62: 046: Michael’s words are worth less than a penny to me 62: 046: Michael’s words are worth less than a penny to me At this point, the Warriors only had a theoretical chance of winning.
Today, the Warriors did many things right; they played a team offense, and their defense against Roger was nothing short of stringent.
But just like in the 2024 playoffs between the Lakers and the Nuggets, Anthony Davis did everything right in the last defense, but when Jamal Murray made that jump shot, all his right efforts went down the drain, and he might even no longer be a friend of the GOAT.
Roger possessed the ability to render his opponent’s correct decisions worthless.
Months ago, at the draft, Old Nelson had wavered for a long time between Hardaway and Roger.
Back then, he believed Hardaway was more mature, and his outstanding passing and ball-handling fit better with the Warriors’ system.
But today, Old Nelson realized something.
In the face of absolute explosive scoring ability, there simply wasn’t such a thing as a system!
Old Nelson originally hoped that a tight double-team in the final moments would force Roger into making a passing error, but fucking hell, Roger simply didn’t pass the ball.
Not only did he not pass, but he could also score even with such tight defense.
Old Nelson stared at his players with eyes full of bloodshot veins, furious, but the words in his heart suppressed that anger: “It’s your own choice, idol.”
Yes, it was his own choice.
It was he who left Roger to the people of Chicago; who else could he blame?
Being the third pick always comes with the risk of flipping over.
There were only 43 seconds left in the game, the Warriors were 6 points behind; theoretically, there was still a chance.
The key now was whether Hardaway should attack by himself or continue to pass.
The team was at a critical juncture, and Penny himself was also at a life-and-death moment.
If he lost this game without Pippen, he would be essentially lifting the very person he despised most.
At the critical moment, Old Nelson made the choice for Hardaway, designing a solo play for him.
“Donnie might need Anfernee to take the shot!” NBC’s commentator guessed the likelihood.
As the game restarted, Roger approached Hardaway, relentlessly maintaining a friendly interaction: “Anfernee, you really should thank Scott.
If it weren’t for him, I would’ve completely blown you out last game!
It was you hiding under Scott’s wings, not me!”
Now, Hardaway understood Old Nelson’s words: “His scoring ability is a significant psychological challenge for us, and his trash talk is an even greater psychological challenge.”
Hardaway was already infuriated, not knowing that Toni Kukoc was also adding fuel to the fire: “Forget it, Roger, throw away that Penny, he can’t make you any richer.”
Pippen could now completely empathize with Hardaway; he swore Hardaway must have wanted to kill Roger right there and then.
Maybe next time they could dream about it together, dreams where anything is possible.
The Warriors inbounded the ball, and Hardaway shoved Roger before cutting back to securely catch the basketball.
The rest of the Warriors spread out, giving Hardaway plenty of space for a one-on-one.
Seeing that Penny was finally set for a one-on-one, the fans in the Oakland Arena cheered.
Ironically, they had been criticizing Roger’s unreasonable play and praising Penny’s sense of the bigger picture.
But now, as Penny played like Roger, they were cheering on the contrary.
Hardaway lowered his center of gravity; the basketball weaved left and right between his legs.
Roger, who had been guarding Hardaway the whole game, excitedly clapped his hands: “Come on, asshole, you’re finally daring to confront me like a man!”
After dribbling the ball between his legs to the left, Penny, finding his rhythm, prepared to break past Roger.
Roger immediately shuffled his feet, but as Hardaway was about to collide with Roger, he suddenly spun around.
Roger shifted his center of gravity, and prepared to use his hands to block Penny.
But Penny, mid-spin, followed with a step back, retreating behind the three-point line and going for the shot.
The half spin was Penny’s signature move, and seeing him perform it made Roger understand why Penny was so popular.
After all, winning or losing is temporary, but Penny looking cool was a lifelong matter.
The move was cool, and the inexperienced Roger was shaken off by the step back.
However, Penny, having earned the shooting space, failed to make this crucial three-pointer in the end.
Maybe it was the intense run-and-gun throughout the game affecting his touch, or maybe it was Roger’s desperate interference that made the difference.
Apart from Penny, no one knew why that shot didn’t go in.
But people didn’t need to know why, they just needed to know that Penny had missed the last chance to crush Roger.
People only knew that even when Penny took the shot, it couldn’t match the effect of Roger’s!
Scoring was never a simple matter, it just seemed simple on Roger!
NBC commentary announced the end of the game in advance, “Three-pointer misses, Truth wins a complete victory in this one-on-one encounter!
Without Scott, without any other messy factors, Roger fiercely took Penny out!”
Kukoc grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by Bill Owens.
The Warriors’ situation was hopeless!
After the referee’s whistle, Kukoc imitated the referee in a boxing match and raised Roger’s hand high, “KO!”
Hardaway turned away dejectedly, this collegiate genius, this super guard nearly invincible through Nike’s packaging, was ruthlessly stripped by Roger!
He was a fighter, but not as ruthless as Roger.
He could score, but he was weak in front of Roger.
If passing didn’t bring victory, there was nothing to boast about.
Tonight, as Roger had intended, he made Penny seem utterly worthless!
The booing in Oakland Arena almost flipped the dome of the stadium, yet it still couldn’t cover up Hardaway’s embarrassment.
Kukoc stood at the free-throw line, and if he made both shots, even the Warriors’ theoretical chance of winning would be eradicated.
And this Croatian, who had scored several key shots during the Bulls’ second three-peat era, left no room for fantasies for Warriors fans.
As Kukoc sank both free throws, the game was prematurely declared over.
After this game, it was still hard to say who was worse, Chris Webber or Shawn Bradley, or who was dumber, the Magic management or the 76ers management.
But Roger proved that, at least for now, he was indeed the best rookie of the ’93 class!
The 8-point gap was maintained until the moment the game clock hit zero, Penny walked dejectedly into the tunnel and kicked over a trash can, showing the public multiple facets of his personality for the first time.
This result wasn’t just unpleasant for Penny, many others were displeased as well.
Like Nike, they had spent a lot of money on Penny, hoping to make him another flagship character.
They had more media power than Reebok, so they had been dominant in this competition.
But this game destroyed all their efforts, just think, if it had been Drexler who had hit those 6 three-pointers in the first half of the ’92 Finals and arrogantly shrugged, would AJ sneakers be as coveted?
The design and technology of the sneakers are one aspect, but most importantly, fans are not going to buy sneakers of a loser.
Those who were unhappy also included the media that had criticized Roger, labeling his play as “unreasonable.” They thought they had an unbeatable argument, but Roger loudly declared with a 40-point, 0-assist game, “I can win even if my play is ‘unreasonable,’ how are you going to criticize me now?”
NBC’s sideline reporter Hannah Storm was already quite familiar with Roger, and this 30-year-old big sister admitted that interviewing Roger always made her happy.
She even paid more attention to her makeup during games she covered with Roger.
“Truth shone over Oakland tonight, Roger, the youngest Mr.
40 points, how are you feeling right now?”
Roger pointed to the scoreboard on the big screen, “When Scott was hurt, a lot of people thought our record was done for, especially this game.
Please, let Batman, who always works overnight, take a rest, I’ll be Chicago’s sun!
We were indeed affected without Scott, but darkness will never fall!”
Pippen almost ground his molars to dust at the sidelines; he felt that what he really lost to Roger was in terms of culture.
If he were as articulate as Roger, Chicagoans would love him too.
Roger was just a high school student, why was he so cultured!
With the intense hormonal vibe emanating from Roger, Hannah started to enjoy her work, her smile sweeter than before, “After this game, do you think you can change Michael’s mind and gain his approval?”
Krause was watching TV, completely engrossed; he had been waiting for this question for a long time!
Hannah was pleased, Krause was pleased, but someone was about to be not so pleased.
“Hannah, I don’t win games to gain Michael’s approval, I win just to claim victory.
I have zero interest in the boring title of Michael’s successor.
He can bestow that on whoever he likes, I couldn’t care less.
Look, I’ve gone from a high school rookie full of doubts to scoring 40 points on the field, not because Michael thought highly of me, but because I fought for it myself.
Michael’s words are worth even less to me than Penny’s.”
If Jordan went out of his way to praise a loser after Roger’s victory, did Roger need to lick his shoes like a dog?
Half an hour later, Jordan, who had long stopped watching the game, inadvertently heard Roger’s words on a car radio broadcast.
The fingers holding his cigar clenched tightly, his almost pathological desire to win also twitched at that moment.