So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 111 It’s time to let him know the changes in this alliance during his time away.

"Red Alert", this is the influence of Michael Jordan!

Not to mention the NBA, in the United States, only for events like war, the three major TV stations will cut off the signal together and broadcast them at the same time.

Such influence is definitely not that of a normal athlete. No, even a "goat" would probably find it difficult to have such influence!

Not only that, the President of the United States also immediately accepted an interview that day. At this time, the "layoff crisis" in the United States was at its most serious, and Jordan's comeback will provide employment opportunities for at least 5 million unemployed people!

Chicago also announced very firmly: "Chicago will once again become the focus of the United States!"

What they said was not unfounded.

Nike made a huge profit of US$25 billion on this day. The previous suppression caused by Adidas signing two super newcomers Meng Lang and Hill was completely reversed at this moment.

In addition, there are two brands that have long-term cooperation with Jordan, and they also made a lot of money on this day!

This day alone proved Jordan's influence!

Naturally, they have the confidence to say such things.

Meng Lang watched this live broadcast and could feel Michael Jordan's influence on the league even more.

But at this moment, what he wants to say more is...

He finally made a comeback. He had been waiting for this day for a long time!

The Magic still have one regular season game to play against the Bulls.

Although it is already the end of the season, and the Magic have only lost 8 games so far, they can lose 70 more games before reaching 4 wins. The probability of breaking the historical record is basically stable. Chuck Daly is already thinking about how to rest and prepare for the playoffs.

but……

Jordan's comeback, with this kind of influence, even at the end of the season, will surely be the most exciting end of season in NBA history.

Every remaining game of the Bulls will be the center of attention.

This game with the Magic will naturally be the most important focus game.

After all, there has been a lot of beef between Meng Lang and Jordan...

Speaking of which, the plot between the two of them is even more attractive.

You know, before Jordan left this league, he had conquered the entire league and won the "three consecutive championships." Except for Olajuwon, everyone else had been beaten by Jordan, but Meng Lang had never interacted with Jordan in the NBA. Pass.

No matter who you are, they all like fresh food!

The same goes for the grudges in the NBA. The various grudges between other people and Jordan have basically come to an end.

There is no first victory or defeat between Meng Lang and Jordan!

So much so that the reporters surrounding Meng Lang in the past few days all asked questions about Jordan:

"Do you think Michael can still have the same dominance as before!"

"Can the Magic beat the Bulls?"

"What kind of performance do you think you can perform facing Michael!"

……

There is a kind of dominance called "Michael Jordan"!

Meng Lang had a very deep understanding on the day he announced his return, but now he found that his previous vision was too thin. The influence is continuous, and now he has also been impacted by Jordan's influence.

Jordan's return makes these reporters seem to have forgotten how many amazing performances he played last season and in most of the games this season!

"I can't wait to kick his ass!"

Meng Lang's words were shocking!

But he is not afraid, because he knows very well that the current Jordan is not the "Golden Jordan".

If you have such a good opportunity, you can give Jordan a thumbs up like crazy. If you don’t do it, it won’t be in vain!

As expected, his remarks made headlines the next day.

In fact, Meng Lang was not the only one who blamed Jordan. After being shocked, many media also began to question:

"When Michael returns, will he be able to maintain the dominance he had when he left?"

Seeing this title, Meng Lang immediately felt comfortable.

This group of media treats everyone the same, even the "God of Basketball" must be questioned by them first!

Of course, it’s not surprising that these reporters have such an attitude. The Bulls are really having a hard time at this time!

Let's start with last season, the first season after Jordan left. Scottie Pippen exploded, averaging a career-high 22.0 points and 8.7 rebounds, as well as 5.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game.

At the same time, Pippen became the All-Star MVP in 94, leading the Bulls to win 55 games!

It was only 2 fewer games than the previous season when the Bulls had Jordan.

It can be said that it is very popular.

Many media are impressed by Pippen.

This was also a piece of ironclad evidence when some fans later turned their backs on Jordan.

It's just that the Bulls are not harmonious internally.

It's not just the conflict between Pippen and Grant.

and also……

The conflict between Pippen, Kukoc and the general manager!

After Kukoc came to the Bulls, Pippen felt a fire in his stomach. He was very unhappy with general manager Krause's approach of signing Kukoc with a big contract.

Because his contract is extremely cheap compared to Kukoc's. This year, Kukoc received 325 million, while Pippen only received 220 million. So Pippen thinks that in a sense, Kukoc robbed him of his money, and the player's salary is also a symbol of the team's boss. Kukoc has so much more money than him, which makes him feel like the "team boss" The strings are always tight.

He approached Klaus many times and asked to sign a contract worthy of him, but Klaus kept arguing with him and refused to agree to his request.

And this also paved the way for the playoffs between the Pacers and the Bulls. In the last 1.8 seconds of that game, Ewing succeeded in the paint and tied the score at 102 in the playoffs. During the subsequent timeout, Phil Jackson drew a tactic and asked Pippen to serve to Kukoc for the final shot. Pippen was furious, with veins popping in his forehead. He couldn't bear it anymore, yelled at Phil Jackson and refused to return to the court.

The reason for his sensitivity was not only because he was unable to execute the last shot, but also because it was Kukoc who took the last shot!

At the same time, Phil Jackson's arrangement was incomprehensible to the rest of the Bulls. Especially veteran Bill Cartwright. In his opinion, Jordan is gone and the whole world knows that the last shot should belong to Pippen.

But the ending of this incident was the worst and most embarrassing.

Toni Kukoc caught an inbounds pass from Pete Meyers and hit the buzzer-beating shot.

This winning goal proved to Phil Jackson that his arrangement was not wrong!

His right to speak also gradually became more important at this time.

The result of this incident was that Pippen apologized to Phil Jackson, but his condition was also affected and they were eliminated in the first round.

Krause was furious. He believed that Pippen's actions hurt the team and even threatened to trade Pippen.

However, more media believe that Klaus only said such words because he was angry. There were no news reports on Klaus's idea of ​​​​trading Pippen in the summer, and this matter was gradually forgotten. But at the end of last year, The media suddenly broke the news:

Krause secretly negotiated a deal for Pippen with the Seattle SuperSonics over the summer.

He wanted to trade Pippen for Shawn Kemp and a first-round pick. Just when the deal was about to be finalized, the owner of the Sonics withdrew from the negotiation table. After the news broke, the conflict between Pippen and Krause completely broke out. In the previous off-season, turmoil had already arrived. First, power forward Grant, who had become a free agent, had a heated dispute with the Bulls management over contract issues and signed with the Orlando Magic in anger. Then veteran center Bill Cartwright announced his retirement in this tense atmosphere, but then chose to come back with the Sonics. Meritorious guard John Paxson also announced his retirement.

Not only the players changed, but the coaching staff also changed. Phil Jackson, who chose Kukoc to execute the winning goal in the playoffs, suddenly fired his assistant coach Johnny Bach.

Bach is one of the meritorious coaches of the Bulls dynasty and the founder of the Bulls' defensive system.

Therefore, this news also caused a lot of discussion.

Many media believe that Phil Jackson is declaring his right to speak on the coaching staff through this incident. He is no longer the rookie coach who relied on Jordan to run for the "Dream One". Now he has the power to decide his own team. ability.

Krause, Pippen and Phil Jackson...

Everyone has their own calculations, and for this reason, before Jordan returned, the Bulls had a record of 34 wins and 31 losses. They are currently ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, only about 7 points ahead of the eighth-place Celtics in the Eastern Conference. A victory.

This is the team's problem.

Don’t forget, Michael Jordan hasn’t played basketball for more than a year. Although he is still active on the baseball field, baseball and basketball are completely different sports. His performance with the Chicago White Sox proved his physical fitness If you don’t have the conditions to play baseball, it’s all a “failure from heaven”!

Whether he can adjust back in such a short period of time, no one knows...

We can only know the result when he actually steps onto the court!

On the afternoon of March 3, Michael Jordan stepped onto the court amid huge expectations and ushered in his first game after announcing his comeback.

The moment he appeared, everyone felt something was strange, and then they discovered that Jordan was not wearing No. 23, but No. 45! ——It is worth mentioning that the manufacturer of NBA jerseys immediately worked overtime the next day to produce more than 20 Bulls No. 45 jerseys for global sales.

Speaking of which, there is a reason why Jordan chose No. 23. His brother wore No. 45. He hoped that his performance could catch up to half of his brother's performance, and then a little more. Now he changes back to No. 45, not sure if it is to pay tribute to his brother, or because he feels that he has reached his brother's level...

All in all, it’s a number with a story!

When these super giants choose numbers, they will choose a meaningful number.

Meng Lang thought of his Magic team number 23.

At first, he chose this number just to stimulate Jordan, but now that he thinks about it, he feels that he needs to change his number in the future...

A number that belongs to him!

But there is no need to worry about this matter, he is only 21 years old and his career has just begun.

Jordan's chief broke the NBA's annual viewing record, with more than 4 million viewers!

However, his debut in Indiana was a bit disappointing. Whether it was because he had been away from the battlefield for a long time or because Byron Scott's "sycophant" was too comfortable, he only scored 28 points on 7 of 19 shots. Helped the Bulls reach overtime, but ultimately lost the game.

After this game, some media immediately sang a lament. They believed that Jordan was dead and that Jordan could no longer regain his former state!

Meng Lang was also asked this question by the media: "Do you think Michael Jordan can still find his form?"

Meng Lang said: "Let the bullets fly for a while!"

Three days later, Jordan came to the Boston Garden Arena for the first time since his comeback. Perhaps all the past experiences of being coached by Larry Bird came to light in front of him. He showed off his power and scored 17 points on 9-for-27 shooting. Led the Bulls to a victory over the Celtics.

After this game, those voices that questioned him suddenly changed again!

They think Jordan has finished adjusting!

Anyway, they said all the good things.

Jordan did not give them the opportunity to jump repeatedly. In the next game, he scored 32 points in Atlanta and hit the key winning goal.

Better every game!

Jordan No. 45 is gradually reuniting with the No. 23 team in fans’ memories.

The next game is a highlight that attracts national attention:

The Bulls challenge the New York Knicks away from home!

Jordan had fought fiercely with Pat Riley's gang of 'villains' for countless nights in the East!

The Big Apple also featured 'Jordan finishers' like Gerald Wilkins and John Starks in these games.

Every encounter between Jordan and the "Big Apple City" is a time worth recording.

Ewing is full of respect for this opponent who will always make him a "backdrop". His words before the game were: "I am very happy that he can return to the league, but this time, we will definitely leave the victory behind!"

He wants to prove that the year and a half that passed away from Jordan took away not only time, but also his dominance.

Pat Riley, who was next to him, turned to look at him and hesitated to speak.

He knew how much his apprentice wanted to defeat Jordan, but...

What a good disciple!

Have you forgotten!

It's best not to anger Jordan. This is a rule of this league. How could you forget it?

Jordan's Broadway drama is on the verge of breaking out.

From the beginning of the game, Jordan kept attacking the Knicks' inside line, making breakthroughs in various directions, turning over jump shots and inside steps, killing his old rival John Starks and losing consecutive games. Pat Riley changed formations continuously, trying to wear down Jordan through double-teaming and physical confrontation. However, at this time, Jordan's sudden inside and outside shots have entered his own scoring mode, and no one can stop him.

The New York fans on the sidelines watched this scene and took a deep breath. This familiar smell made them feel that Jordan was indeed back!

乔丹在前三节就砍下49分，全场37投27中砍下55分，打破了他1986年在麦迪逊广场花园这座球馆里创下的50分的得分纪录！

At this moment, the New York fans couldn't help but cheer. His wonderful performance even cheered Spike Lee who was sitting on the sidelines.

At the last moment of the game, the two sides were tied at 111. The Bulls' starting center Will Purdue, backup center Luke Longley and Toni Kukoc all left the game with six fouls.

In the last attack, Jordan dribbled to the frontcourt, made an emergency stop and knocked down John Starks, and Ewing came out to double-team inside. At the critical moment, Jordan made a quick decision and threw the ball firmly to the team's third center Bill Wennington, who was unguarded inside. The latter dunked successfully and beat the Knicks. That was Wenning. With Dun's only goal of the game, Jordan once again led the Bulls to victory over the Knicks.

Ok……

It was after the game that Wennington said the famous sentence: "Tonight, Jordan and I scored 57 points together!"

And this game is what he calls it in his autobiography: The'Double-Nickel'game!

The translation of nickel is the element nickel, which is one of the elements of the American 5-cent coin. At the same time, in the 70s, the maximum speed limit on highways in the United States was 55 miles per hour, and the 55-mile bill was also called "double nickel". To put it bluntly, It's "55-cent night".

Pat Riley scratched his head after the game and said: "This is Michael Jordan. He is the only person in the history of this sport who has such ability and influence."

Jordan, who was being interviewed in the Bulls locker room, also showed his vengeful side. He added a trash talk to John Starks, known as the "Jordan Terminator": "I think he seems to have forgotten how to do it." Be on guard against me."

"Let's talk about the next game. The Bulls will challenge the Magic on the road in the next game. You will meet Dream. What kind of game do you think this will be?"

The reporter's question made Jordan's smile freeze on his face.

Are we going to meet him so soon?

He tried to remain normal and said: "This is just an ordinary regular season!"

On the other side, Meng Lang was also answering a similar question. He said: "Congratulations to him for scoring 55 points, but it's time to let him know the changes in this league during his time away!"

(End of this chapter)