163: 086: The Most Hated Person (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_2 163: 086: The Most Hated Person (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_2 Walking into Jordan’s luxurious villa in Chicago, Hardaway first encountered Joe Dumars.
He was the only member of the Detroit Bad Boys who could be considered a gentleman and one of the few Pistons who, instead of becoming enemies with Jordan, actually became his friend.
The two-time champion guard warmly greeted Penny, “Anfernee, there aren’t many guards who make it into the All-Star starting lineup in their sophomore year, congratulations.”
“Thanks, Joe, where are Michael and the others?”
“They’re playing cards in the room.
I’d suggest wearing a gas mask before going in.
That place is a mess, damn, it’s worse than the scene of a fire.”
After walking into the room, Penny felt he really should have listened to Joe Dumars.
Jordan, Barkley, Pippen, and Ewing, along with a few others he didn’t recognize, were there, all puffing on cigars and filling the room with swirling smoke, to the point that Hardaway could hardly open his eyes due to the fumes.
When he saw Hardaway walking into the room, Jordan stood up from his chair and warmly embraced him, “Guys, let me introduce my little brother, Anfernee.
You can also call him Penny.”
In fact, there was no need for Jordan to introduce him as everyone in the room already knew who Penny was.
Jordan was simply using this gesture of closeness to convey to Hardaway and everyone present, “He’s my guy, you can trust him just as you would trust me.”
“Playing cards?” Jordan, draping an arm around Hardaway’s shoulders, guided him to take a seat beside him.
“Sure.” Hardaway was excited; he felt like he was joining the upper echelons of NBA society.
Just as he sat down, Jordan beckoned to a servant, “Hey, get Penny a coffee and a cigar.
Damn it, do I have to shout?
My friend shouldn’t just sit there empty-handed!”
The card game started, and Jordan was having a lucky night, winning tens of thousands of dollars in just a few hands.
What was that amount of money to him?
He was once willing to offer millions just to shut Juanita, that woman, up.
Of course, Jordan’s offer of a buyout was rejected, and Juanita still signed a long-term agreement with him, using their children as leverage.
So you see, in the NBA circles, millions of dollars aren’t even enough for women, let alone tens of thousands.
But Jordan was still happy; the joy of gambling for him was never about the money.
He just loved winning the unknown.
Having won enough and in high spirits, Jordan started talking business, “Guys, for this year’s All-Star game, I’ve got a plan.
Hey, call Old Joe in here too.”
After Dumars had taken a seat, Jordan began to deal cards while sharing his plan, “Let’s cut to the chase, I want to isolate Roger and Shaq.”
Joe Dumars was surprised; he knew what the assassin had done to Jordan in the past.
So, he hadn’t expected Jordan to use the same tactics against his own juniors.
Had he forgotten why he hated the assassin so much back in the day?
Why had he become the very person he used to despise?
Ewing and Pippen had been aware of it all along, so they didn’t express any opinions.
Barkley, however, started laughing, “Michael, I think you’re just desperate to win.
It’s just the All-Star game, is it really necessary?”
Jordan didn’t smile, “I just want him to understand one thing, that this league isn’t theirs to dictate yet, we’re still around.
Do as you please, Charles, if you want to get blown out by Shaq on your own turf, I don’t care.
Everyone knows you’re afraid of that shark.”
The only thing that guy has over me is that it takes ten dogs to finish what’s left after he uses the bathroom!” Barkley had no objections to Roger, but he didn’t like O’Neal.
So, as soon as Jordan brought this up, Barkley got annoyed.
Many might not believe it, but O’Neal’s draft report compared him to Barkley.
And so, from the moment O’Neal joined the league, people had been comparing him to Flying Pig.
In the five times O’Neal had faced Barkley since joining the league, O’Neal’s stats were much better in four of them.
More and more people felt that Shaq was the most dominant ‘big’ player.
Barkley was helpless about these comparisons; he didn’t even guard Shaq directly, so why make such a comparison?
Even though he didn’t say anything, Jordan knew that Barkley would definitely take defending Shaq seriously in the All-Star game.
They were cut from the same cloth, both loving to win.
Unless you dominate him with a 40+ point game in a playoff series, Barkley would definitely fight you till the end.
Joe Dumars also made his stance clear, “I’m sorry, Michael.
I’m not saying I’ll support Roger and Shaq, but I don’t want to strip them of their right to show off.
If they have a really good chance, I’ll still pass the ball to them.”
Jordan nodded in understanding; Joe Dumars was just like the Admiral, a truly good person.
In the Detroit team known for trying to take Jordan down, Dumars didn’t just avoid dirty plays—he had never even trash-talked Jordan.
He always adhered to his own principles and remained unchanged by those around him.
Jordan respected Dumars’ character, and thus wouldn’t press him, “No worries, Joe, I won’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to.”
If Webber were there, he would certainly have stood up with tears in his eyes, applauding Jordan’s words for ten straight minutes.
Well said, damn well said!
Finally, Jordan turned to Penny, “What about you, buddy?
Are you interested in showing Roger what tough defense in the All-Star game looks like?”
Penny nodded, “I’ve always taken every game seriously.”
Penny was all too eager to take down Roger; in their matchup last season, Penny was completely outclassed.
He went from the most popular rookie to being entirely less popular than Roger and Grant.
Hill, the newcomer to the league, the sense of which was a significant fall.