812: 273: Michael’s Cleveland Revival Plan?
This is the secret behind their consecutive victories (Requesting monthly tickets!)_2 812: 273: Michael’s Cleveland Revival Plan?
This is the secret behind their consecutive victories (Requesting monthly tickets!)_2 As for the pain?
He doesn’t care at all, not in the slightest.
Hornacek boarded the bus, and the team set off back to the hotel.
On the bus’s TV, ESPN was airing a program that would surely make David Stern’s head burst: Top ten NBA fights of the last decade.
The program immediately piqued everyone’s interest, because Roger’s team appeared so frequently.
During the Magic period, there were fights with the Bulls, elbowing with Karl Malone.
The Eagles period was even more spectacular; the scenes of Pierce and Roger slugging Kobe and O’Neal have become classics passed down through time.
Roger became the subject of jokes among everyone: “If you lose something, it must be in the British Museum.
If a team fights often, Roger must be in the lineup.”
“Someday when I die, I will engrave one word on my tombstone: misunderstood.” Roger laughed and borrowed AI’s famous words to respond to his teammates.
“You also need to add the word, exclusive.”
Big Ben’s words amused everyone, and the whole atmosphere on the bus was very joyous.
But soon, all smiles abruptly faded.
Because the bus’s TV showed the scene of Jerry Stackhouse brutally beating Jeff Hornacek.
That could definitely be counted as one of the top ten fights of the last decade, to be precise, the worst beatdown of the last decade.
Because of his lack of fighting capability, Jeff Hornacek was beaten the whole time.
Forget countering, Hornacek didn’t even have the chance to throw a punch.
After that game, the media said Hornacek was a tougher Rudy Tomjanovich; Stackhouse hit hard at that time, and almost every punch landed directly on Hornacek’s head, each one causing a visibly unique imprint on Hornacek’s skull.
The referee was genuinely afraid some salty substance might end up on his face.
Seeing everyone become silent, Jeff Hornacek tried to disguise his embarrassment with laughter: “It’s okay, guys, I really don’t care.”
For Hornacek, that was the least dignified night of his entire NBA career.
He wanted to strike back fiercely, but after the first punch hit, he was totally dazed.
The most disappointing part was, no one from the Jazz Team rushed forward to help him at the time.
Karl Malone would elbow the Baby-Faced Assassin 50 stitches to stand up for Stockton.
But he wouldn’t do the same for Hornacek.
Hornacek lost face, and every time he recalls that night, he feels extremely humiliated.
Jerry Stackhouse also often bragged about this, as if it proved he was a real man.
Hornacek was now very uncomfortable, because his moment of least dignity was being watched by the entire team.
“Hey Jeff,” Roger stood up in the first row of the bus, looking back at Hornacek, “At the Atlanta Hawks, no matter who encounters a similar situation, we will not allow similar things to happen.”
Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.
“That’s right Jeff, if Jerry that bastard does it again, he’ll regret it.”
“No one can bully anyone on this team; that’s the bottom line for this team.”
What shocked Hornacek was that even head coach Lenny Wilkens supported Roger: “If any of you let your teammate be treated like that and remain indifferent, I will be very, very disappointed.”
“Roger, should you take your MVP trophy the next time you play the Pistons?” Andrae Patterson raised his hand and asked.
“To smash Jerry Stackhouse’s head from the back!”
Everyone laughed again, but not at Hornacek.
Jeff Hornacek also smiled, now knowing why Roger’s team always had the highest frequency of fights.
Such a team might seem bad to outsiders, but who wouldn’t want to serve on this team?
Jeff Hornacek suddenly felt it was all worth it.
He was willing to devote everything for this team!
At this moment, who else but Jeff Hornacek had such feelings?
Everyone knew their teammates would stand up for them.
Everyone offers, everyone gains.
That night, on this bus, the already excellent locker room atmosphere of the Hawks was elevated.
It was a series of great victories!
After defeating the Raptors, the Hawks also won against the Knicks and Cavaliers in the last days of 2000, ending the 2000 schedule perfectly.
Among them, during the Cavaliers game, Michael Jordan sat on the sidelines.
As a minor owner of the Cavaliers, Jordan indeed brought some buzz for the Cavaliers.
The more he showed up, the higher the Cavaliers’ exposure.
So this season, Jordan often appeared at Gund Arena.
Actually, since Jordan invested in the Cavaliers, he’s been very hands-on with many things, even showing up in the team’s daily practice.
But Jordan participating in practice was quickly called off by the main owner Gordon Gund, as nobody wants to see their players being unable to beat an already 37-year-old middle-aged man.
In short, Jordan and the Cavaliers were very close.
But he still couldn’t take off the number 23 jersey at United Center and wear it for the team, unable to directly lead the team to victory.
In this event, Jordan could only watch helplessly as Roger slaughtered the Cavaliers without breaking a sweat.
At countless moments, Michael Jordan really wanted to play.
He certainly knew this Cavaliers and the Hawks were not in the same league.
His mentality was like most Cleveland fans: Winning or not, but at least show some attitude, some spirit, some level.