Champion Creed-Chapter 951 - 311: Not Roger, it should be the Savior of Atlanta (asking for monthly tickets!)

It’s been two days since the finals ended, and Roger drove to the Tallapoosa River.

This place isn’t a famous tourist spot, the weed-covered riverbank generally doesn’t see many visitors.

Each year, Roger comes here a few times.

Because the person who saw him as a hero went to a new world from here.

Atlanta’s summer is as hot as always, the sky remains clear. Roger sat on the riverbank, placing a brand-new FMVP trophy on the ground.

"Four championships, four FMVPs, this is all I have in Atlanta. Yes, I won another championship and FMVP two days ago, sorry I came to find you only now, because as usual, things got busy after the finals ended. I thought it over for a long time and finally decided to leave.

I’m here to say goodbye, Andy, I’m leaving, my next destination? I don’t know either, but it might be far, far away, maybe on the West Coast.

I used to hate playing on the West Coast, the fans there always thought they were the new breed from the big city, disdainfully calling us players from the East bumpkins. But it’s much better now, most city fans know that when they see Roger, it’s best to keep quiet.

Five years, from the 90s to the 00s, I turned your beloved Atlanta Hawks into a dynasty team, and your beloved player into unique, achieving two three-peats in modern basketball. Okay, if your beloved player is still Stevie Smith, then just pretend I didn’t say anything.

Time flies, you and I have both gone far beyond what we initially imagined. So let’s part ways here, I might rarely find time to come here in the future. Once a year? Maybe not even once a year.

But please believe me, Andy, our friendship will last."

After saying all this, Roger sat by the river for a while, then stood up and left.

Finally, Roger glanced back at the calm Tallapoosa River and waved his hand.

At the same time, the shareholders of Atlanta Spirit LLC were in a frenzy.

The season is over, but the man who built an era is determined to leave.

He isn’t even willing to have a face-to-face meeting.

Even more despairing is that Paul Pierce has not provided a clear response to Atlanta Hawks’ renewal request until now.

As the season just ended, many teams have offered max contracts to Pierce.

Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets... Pierce, as the Divine Hand in Roger’s Atlanta era, the creator of its most iconic moment, isn’t lacking suitors.

Atlanta Hawks won everything two days ago, but they’re about to lose it all.

Bo Turner was furious at the shareholders meeting.

"I said long ago, we shouldn’t have pressured Roger, we need him, not the other way around! Last summer, when you bunch of idiots let go of Ben Wallace, you should have damned well seen this day coming! When you were still fussing whether to give Paul Pierce a three-year deal or a four-year deal, it was doomed we’d go through all this! If Steve were still here, if he had kept Big Ben with a max contract, if he had decisively renewed Paul, now we wouldn’t be bothered by these kinds of hassles!

Yes, renewing Big Ben and Paul Pierce would have increased the team’s expenses, increased our running costs. But look at now, we don’t have to make any big investments anymore, but we sure won’t get any returns either!"

Bo Turner is just a minor shareholder without much say, yet today, no matter how he raged, no one contradicted him or made him stop.

Michael Gillen looked at Bo Turner as if seeing a lifeline: "Bonni, we all know your father is very close to Roger. Can you find your father, have him talk to Roger, make him stay in Atlanta?"

"Don’t you understand, Michael? When Roger wants to do something, even God can’t stop him! You can’t control him, my father can’t control him, no one can decide Roger’s fate! Face reality, gentlemen, we’ve become the number one fools after Amway Corp.’s Rich DeVos, losing the greatest player in history!"

After the shareholders meeting ended, Bo Turner and other shareholders walked out of Atlanta’s third tallest IBM building, only to find journalists gathered outside.

"Sir, will Roger opt out of the contract? Will you renew with him?"

"Are you really going to let Atlanta lose Roger? Did anyone from Roger’s team attend the meeting?"

"If Roger leaves, what’s the future plan for the Atlanta Hawks?"

"Will you announce any news at tomorrow’s championship parade?"

A swarm of cameras made the impatient shareholders even more agitated, Michael Gillen opened the car door ready to get in, suddenly a rotten egg hit him on the head.

One of the Black fans wearing Roger’s jersey was immediately taken away by the police on the scene, but he kept shouting: "You damn racist bastard, you’re not worthy to have Roger!"

Michael Gillen felt fortunate, here at the great Beacon of Freedom, fans only throw rotten eggs at you instead of grenades or peanuts, he should be grateful for their mercy.

Yes, Michael Gillen now has also been labeled with the "racist bastard" tag, Bruce Levenson, after being ousted, told reporters in a recent interview: "When I sent that email to Michael, he agreed with what I said."