115: 070: A Completely Different Locker Room Atmosphere (Requesting Monthly Tickets)_4 115: 070: A Completely Different Locker Room Atmosphere (Requesting Monthly Tickets)_4 As soon as he learned that Roger wanted to keep wearing number 14, he agreed to switch numbers very decisively and joked with self-deprecation, “This is the only way to make the number great.”
Perhaps it was because of the bizarre locker room atmosphere at the Bulls that had stressed him out, Roger actually found Anthony Bowie’s respectful behavior quite rare in the NBA.
So, Roger decided to gift Bowie a Patek Philippe as a token of his own respect.
Inside the locker room, no one suddenly went crazy and caused trouble for Roger.
Although they weren’t quite familiar with each other yet, hardly speaking much, at least it was a normal locker room.
However, very soon, the most abnormal person in the locker room showed up.
The locker room door was kicked open with a “bang,” and in came a big guy carrying a giant boombox playing his own rap songs: “Hey, has everyone missed me?
When he saw Roger, O’Neal immediately put down the boombox and hugged Roger tightly, “Oh my God, finally!
I finally get to see you in the locker room!
My dear Roger, I’ve missed you so much!”
As he spoke, O’Neal lay down on the floor and wrapped his arms around Roger’s ankles.
Okay, guess every locker room’s got a few oddballs.
But Shaq’s kind of odd, it’s actually pretty nice~
Afterward, led by the director of communications, Roger and O’Neal, dressed in Magic Team jerseys, joined the general manager and the owner for a press conference.
As soon as they entered, the room filled with the sounds of “click click” from camera shutters.
O’Neal had a beaming smile, whereas Roger was relatively restrained.
The reporters asked many predictable questions, to which he responded with ease.
“Many familiar faces have left the team this season, will this affect the team’s performance?”
“You mean worse than a first-round exit?
I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Want to talk about the Bulls trade?”
“A disaster, I mean, for Chicago, it’s a disaster.
I don’t want to say something like they’ll regret it, although that’s true.”
“But they’ve got Michael.”
“Oh, he’s the root of the disaster.”
“What do you have to say about MJ coming back?”
“It’s a wrong decision, and it will reveal the fact that he’s not a god.”
The reporters weren’t disappointed, Roger was still Roger, still disrespectful toward Michael Jordan, still daring in his speech.
Every media outlet in Orlando should kneel down and thank Roger because, with his audacity, their newspaper sales would quadruple.
So, let’s throw out today’s bombshell question.
“You and Shaq, who leads this team?”
On stage, Pat Williams furrowed his brows, knowing these foolish reporters were just looking for trouble!
Before Roger could answer, O’Neal wrapped an arm around Roger’s shoulder:
“Roger can lead this team.
I can lead this team.
But do you know what’s most important?
What’s important is that Roger and I, together, we are going to lead this league!
Now, Goliath and David are standing side by side!
Trust me, in a year’s time, Michael will be back on a baseball field saying, ‘I’m back.’
After finishing, Shaq patted Roger’s shoulder, meaning, “I’ve got your back!”
A humble veteran, a normal locker room atmosphere, and at least for now, a key partner who doesn’t care about his own position on the team.
On his first day, Roger fully felt the difference between here and Chicago.
All of this made Roger even more confident about this place!
So, he too picked up the microphone and said nonchalantly,
“Next season, nobody’s gonna want to meet us.”