320: 135: The Last Dance?
(Request for Monthly Tickets!) 320: 135: The Last Dance?
(Request for Monthly Tickets!) It’s widely believed that Roger vented all the rage of losing the MVP on Stevie Smith.
Hawks fans really didn’t know whether defeating the Pacers without Miller and advancing to the second round was a stroke of luck or misfortune for Stevie Smith, a matter of honor or shame.
Stevie Smith indeed became well-known because of the second round, but his fame came in a rather inglorious way.
The most-replayed moment of him on TV was from Game 4 where Roger deliberately put his hands behind his back to let Smith shoot, resulting in Smith missing the shot.
In the history of competitive sports, moments more shameful than that probably only include missing a penalty kick when your team needs you the most in a soccer match.
Regardless, Stevie Smith ended up being nailed to the pillar of shame by Roger.
The Hawks didn’t cause any trouble for the Magic, and Stevie Smith didn’t put up any resistance against Roger.
In two consecutive rounds, the Magic won without shedding blood, storming into the Eastern Finals with a seven-game playoff winning streak.
What about the Bulls?
They faced a little hiccup, losing to the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the second round.
But that victory was purely because John Starks went off, destroying Jordan’s 46-point performance night with a 61.1% shooting rate and 62.5% from the three-point line.
Just by looking at Starks’ absurd shooting rate, you knew that victory was impossible to replicate.
Even more absurd was that even with Starks shooting like that, the Knicks only barely beat the Bulls by 3 points.
It just showed how big the gap in strength was between the two sides.
And indeed, that was the only game the Knicks won that whole series.
After that game, John Starks yelled at Jordan on the Bulls’ bench, which completely dragged the Knicks into the abyss of destruction.
In Game 4, Jordan took it upon himself to guard Starks, resulting in Starks going 4 for 14 in the game, 1 for 5 from the three-point line, effectively making him a carbon copy of Stevie Smith.
The cornered Knicks lost morale and subsequently crumbled in Game 5, ending their playoff run.
After five games, Michael Jordan averaged 36 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
Michael Jordan was as cold-blooded and ruthless as Roger.
They both stepped over the corpses of their enemies to meet again at the summit of the East.
Besides, they had another thing in common: they both made the opposing team owners drool!
James Dolan watched Michael Jordan slaughter his team, saw Jordan crush what he loved, and felt a sense of excitement mixed with shame.
Dolan wanted to slap himself, thinking, “How can I have this Minotaur complex?
In truth, it had nothing to do with the Minotaur; Dolan felt this way because he knew that the invincible number 23 might likely be his after this summer.
He had already cleared a significant amount of salary space, and most crucially, Jordan’s agent David Falk also hoped Jordan would come to New York.
Falk knew the value of the New York market and how James Dolan looked at money as if it were dirt.
He wanted to bring his two biggest stars, Ewing and Jordan, together.
That way, he could almost consider himself the shadow manager of the Knicks.
He always fantasized about getting all his biggest stars on one team and then controlling that team; that had always been his dream.
People say that in the NBA, apart from Stern, Falk is the most powerful man.
That’s a bit of an exaggeration, and David Falk never thought so.
But he was indeed eager to become the most powerful man in a team.
For this, David Falk, after the Eastern semifinals were over, approached Ewing to try and convince him to accept a pay cut of 15 million.
Yes, this might be the biggest pay cut in NBA history.
Of course, Falk wouldn’t cheat Ewing; he had a prior agreement with the Knicks that next summer, they must give Ewing a salary above 20 million.
This way, Ewing’s average salary over three seasons would actually be more than 14 million, so he wouldn’t lose out.
Ewing trusted Falk, so he agreed to the proposition.
Because even if they couldn’t sign Jordan this summer, the team could still chase after Allan Houston, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller, and other players.
Ewing was willing to accept this salary reduction agreement for the sake of a good teammate.
Without salary space, everything would just be talk.
Ewing longed for a championship; he had had enough of living in the shadows of Roger and Jordan.
For a championship, he was willing to sacrifice a year temporarily.
Of course, all these matters Michael Jordan didn’t care about for the time being.
Right now, he was only focused on the game itself.
As for the 1996 free agent market that was destined to change history, Jordan entrusted everything to Falk.
He had just two requests:
First, it absolutely must not affect the current games.
Second, get himself the best possible option.
So, right before the Eastern Finals, David Falk met separately with Bulls owner Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause.
He intended to delve into discussing Jordan’s next contract.
David Falk was straightforward, “We all know how great Michael is, if possible, I don’t want him to enter the free agent market.
If possible, I also hope he could finish his career in Chicago.
But all this depends entirely on your offer, on how much respect you have for Michael.”