740: 253: First, take the first championship of the comeback to the throne before anything else!
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_3 740: 253: First, take the first championship of the comeback to the throne before anything else!
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_3 Sweeping the series had already been destined, tonight’s effort had drained all the passion of the Heat players.
Bill Walton shook his head, “That’s why, we say Roger’s reign has never been interrupted.
Last season, Heat took seven games to handle Roger, but now?
Roger has silenced everyone in the most convincing way, with no hesitation or dragging his feet.”
That’s right, in the original timeline, why do people always overlook that Michael Jordan was once defeated by Shaq?
Not just because he made a premature comeback that year, but also because he immediately swept Magic in the following year.
4-0 is enough to shut everyone up.
That is the source of dominance.
You can beat me once in a while, but I will surely hit back immediately in the most convincing way!
Many stars seem to lack dominance simply because they lack such a playoff series.
Imagine if the story changed: Michael lost to Shaq, and everyone was expecting him to hit back next year, but he instead decided to join Pistons with Grant Hill.
Wouldn’t that instantly strip away any legendary status?
That’s exactly what Roger is doing now, this 4-0 is vital, it’s the necessity for him to continue his dominance.
After the game, when Roger returned to the locker room, planning to celebrate with his teammates, he received a call from his agent, Eric Fleisher.
Roger found it odd because Fleisher rarely bothered him during the postseason.
Could it be about the renewal of his contract?
This summer, the five-year, $120 million contract that Roger had signed was about to expire.
His salary of $29.28 million this year, would remain unbeaten for many years to come.
But under the new labor agreement, contract negotiations would become very, very simple.
After all, the maximum salary was completely fixed, no more heated arguments about contract amounts.
So, Eric Fleisher had no reason to call Roger about the renewal.
Roger had no clue about the reason for the call, but he answered anyway.
“Roger, sorry to disturb this wonderful evening!”
“Just get to the point, we don’t need to stand on ceremony with each other.”
“Tomorrow, Ted Turner is coming to Miami to meet you.”
“For what?” If it was just a casual meeting, Fleisher would not have needed to call him.
“The merger failed, he has to sell the team.
So, he might want to discuss the future with you.”
Honestly, Roger knew this day would eventually come.
It was like how game media wouldn’t spoil that the final boss of “Black Myth: Wukong” was a character with a dog, but for Chinese players, there’s not much difference; it’s practically fully spoiled.
Roger already knew the spoiler, that Ted Turner would sell the team, because in 2024, Turner wasn’t the owner of the Hawks.
However, Roger didn’t know any details about the team transaction.
So, he hadn’t expected it to happen this soon.
It seemed a meeting was indeed necessary now.
The captain no longer had his former glory.
Roger had met this old man at a charity dinner before joining the Hawks after so many years, his eyes always sparkled.
These moguls never had the fatigue of middle age on their faces, remember he was even involved in the Gold Club scandal a while ago, which showed he was still full of vitality; a man without vitality wouldn’t go to such a place to spend money seeking trouble.
But this time, Roger noticed that Ted Turner’s eyes had become dim, the vitality had vanished from him.
Roger had seen this look many times, those middle-aged men pressed by social and family pressures often had this kind of dim expression.
Seeing Roger enter the meeting room, Ted Turner politely stood up, “Roger, I’ve always been unsure whether to say this at such a time, but I feel you have the right to know about the future of the team.”
“You’re my friend Ted, you can share your worries with me.” Roger shook hands with the captain, then sat down.
As soon as he sat down, Ted Turner exclaimed excitedly, “It’s all because of the damn internet bubble!”
Afterwards, Ted Turner told Roger in detail about the internet bubble.
Put simply, it was another accident capable of making Wall Street perform aerial stunts daily.
America Online, which had merged with Time Warner, was heavily impacted, the stocks plummeted.
This biggest merger in history became the biggest loss in history.
If Time Warner had not merged with America Online at the beginning, this storm wouldn’t have affected Ted Turner.
But precisely because of the merger, everything was ruined.
“How much did you personally lose?” Roger asked.
“$7 billion!” Ted Turner didn’t hide it from Roger.
$7 billion, even for a capitalist, that’s a terrifying number.
In the future, many people imagine the wealthy owner Mark Cuban, whose net worth in 2011 when the Mavericks won was $2.3 billion.
Meaning, Ted Turner lost almost three 2011 Cubans.
“Alright, I understand your decision.”
“No Roger, it’s not what you think!” Ted Turner became very agitated, “I had no intention of selling the team, even after such a severe loss I didn’t want to give up the Hawks and the Warriors.
Basketball and baseball are my hobbies, not merely business ventures.
I invested passion, not seeking monetary gain.
Moreover, both teams were still genuinely profitable.”