300: 128: The problem must be resolved (Requesting monthly passes!)_3 300: 128: The problem must be resolved (Requesting monthly passes!)_3 On the way, they encountered Shaq’s car breaking down.
Roger inside the car and Shaq standing by the road exchanged glances, and both probably had the sa thought at that mont: “Damn, it’s jinxed!”
O’Neal and Roger couldn’t explain why, whenever they t, the most common occurrence was a car breakdown.
Roger activated his hazard lights and got out of the car, looked at O’Neal’s silver Ferrari, and couldn’t help but laugh, “Tell , if we were to visit Cybertron, would the Autobots simply go extinct?”
“Damn, this is what I get for spending a cool $320,000!
Those scamrs, bastards, bitches!” O’Neal didn’t respond to Roger’s dark humor and kept on cursing.
“What thing cost you $320,000?”
“This car, I spent $320,000 to modify it!
A normal Ferrari was too cramped for , so I moved the engine from the back to the front to make more space for seating.
Basically, the whole car was taken apart and put back together.
And when I called after the car broke down, those bastards told that since there was no space for a fuel tank, they could only fit sothing about the size of a lawnmower’s, and it costs only goddamn $9 to fill it up!
Feel like laughing?
I do too!”
“So, your car ran out of gas halfway?”
“Exactly!”
“Get in, Shaq, your Ferrari is nothing but scrap now.
We can’t be late for training; you know how Bryant is.”
In the car, Roger kept wanting to find out about O’Neal’s progress in the team contract renewal negotiations.
But fearing it might affect Shaq’s condition tonight, he held back from asking.
It was Shaq, however, who brought it up: “Dude, there’s one thing I don’t understand.
If the team knows my worth, why won’t they pay the salary that matches it?”
“Maybe they want to see just how much you’re worth.”
“You an they’re waiting to see the offers from other teams before they decide?”
“I think so.”
“And if another team offers a higher salary than the Magic, will they let go?”
“That won’t happen, Shaq, other teams don’t have your Bird rights.”
O’Neal wanted to say sothing but just moved his mouth without making a sound.
Why won’t that happen?
O’Neal wanted to ask.
But he felt he had asked enough for today.
Once at the training ground, O’Neal turned back into that always-jovial Shaq.
Roger could tell that Shaq was also trying hard to adjust himself.
But this state couldn’t last long.
How could a player give his best to the team or focus on winning the championship if he couldn’t even be sure of his own future?
Roger’s guess was right; Shaq indeed had other things on his mind.
These issues had to be resolved tonight.
Before the night’s ga started, the Magic Team put on a grand show for the starting players’ entry.
This wasn’t sothing done for every ga, but the Christmas Day ga clearly needed a bit of ceremony.
O’Neal was the last to enter, receiving cheers as loud as those for Roger.
Team owner DeVos and General Manager John Gabriel were also in the box; they had decided to spend Christmas watching tonight’s ga.
Watching Shaq receiving the fans’ cheers on the court, DeVos asked, “Are you saying that during Shaq’s injury period, the team’s attendance didn’t suffer at all?”
“Not just attendance, TV ratings and the results were almost unaffected too,” Gabriel replied.
The conversation ended there, and what DeVos was thinking only he knew.
The ga started, and O’Neal, having recovered from his injury, was eager for the ball from the get-go, wanting to go one-on-one with Olajuwon.
Roger cooperated well, didn’t move much, and stayed outside the three-point line to clear space for Shaq.
Harper skillfully lobbed the ball in, and O’Neal firmly “caught” it with his big hands.
After that, Shaq powerfully bumped back, pushing away Dream, and despite the raised arms of Dream and Horry reaching in to grab his jersey, he slamd the ball ho with one hand!
Having been tugged in mid-air and completely losing his balance, O’Neal fell hard to the floor after the slam.
The entire Magic crowd held its breath; damn, Shaq wasn’t about to get injured on his first ga back, was he?
But O’Neal quickly got up and yelled at Horry, “Hit harder next ti, you sissy!”
Finally, the whole arena cheered.
After two months, O’Neal announced his return with a thunderous slam!
That powerful slam seed to foreshadow the ga for the Rockets that day: Dream and Horry tried hard but couldn’t stop Shaq.
The Rockets team tried, but couldn’t prevent the Magic from slowly pulling away with the score.
In the first quarter, Roger and O’Neal attacked left and right, breaking through the Rockets’ defense.
By the end of the first quarter, Magic had already secured an 8-point lead.
In the second quarter, comntator Steve Jones was no longer satisfied with Roger and O’Neal individually punishing their opponents; he raised a question: “When are we going to see the connection between Shaq and ‘Truth’?
I believe all Orlando fans are missing that earth-shattering alley-oop!”
Steve Jones voiced the fans’ desires; they wanted to see Roger and O’Neal connect.
Right at the start of the second quarter, Roger was ready to fulfill the fans’ wishes.
In this play, Roger, after receiving the ball from Saru, was about to take a three-pointer.
But just as he was about to shoot, Roger noticed that the entire Rockets team was focused on him, including Dream watching him.
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