One Year Left to Play-Chapter 348 - 109: Two Generational Number Ones
The fans on site were quite supportive, giving the Magician enthusiastic cheers and applause.
The future famous NBA team owner on the other side of the player tunnel watched the Magician run out... and pursed his lips unhappily.
There are two basketball players in this world that make him feel envy.
One is Olajuwon, but after he won the championship first, Jordan no longer envies him.
The other one he still envies, even feels jealousy, is the one running out opposite him.
A rookie season with a teammate like Jabbar, a debut with a championship, retiring at around 30 with five championships. Even though Jordan completed his three-peat, there are still people saying he is not as good as the Magician, and there’s often media speculation about what if the Magician hadn’t contracted the disease...
However, Jordan heard something that pleased him before the game — the rookie he praised many times who was traded to the Lakers, wearing his number 23 Bulls jersey hoodie during interviews and stating that he’s a fan of his!
Although that guy learned his Turnaround Fadeaway after watching it once, even he was somewhat jealous, but thinking about the Magician’s expression after knowing this, Jordan was happy!
But, when the second starting player for the Lakers ran out, the proud expression that Jordan just showed froze...
Zhang Hao did not wear the training outfit like the other Lakers players but ran out wearing the purple and gold colored hoodie, and the number on the hoodie was swapped with his Mr. Qiao’s!
Without much thought, Jordan knew, it must have been the Magician coercing the rookie into wearing it!
At this moment, Jordan seemed to feel the Magician’s gaze, looking at the Magician still under the spotlight after his entrance. Even though Jordan knew the other definitely couldn’t see the situation inside their player tunnel, he just felt that guy was mocking him!
Next to him, Pippen noticed Jordan’s ever-changing expression in the dim light, feeling both helpless and amused.
Since winning his first championship, Jordan only shows this childish demeanor, losing the calmness of the league’s strongest player, when hearing tales of the Magician’s prowess.
But there’s nothing one can do about this!
As long as the Magician makes a comeback, no matter how he plays, he is the greatest active player.
However, this time the Bulls are setting sail anew, and the goal is to completely turn the page in NBA history, right?
...
So fake...
After both teams’ players entered the court, Zhang Hao saw the Magician and Jordan messing around in front of the scorekeeper’s table, tapping each other’s heads, the two bald heads displaying the cordiality and friendship between two generations of league leaders on camera... too fake!
If not for hearing Jordan’s vows and feeling the Magician’s strong aura and pettiness, Zhang Hao might have just believed it.
Nevertheless, Jordan did not resist having some simple physical contact with the Magician, which set a good precedent for interactions on the court, and the Bulls players lined up to congratulate the Magician on his comeback.
That eased Zhang Hao’s worries, as he remembered, originally in the timeline, the Lakers strongly negotiated with the league, helping the Magician’s comeback time, which reached late January 1996. In the first game after his return, the opponents treated the Magician like a plague, afraid to touch him, not daring to bump into him. Despite the Lakers scoring a crazy 128 points in that game, according to the Logo Man’s later interview, the Magician became reclusive after that game...
After quite some time, when opponents gradually got used to it, they slowly accepted the fact of the Magician’s return.
Zhang Hao speculated a bit, choosing this time point for the Magician’s comeback, management clearly had a purpose; on one side the team’s offensive organization was relatively weak after the trades, helping the Magician return early; on the other side it was out of trust in Jordan in this aspect.
Though having millions of criticisms on this first person in team history, seeing this situation, Zhang Hao really breathed a sigh of relief.
Gradually, he’s feeling much more integrated into this team.
Many stars from the 80s and even earlier came to the site, some Zhang Hao could name, some he had just seen before, and some he didn’t recognize at all, and they all walked onto the court to greet the Magician.
Larry Bird even flew over from Indianapolis specially to see the game, Timberwolves Vice President McHale also came, Jabbar was here too...
It’s an incredible lineup!
In such a situation, Mr. Zhang could hardly make his presence felt; the Magician was talking and laughing with the big shots on the other side, even the current number one was being patted on the head, and he, the hottest rookie at present, was just a side character.
No problem...
"Elvin Johnson, 36 years old, height 206 cm, weight 115 kg, ability rating 85, offense 81, defense 72, rebounding 79, passing 90, three-point 75, mid-range 82, layup 88, speed 84, strength 92 (explosive strength 70), stamina 82..."
Truly beautiful ability rating! Don’t worry too much about the defense end; at this age, with ten kilograms more than before retiring, what bicycle would you need defensively, but still so versatile! Especially in organizing the offense, the best in the team!
Van Exel has a near first-class level of ability rating of 84, Sibaros has a rating of 88, plus the Magician... the strength has definitely had a significant enhancement!
Adding the shooting-defensive type Anthony Piller...
"Eh? Seems like something’s off? Center! Where’s our center? The Magician playing center? Highly unlikely! He just returned, can’t take such a risk, Sibaros is a bit short, can occasionally cover but’s certainly not the main center..."
