116: 071: Michael, you’ve changed!
(Vote for the monthly ticket!) 116: 071: Michael, you’ve changed!
(Vote for the monthly ticket!) Michael Jordan felt he was ready for everything, but the only awkward part was that he had to wear the number 45 jersey next season.
After all, number 23 had been retired, and normally, even if Jordan himself came back, that jersey was not supposed to come down again.
Although number 45 also had special meaning to Jordan, in the Chicago Bulls, he still preferred number 23.
But it didn’t matter to him, Jordan believed that the jersey number wouldn’t be an obstacle for him.
No matter what number he wore, he swore he’d tear Roger and O’Neal, those two impudent bastards, to shreds and throw them into the grinder!
One was ranting about sending him back to baseball, the other was babbling that nobody wanted to meet them.
Jordan walked onto the training court at the Berto Center under the watchful eyes of reporters, his gaze filled with lethal intent.
Upon seeing Jordan come in, everyone in the Bulls instantly tensed up, knowing that from today onwards, the good days were over.
Phil Jackson did not schedule a scrimmage on the second day of training camp, but Jordan had arranged one himself.
He needed competitiveness, he needed the entire team to be competitive.
Chris Webber performed very well in the scrimmage, he could shoot, he could pass.
Apart from his defensive positioning not being outstanding yet, he basically met Jordan’s standards.
It made Jordan full of confidence for the new season, and he told reporters, “I don’t care what two cocky youngsters have said, all I know is that Chicago will be great again.”
Webber also rejoiced, see that?
Michael really likes me from the bottom of his heart!
Alright, enough verbal warfare had been waged, and now the fans just hoped the new season could hurry up and begin.
Roger thought the same, but time had to pass day by day, and the training camp had to continue.
In fact, Roger quite enjoyed the training camp this year, as it was completely different from the one with the Bulls.
First of all, Roger could learn new things in this training camp.
Ron Harper might no longer have been the star guard who averaged 20+ points, but his understanding of defense was profound.
Most importantly, he was very willing to guide Roger on the defensive end.
This was an experience Roger had never had with the Bulls.
In Chicago, the only person qualified to instruct Roger on perimeter defense was Pippen, but that guy had never brought it up.
With Harper’s guidance, plus Spoelstra’s diligent editing and commentary, Roger’s one-on-one defense improved tremendously.
Secondly, Roger found that everyone on the team had a common goal—to take down Jordan!
This brought the team’s cohesion to a very good level.
Last season with the Bulls, when training camp had just started, everyone had different goals.
Old-timers like Cartwright just wanted to muddle through, Pippen wanted to be the boss, and Roger wanted to win as much as possible.
Different objectives meant that the whole team was disorganized.
The Magic was a different scene altogether, Ron Harper and Jordan could be considered friends off the court, but Harper had always longed to beat Jordan on the court.
One of the often repeated stories he shared was, “If I had been put in for the last defense of the Bulls against the Knights in ’89, there would have been no ‘The shot!’ Michael, he’s not that strong!”
Horace Grant also often chatted with Roger about Jordan, of course, none of it was good.
“Yeah, I also think Michael’s a total asshole!”
“It’s true, he actually forbade me from eating.
Fuck, is that even human?”
“I swear I never leaked anything about him; when he calls me a snitch, that’s an absolute lie.
If Michael holds a grudge against me, let’s deal with it like men.
Let’s talk, or we could settle it in another way.
But no, he just accused me outright without reason!
Yes, I’ve always been good friends with Sam Smith, the author of ‘Jordan Rules,’ but who I make friends with is my business.
You can’t just slander me because of that.”
“Scott really became a good little lapdog; in the past, in the locker room, I had the best relationship with Scott.
But gradually, he started to get closer to Jordan and distance himself from me, as if he didn’t need a friend like me anymore after getting close to the seat of power.”
“Roger, honestly, I can’t wait to see that damn bastard lose just once!”
Roger could tell that Grant was really enjoying his time in Orlando.
In Chicago, he could only swallow his grievances.
Last season in Dallas, he had no one to confide in.
This year, however, he’d finally found a ‘kindred spirit’ in Roger, who had also been poisoned by Pippen and Jordan.
Regardless, this hatred made Horace Grant take training incredibly seriously.
His only demand was to take down the goddamn Chicago Bulls!
He wanted to show Jordan and Pippen that they weren’t all that great!
Derrick McKey was also a standard victim of Jordan.
Although he had not encountered Jordan in the playoffs, during his SuperSonics period, he had faced Jordan many times in regular-season games.
Of course, he didn’t escape Jordan’s ‘friendly’ greetings.
“Hey, you’re the shittiest defender I’ve ever seen, why would your mother give birth to such a waste like you.”
“So the SuperSonics are all you’ve got?
What a pathetic team!”
“Don’t you get it, you poor thing?
The only one who can guard me is myself.”
What was even more fucked up was that the SuperSonics really couldn’t beat the Bulls, having a history of more losses than wins.