Champion Creed

The equipment manager turned pale: "Wait, how is Roger going to deal with Matt?"

"Of course, he'll experience it in the training match. Everyone's going to sweat a lot today, so get the shower stuff ready!"

After the usual training, the Warriors conducted their team competition as usual.

Matt Barnes eagerly hoped that Nick Van Exel or Derek Anderson would be on different teams from him.

This way, he could match up against them and prove he could do better than them.

But he was disappointed.

Assistant coach Jeff Hornacek announced the team assignment for the scrimmage, and the two new recruits were on Matt Barnes' team.

Their opponents were the full starting lineup of the Warriors.

It seemed today's scrimmage emphasized tactical drills because the difference in strength between the teams was significant, making the outcome almost certain.

Roger walked onto the court, stretched his arms, and turned his head towards Jeff Hornacek: "Don't blow the whistle easily during today's training match."

Derek Anderson swallowed hard, his body trembling all over.

He's afraid of performing poorly and getting cursed out by Roger, and he's also afraid of losing the opportunity to compete for a position.

Roger glanced at everyone with a playful smile, "Good brothers, who's going to guard me today?"

"I will."

Matt Barnes raised his hand voluntarily.

At that moment, Derek Anderson was sure that the guy next to him must have something wrong with his head.

Matt Barnes was known for being eccentric since joining the team, with little private interaction with teammates, so although the regular season had been going on for nearly a month, no one truly understood him.

Everyone just knew Matt Barnes was always one of the most serious players in training matches, and they knew he was keen on physical confrontation.

But no one knew he was this audacious.

Facing Matt Barnes' recklessness, Roger seemed to appreciate it: "Great Matt, it's you today."

The training match began, and as soon as Roger crossed half-court, Matt Barnes madly tangled with him.

He wasn't intimidated by facing a superstar at all, and even asked Roger a seemingly self-destructive question: "If I guard you, can I take the spot that Allan left open?"

"Matt, from 1993 to now, countless people have tried to guard me, but none has succeeded."

"That's because they lack guts."

Matt Barnes showed no signs of weakness. He boasted excellent lateral speed and defensive capability, even resorting to elbow strikes and other minor tricks to harass Roger.

Yet Roger won this duel with a mid-range jump shot.

"Matt, your defense is excellent, and I most enjoy matching up against defenders like you because I can easily score forty or fifty points over players like you."

"Get lost, Roger, scram! There won't be a next time!"

In the next possession, Nick Van Exel wanted to break through Prince. In his younger days, he could easily use speed to bypass defenders. But now, Nick Van Exel could barely break through someone like Prince.

He also wanted to showcase his talent and earn a spot in the rotation, demonstrating defense is not always about scoring.

Seeing Matt Barnes coming out to the three-point line, Nick Van Exel immediately passed the ball. He wanted to prove he could be a more reliable point guard than Old Cat Mobley.

Matt Barnes caught the ball, but Roger didn't step forward to defend, instead resting his hands on his hips, watching.

GOATs play like that.

In virtually no defense, as expected, Matt Barnes' jump shot leaned left, clanging off the rim.

As a shooting expert, Jeff Hornacek pointed out the problem: "Did Matt really play four years of college basketball at UCLA? His shooting form clearly has issues, the shots go left because of it."

Spoelstra shrugged: "At UCLA, he was a rarely shooting blue-collar wing, and a power forward. I think Steve Lavin (UCLA's head coach) might not care about the shooting of a defensive power forward, letting him develop freely. Do you think Matt's shooting has a chance to improve?"

"Sure it does. Consistently leaning left is nothing like Shaq's erratic shooting. He has a foundation for jump shooting; slightly adjusting his form can quickly improve his accuracy."

On the court, Roger, completely unconcerned with defending Matt Barnes, nodded dismissively: "Why do you think you can compete for Allan's spot? Just because you can earn Amare and Marcus a few extra rebounds?"

"Because I can make you guys fear me!" Matt Barnes replied defiantly and deliberately bumped into Roger off the ball. Jeff Hornacek wanted to call a foul but remembered Roger's pre-match instructions, so he took the whistle out of his mouth.

Roger wasn't willing to be outdone, intentionally bumped into Barnes, then immediately ran in the opposite direction, created space, caught the ball, and shot it.

Matt Barnes actively interfered, and the basketball just barely brushed past his fingertips, the defense was extremely tight.

But the basketball went in again, Roger seemed like a supreme god, toying with mere mortals like Matt Barnes.

"I don't know why the scouting report says you're a fierce defender, your defense is worthless, just like Gary Payton's crooked-mouthed performance last season."

Watching Roger continuously dominate Matt Barnes, Derek Anderson knew he had one less competitor.

Matt Barnes was out, completely out.

Because this idiot dared to challenge Roger, so Roger was definitely going to teach him a harsh lesson.

And his foolish performance would get him completely eliminated from the rotation by the coaching staff.

Derek Anderson pitied Matt Barnes, blaming him for overestimating himself, tearing at everything like a mad dog.

A round later, Derek Anderson scored a layup, but soon on the defensive end, he couldn't keep up with the cutting Tayshaun Prince. The latter caught the basketball, ready to attack the rim. Just when Prince gathered the ball with both hands, Matt Barnes went up to help defend.

Of course, this left Roger open.

The Little Prince tacitly passed the ball to the outside, Roger didn't jump, and just like during warm-up, shot the ball from a standstill, and it went in.

For Matt Barnes, this was a brutal night.

He performed terribly in front of the team's leader, it seemed this night would end with him packing his bags and leaving.

But this time, after scoring, Roger didn't trash talk Matt Barnes.

Matt Barnes, however, kept rambling on: "I will definitely stop you once, bastard!"

But immediately, it was Roger scoring again and again.

Roger was publicly executing Matt Barnes, just like he had done to his opponents in countless games.

But Matt Barnes didn't show any signs of discouragement, he continued to fight hard in every round, fiercely defending.

Shouting, switching, and trash-talking kept flowing.

The last play of the 20-minute training match, Roger routinely dribbled up, ready to deliver the final blow to the guy in front of him.

Matt Barnes was drenched in sweat, but his eyes remained focused.

He didn't rashly go for a steal, he just spread his arms and stuck close to Roger.

Roger turned his back, separating him from the ball, then suddenly spun around and broke through, taking two big steps before going for a layup.

It looked like this offense wouldn't be any different from the previous ones.

But as Roger jumped, Matt Barnes sacrificed everything, firmly swatting away the ball from Roger's hands!

The basketball bounced off the floor and flew out of bounds, but Matt Barnes immediately dove out, saving the ball.

He didn't think much, he just knew that a stray dog had no time to rest, it had to run until it was exhausted to survive.

As he crashed to the floor, Jeff Hornacek blew the whistle, ending the training match.

Matt Barnes, covered in sweat, sat on the floor, looked up at Nick Van Exel who had caught his saved ball.

The ball was in a teammate's hands, which meant his defense was successful.

Matt Barnes took a few deep breaths, then stood up with a smile: "Stopped you, huh?"

After that, he didn't say much more, just continued practicing his jump shots.

Most people on the Warriors felt that Matt Barnes' time in the Bay Area was over.

He was a troublemaker, his performance in the training match wasn't good enough, his fate would probably be the same as before, getting swiftly cut.

Roger also walked off the court and headed straight back to the locker room.

Jeff Hornacek shrugged: "Looks like we'll indeed have to look for someone else."

"No," Erik Spoelstra waved his hand, "I think Roger likes him."