85: 061: We are entering the Roger Era (Subscribe!)_3 85: 061: We are entering the Roger Era (Subscribe!)_3 On the court, Roger, after celebrating with his teammates, strode over to Scottie Pippen at the end of the bench.
He bent over and wrapped his arm around Pippen’s neck, pressing his forehead against Pippen’s head, “See that, Miss Scottie?
That’s what a man’s gotta do!”
Having said that, Roger let go, walked into the player’s tunnel amidst the curses of the New York fans, and ended this great night.
Roger was happy, but not ecstatic.
Because he knew the series wasn’t over yet.
His revenge on Pat Riley wasn’t over either.
This was just the beginning!
After the game in the locker room, Cartwright directly cursed at Pippen, swearing even worse than Roger had.
At the height of emotions, he couldn’t help shedding tears, and he and Pippen hugged and wept together.
They had gone through so much together, and they both knew this was the best chance to win honor without relying on Michael Jordan.
But Pippen had just willingly given up that chance.
Eventually, Pippen realized his foolishness.
In the locker room, he reflected and apologized to the entire team, including Phil Jackson and Roger, “I’m frustrated with how the game ended, I promise, something will never happen again!
I’ll give it my all for victory!”
But this tearful act couldn’t stop Pippen’s leadership reputation, cultivated over an entire season, from completely collapsing.
From the moment he cried and apologized, the era of the dual leaders of the Chicago Bulls was over.
From now on, the entire Eastern Conference finals would be led by 18-year-old Roger!
After that, to avoid unnecessary trouble, the Zen Master attended the press conference alone, without bringing Roger or Pippen.
He feared those two guys would start arguing again under the provocation of the reporters.
At the press conference, the Zen Master also disclosed the incident of Pippen refusing to play.
The next day, media across the country criticised Pippen, turning him into a laughingstock.
“Chicago Sun-Times” showed no mercy, “Tell me, if your kid comes to you today asking why Scottie didn’t play in the final moments of the game, how are you going to explain that their hero is a crybaby?”
The neighboring “AM New York” also couldn’t resist mocking Pippen, “The actions of Scottie Pippen made Charles Oakley, who was devastated by an 18-year-old’s buzzer-beater, not seem so embarrassing.”
“SportsCenter” certainly wouldn’t let go of this hot topic, “The most embarrassing part is that the Bulls proved that they could win the game even without Scottie, making all of his threats seem ludicrous.”
Michael Jordan simply couldn’t believe that Pippen had made such a foolish move.
Just last night, Jordan had personally called Cartwright to ask what exactly had happened.
After Cartwright explained everything, Jordan expressed that he couldn’t understand Pippen’s behavior but was greatly shocked by it.
Of course, not everyone was busy mocking Pippen.
The hero of the day was Roger, after all, who had completed a revengeful buzzer-beater in the playoffs.
More people started paying attention to the invincible superstar genius in the playoffs.
Magic called it, “The toughest left-handed buzzer-beater I’ve ever seen in my life, definitely one of the greatest buzzer-beaters in NBA playoff history!”
O’Neal, fishing at the Wekiva River, put down his fishing rod and praised Roger profusely, “Let me put it this way, my brother is a basketball artist; Chris?
He’s a basketball comedian.”
North Carolina guard Starkhouse tried to tell people he was Roger’s lifelong rival, but everyone thought he was nuts.
However, among all the news, undoubtedly the one that excited a certain someone the most was the following.
At 18, Roger had become the real master of Chicago.
He staged a wild buzzer-beater in the playoffs, became the Rookie of the Year, and as an 18-year-old rookie, he was successfully selected for the All-NBA Third Team.
Yes, not the All-Rookie Team, but the All-NBA Team!
So we can completely forget about Michael and past glories, we are entering the Roger era!— “Chicago Tribune”.