227: 106: The Feeling of Being a Farmer (Thanks to the generous 8200 reward from the prominent Badou Caichangqing!) 227: 106: The Feeling of Being a Farmer (Thanks to the generous 8200 reward from the prominent Badou Caichangqing!) “Philadelphia Daily News” featured Stackhouse on the front page the day after the draft ended.
The headline was equally eye-catching: Jerry Stackhouse, Philly’s Own Son!
Even if the world ended, this wouldn’t change!
Clearly, the Philadelphia media were quite pleased with the team’s choice at the draft.
They all felt like they were as lucky as the Bulls in 1984, having landed “Jordan” at the third pick.
The Timberwolves actually picked KG second, which was absolutely laughable.
Seven feet tall, arms spread like a prehistoric giant bird, a center’s build, yet quick as a cheetah.
Could dribble, organize, break through, shoot jumpers, snag rebounds, and defend all five positions.
Perfect, Kevin Garnett was just perfect.
But did the Timberwolves not catch on?
There simply couldn’t be such a perfect player in the world!
In the end, Kevin Garnett was very likely to become someone who couldn’t dribble, organize, break through, shoot, rebound, and couldn’t defend any position—worthless!
Only a fool would waste a second overall pick on such an all-rounder of incapabilities.
Philadelphia fans thought they had hit the jackpot; they had been worried that the Timberwolves would snatch Stackhouse with the second pick, but they went for Minnesota’s own Sam Bowie instead.
Now, Jerry Stackhouse was undoubtedly the most watched player in Philadelphia.
And his first show was about to start at Lower Merion High School.
Today, all eyes of Philadelphia media were on Lower Merion High School.
The news that Jerry Stackhouse was about to face Kobe one-on-one had spread all over America.
After all, Stackhouse was this season’s most popular rookie, just like Penny in 1993.
Any rookie associated with Michael Jordan garnered extra attention.
And Stackhouse’s connection to Jordan was even deeper than all those previous successors.
Rumors say that before Jordan’s comeback in 1994, he had trained for a while back at North Carolina and in one-on-one, Stackhouse held his own against Jordan.
Dean Smith, Jordan’s college coach, unabashedly stated, “No one can stop Jerry from becoming the next Michael because that’s reality; you can’t stop reality from happening.”
Dean Smith didn’t exaggerate his disciple’s prowess; he had witnessed the one-on-one game between Stackhouse and Jordan, and indeed, Stackhouse had given as good as he got.
But they never considered one thing—that was just a freshly trained minor league baseball player, Michael Jordan.
Being able to compete with that version of Jordan proved nothing.
Stackhouse and Dean Smith clearly hadn’t thought much; NCAA’s outstanding performances and that legendary one-on-one had given them tremendous confidence.
Stackhouse’s biggest regret in life was not having the media broadcast his one-on-one with Jordan.
So this time he learned his lesson and let everyone witness his one-on-one with Kobe.
Okay, the one-on-one with Kobe was secondary.
The real key was, after beating Kobe, Stackhouse was going to call out Roger in front of the media, giving Roger no room to escape.
If the media was witness, Roger would have no chance to deny!
He understood Roger’s reluctance to compete; as a FMVP, losing to a rookie in a one-on-one would definitely be embarrassing.
But that’s sports for you; it’s all about climbing over others to reach the top.
Someone rises to fame, and someone else loses face.
Roger had climbed his way up , too.
Stackhouse just wanted the world to realize his strength a bit sooner.
He thought his plan was perfect.
Making a name for himself before the season even started, I’m simply a genius at causing a stir!
So, on June 30, Roger and Andrae accompanied Kobe to the Lower Merion High School gym.
Upon arriving, Roger noticed that there were quite a few NCAA scouts present; they must all have been there to see Kobe.
Even Michael Cooper was there, the 1987 Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time All-Defensive team member who, with the Showtime Lakers, had won all five championships, now a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Cooper wore a cap, a mask, and sunglasses, looking all sneaky because Logo had expressly instructed not to let anyone recognize him or let it slip that the Lakers were interested in Kobe.
Logo even quoted the classic line from “The Godfather” for this operation: “Never let anyone outside know what you’re thinking!
Keep it low-key this time!”
Therefore, Cooper had to be wrapped up tight, and he was quite proud of his disguise.
He was almost incognito like Batman at this point.
Even if God showed up, He wouldn’t recognize me, heh!
“Hey Michael, you’re here too.”
He looked up and saw Roger’s group sitting next to him.
“No, you’ve mistaken…”
“Nice hat, Reebok’s, good taste.
I’ve gotten tired of those ubiquitous hooks everywhere.
What brings you here?
Jerry didn’t ask you to come watch Kobe, did he?”
Michael Cooper, speechless, looked at Roger.
Being recognized was one thing, but even his reason was guessed exactly.
He felt pretty much like those Victoria’s Secret models now, as if stripped bare for all to see!