66: 049: The Popular Rebel Player 66: 049: The Popular Rebel Player “Good morning, Chicago, I believe you’ve all heard the sad story.
No no no, I’m talking about Michael Jordan, our hero, who had his orbital bone shattered by Roger on the night of his jersey retirement ceremony!”
Here’s how it went down: after the game between the Bulls and the Knicks that evening, Michael found Roger, who was practicing extra, and they had a friendly one-on-one.
However, according to those present, as the game went on, the two competitive gentlemen’s movements started to get larger and larger.
Eventually, during a defensive play, Michael elbowed Roger in the face.
On the next defensive opportunity, Roger accidentally elbowed Michael in the left eye.
According to Michael’s trainer Tim Grover, Michael’s left orbital bone was fractured into three pieces, luckily without piercing his eyeball.
Michael has now gone to UCLA Medical Center, where a team of eye and orthopedic specialists will perform surgery on him, planning to implant titanium to replace the shattered bone around his eye.
The head of UCLA Medical Center has stated that if the surgery is successful, Michael’s sports career will not be affected.
Thank goodness for advanced modern medicine, thank goodness for the wonders of technology.
The good news is, at least Michael still wants to play basketball.
Does this mean we might see the day he returns?”
The radio broadcast in the car depicted last night’s incident as if the host were right there at the scene.
Roger, sitting in the passenger seat, scoffed after listening and didn’t express an ounce of apology.
“Hah, they don’t mention him calling me a bastard on air, do they?
I’ve come to realize that American media is the most fucking real in the world!”
The driver, Abunassar, chuckled bitterly: “After all, he is Michael Jordan.
Although he’s retired, his influence is still terrifyingly huge.”
Abunassar also felt the report was too one-sided in favor of Jordan, giving the impression that it was the spirited young Roger who had injured a Michael Jordan who just wanted to have fun playing basketball.
But what really happened?
It was Jordan who presumptuously picked a fight.
It was Jordan who first swore in trash talk.
These conveniently missing details covered up Jordan’s true character, making him seem quite innocent.
“However,” Abunassar patted Roger on the shoulder, “you might be the first Bull that he couldn’t successfully bully.
Trust me, he won’t bother you anymore.”
Upon arriving at the Berto Center, the moment Roger entered the locker room, he was surrounded by his teammates.
“Damn, is it true, Roger?
You exploded that guy’s eye?”
“I heard that when the one-on-one was stopped, you were leading Michael?
God, I would love to see you two play one-on-one!”
“Weren’t you nervous at all?
He’s the tyrant Michael!”
The veteran players couldn’t believe that Roger had actually laid hands on Jordan.
First Pippen, then Jordan.
The combination that even the New York Knicks couldn’t handle was taken down by Roger alone!
Pippen didn’t join in the conversation, just silently watched from the side.
With his understanding of Jordan, he couldn’t even fathom how high Jordan’s blood pressure must be right now.
This might be the first time in history that there was a rookie whom even Jordan couldn’t tame.
And Jordan was indeed furious—he almost lost an eye to that kid!
What made him even angrier was the need to act as if nothing had happened in front of the media.
As a spotlighted sports star, Jordan forced himself to be polished and eloquent in front of the media, making the smartest comments for publication.
Moreover, he was in the wrong in this situation.
He intruded on Roger’s training, he was the first to use uncivilized language, and even the elbow was thrown by him first.
If the media seriously dug into last night’s incident, it would be more damaging than beneficial to Jordan.
He hadn’t forgotten how the book “The Jordan Rules” and the Atlantic City gambling incident severely tarnished his public image.
He didn’t want to endure such an impact again.
So instead of throwing a tantrum in the media, he just wanted the commotion to die down quickly.
Thus, during the interviews, Jordan could only grin and bear with it as he faced the journalists’ cameras: “I just wanted to have an exchange with the young player, that’s what basketball is about, accidents happen.
Roger did great, he’s a good lad, he has the same drive as I do, I will continue to keep an eye on him.”
In the end, Jordan added a line: “As long as he apologizes to me, of course, I won’t be angry, what’s there to hold against a kid?”
After the interviews, Jordan had Grover close the door to the hospital room, his face grim.
In the original history, Michael Jordan wasn’t immune to injury by newcomers.
His broken ribs were so famous that they even had to be broken in every book related to basketball.
But Jordan didn’t hold much grudge against Artest because their encounter was without malice; Michael Jordan believed Artest had injured him unintentionally.
But Roger was different; Jordan thought Roger had attacked him on purpose.
So now, he despised the name even more.
For the first time, he felt defeated by a rookie, and thinking of last night’s events made veins bulge in anger.
Thinking of this, Jordan clenched his fists and began speaking to himself, “Damn it, if I were still on the basketball court, if I were still on the court!”
Soon, Jordan relaxed.
He realized that he was no longer on the basketball court.
After relaxing, Jordan looked towards the person in his team he trusted most, Grover, “Tim, do you think that kid could replace me in Chicago?”
“Not a chance, Michael.
The kid might be a strong scorer, but basketball isn’t just about scoring.
You’ve seen it too, this season against teams like the Spurs, Rockets, and Knicks, the Bulls didn’t win a single game.
Stop thinking about those things, and focus on preparing for your surgery.”
“Right, right, there’s no way he could replace me.
What makes him think he can?
If I were still on the court, people would see he’s absolutely nothing.”
Grover seemed to catch onto something, “What are you thinking, Michael?
You want to return to the basketball court?”
“Return to the basketball court?
No, I don’t have that thought right now.”
Jordan didn’t want to discuss this subject further, and Grover didn’t persist in asking.
But this person, who knew Jordan best, could guarantee that the flicker in his brown eyes was extraordinary.
Had Michael Jordan’s journey in basketball really come to an end?
On Roger’s side, after training, he was surrounded by reporters during the media availability.
A reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times squeezed in front of Roger, “Truth, Michael said if you apologize, he will let bygones be bygones.
Have you called Michael yet?
Or are you planning to publicly apologize to him at a press conference?”
Roger looked surprised, “Apologize?
Why should I apologize?
It was Michael who started it.
If I have to say anything to him, I’d tell him: Michael, if you tangle with the Bulls, you’re going to taste the horns.”
Pippen, standing nearby, shook his head.
This kid would never submit to anyone, even if that person were Michael Jordan.
His knees were too stiff; they simply wouldn’t bend.
And this statement made it clear that there was no chance of mending the relationship between Roger and Jordan.
Because of Roger breaking Jordan’s eye socket bone, Roger’s public image was gradually moving away from what Stern had envisioned.
Obstinate, rebellious, these labels were becoming increasingly engraved on Roger.
He was like the Allen Iverson of 1996, with all media deliberately shaping him in this way.
On countless magazine and newspaper covers, you could see Roger looking at you with a defiant gaze, as these photos were intentionally chosen to reinforce his image.
Yet this image didn’t make Roger an object of scorn among fans; many young fans even thought a player like Roger was cool.
More attractive than those who strictly followed the rules.
This could be seen from the All-Star voting.
At the end of the first round of voting, Roger’s vote count was second-only to the 91 draft’s runner-up, Kenny Anderson, among the guards in the East.
Indeed, that was partly because there weren’t many star guards left in the East after Jordan’s retirement.
But Penny in the West couldn’t even make it into the top ten, and his vote count was far behind Roger’s.
People were realizing for the first time that Mr.
Nice Guy wasn’t necessarily more popular than a defiant genius.
John Anderson from SportsCenter tried to explain this phenomenon, “Roger has a perfect shell, which makes his bad-boy image more appealing.
Besides, he respects his opponents only on the court, never causing any trouble off of it.
He’s never been caught speeding, nor has he been found carrying weapons or marijuana; we even often see him at charity events.
Of course, the most important point is that Roger keeps on winning, with him and the Bulls charging triumphantly!”
Right, this might be the most important reason, Roger always finds a way to win.
After suffering two consecutive losses against the Spurs and the Knicks, the Bulls bounced back strong, winning 8 of the next 10 games.
Even though, in those 10 games, Pippen, who was eager to reclaim his position after coming back, increased his shot attempts, causing Roger to score less than 20 points in three of them.
But his performance was still outstanding, and, because of the game against Penny, people no longer questioned Roger’s passing.
For example, in the game against the Cavaliers, Roger blasted 22 points with 0 assists.
The NBC commentator was no longer surprised, “A typical Roger stat, a typical Bulls-like victory.
Scottie Pippen is the filler, Roger is the Terminator.
This kid is like a ruthless agent who can eliminate target after target, even with 0 assists.
The Truth is a great nickname, but what do you think about Agent Zero?
The pronunciation of ‘jie luo’ sounds a lot like ‘zero’.”
Seeing Roger’s soaring popularity and his series of victories, Jordan asked himself every day, “Can he replace me?”
Whether Jordan would be replaced, nobody knew, but Webber felt his top-draft position was about to be usurped.
ESPN magazine had already listed Roger as the top pick in their “93 Draft Redo” feature a few days ago.
Webber wasn’t even the runner-up; Penny was.
What irked Webber even more was his teammate, the despicable, ugly, whose singing was awful, Shaq, who also complained about him and praised Roger all the time.
Fortunately, Christmas was coming.
There was no better Christmas gift than dealing with Roger himself.
Thanks to the generous rewards from great supporters like Fish May Not Know Fish, Stealthy Ant, Boiling Kettle of Tea, Between the Water and Clouds, Watchman’s Legend of Joy, and many others.