Champion Creed

Dressed in his brand-new Air Jordan 6, Roger appeared at the opening ceremony of the Sunshine Classic.

The venue of this Sunshine Classic was held in the basketball arena of Louisiana State University, the place where Shaq had battled before.

People crowded both inside and outside the arena, not only the players participating in the game but also numerous media personnel.

Most of them were actually there to see the new top draft pick, Shaq; however, if any high school player stood out here, the media's power could also serve them well.

Everyone from Block High School was more nervous at this moment than the college students waiting for technicians in their rooms.

That's because the eight teams invited to this Sunshine Classic each had a prominent reputation nationwide. To make matters worse, Block High School's first game was against the renowned basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy.

Although Oak Hill Academy's star player, Jerry Stackhouse, was absent due to another training camp, they still had in their ranks the 25th ranked guard in the nation, Jeff McKinney, and the 100th ranked small forward, Mark Austin.

As for Block High School, even Andrae wasn't ranked in the top 100.

Everyone was afraid to imagine just how many points they would lose by later.

After Shaq Daddy briefly spoke at the opening ceremony, the curtain-raiser between Block High School and Oak Hill Academy was about to start.

Roger took off his warm-up jacket, revealing his number 14 jersey, and began to warm up.

There was no particular reason for choosing number 14, it was simply because of Hisashi Mitsui.

Watching Slam Dunk in the past, seeing Sakuragi's passionate blood and Rukawa's invincibility, everyone thought they were in the show.

It wasn't until years later, mourning the dreams that had died, that they realized Hisashi Mitsui truly resonated with them.

Influenced by the character Hisashi Mitsui, Roger used to be a man who never gave up, but never giving up on working overtime didn't seem to mean anything.

Now, Roger wanted to transfer this spirit to basketball and believed there would definitely be better results.

While both teams were warming up, all the reporters and all the cameras were focused on the other half of the court, on the players from Oak Hill Academy.

Although Block High School was a local team from Louisiana, it seemed to be invisible, as if it didn't exist at all.

It wasn't surprising that reporters paid no attention to Block High School; even Roger couldn't bear to watch his own teammates' behavior.

Andrae was lethargic, and even missed several hook shots during lay-up practice.

The rest weren't any better; every single one of them was so nervous they turned into smiths.

Roger was impressed, truly a bear among men, and a whole nest of bears among leaders.

The game hadn't even started yet, and you all looked as if you were about to be slaughtered.

At this moment, Coach Hawk approached Roger: "See that guard over there who's about as tall as you? That's Jeff McKinney, the highest-ranked player in this training invitation competition."

Roger nodded his head; of course, he knew McKinney. A player from North Carolina, the second-best guard at Oak Hill Academy.

He could only be the second-best guard not because he wasn't good enough, but because the best one was just too outstanding. Being behind Jerry Stackhouse wasn't shameful at all.

In the 1996 draft, the Denver Nuggets picked Jeff McKinney in the second round as the eighth pick; the best season in his NBA career averaged 14.6 points and 6.7 assists per game.

While McKinney might not be a legend in the NBA, at the high school level, he was undoubtedly a superstar.

Before the senior season even started, McKinney had already received genuine invitations from more than a dozen NCAA Division I teams, which was a different league entirely from someone like Andrae who only had the prospect of playing in Division I.

Roger looked at the opposing side and said in a calm tone, "Don't worry, Coach, I'll handle him."

After speaking, he continued his warm-up.

Coach Hawk was full of question marks; I only wanted you not to feel too much pressure facing such a highly-ranked player, I never intended for you to handle him at all.

Am I being too conservative?

Three minutes before the game started, a guy with dirty braids, wearing an Oak Hill Academy jersey, suddenly charged into Block High School's half of the court and delivered an axe slam dunk.

Coming to the opponent's half to make shots during warm-up was already a serious provocation.

Running over to dunk so blatantly meant only one thing—the opponent had no regard for you at all.

At this moment, all eyes from Block High School turned to their leader, Andrae.

But Andrae's reaction disappointed the whole team.

The usually arrogant Andrae merely walked away quietly in the face of the provocation from the opposing player.

Because he recognized the guy in front of him, it was the 100th-ranked Austin.

He didn't want to provoke this person and then get dunked on terribly in the game.

Andrae's inaction gave even more confidence to Austin to do as he pleased: "Hey, why the long faces? Shouldn't you be happy you're playing against a star you'll only see on TV later?"

"Get lost." An Asian walked up to Austin.

Austin remained cheeky: "An Asian player? Oh my God, is your basketball team that short of people? What kind of trash are you stuffing in here?"

"Shut your mouth and get lost, idiot, I won't say it again," Roger interrupted Austin harshly.

Austin's face darkened: "You should know I could snap your skinny arms like twigs with one hand."

Noticing the dispute, reporters turned their cameras towards Block High School's half of the court.

Both teams' coaches stepped forward to separate the two players.

Even though they were separated, Austin clearly didn't want to back down.

He pointed his finger at Roger and then clenched his fist threateningly.

Roger, much more civilized, simply gave Austin the middle finger.

Seeing the situation, O'Neal, the spokesperson for the event, too wanted to advise Roger and Austin to calm down.

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But Shaq had barely reached the sidelines when he heard the Asian guy yelling at the tallest player on the team:

"Who told me that strangling the opponent, survival of the fittest, it's kill or be killed—that's the essence of basketball? So just now, who was running away like a coward?"

Andrae, like a child caught in a lie, tried to brush it off with a lame excuse: "I wasn't running away, I was just trying to focus before the game."

"Excuse it however you want, Andrae, but the basketball court is the truest place of all. Do you know what's more pathetic than a loser? A coward! Later you either fight with me, or you die a coward beneath someone else's ride! I don't think Oak Hill Academy is all that impressive, but what's pitiful is that I surrendered in advance!"

Shaq, who overheard the entire conversation, suddenly became interested in that Asian kid wearing number 14.

He looked so skinny, unremarkable except for his handsomeness.

Yet inside that slender body lay a heart that refused to admit defeat.

Beat Oak Hill Academy? Not just anyone would dare say that.

And in the following warm-up session, O'Neal quickly discovered that number 14 was indeed no ordinary player.

His shots during warm-ups hardly ever missed. The basketball seemed to be enchanted, swishing through the net one after another.

O'Neal swore that even his college teammates couldn't achieve such accuracy.

But just when Shaq thought 14 was just a lanky, soft, skin-and-bones version of a white point guard, Roger suddenly pulled off a powerful windmill slam dunk!

Seeing this, the trouble-loving Shaq couldn't sit still anymore.

He decided to test the kid's mettle himself!

O'Neal removed his jacket and walked straight up to Roger: "Kid, if you can score on me, I'll give you a pair of Reebok signature shoes for free and you can replace those ugly-ass Jordans!"

O'Neal didn't have any special reason for doing this; he just wanted to know if Roger was as brave as he appeared, just wanted to know if this high schooler was as strong as he appeared.

The restless Shaq always enjoyed stirring things up for his own amusement.

"Shaquille" is an Islamic name, meaning "little one."

However, these days there weren't many parts of Shaq that matched his name anymore.

When this massive bulk walked over to him, Roger even felt like he and O'Neal were not of the same species.

Keep in mind that O'Neal, who had just become the number one draft pick, hadn't even fully filled out yet.

Even so, he was like a mountain of flesh.

For a moment, cheers erupted from the crowd, and the reporters aimed all their cameras and camcorders at Roger and Shaq.

The high school kid challenging the number one draft pick—what a spectacle!

Shaq spread his arms and positioned himself at the free-throw line, then gestured to Roger with his finger, "Come on, buddy, let the diesel engine see what you've got!"

Of course, Shaq wasn't serious, but even so, scoring over a giant who averaged 5.2 blocks per game last season and set the NCAA record with 17 blocks in a single game was a hellish challenge for a high schooler.

The fans and media in the stands didn't expect number 14 to score. They even wanted to see Shaq deliver a "f*ck your basketball dreams" sort of brutal block.

After all, Shaq was the player everyone was watching at the invitational.

Watching Shaq stand with his arms wide open on the free-throw line, blocking the way, Roger couldn't quite believe his current situation.

Just a few days ago, he was nothing but a failed laborer, but now... he was about to face off against the renowned O'Neal!

Roger was excited at that moment; he wasn't intimidated, instead he shot back at Shaq: "My Air Jordans are not ugly at all, because they were a gift from my family. But that being said, who would say no to Shaq's signature shoes?"

O'Neal's lips curled into a grin; this kid was indeed interesting.

Roger started dribbling the ball, retreating near the midcourt line to make space for a dash, then he accelerated!

Everyone was shocked. Was this guy not going to shoot but attack the hoop instead?

Was he insane!?

A bad crash could end in disaster!

Watching Roger charging at him, O'Neal was certain the kid's courage about Oak Hill Academy not being a big deal wasn't an act.

O'Neal didn't know what the kid was going to do, all he saw was Roger elevating with the basketball, gliding elegantly through the air like Drexler.

When Roger slid into the paint, O'Neal leapt lightly, aiming for the block.

But Roger held off the shot until almost flying out of bounds. It was then, from a negative angle, that he flicked the ball toward the hoop.

Everyone thought that 14 had desperately thrown up the ball because Shaq had pushed him into a corner.

Not to mention scoring, wouldn't the ball just slam against the edge of the backboard?

That would be normal, this was the NBA number one draft pick, after all.

But what they saw next was the ball, carrying the perfect amount of force, smoothly dropping through the net!

At the moment the ball went in, the entire venue erupted into cheers. Under O'Neal's defense, number 14 had actually made a negative-angle toss shot!

Such a move was unseen not just in the NCAA, but in the NBA as well!

In the stands, the head coach from Louisiana State University, Dell Brown, stood up. He knew that the shot was not simply a matter of luck.

He turned to his assistant coach in urgency: "Who is that kid? Why don't I have his information on hand?"

The assistant coach frantically flipped through his materials, and finally answered, "He's ranked tenth in Jonesville Town!"

"Impossible. There can't be nine players better than him in Jonesville. That shot wasn't luck. Did you see how smooth his touch was? Did you see how far he glided? Do you know how long his wingspan is? And remember, he was up against Shaquille O'Neal!"

The assistant adjusted his glasses: "Uh... sorry, he's ranked in the top ten for tennis in Jonesville. As for basketball... the notes say he joined the school team just a week ago."

"What the fvck!?" Dell Brown swore it was the most preposterous thing he had ever heard.

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