Champion Creed
Chapter 65 - 65 048 Michael finally learned how to speak properly_2

65: 048: Michael finally learned how to speak properly_2 65: 048: Michael finally learned how to speak properly_2 But this time, Michael Jordan did not let his guard down because Roger was only 18 years old.

Roger lowered his center of gravity, realizing Jordan was letting him drive left because Roger was not left-handed.

He decided to take the bait and broke to the left.

Jordan’s strong upper body made it very uncomfortable for Roger to drive; if this persisted, it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to stop.

Hence, Roger came to an abrupt halt and spun for a jump shot.

Jordan’s reaction was quick, but having been away from the basketball court for too long, he was still a beat too slow.

This slight delay allowed Roger’s basketball to fly just past Jordan’s fingertips.

Although he couldn’t complete the block, Jordan thought such disruption was already enough.

However, the next second, Jordan heard the sound of the ball “thunking” against the backboard, followed by the swish of the net.

Despite Jordan’s tight defense, Roger’s turnaround off-the-glass shot still went in!

“DPOY, huh?

That’s it?” This shot had actually been a close call, and even if he tried again Roger might not succeed.

But he couldn’t let it show; on the basketball court, when one side shows weakness, the other becomes domineering.

Grover had seen this scenario too many times, cocky rookies babbling incessantly in front of Michael, thinking they could become the God Devourer.

But not one of these folks ended up without being soundly beaten.

Yet today, Grover couldn’t guarantee the outcome would be the same as before.

Because right now, the one standing in front of Roger was the baseball player Michael Jordan.

For Jordan to play baseball, Grover had spent a lot of efforts redesigning Jordan’s muscle distribution.

Michael’s upper body was now very bulky, with muscles on his shoulders, arms, and chest all beefed up, but his lower body was significantly weaker than before.

Due to the difference in training focus, Jordan’s lateral movement speed had also dropped considerably.

If it were the basketball player Michael, Roger would have had no chance of breaking through just now.

But as a baseball player, the result of defending Roger was clear for all to see.

Indeed, this Jordan could still defend against most of the guards in the league.

However, Grover was very aware of how extraordinary Roger’s offensive skills were.

Michael, today, is in great danger!

“Shut your damn mouth, you sissy!

What can you do?

Just relying on your outside shooting luck!” Jordan roared in anger.

According to the unwritten rules of one-on-one, the scorer keeps possession, which was hugely advantageous for Roger.

Roger pressed on with the attack, feinting left with a jab step and then pretending to shoot.

As Jordan straightened his bent knees, Roger accelerated to the right.

Jordan chased after him with great effort, colliding with Roger in the air and knocking him down, but the basketball that was tossed high still dropped into the basket.

“And one!

Old man, go home!”

Jordan was grinding his teeth.

He had underestimated Roger’s one-on-one scoring ability.

Just in terms of scoring, this kid was indeed a Wizard.

Playing with him, Jordan felt like he was facing Iceman.

Back in ’85 when they were teammates, it was inevitable for them to spar on the court.

Iceman was already old then, and Jordan could easily keep up with his steps and dominate in head-to-head matchups.

But the Iceman still managed to score in all sorts of ways, which frustrated Jordan no end.

This kid was somewhat reminiscent of Iceman.

But screw that!

Jordan swore to crush this bastard!

Jordan didn’t speak again; instead, he tossed the ball back to Roger.

But Roger didn’t stop, knowing this was the best chance to get inside Jordan’s head: “You’re silent now?

Damn, the great Michael Jordan is scared.

You didn’t see this coming, it’s all over your face.

If you’re not good enough, then practice more; if you can’t handle losing, don’t play.

You might have been great before, but the past is the past, and this is now.”

“You’re going too far, rookie,” Grover warned Roger from the side, not wanting Jordan to get injured in this meaningless one-on-one.

“Shut up, cheerleader, this is none of your business,” Roger responded.

Abunassar, who was training with Roger, could hardly believe his eyes; the player he trained was actually leaving Grover, the renowned trainer, speechless.

On the third offense, Jordan nearly succeeded in stealing the ball the moment Roger started his move.

“Almost successful” meant that Roger narrowly slid past him and scored with a slam dunk.

It was 3 to 0 now.

The entire United Center fell silent; no one had expected this one-on-one duel to end like this.

However, Roger’s opponent was, after all, Jordan.

Finally, in the fourth defensive play, Jordan blocked Roger’s quick stop jump shot.

Then came Jordan’s moment to strike back: “From now on, you’re only responsible for picking up the ball for me, you mongrel.”

Roger really disliked that word, but Jordan kept using it anyway.

Jordan didn’t play any tricks with Roger, instead, he used his back to forcefully push forward.

With Roger’s current ability to hold his ground, he was simply no match for Jordan.

It seemed a rigorous training session for defending against post-up plays would have to be scheduled soon.

After Jordan had pushed to a suitable position, he turned and faded away.

Roger couldn’t fully disrupt it, because Jordan’s fadeaway angle was too sharp.

After the shot, Jordan flashed a smile, his favorite moment to dominate had begun!

But with a “clang”, the basketball hit the rim and bounced out; Jordan’s smile disappeared.

The increase in muscle mass had made Jordan’s touch stiff.

Grover wasn’t crying wolf; Jordan’s body was no longer suitable for basketball.

Moreover, this was Jordan’s first time playing basketball in months.

If Jordan’s defensive skills were still 80% of what they were before retirement, then his offense was probably less than 60%.

“Sorry ball boy Michael, time to pick up the ball.

Hilarious, who the hell wants to be a successor to a ball boy.” Roger stood outside the three-point line, smiling at Jordan.

“Enough, Michael, stop playing,” Grover said, noticing that Jordan had become angry and reminding him again.

“Shut your damn mouth, Tim!” Jordan didn’t care if you were a friend or not when he was cursing someone.

“You really should listen to the cheer squad captain; he’s looking out for you,” Roger added fuel to the fire.

Jordan’s eyes were bloodshot, his jaws clenched.

This time he deliberately made it easy for Roger to break through, and then, as Roger leaped for a layup, Jordan violently swung his arm from behind, making a futile attempt.

And as he fell back down, his elbow smashed into Roger’s face.

Roger, holding his face, stepped out of bounds and, after making sure he wasn’t hurt, cursed out loud: “That’s a fucking foul!”

“Making excuses?

That’s how basketball is played in the NBA.

Now go fetch the ball for me, scum,” Jordan yelled the word that Roger didn’t like again.

In fact, their conflict had escalated since Jordan had started using that word.

Surprisingly, Roger said nothing and merely obediently picked up the basketball and threw it to Jordan.

Abunassar noticed some bruising under Roger’s eye.

He wanted to quickly call off this bullfight, but Jordan had already started his move.

This time Jordan forcefully drove toward Roger, faked a shot under the basket, and Roger bit on the fake.

As Jordan shook off his defender and prepared to lay up, Roger, on his way down, used an almost identical elbow strike, slamming it hard into Jordan’s face!

“Ah!”

A low growl sounded as Jordan held his face and walked out of bounds.

Unlike before, Grover saw blood dripping from between Jordan’s fingers.

“Michael?

Michael!” Grover immediately went to check on him.

By the time he got there, Grover could see Jordan’s now deformed eye socket and his pained, twisted expression.

Without taking an X-ray, Grover could tell that the bone around Jordan’s eye socket had been crushed by Roger!

This time Michael had gone too far!

“You damn…

Ah!” Jordan cursed as he pulled his hand away from his face.

But this time, Jordan was in too much pain to utter that word Roger disliked.

He had finally learned to speak properly.