83: 061: We are entering the Roger era (please subscribe!) 83: 061: We are entering the Roger era (please subscribe!) Scottie Pippen felt puzzled, uncomprehending, and incredulous at Phil Jackson’s decisiveness.
He had thought his threat would be powerful, but Phil Jackson made the cruelest decision for Pippen in the gentlest tone.
His rage, his unwillingness, all of it was worthless in front of Phil Jackson.
Once again, Pippen tried to emulate Michael Jordan and failed miserably.
From the first day of the training camp, Pippen had been imitating Jordan.
He wanted to use a rookie to establish his authority, but he failed.
He wanted to gain the locker room’s respect with his performance during the season, but he failed.
Now, he wanted to forcefully take back control of the ball like Jordan, and he failed again.
People always said Roger wanted to replace Jordan, but in reality, it was Pippen who most wanted to replace Jordan.
He imitated Jordan because he wanted to be Jordan.
Only his abilities were so lacking that nobody could see his intention.
Pippen was now extremely angry; the Zen Master had embarrassed him in front of the whole team.
He was like a woman insisting on making a scene in front of her friends, demanding her boyfriend publicly buy her a luxury bag, throwing a tantrum saying she’d break up with him if he didn’t, trying to flaunt her status in the relationship.
Instead, the man calmly responded, “Break up then, it’s decided.”
Phil Jackson continued to arrange tactics until assistant coach Winter whispered in his ear, “Phil, Scottie seems serious.
“Not coming, what do you mean?”
Phil Jackson thought Pippen was just talking big but wouldn’t really abandon the team at such a critical moment, so he approached Pippen again.
“Scottie, are you playing or not?”
Pippen shrugged off the towel from his shoulder and pointed directly at Phil Jackson, yelling furiously, “Go to hell, Phil, with your 18-year-old rookie and that damn tactic!
I won’t play, not at all!
The whole world will know you stupidly benched your best player at the crucial moment!
Without me, you can’t win, damn it!”
Pippen tried to threaten the Zen Master again, not realizing he could never be Michael Jordan.
The world is unfair; a slim beauty dancing is completely different from a “Grandmama” at square dancing.
Michael Jordan could be capricious, but clearly, Scottie Pippen could not.
The Zen Master did not back down, intentionally yelling, “Pete, replace Scottie to throw the inbound, prepare for the last play!”
The NBC commentators keenly noticed the commotion on the Bulls’ bench, “The Bulls seem to have some argument going on, Scottie is yelling at Phil.
Can anyone tell me what happened?”
The director also timely switched the camera to the Bulls’ bench, and then all the fans saw that when the Bulls players stood up to take the court for the last play, Scottie Pippen sat at the very end of the bench, cursing and swearing.
Steve Jones raised his voice in surprise, “What’s going on here?
During a critical moment, Coach Phil Jackson is really going to bench Scottie?”
Pat Riley also noticed that Pippen, the team’s strongest second-in-command, was not among the five players who took the court last for the Bulls.
It was indeed absurd.
Although Phil Jackson had just acted tough, he couldn’t believe in his heart that Pippen would really abandon the team at such a critical moment.
After arranging tactics, Roger approached Pippen.
Pippen sat on the bench, slightly tilting up his chin.
He thought Roger would come to plead with him.
Without Pippen’s restraint, Roger couldn’t get the chance.
“What!?” Pippen’s proud expression instantly turned to shock; who asks for favors ?
“Do you want me to say it again?
Go fuck yourself, Scottie!
No matter how much unpleasantness there is between us, I have never left the team halfway.
You, at a life-or-death moment, have left us all behind!
You damn bitch, coward, just sit on the bench with your eyes wide open, and see how a man should act in such a moment!”
After speaking, Roger turned and left, and the other players followed Roger, leaving Pippen alone at the very end of the bench.
Maybe the other Bulls didn’t dare to confront Pippen directly, but by following Roger, they completed their stance.
Pippen stared at Cartwright, his old friend from the locker room, and now the only one still standing in front of him.
But Cartwright also left: “Sorry Scottie, but it’s Roger who is leading us to victory, you’ve disappointed us too much.”
Pippen’s locker room status, shaky since Roger beat him up at training camp, had now completely collapsed!
At that moment, Jerry Krause was watching the game on TV, his face turning red, dizzy.
His blood pressure, already at a warning level due to obesity, was nearly bursting his vessels.
Maybe others didn’t yet know what had happened with the Bulls, but with Krause’s understanding of Pippen, he could guess the gist of it.
That damn idiot must not have gotten the last play.
Yes, there were problems with this team.
From the regular season until now, incessant problems.
And at this kind of time, the only right move was to get rid of the troublemaker.
Krause had wanted to do this for a long time!