Champion Creed-Chapter 543 - 197: The emotionless superstar killer reorganizes the workplace (Request for monthly tickets!)
Chapter 543: 197: The emotionless superstar killer reorganizes the workplace (Request for monthly tickets!)
This was a game-changing match because it was the first time people realized that the Portland Jail Blazers could also play fair and square.
In the second half of the game, Portland fans could hardly believe that this was the Trail Blazers they were seeing.
Throughout the second half, they committed only a few fouls, and even those were the lighter kind.
Rasheed Wallace and Kenny Anderson, who usually cursed at the referees’ whole family over technical fouls, were as quiet as two top students.
Roger kept scoring at will, moving in and out, with no one on the Trail Blazers able to stop him.
Even after Brian Grant accidentally knocked over Roger while defending, he would proactively help him up to show good sportsmanship.
For a moment, they seemed like the most polite team in the entire NBA.
If they played like this for an entire season, Grant Hill might lose to Rasheed Wallace in the battle for the sportsmanship award.
After this game, the image of the Atlanta Hawks also began to reverse, becoming notorious throughout the league.
Roger even got a nickname, "Gaoler."
This nickname came from a post-game interview with Clifford Robinson. A reporter had asked him, "Do you feel like you’ve been transferred to another prison?"
Robinson answered with a smile, "It’s alright, at least this time we have a gaoler who can keep the inmates in line."
And most of the media started to call the Hawks the new Detroit Bad Boys.
Lenny Wilkens thought such notoriety was a good thing—the NBA isn’t a place where you win championships through connections; you don’t need your opponents to like you.
Being a nice guy and getting along with everyone doesn’t get you a championship.
Unless your goal is to team up with those well-connected superstars.
So, becoming infamous is not a bad thing. The team actually needed that kind of deterrence.
What’s deterrence? After Trump got shot, Biden immediately canceled all his schedules—that’s deterrence.
After Rider was taken down by Bruce Bowen, other teams would think twice about hurting Roger, which could protect him to some extent.
So, Lenny Wilkens was happy to see his team labeled "Detroit Bad Boys." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
However, everything should have a limit.
After the game with the Trail Blazers, Lenny Wilkens realized Bruce Bowen was an even more terrifying weapon than he had imagined.
The injury report showed that Rider had a severe ankle sprain and needed to stop playing for six to eight weeks.
This was undoubtedly a serious injury.
Bowen was too cunning and ruthless.
Ben Wallace and Kurt Thomas could make you bleed at most, but Bruce Bowen could end your career.
In the NBA, most serious injuries actually stem from deep-seated conflicts.
Why was Tomjanovich almost brain-damaged? Because a massive brawl broke out between the Rockets and the Lakers, and the scene was completely out of control. As Jabbar’s personal bodyguard, Kermit Washington, facing a crowd of Rockets players, swung his fists wildly like a mad bull to protect Skyhook and himself, leading to what was called "the most barbarous hit in human sports history."
Why did Roger implant titanium in Jordan’s eye? Because Jordan, who was retired, went out of his way to come to the court to humiliate him.
Why did Draymond Green kick LeBron there? Because LeBron had just delivered him a humiliating blow.
And why did Isaiah Stewart chase after the great GOAT? Because the GOAT had given him an elbow of victory and then spread his hands innocently.
Surely no one thinks he was innocent in all these incidents, right?
Because of competitive relations, it’s normal for players to have minor skirmishes on the court.
But if it escalates to serious injury, it generally comes with deeper conflicts.
Few players would hurt another player without any reason.
But Bowen is different; he could deliver the most vicious blows even when having no grudges, colder than most.
His nature stems from his tragic childhood. Fatherless? No, Bowen’s childhood was even worse than that.
Bruce Bowen had both parents, but his father was a drunkard, and his mother was a drug addict. From a young age, he had to sell newspapers to earn money, even under the harsh sun of California.
And the money he made from selling newspapers was confiscated by his father and mother to buy alcohol and drugs.
They even sold the house’s bed, couch, and TV just to continue their addictions.
Even if that meant Bowen had to curl up and sleep on the carpet, it didn’t matter.
Those children without fathers at least mostly had a loving mother. Bowen? He felt he was merely cheap labor for his parents.
Fortunately, he was later taken in by his uncle, who treated him like a son, which helped him survive and allowed him to experience the love he had been missing.
But the scars from his childhood were permanent, and Bowen remained cold-hearted.
Thus, he wouldn’t care about anyone’s life or death; he was a ruthless stray dog.
This kind of person must be controlled appropriately.
A day after the game ended, Wilkens specifically called Bowen to his office.
The content of their conversation was simple. Wilkens told Bowen, "You can play tough, but without my permission and indication, you better not randomly make those lethal moves."
Lenny Wilkens is a decent man, he could do things like "an eye for an eye," but he wouldn’t do "attack those who haven’t attacked me."
