165: 086: The Most Hated Person (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_4 165: 086: The Most Hated Person (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_4 “That’ll have to wait until tonight’s over, Shaq,” Pippen said with a laugh.
O’Neal returned to the bench and threw away his towel.
Yes, even if they could play better in the future, tonight he and Roger could only frustratingly watch others perform.
All the starting All-Stars were chosen by the fans, one vote at a time; why should he and Roger have to put up with this?
Plus, O’Neal’s family was all here today; was he supposed to perform shuttle runs in front of his own family?
At that moment, Eastern Conference All-Stars’ substitute center Ewing took the floor.
Roger, who hadn’t touched the ball for half the game, was ready to receive the baseline ball, but Ewing ignored Roger and passed the ball to Joe Dumars, who was further from him.
Roger shook his head with a smile, “What flavor is Michael’s skin condition?”
“Aren’t you a fan of licking?
“Shut up, I don’t want to argue with you during the All-Star game.”
Afterward, Ewing moved inside and raised his hand for the ball.
Dumars was in a tough spot; he didn’t want to be part of Jordan’s “freeze-out,” but he also didn’t want to offend Ewing, who was equally a friend.
Dumars’ counterpart was the newcomer Sprewell, who, in his first All-Star game start, was treating the game like a postseason battle, playing very seriously; Dumars certainly didn’t want to get injured at the All-Star game.
So, he chose to pass the ball to the momentarily noncommittal Reggie Miller, offending no one.
Miller’s counterpart, Dan Majerle, was much more sensible.
Although he lowered his stance and spread his arms, he gave Miller a clear two-step distance.
The intent was clear; he wanted Miller, who had just entered the game, to also showcase his three-pointer.
But the corner of Miller’s mouth couldn’t help but curl upwards, and then…
In a situation with a wide open shot, he passed the ball to Roger!
On the bench, Jordan clenched his fists, veins bulging.
He thought no one on this team dared to disrespect him.
If you really didn’t want to be part of it, you could have just attacked after getting the ball.
But Reggie Miller, instead of taking an open shot, chose to pass the ball to Roger!
After passing, Miller turned his head toward the bench with a devilish grin, making Jordan wish he could rush over and punch him right there.
Roger didn’t hesitate; facing the very serious defense of Penny, Roger stutter-stepped, accelerated, and scored a layup against Olajuwon’s block!
O’Neal waved his towel on the bench: “Beautiful, Roger, beautiful!
Jordan’s blockade had been breached, his desire for control began to go unfulfilled.
Roger quickly fell back on defense, then ran alongside Miller: “Reggie, did you do that on purpose?”
“Scram, I don’t need your thanks.
You think I want to suck up to you?
No, I’m not sucking up to any of you bastards.
But Michael thinks he controls the whole locker room, he thinks he’s a god, he thinks we should all be afraid of him?
My response is, screw him, I’m gonna clash with him!
Look at little Mickey’s face, he’s livid.”
Reggie Miller became the first person from the Eastern Conference All-Stars today to dare to confront Jordan, and sometimes, once you start a quarrel, it only gets bigger.
In the next round, Dumars passed the ball to Grant Hill under Spree’s tight defense.
Hill, holding the ball, breached, and Jordan was quite pleased; the yin-yang sesame seed seemed sensible.
But after drawing Olajuwon’s defense, Hill switched in mid-air to pass, giving the ball to the cutting Roger.
Roger dunked with both hands, and the whole arena cheered for him.
The cheers were so grating to Jordan, making him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He hadn’t expected that a good boy like Grant Hill would defy him too!
Jordan thought too much; Grant Hill was not as rebellious as Miller and Roger.
He didn’t intentionally confront Jordan, he merely saw this as a performance, never intending to join Jordan’s “freeze-out game.”
In the eyes of someone like Grant Hill, the NBA is not some underworld but a sports league disguised as a global business company.
All that the league’s executives do is market their “product” worldwide, and the players profit from it.
So, just put on a good show.
He only wanted to perform, not partake in anyone’s vendetta.
Just now, he was the man eating cake without a chance to pass the ball.
Now, he also got the right to share the cake; he didn’t mind sharing it with Roger.
Now that two people had begun to “disobey,” Jordan felt extremely embarrassed.
How would Pippen view him?
And what about little brother Hardaway?
They would think he was a weak leader, unable to control anything!
On the next play, Miller got the ball again, didn’t even think twice, and passed it to Roger before giving Jordan a taunting smile.
Jordan gritted his teeth: “Damn Reggie, son of a bitch!”
Roger continued his one-on-one with Penny, a much-anticipated duel, and the cheers from the crowd grew louder.
Penny defended seriously while Roger started dribbling between his legs repeatedly.
Suddenly, Roger launched to the right but, taking only one step, used a huge crossover to swing to the left.
Hardaway shifted his weight instantly to follow, but his feet slipped, sending him crashing to the floor sideways.
Roger then easily shot a jumper over the fallen Penny, scoring!
You can never shake someone off who isn’t defending seriously, but since Penny took the All-Star game this seriously, let’s reward him with a spot on the highlight reel.
Bill Walton threw his arms up and cheered: “The best ankle-breaker in All-Star history!
What a beautiful scoring performance, Roger scores 6 consecutive points!
He should have started attacking earlier, this is the All-Star game!”
After scoring, Roger didn’t pay any attention to the downed Penny but instead pointed at Jordan on the sidelines: “You can’t hold me down anymore, old man, nor can you hold down the entire East.
No matter what you try.
Admit it, this is reality.”
This statement hit Jordan like a bullet, striking his heart; he could even hear the sound of the bullet piercing his chest.
Now, the Baby-Faced Assassin was no longer the person Michael Jordan hated most.
Roger had risen to that position, becoming number one.