losing to the Spurs, the Warriors didn’t fall into a losing streak but instead successfully beat the Denver Nuggets, who had Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony’s performance in his rookie season was quite remarkable. For the first time facing his idol on the NBA court, this already fully equipped small forward scored 27 points.
Although in the last two minutes, when Roger personally faced off against Anthony, this super talent from Syracuse University didn’t score a single point.
But at the end of the game, the on-site commentator still gave Anthony the highest praise: "Carmelo has nothing to worry about and doesn’t need to feel ashamed. At least he performed better than LeBron James."
In the following games against the Grizzlies, Kings, and Nets, the Warriors won all the matches.
With a starting record of 5 wins and 1 loss, they completely swept away the gloom of losing the second game to the Spurs.
However, the Warriors were not the team with the best record. Currently, the unexpected team with the best record in the league was the Indiana Pacers.
They kicked off the season with a six-game winning streak and defeated opponents including the defending champion Pistons, the Western Conference champion Spurs, and the Dallas Mavericks with the black and white twin towers.
The Pacers’ initial schedule could be described as a hell mode with strong teams clustered together.
Yet under such circumstances, they kept winning one game after another.
Last season, the Pacers only had 48 wins, which was certainly not bad, but no one treated them as a title-contending team.
This season was the same. In the eyes of the outside world, Reggie Miller was aging, Jermaine O’Neal’s form was inconsistent. Relying solely on Paul Pierce, the Pacers might have decent competitiveness in the East, but their chances for the title were almost zero.
However, the Pacers’ impressive record of 6 wins and 0 losses caught the entire league off guard, and they, along with the currently 2 wins and 5 losses Knights, were dubbed "the most surprising teams of the season."
In fact, the Pacers were already strong last season, winning 14 out of 16 games in the first month of the season.
Then bad luck struck consecutively. Brad Miller’s father-in-law and Jamal Tinsley’s mother passed away during the season, severely affecting their progress.
Little O’Neal’s stepfather attempted suicide, which disturbed his mentality, leading to fluctuating performances in the latter half of the season.
As a result, the Pacers ended with an 11 wins and 19 losses in the last 30 games of the season and were eliminated early from the playoffs, experiencing an unsuccessful season.
And their early season strength had long been forgotten.
After a summer of adjustments, the Pacers rehired Larry Bird as their general manager, and the players regained their focus on the game.
They chopped off one devil’s head after another in the devilish schedule, and now it was Roger’s turn, the Demon King.
The Pacers boarded a plane flying to Oakland the afternoon before the match. On the plane, Reggie Miller kept looking down at the land of Indianapolis below.
This scene was quite familiar to Paul Pierce. The last time Roger played away for the Hawks was the same reaction.
He sat next to Reggie Miller and patted this man who once fought against the gods: "Reggie, did you drop a coin down there?"
"No, I was just thinking, if we can win the championship this season, what kind of celebration would the fans on this land have."
"You would become a hero admired by thousands, and all of Indianapolis would go mad for you."
"Is that so, Paul? Is winning the championship really that boring? That’s too uninteresting."
"What do you think is interesting then?"
"I think we should tie Roger to a lamppost in Indianapolis! That would truly be celebrating victory! Being a hero? What’s interesting about that? We want to be the biggest villain!" Reggie Miller looked out the window, showing his unique evil smile.
Paul Pierce shook his head, indeed, this was Reggie Miller. He wasn’t a super hero; he was a born super villain from beginning to end.
The 90s had two big villains, one of them became a god with four titles. The other still longs to slay gods with mortal flesh.
Even if this body is already 38 years old.
Paul Pierce had never thought about this before, but this season, maybe...
He could really defeat the former leader and become the leader himself!
