Chapter 1161: Chapter 369: LeBron James Is the Least Qualified of Them All
Soon, a man Roger was very familiar with came up from backstage. At this joyous moment, the man’s expression was like a prisoner about to be executed. Only after seeing a bunch of reporters and fans did he force a fake smile.
Roger looked at the guy who came out and couldn’t help but clap along with the fans.
"I take back what I just said, Boki, I love this surprise!"
Michael Jordan walked to Roger with a fake smile and hugged him: "You and that damn Russian both should go to hell!"
"Michael, I really didn’t know he invited you to the ceremony, nor did I know why you agreed. But if I knew, I’d surely have both hands full of championship rings waiting for you."
"Hell wouldn’t even take you, Roger!"
Jordan had reasons to be angry. Although the rivalry between him and Roger had passed for many years, Michael Jordan was never the kind to make peace with Roger, just as he would never shake hands with the Baby-Faced Assassin no matter how many years passed.
Some things don’t fade away with time.
The reason Jordan agreed was that he didn’t want to break his promise.
Last season, Michael Jordan made a bet with Roger: if Roger won the championship, he would allow Roger to add a phrase under his statue in the future — Michael Jordan’s most respected, admired, and the only great opponent he couldn’t defeat.
Moreover, he promised to personally unveil Roger’s statue then.
The matter caused quite a stir at the time, and the two publicly talked about this bet in front of the media.
So, when Michael received a call from Mikhail Prokhorov, he couldn’t refuse.
As a man, he could be defeated, but he couldn’t break his word.
If he refused to keep his promise, how would people see him?
Thus, Michael Jordan showed up in the Bay Area with gritted teeth; it felt like holding hands with the enemy and dancing on his own grave with the enemy.
Michael Jordan swore he’d never step foot in the Bay Area again in his life!
With Michael Jordan accompanying him, Roger and Prokhorov simultaneously pulled the black cloth off the statue.
After unveiling, Roger saw the biggest statue in NBA history, standing at 7.3 meters with the base. The statue’s pose was simple: it depicted Roger’s must-do move after every championship, jumping onto the technical table and raising his arms to the audience.
Roger was pleased that the statue’s form, even the folds on the jersey, were perfect replicas of reality. The face might not be 100% alike, but had an 80% resemblance. In short, you could tell at a glance that the statue belonged to Roger.
Two sentences were engraved on the base of the statue, the first being "No one to come after."
The second was "Michael Jordan’s most respected, admired, and the only great opponent he couldn’t defeat."
The Egg looked at this sentence and really wanted to smash the statue with a hammer on the spot.
But there was no way; Michael Jordan’s bottom line wouldn’t allow him to ignore words he’d spoken.
After all ceremonies ended, Prokhorov invited Roger and Michael Jordan to have dinner together.
During the meal, Roger inquired about Michael Jordan’s future plans.
Though last season Michael Jordan created an extremely passionate script, it must be said that his start as an owner was an outright failure.
But Michael Jordan didn’t seem to be discouraged. He wasn’t the kind to avoid challenges and still hadn’t given up on transformation: "I’ve already invested in the newly joined league, the Charlotte Bobcats."
Although Jordan was born in Brooklyn, he grew up in North Carolina, and he was still willing to help NBA players from his hometown advance.
Roger reminded his old rival: "You better not set unrealistic goals too easily as you did last season."
"Are you teaching me how to do things, Roger?"
"No, just reminding you to be mentally prepared for your team not making it to the playoffs for many years, and constantly monitor your blood pressure. You know, not making breakthroughs in performance year after year is quite boring."
"No need for you to say, besides, I have my own goals."
"What goals besides entering the playoffs?"
Seeing Roger ask this, Michael Jordan smiled and took a cigar: "You see, my team might not make it to the playoffs for several years to come, but I’ll find a way to make others also not make it to the playoffs to keep me company on vacation."
From the Egg’s eyes, Roger seemed to see the Michael Jordan of ten years ago.
His gaze revealed determination, seriousness, and murderous intent.
Make others also not make it to the playoffs? Who is this "others"?
The answer seemed obvious.
"Is it necessary, Michael? He’s just a kid. Besides, you already taught him a lesson last season."
"That ’kid’!? He’s the most deceitful and insidious guy I’ve ever seen! Last season was last season; my story with him is still long ahead!"
"But how can you stop him? With Emeka Okafor? Come on, Michael, he’s not strong, but he’s not that weak either."
"Targeting him is too simple; we all know what kind of defense he fears most. Putting together a championship-worthy lineup is hard, but assembling a lineup enough to take him down is not that difficult."
"You’re a bastard, Michael."
"Do you have the face to say that? Do you need me to remind you what you did to him last season?"