Champion Creed

Payton was furious. Since the 1996 Finals when he was crushed by Roger, the SuperSonics had been unable to recover. Forget about the championship, they hadn't even made it to the Finals again.

Seeing himself already 35 years old, Payton didn't want to end his career like this, not wanting to be a player without a championship.

For the championship, he was willing to sacrifice the contract amount and his standing in the team, as long as he could win the championship, he didn't care.

But what he couldn't endure was being humiliated by others!

At this stage, Payton still had some pride of a superstar. Originally positioned in the Lakers, he was adamantly unwilling to execute the Triangle Offense. You know, even Karl Malone obediently became a piece in the Triangle Offense, but Gary Payton refused to execute it.

This was one of the reasons why the Lakers' Fab Four were destined to fail.

Seeing Payton increasingly losing control, the 38-year-old David Robinson patted Payton's shoulder: "Calm down, buddy."

Payton closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and stopped arguing with Roger.

The game was about to start, the Spurs' starting five were Parker, Payton, Bowen, and the Twin Towers. On paper, the strength was still quite strong.

After the tip-off, Duncan fought for possession for the Spurs. Although he had gone through serious injuries, Duncan's athletic ability hadn't entirely declined yet.

As a defensive team, the Spurs' offensive plays weren't too complicated. Duncan set a screen for Parker and then moved down low. Seeing no breakthrough opportunity, Parker passed the ball to Duncan.

Then David Robinson stepped out, Payton and Bowen took positions at the two corners, and the stage was set for the poker face.

Seeing Mutombo ready to brace against the back-facing posture, Duncan instead chose to face the basket. He stepped back a bit and then unexpectedly did a cross-over in front! Duncan jumped directly, going for a one-handed floater!

Duncan used a non-traditional way to attack Mutombo because he saw Stademeyer had already defended the basket, so he decided to use a floater to solve the offense. For the Big fundamental, his tactics were not just about forcing shots under the basket.

The basketball bounced a few times on the rim before falling into the net, once again, Tim Duncan was wreaking havoc on the Warriors' inside.

From last season to now, the Warriors lost to the Spurs for one reason — they couldn't handle Tim Duncan.

Tim Duncan in 2003, with mature skills and unimpaired athletic ability, was very hard to limit.

The game continued, Warriors.

Bruce Bowen, a former subordinate of Roger, was responsible for guarding him, and on the Spurs, Bruce Bowen wasn't as obedient. His various misdeeds had been criticized by the media since last season.

But facing Roger, Bowen's defense was reasonably clean.

Was it old feelings? Unlikely, as Bowen was the kind of person who wouldn't hesitate to hurt even friends.

The reason Bowen didn't dare to use dirty tricks on Roger was probably that he knew Roger and Stephen Jackson too well.

He wouldn't want to pay homage to Jordan with titanium implant operations.

Roger caught the ball and made two consecutive changes in direction to get past Bowen, gaining a bit of space for a mid-range shot.

But Payton immediately double-teamed, not giving Roger a chance to shoot.

Honestly, at this stage, Payton still had plenty of gas left in the tank. At the Spurs, he could play a more significant role than with the Lakers.

The Lakers' Triangle Offense conflicted with Payton, but the role at Spurs was very suitable for him.

First, he and Parker would alternately control the ball, preventing him from being clueless about what to do on offense. Secondly, his corner threes could be utilized in the Spurs system.

Lastly, his defense could compensate for the Spurs' weak guard line defense.

Since last season, Payton had fallen out of the All-Defensive team, his defense indeed wasn't the best in the league anymore, but it was still excellent.

Seeing Payton double-team, Roger lifted the ball above his head, pushed with one hand, attempting to pass to Allan Houston, who was left open.

The instinct for stealing was ingrained in Payton's bones. He immediately turned, raised his arms, and rushed at Allan Houston.

But halfway through, Payton realized the basketball hadn't flown over at all.

He puzzledly glanced back at Roger and found that Roger, under Bowen's defense, had already made a fade-away jump shot, and hit the basket!

Just now, Roger just did a fake pass with one hand while holding the ball. After distracting Payton, Roger faced Bowen's defensively weak defense and easily did a fade-away pull-up.

Realizing he was tricked, Payton cursed under his breath, while Roger pointed at him with a smile: "What's up? Don't even know where to pick up scraps when begging? What are you looking for with Allan? I'm the one who would show mercy to you!"

The shame from 1996 successfully traveled through time and reached Gary Payton in 2003.

Payton looked at the replay of himself being tricked on the big screen, angrily approached Roger and threw a hard elbow.

But just as Payton's elbow touched Roger's chest, Roger exaggeratedly fell backward, sliding a few meters.

The referee immediately rang the whistle and decisively called an offensive foul on Gary Payton.

In other words, the ball possession Spurs just gained was lost again, meanwhile, Payton successfully accumulated another foul!

Payton spread his hands: "Do you guys think I'm Superman? Could I knock him so far with a single hit?"

But no one paid attention to him, as his elbow move was too obvious.

Roger, excessively injured, stood up with his teammates' support, and once again walked over to Payton: "Gary, you can't even beg properly! Accept reality, dealing with you is too easy, shut your stinking mouth, my opponent is Tim Duncan!"

"Ha, you're helpless against him, just as you're helpless against me!" Payton stubbornly continued.

"Who told you we're helpless against him? It's just a bit harder to handle him than to deal with a waste like you."

Roger glanced at Marcus Camby.

Today, when Mutombo began to tire, that number 21 couldn't expect to wreak havoc anymore.