The Pistons reached the Finals, and the most injured person was Michael Jordan.
After the second round, he quietly left Chicago alone and returned to North Carolina to stay with his parents for a few days to ease the frustration caused by the failure. Simply put, he went home to heal.
With the comfort and persuasion of his parents in the past few days, his mood has indeed improved a lot, but now that the Pistons have reached the finals, his mood has become worse again.
Being eliminated by his mortal enemy, his dream of three consecutive championships was shattered, and the idea of becoming the only super giant could not be realized. This was already bad, and if the Pistons won the championship this time, it would be another bad thing for him.
Because of his mortal enemy relationship with Zhou Quan, the media will definitely compare Zhou Quan with him after winning the championship. He only won the championship in his seventh season of his career, while Zhou Quan was only in his second season.
"Michael, go on vacation. Don't stay at home. There are always winners and losers in the game. It makes no sense that you always win alone, right?" James Jordan advised.
"Michael, stop thinking so much and mop the floor before we go on vacation." Jordan's mother, Delores, pushed the vacuum cleaner over.
"Okay, Mom."
Jordan shrugged helplessly at his father, stood up and took the vacuum cleaner from his mother.
"Don't give up because of one failure, that's the stupidest idea."
James slapped Jordan's butt hard and said with a smile: "Remember, failure can make you more mature. Iron Fist is a good opponent. Only a stronger opponent can take you to a higher peak."
"Mutual success?"
Jordan instantly thought of the era of the Black and White Demon Birds. Maybe what his father said was right.
Barkley's mood was the same as Jordan's. He was forced to a 2-2 tie by the SuperSonics, and he didn't know if he could reach the finals. This reminded him of the rejected deal with Zhou Quan. If he had led the Pistons, I believe that now You also made it to the finals, right? The thought of this made him feel terrible.
Now he and the Sonics still have to fight, and the Pistons have entered the adjustment stage. Even if the Suns eventually reach the finals, they will encounter a Pistons team that has been fully rested. How high is the chance of winning the championship? ?
"Oh, I hope we can win the next two games without having to drag into a tiebreaker." He could only look forward to this.
On the 9th, the Suns won the G5 game and got the match point.
Barkley played efficiently in this battle, shooting 72.7% from the field, scoring a super triple-double of 43 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and performed a super performance.
But in the away G6 game on the 11th, he had another poor performance. He made 4 of 14 shots, a 28.6% shooting rate, and only scored 13 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. As a result, the Suns lost the game and were surpassed again. The Sonics are tied, and the two sides will engage in a tiebreaker.
His poor performance was widely criticized by the media.
"The difference between the Suns and the Pistons is the gap between Barkley and Iron Fist. Iron Fist played stably, but as an insider, Barkley, who should be more stable, has never had a stable performance in this year's three-round series, so the Pistons successfully won Entering the Finals, the Suns were almost defeated in the first round, and now they are forced into a tiebreaker by the SuperSonics." New York Times.
"The Pistons should feel lucky. If the league had not vetoed the deal, the Pistons, now led by Barkley, would have been eliminated by the Bulls as early as the second round." Los Angeles Daily News.
"Damn the Alliance!"
Jordan, who was on vacation fishing on a yacht in the Atlantic Ocean, couldn't help but cursed when he saw the Los Angeles Daily News report.
He is certain that if the Pistons replace Barkley, he will definitely be able to kill that fat pig and kill the Pistons.
How the Bulls lost was, of course, due to Zhou Quan. Stable offense, stable defense, top offensive and defensive performance, coupled with top assist ability, he was more powerful than the assassin in his peak period, just like Barkley. With his sudden performance, how can I beat him? How can the guard combination of Joe Dumars and the Assassins resist him and Pippen?
If, if the league had not vetoed that deal, he would have led the Bulls to the Finals, three consecutive championships, a dynasty, and the only super giant, everything would be his.
But at this time, David Stern was actually the one who regretted the most. He felt that he had really made a mistake and should not have intervened in the transaction.
"well!"
He sighed deeply, it was he who ruined Michael Jordan's three consecutive championships, and it was he who ruined his plan to become a god.
He has already tasted the bitter pill. The league's signature star was actually eliminated in the second round. This is a blow to those sponsors and broadcasters.
In this playoffs, the second-round series between the Pistons and the Bulls was the game with the highest ratings. The highest rating was the tiebreaker, with 28.6 million viewers, breaking the record for ratings, and even the average ratings reached 23.2 million. , also broke the record.
The ratings for the Eastern Conference Finals between the Pistons and the Knicks plummeted, with an average of only 12.8 million, only half of the second round between the Bulls and Pistons.
And no matter who reaches the finals between the Suns and SuperSonics, he believes that the ratings of the finals will not exceed the second round of the Bulls and Pistons.
He couldn't imagine how much damage the league would suffer if Zhou Quan and Jordan continued to fight each other in the Eastern Conference next season.
"One of them must be sent to the Western Conference. Only then will the Eastern and Western Conferences be more balanced and there will be a more exciting and anticipated finals series."
If Zhou Quan can't be sent to the West, he doesn't mind letting Jordan go to the West, but it's almost impossible to trade Jordan, it's impossible for the Bulls to trade, and Jordan's contract doesn't end until 1996, so the most likely thing is to take advantage of this opportunity to trade. Zhou Quan.
The possibility of trading Zhou Quan exists. Detroit's economy is failing. The Pistons' ball market is getting worse year by year. It is difficult to invest large sums of money. They can only form a civilian lineup. But for a superstar like Zhou Quan, the contract is too small. Can't stay.
In other words, he believes that the better Zhou Quan’s performance, the less able the Pistons will be to retain Zhou Quan. If the Pistons win the championship this time, it can almost be said that Zhou Quan is destined to leave, because it is impossible for the Detroit Pistons to provide Zhou Quan with a hundred million yuan. super big contract.
…
On the 12th, investigative reporter Sam Smith’s book was released, titled “The Jordan Rules.”
It was released at 8 o'clock, and at 9 o'clock, the media reacted to the book.
ESPN spent nearly fifteen minutes briefly describing the contents of this book in its 9 o'clock comprehensive news program.
"Obviously, this book will reveal a real Michael Jordan, who will not be a perfect trapeze artist."
The host used this opening to attract the attention of all TV viewers.
"In the Jordan Code, there are a lot of controversial contents, and there are a lot of details of conflicts within the Bulls. Yes, details of conflicts. Specifically, this book tells us that in the eyes of Bulls teammates, Michael Jordan is not respected. They welcomed him as a troublemaker."
"For example, Jordan publicly threatened his teammates not to pass the ball to a teammate he hated, and if they violated his rules, he would not pass the ball to them."
"For example, just before the G2 game of the second round series not long ago, Michael assaulted his teammate Wilperdo during a team training match."
"For example, Jordan had a very bad relationship with Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. He even publicly insulted Krause as a 'fat man'."
Until noon, almost all American media were discussing this book.
Soon, the appearance of this book quickly formed a negative public opinion against Jordan, and almost every media pounced on it, hoping to share the benefits.
After Zhou Quan saw these reports in the media, he felt very sympathetic to Jordan. Feeling so cold, he decided not to buy the book again.
David Stern is also extremely annoyed, but he is unable to stop this public opinion. Now he only hopes that time will slowly make this wave of public opinion disappear.
At this time, Jordan was still fishing in the Atlantic Ocean.
There was a radio on the ship, and that night, while drinking coffee, he finally heard news about the book "Jordan's Rules" from the radio.
"boom!"
In anger, he punched the table and flipped it up. The coffee cup on the table flew up and fell to the floor with a bang.
Several crew members accompanying him also looked at each other, and they also heard the announcement.
He grabbed the maritime phone on the ship and started to contact the shore, preparing to contact his agent Falk, but he stopped midway through the call.
What's the use of contacting David Falk at this time? Can the damn book be taken back? The most important thing now is that the media cannot find him.
"Champion! Only a championship can make these media shut up their bad mouths." He squeezed the maritime phone in his hand tightly, as if he was going to crush him.
…
On the 14th, the tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals.
In the end, the Suns had the last laugh, winning the tiebreaker, defeating the SuperSonics with a score of four to three, and reaching the finals with difficulty.
At the most critical moment, Barkley worked hard and showed his superstar style. In 46 minutes, he made 12 of 20 shots, a hit rate of 60%, 1 of 1 three-pointers, and 19 of 22 free throws. Infinitely, he scored 44 points very efficiently, grabbed 24 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds, and made only 1 turnover in the game.
"Finals, here I come!"
After the game, Barkley cried with joy.
"Here you go, I'm going to kick you back as well." Zhou Quan said in front of the TV.
Having said that, he can only express his admiration for Barkley's performance tonight. In the tiebreaker, he actually hit a super double-double of 40+20 and made only one mistake.
This kind of performance will make everyone kneel down. Fortunately, this is a series, not a game.
At the same time, the performance of Lightning Kevin Johnson tonight also made him more vigilant.
In 39 minutes, he made 4 of 11 shots. Although the shooting rate was only 36.4%, the Lightning played a formidable breakthrough attack. They made 14 of 16 free throws and scored 22 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. It was precisely because of him. Constant breakthrough attacks created many opportunities for Barkley and shared Barkley's pressure. It can be said that Barkley's efficiency is due to the lightning.
The strength of this inside and outside combination contributed 66 points together, which is so powerful!
In addition, in addition to Barkley and Kevin Johnson's 66 points, the Suns actually had four other people who scored 10+ points, namely Tom Chambers' 17 points, Dan Marley and Mark West's 11 points, and Danny Ainge. 13 points, the thickness of the Suns' lineup is evident.
The next day, June 15, the league announced the date of the finals.
The Pistons play against the Suns. The latter team has an excellent home court. The game dates are 17th, 19th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 28th, and 30th. It is a best-of-seven game system with a 2-3-2 home and away system.
"The finals are too fast. We have just finished the Western Conference Finals. This is quite disadvantageous to us. I think it should be more fair."
Buckley complained in an interview with the media.
His statement was supported by most of the American media, and many media accused the league's schedule of being too harsh on the Suns.
This news did not even go through fermentation and directly formed a large-scale public opinion.
In fact, some of Jordan's limelight has been stolen. The public opinion of the book "Jordan Rules" has not yet passed, or has even just begun.
Zhou Quan has noticed these public opinions. He understands very well that as a Chinese, leading the team to eliminate the Bulls and Knicks and reach the finals has stung the nerves of these American media. These American media absolutely do not want to see it. He led his team to win the championship.
After Jordan won two consecutive championships, he was targeted by the media this season. He has become a public enemy, and everyone wants to pounce on him and take a bite. He is vividly aware of this situation, and if it were after his two championships, it is conceivable that He is likely to encounter a public opinion environment that is ten times harsher than Jordan's.
Now that he has reached the finals for the first time, the media's reaction is not that big of a deal. It does not even directly target him, but blames the league's schedule, so he doesn't take it to heart.
David Stern was also caught off guard by this sudden wave of public opinion.
But he has no plans to change the schedule. There is no problem this season. The finals will definitely end at the end of June, and then there will be the draft, which cannot be postponed until July.
Although the development of the NBA requires the help of the media, he cannot bow his head immediately as soon as the media says something.
Regarding the finals between the Suns and the Pistons, he just hopes that the game will be more exciting and suspenseful, and not one-sided like the Eastern Conference Finals. It is best to reach the tiebreaker like the Western Conference Finals.
As for who wins, he doesn't care.
…
At noon that day, ESPN announced the latest championship probability prediction data, the Suns were 51% and the Pistons were 49%.
Urnes, the NBA editor-in-chief of its TV station, explained the reason for this data on the show. He said: "The Pistons have a physical advantage. This is undeniable, but we believe more in Barkley and Kevin Johnson. The two of them won the tiebreaker. The performance in the war makes us have to admit that they have the ability to handle everything, including the Pistons.
In addition, from the perspective of lineup analysis, the Suns are more balanced, have very strong internal and external lines, and the thickness of the substitute lineup is greater than that of the Pistons.
The strong lineup thickness can allow the Suns to eliminate some physical disadvantages. This is also a fact that we must admit.
In short, we are more optimistic about the Suns. The first team in the league in the regular season will definitely make history and win the first championship in the team's history. "
(End of chapter)
