Chapter 1060: Chapter 341: I Thought I Was Here to Assist Him

Four days before the end of the 03-04 regular season.

After the Hawks’ training session, Michael Jordan was, as usual, interviewed by journalists in the locker room.

A question from one of the journalists silenced the entire Hawks locker room.

“Michael, do you think Roger would deliberately let LeBron James win since that would end your playoff hopes? As Roger’s archrival, do you think Roger would use such tactics against you?”

After the question, Michael Jordan lifted his head and looked at him disdainfully.

Meanwhile, every player in the locker room was staring at that journalist.

The sports journalist felt like his heart was skipping a beat under their stares, unsure of what wrong he had done. The intense gazes from the players made him feel as if he were not in a team’s locker room, but rather in a prison shower, ready to be pushed into danger. Even if a 100 US Dollar bill fell to the ground, he dared not stoop down to pick it up.

A few seconds later, the fire in Michael Jordan’s eyes began to dissipate, and he just shook his head.

“Which media are you from? What kind of foolish nonsense are you talking about? Deliberately losing? If Roger uses that tactic against me, then he does not deserve the title of the league’s best.

Roger would use a thousand ways to stop me from making the playoffs; in fact, this season, he’s already stopped me twice, and in my final career season, I still can’t beat him. But the way you just mentioned? Deliberately losing to others to stop me? That’s not Roger.”

Michael Jordan always thought Roger was a jerk; many things he did on the court made most NBA players angry, and the supermodels he dated off the court made every NBA player jealous, he’s simply a piece of work!

But deliberately lose a game? Rest assured, no matter how despicable Roger is, his sense of honor as a professional player won’t let him do such a thing.

He’s the kind of guy who, at 19 years old, dared to challenge the best player in the world for victory.

Such a person, at his peak, would deliberately lose to another 19-year-old player? What are you thinking!

While Michael Jordan was discussing Roger with the journalist, Roger was at home, once again seeing the national team advertisement released by Reebok on television.

Roger never expected that just a few months ago, when talking about the possibility of the 2008 Olympics, it was now confirmed he’d be appearing in the 2004 Olympics.

This world is always full of things that take unexpected turns when you least anticipate them.

But tomorrow night, Roger would not allow any unexpected turns in LeBron James’ game.

Yes, if Roger deliberately lets James win a game, Michael Jordan’s season is over.

Does Roger like Jordan? Hardly. But deliberately lose to LeBron James? That’s even more disgusting.

Besides, who doesn’t want to see the Hawks and Cavaliers tearing each other apart for a playoff spot?

Roger wants to keep the suspense of the Eastern playoff spots until the very end.

Of course, LeBron James doesn’t think so; he’s come to the Bay Area full of confidence.

He believes that his fate is not yet sealed.

LeBron James’ confidence is not unfounded; ever since Michael Reed joined, the Cavaliers’ strength has indeed greatly improved.

James was free from Jordan’s constant pressure, performing more freely on the court.

And Michael Reed’s love for three-point shooting is exactly what the Chosen One needs.

Jordan never showed any interest in three-pointers throughout his life; during his comeback with the Cavaliers, his average number of attempted threes was barely even one per game. As a guard, a scorer, this number of three-point attempts is unimaginable in the 21st century, and even more so beside LeBron James.

This was a conceptual difference in basketball philosophy, as Michael Jordan, during his era, did not feel the need for three-point shots. He preferred cutting in, attacking the basket, and drawing fouls. To him, relying too much on three-point shots would turn the game into a mere waiting around the arc for a pass to test the touch, killing his aggression.

Therefore, at times Jordan deliberately avoided shooting threes, as he didn’t like the stand-and-shoot style of gameplay.

But this point is crucially detrimental for James, who precisely needs teammates standing outside the arc, ready to shoot, allowing him to freely dribble for 20 seconds before passing.

Imagine a Jordan who almost never shoots threes combined with an Eric Snow who lacks shooting ability. Together, they would make the offensive space for James terrible.

And Reed’s emergence perfectly solved this problem.

So the Cavaliers are not as weak as a piece of paper; they don’t have zero chances of winning tonight.

In the last game, didn’t Carmelo Anthony walk away with a victory from Oakland Arena?

To beat the Warriors, the key is to stabilize the score in the first half.

According to the Warriors’ latest two-game rotation strategy, the main players will not have more than 30 minutes of playing time.

The first half will mainly see around 20 minutes or so, while in the second half, more playing time will be given to rotation players.

Hubie Brown’s approach is undoubtedly reasonable, as he certainly wants to manage injury risks carefully before the playoffs and let the rotation players find their best competitive form through games.

Hubie Brown’s rotation is better than Popovich directly forcing Tim Duncan and others to get injured.