767: 260: Are you willing to take out all the money in the safe?
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_2 767: 260: Are you willing to take out all the money in the safe?
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_2 Roger imdiately called Steve Bilkin’s mobile phone.
“During his ti in Atlanta, Pete was widely recognized by fans for his active community contributions.
Georgia awarded him the Sports Figure of the Year title, and the Atlanta mayor awarded him the highest civilian award, the Phoenix Award.
He’s a symbol of Atlanta, and we can’t touch him.
Most importantly, he’s my man,”
Roger intentionally emphasized the last sentence, which was the true point.
He wanted to send a signal: You can’t just replace the people on this team as you please.
Steve Bilkin respected Roger’s opinion and said that he had been completely unaware of the situation; otherwise, he would have definitely inford Roger in advance.
Eventually, he decided to call an ergency telephone conference to vote on the issue: “We will definitely support you, you can be assured of that.”
This situation was a real ss—the team was changing general managers, and one of the owners didn’t even know about it.
It was more absurd than a husband who falls asleep in the living room and doesn’t know what his wife is up to.
This is the consequence of having equity distributed too evenly; every owner thinks they can make certain decisions alone.
However, the final outco was satisfactory.
Pete Babcock remained the general manager of the Hawks, and he successfully picked up Michael Reed at the draft as Roger needed.
Roger didn’t know the details of the voting results, nor the process.
He didn’t care.
He only wanted the final result.
Afterwards, Roger imrsed himself back into his holiday, disengaging from work.
anwhile, during this ti, the 2000 Olympics kicked off in Sydney.
As always, the NBA stars forming the United States team were confident, still believing they lived in an era where opponents would swarm them for autographs.
However, reality slapped them hard, proving that the United States team was losing its previous dominance.
The first match for the Dream Team was against the much-anticipated Chinese Team, which, because of Roger’s influence, had garnered a lot of attention.
Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming were also under close scrutiny by the Arican dia.
Unexpectedly, the Chinese Team started off strong.
Yao Ming blocked Payton twice in a row, then shut down the UFO soaring over North Arica.
Coupled with Wang Zhizhi, Zhang Jingsong, and Sun Jun’s decisive three-pointers, the Chinese Team was actually leading the United States team in the first six minutes!
To both Chinese and Arican fans, this seed too incredible to believe.
However, after a brief surprise, the usual script followed.
The United States team used their superior physical fitness to press full-court, create turnovers, and break away with counterattacks, quickly expanding the lead.
The Chinese Team lacked soone who could steadily control the ball, and without outside stability, the advantage in the paint was like a sports car without tires – it couldn’t perform.
When the Chinese Team struggled to even cross half-court, all of Yao Ming’s efforts to position himself were futile.
Although the United States team won by a large margin, those first six minutes still made people wildly speculate: What if Roger was there?
This ga was just a warning.
Afterwards, the United States team experienced what it ant to walk with difficulty.
Against the Lithuanian team, the mighty Dream Team couldn’t pull away and barely won with a score of 76 to 75.
They only defeated the French team by 12 points.
In that ga against France, all people rembered was Carter’s famous “Dunk of Death,” but “ESPN” pointed out: Even an All-NBA team like the United States no longer had absolute dominance in international basketball!
After defeating the Russian team by 85 to 70, the United States team encountered Lithuania again in the semifinals.
This was the most intense and thrilling ga of the Olympics.
With 20 seconds left in the ga, the score was tied at 83.
At this critical mont, Kevin Garnett actually missed two free throws, exhibiting the characteristic softness in clutch monts that KG brought from Minneapolis to Sydney.
Fortunately, Antonio McDyess completed a put-back, putting the United States team ahead 85 to 83.
But Lithuania still had a chance, with the last 4.6 seconds and the ball in their hands.
The ball was given to European royalty, Jasikevicius.
The Dream Team took him seriously, sending Kidd to lead the defense against this deadly European assassin.
And just as he shot, Antonio McDyess ca over to help and distract.
Ultimately, under the interference of two Dream Team players, Jasikevicius’s shot veered off the basket.
The Aricans’ hanging hearts finally settled after more than two hours; the All-NBA United States team narrowly avoided losing the championship in 2000!
In the finals, the United States team once again defeated France, but the margin was just 10 points, and the process was very precarious.
A 10-point margin wasn’t small, but compared to the Dream Team’s average 43-point victory margin, this United States team had hardly any dominance to speak of.
Fortunately, the United States team still won gold with a clean sweep, maintaining the standard, at least in terms of results.
But what if there was a superstar confronting the United States team on the international stage?
Could the All-NBA United States team actually lose a ga?
After winning the championship, the United States n’s basketball coach Rudy Tomjanovich was faced with this question.
“If you gave France or Lithuania a player like Roger, would the United States team be in trouble?”
Tomjanovich seriously considered this possibility and then he was startled.
If France or Lithuania had a Roger, it wouldn’t just be trouble for the United States team; they would be done for.
No, even if Roger went to the Chinese Team, the United States n’s basketball team would have a tough ti.
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