CHAPTER 1039: CHAPTER 335: LESSONS FROM THE KING, BACKSTAB FROM THE CHOSEN ONE

He didn’t understand why James was a beat slower in reaction when Roger just took a shot.

It was clearly a jump shot with no deception whatsoever, yet in the face of the scariest man in the league, LeBron James seemed unfocused.

"Michael, I’m seriously defending." James spread his arms innocently.

For some reason, seeing this pretentious gesture made Jordan even angrier.

In Jordan’s eyes, James was like a country bumpkin who has never seen the world. Look at his expression, look at his performance. After witnessing everything Roger did, his heart seemed to be sighing: "Damn it, I didn’t expect this scene, I didn’t expect him to be so strong, what should I do!?"

What was he afraid of? What was he avoiding?

Damn it, was he injected with a "Karl Malone botulinum"? In a crucial game, he was completely ineffective!

At that moment, Michael Jordan suddenly felt it was foolish to compare LeBron James to Roger.

They are not the same kind of people at all.

Jordan was furious at his lack of ambition and could only shout at Eric Snow at 40 years old: "Give me this turn!"

LeBron James didn’t say anything, he just ran forward silently, seemingly content to hide behind the wings of number 45.

Jordan continued to post up, taking a few steps then immediately taking a fadeaway jump shot. Tayshaun Prince’s exaggerated long arms made every shot from Jordan feel like walking a tightrope.

Fortunately, this time Jordan didn’t fall into the abyss from the tightrope, and the basketball made it in.

The Cleveland fans cheered for Jordan’s goal, but Cavaliers coach Doug Collins frowned.

Such moments indeed require someone to step up, but it shouldn’t be a 40-year-old stepping up.

"Not bad at all, Michael. If you make a comeback on the Warriors, I promise to send you a ring." Roger teased upon seeing Jordan score.

"Ha, as if you’re surely winning this season."

"Just watch."

The Warriors attacked, Roger continued to dribble, and after going past Mutombo’s screen, he directly took a three-pointer.

Like Artest, James was too strong to agilely navigate around the screen, failing to rush to Roger in the first moment.

In the open space, Roger easily scored another three, LeBron James’s defense was as fragile as paper.

"Indeed, the Chosen One, no one’s defense is as trashy as yours. Hey Michael, you better tell me you have trade plans. Wait, you’re not actually planning to lead with this waste of breath to the conference semifinals, are you? Don’t tell me you really think so!"

The Cleveland fans, who were just cheering, couldn’t utter a sound because their two heroes were being ruthlessly slaughtered by Roger.

Michael Jordan didn’t entangle much with Roger but simply ran forward: "Give me! Give me the ball!"

He was frantically asking for the ball, though he knew he was no longer his ’90s self, but he couldn’t accept the option of surrendering.

Eric Snow gave the ball to Jordan again, and Jordan, when receiving the ball, was one step within the three-point line. The mid-range to long-range was still his sweet spot.

Seeing that Tayshaun Prince hadn’t caught up, Jordan immediately took a shot after catching the ball.

But as soon as the basketball left his fingertips, it was swatted away from the side by a hand.

Roger landed and waved his finger at the Cleveland fans: "You’ve been fooled by this egomaniac! Conference semifinals? You’re not getting into the playoffs at all!"

Michael Jordan panted heavily. He found himself beginning to feel a bit tired.

In these few rounds, he was too aggressive on both ends of the court, which was a pace of play he could no longer endure.

"Old Dog, tired?" Roger provoked the fans before returning to continue tormenting Jordan.

Even Tayshaun Prince beside him found Roger cold-blooded, showing no empathy or sympathy for the 40-year-old Michael Jordan.

At this moment, the Little Prince was very lucky to be selected by the Warriors, never having played for another team, so he didn’t have to face Roger as an enemy.

Cold-blooded? Maybe. From a competitive sports perspective, the 40-year-old Michael Jordan already deserved respect.

But back then, when Roger led the Bulls to great progress, wasn’t Michael Jordan also this haughty and superior?

He was just a bullet from back then hitting home.

Jordan didn’t respond to Roger’s obvious provocation; he only wanted to quickly close the score gap now.

Cavaliers ball possession, Big Z passed the ball to James, and James finally mustered the courage to choose a breakthrough.

But rookie LeBron James didn’t have the unparalleled tank physique he would later develop. Indeed, his body was already surpassing 99.9% of high schoolers, even surpassing rookie-year Roger.

But not surpassing the current Roger.

Under Roger’s close defense, while James wasn’t forced to stop, he also couldn’t directly push Roger away.

Both of them drove side by side to the basket, and then James forced a layup trying to draw a foul.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Nike league.

Nike’s influence had already fallen to a level where it had to compete with Adidas for the deputy GOAT position in the NBA.

Roger’s appearance completely changed the fate of the Reebok brand and also thoroughly altered Nike’s.

So, no one would take care of Nike’s players.

"Bang!"

"Another block! Roger blocked both LeBron and Michael in the same turn!" Al Michaels behind the commentary desk admitted he had misread.