Under Link's 'coaxing,' Michael Jordan finally came to his senses and no longer resisted the physical examination or concealed his injuries.
After Michael Jordan's physical examination report came out, it truly gave Link a big scare.
Michael Jordan not only had knee injuries, but also varying degrees of damage to his back and shoulders. However, Michael Jordan had always insisted on playing with injuries.
Although Michael Jordan usually loved to show off his rings and boast in front of him, Link truly couldn't fault his professional attitude.
"Link... you don't have to follow my example," Michael Jordan said with a serious expression.
"Ah!" Link was slightly stunned.
"For professional athletes, health is almost synonymous with wealth," Michael Jordan said meaningfully.
Link nodded subconsciously.
Playing with injuries can easily ruin one's career. In his previous life, the Celtics' strongest 175cm player fell that way, going from a near-max contract to a minimum-salary player, and eventually having no team to play for.
One must know that NBA owners are not philanthropists.
...
...
The next day.
The Washington Wizards officially announced that Michael Jordan would miss the upcoming week of games. Furthermore, for the remaining regular season, Michael Jordan's playing time would be strictly managed.
Michael Jordan, in his second comeback, objectively speaking, could indeed deliver 'superstar-level' performances when his Stamina was sufficient and he was healthy, comparable to Vince Carter among the current four great shooting guards.
On March 6, 2002, the Washington Wizards played their second game of the week, traveling to the Motor City to challenge the Detroit Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons are currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference, trailing only the New Jersey Nets, who are first.
The current Detroit Pistons team is not the 'Pistons Five' that defeated the Los Angeles Lakers F4 to win the championship two years later.
Currently, they only have Ben Wallace, the short and strong Center with an afro, standing 206cm tall.
Starting lineups:
[Detroit Pistons]: Chucky Atkins, Jerry Stackhouse, Michael Curry, Clifford Robinson, and Ben Wallace.
[Washington Wizards]: Link, Hamilton, Gerald Wallace, Christian Laettner, and Brendan Haywood.
Before this encounter, the two teams had met twice, with the Detroit Pistons leading 2-0, and both wins occurred when Michael Jordan was playing. Therefore, the outside world naturally did not favor the Washington Wizards to win tonight's game.
Head coach Doug Collins boldly gave a rookie, the future The King of Cats Gerald Wallace, the American version of Hanamichi Sakuragi, a starting small forward position. Meanwhile, Zach Randolph, who performed well in the last game, did not replace Laettner, mainly to consider bench scoring.
The current Washington Wizards' starting lineup is not weak, after all, they have Michael Jordan and the All-Star caliber Link. Moreover, this is not an era of superstars teaming up. But their bench is still a bit weak; in most games, the starters play catch-up, while the bench digs a hole.
Can't fill it...
Simply can't fill it.
After the game began, Ben Wallace immediately demonstrated his 'teleportation-like' help defense and sweeping ability, disrupting the pick-and-roll connection between Link and Haywood twice in a row.
Limited by his height and weight, Ben Wallace found it difficult to defend against some large, powerful interior players, such as Yao Ming, O'Neal, and Duncan. The first time Yao Ming encountered Ben Wallace wearing the No. 3 Detroit Pistons jersey, from a distance, those who didn't know might have thought he was Iverson, as even his hairstyle and headband were identical.
Link activated [Dominance Moment: Rebound Maniac], anticipating the rebound's landing spot and arriving almost simultaneously with the ball. But just as Link was about to exert force and leap, there was a "bang!" and a crisp, loud collision sound in his ear.
A dark shadow loomed over his head. Ben Wallace, who had been under the basket a second ago, burst out from the side and grabbed his teammate's missed Offensive Rebound.
Ugh...
Ben Wallace, who is only 206cm tall including his hair, is shorter than Link in bare feet, but he can really jump, and his nose for rebounds is incredibly sharp. This regular season, he can get 13.0 rebounds, making him the league's Rebound King.
Oh...
Right, he also averaged 3.4 Blocks, winning Block King and DPOY.
Link usually relied on his height to snatch rebounds over others' heads, but he didn't expect to become the victim today.
However, the Detroit Pistons' offense tonight was also particularly sluggish. The Detroit Pistons' primary scorer, Jerry Stackhouse, struggled significantly on offense against the strong, athletic, and larger Gerald Wallace.
Additionally, Link's help defense and Haywood's rim protection also played a significant role.
Jerry Stackhouse's isolation play encountered Link's help defense double-team. Although he quickly tucked the ball to evade it, tucking the ball early also prevented him from reaching his'sweet spot' and shooting with his most comfortable rhythm.
With a "clank!" Stackhouse missed another shot.
Naturally, the two old-timers in the TNT Broadcast Booth wouldn't let him off the hook and immediately began to mock him.
"Haha, Kenny, can you remember how many bricks Jerry has thrown tonight?" Barkley said.
"1-for-1. With less than two minutes left in the first half, he's only made one shot. He probably never dreamed that Washington, without Michael, would have such a tenacious defense," Kenny Smith said.
The first half ended 39-37. Uh... yes, the score is correct. Both teams had unusually low shooting percentages. The Detroit Pistons, relying on their defense system centered around Ben Wallace, disrupted the Washington Wizards' offense. Link, whose athleticism isn't top-tier, indeed fears help defense monsters like Ben Wallace and Kevin Garnett.
In the second half, during the period when Zach Randolph led the bench, although he scored many points, the Detroit Pistons' Three-Point Shot shooter Jon Barry also stepped up to respond. The game remained deadlocked until the fourth quarter.
Without Michael Jordan, the 'bailout guy,' Link had to play, and they also re-employed a small-ball lineup with Randolph at Power Forward and Laettner at Center.
Facing the Detroit Pistons' defensive ace, Michael Curry, Link played him one-on-one in the elbow area.
On the Detroit Pistons' side, Jerry Stackhouse played one-on-one against Gerald Wallace.
In terms of one-on-one efficiency, Link was quite good with 4-for-6 shooting, including 1-for-2 from Three-Point Shot range.
Jerry Stackhouse, an All-Star guard and the Detroit Pistons' leading scorer, was only 3-for-7, worse than Link, but...
In the end, the Washington Wizards unfortunately lost to the Detroit Pistons again by 4 points.
The main key to the loss was still the rebounds...
Although Randolph's rebounding was good, he was matched up against the Detroit Pistons' swingman, Robinson, who was good at Three-Point Shot.
Randolph didn't dare to easily collapse to the paint.
As for...
The handsome veteran Laettner truly couldn't out-rebound the furious, Vajra-like Ben Wallace.