Champion Creed-Chapter 532 - 193: Shaq is Jerry’s biggest mistake since 1981 (Begging for monthly tickets!)_6
Chapter 532: 193: Shaq is Jerry’s biggest mistake since 1981 (Begging for monthly tickets!)_6
The moment Kobe lost the ball, Pippen pounced like a border collie spotting a frisbee, snatching it away in an instant.
What followed was an inevitable fast-break slam dunk.
The Atlanta Hawks once again widened the gap to double digits!
It was a shameful offense for Kobe; Roger simply extended his hand casually and shut him down.
Del Harris called a timeout; he could no longer bear to watch.
Kobe tried to leave the court but was blocked by Roger.
Roger, in Kobe’s face, refused to back down, "No one decides my tomorrow, you better remember that!" ƒreewebɳovel.com
That was in response to Kobe’s off-season comment, "Michael’s today is Roger’s tomorrow."
Kobe said nothing and silently walked away from Roger.
Inside the Great Western Forum arena, fans had started to exit.
They had enough.
If there’s anything more painful than watching a live broadcast with the female anchor’s beauty filter suddenly going offline, it’s having the beauty filter on two anchors fail at the same time!
That would make one prematurely enter "sage mode."
The Lakers fans, entering their sage mode, chose to leave.
They didn’t want to take it anymore.
O’Neal and Kobe being humiliated in turn by Roger, the Lakers, hyped by the media, didn’t have anyone who could stop Roger.
The Los Angeles fans were hugely disappointed with this brand-new Lakers team.
This timeout marked a turning point in the game because, after that, the morale of the Lakers completely plummeted.
O’Neal, one of the greatest leaders in history, failed to ignite his teammates’ fighting spirit in the subsequent game. Instead, he lost himself in complaints about the referees and Kobe’s negative energy.
In the end, with only five minutes into the fourth quarter, Shaq fouled out of the game.
And with that, the game lost all suspense.
to 96, the Atlanta Hawks secured a surprising outcome.
They won the opener with a massive 22-point lead!
Roger finished the game with 34 points, 12 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Pippen had 17 points, 7 rebounds; Steve Smith also added 17 points.
On the Lakers’ side, Shaq still managed to get 21 points, 13 rebounds, but a shooting percentage of 49% was less than ideal. His dominance fell far short of what the Lakers fans had envisioned.
Kobe ended the game with 16 points, 5 turnovers, and a shooting percentage of 36%.
Shaq O’Neal, after the first game of the season, became the world’s number one loser because this game was proof enough that he was nowhere near Roger’s level!
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"I’ve been fouled constantly, but the referees just don’t care! This league has always been restricting big men, it’s so unfair!" — O’Neal expressed his frustration about fouling out of today’s game.
It’s just a regular season game, what does it show? We weren’t even at full strength; Robert Horry is still recovering from an injury. I lost the game, but it doesn’t change the fact that Roger is a parasite. Some parasites have already turned on me, but his wine brand still bears the name I came up with. I’m glad I don’t have to be bled dry by him anymore! — Shaq commented on the painful outcome of the game.
Roger’s defense is strong, but I don’t think my one-on-one play is problematic, Shaq did the same, and his one-on-one isn’t efficient either. — Kobe discussed his excessive shooting and low shooting percentage.
Shaq talked a big game before the match, said something about there being no kryptonite on Earth that could stop him. Heh, he thinks he’s Superman, but he’s just a clown. — Pippen commented gleefully on O’Neal.
After Roger made Shaq stumble and laughingly pointed at his picture, and the photo of Roger playing defense behind his back against Kobe, which scene is more classic? I choose the photo of Ben Wallace blocking the pass with an unbelievable leap! — Big Ben boasted as he was surrounded by more than four reporters for the first time.
Roger was also in the locker room’s treatment room, being interviewed exclusively by "Sports Illustrated."
"Hello Roger, here we are again. The season opener’s 22-point victory gave Atlanta fans confidence. What impressed you the most about today’s season opener?"
"What impressed me the most is the passion of Los Angeles fans. Really, I never imagined such a weak garbage player could be treated like a hero in a city, Los Angeles fans are too enthusiastic."
"Are you referring to Shaq?"
"Who else? Now you understand, the toughest part of Shaq is his mouth."
"Despite being undersized, the team still managed to put up a pretty good defense. What did you guys do right?"
"We didn’t do anything special, we just know some basic basketball knowledge. Like, we all know that standing in the paint with hands raised won’t disturb mid-range shots." Roger continued his sarcastic remarks about Shaq.
"What about Kobe? How would you evaluate his performance?"
"He’s not worth my time."
Andrew Sharp, as one of Roger’s spokesmen, had a good rapport with him. From Roger’s attitude towards Kobe, he could tell that in today’s exclusive, Roger didn’t want to talk about anything else; he just wanted to talk about his old buddy.
Since Roger wanted to talk about Shaq, then let’s talk about Shaq.
"How do you think Lakers fans feel now after seeing Shaq’s performance tonight?"
"Hard to say, they might really miss the off-season Shaq because that’s when he’s at the peak of his paper strength. You know, Shaq has always been the off-season MVP. He always talks about what he’s going to do next season, and then he always gives everyone a scare in the first game."
"Shaq said you’re a bloodsucking bastard who is still leeching off him because your wine sales are growing month by month, and the brand is named ’The Truth,’ a name given by Shaq himself. What’s your take on that?"
"Bloodsucking? Buddy, in these past years, my wine sales profits, 97% of the Magic team got a share! That’s right, Shaq gets a cut too! Whose blood am I sucking? Now you know, right? I’ve been working with a crazy person who likes to spout nonsense for three years, those were three miserable years!"
"If you had to rate, how would you grade the Lakers’ recruitment of Shaq. ABCD, what would be your rating?"
"To be honest, I don’t think I’m qualified to judge Jerry West when it comes to running a team. He’s a great deal-maker, his brilliance speaks for itself.
But even great deal-makers make mistakes.
Remember 1981? Jerry West missed out on Larry Nance after much hesitation.
And recruiting Shaq was Jerry’s biggest mistake since 1981!"
Roger delivered a strong rebuttal to O’Neal’s off-season antics with a perfect game.
The next day, "Sports Illustrated" featured a cover photo of Roger wearing a crown.
The headline was striking: "All who offend the King will fall into the abyss."
(Today there’s just one post because it’s a double.)
