The Golden Age of Basketball

In October 1988, New York, Olympic Tower, nba commissioner David Stern was in his ordinary office, while listening to N's TV broadcast, while preparing for the new season of nba.

This is already the fifth season since he took office. In the first four seasons, Stern has made great contributions to the development of nba. The entire league has come out of the dismal operation in the early 80s. For profit, she is still expanding her size.

Just this year, the nba is about to usher in another league expansion plan after the Dallas Mavericks joined in 1980.

This season, the league initially decided to establish a new team in Miami and Charlotte, and the names of the teams have also been chosen, namely the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets. Both team names have local characteristics.

As for Orlando and Minnesota, the construction of teams in these two cities is still on the agenda, and the preliminary preparations are being carried out in an orderly manner. However, Stern believes that the NBA will add two more new members next season.

Now, Stern has two main things to worry about. The first is the operation of the two new teams. It is different from the situation when the ABA was merged. Several ABA teams entered the NBA. The squad is well-equipped, from the field, management, staff to players. Change the logo, change the ball, and carry out a handover, and you will soon be integrated into the league.

The two newly joined teams are different. They started out of thin air. From the perspective of team composition, the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets are now poor and empty, especially the players.

Therefore, the arrival of the two teams not only did not bring superstars such as Dr. J, McGinnis, and Gervin like the merger of ABA did, but other teams had to take players in for the Heat and the Hornets.

Regarding how each team sends players to the Heat and Hornets, Stern and the owners of each team have had enough of it.

Players, especially excellent players, are the darlings of the team owner, record guarantee and cash cow. Even if it is a transaction, every team will be cautious, let alone send players to other teams.

Like the stars or main players in some teams, each team is definitely not willing to send them away. It is best to pack and send the players at the end of the bench.

Stern hopes that it is best to give the two teams some relatively good players, so as to better stimulate the local basketball market and allow fans to participate more in the nba, so that the entire nba market Only then can we grow bigger and bigger.

One side wants to protect its own interests, while the other side wants to consider the overall situation and cut flesh from each team.

In fact, there have been several military expansions in the history of the league. Regarding how to select players from other teams, there has basically been a more reasonable option, which is the so-called "expansion draft".

It’s just that in 1988, as the nba business grew bigger and bigger, the value of players became higher and higher, and the salary system, draft system, and contract signing system became increasingly complicated, so how to deal with the “expansion draft” is no longer the bosses of the 70s and [-]s. Getting together for coffee will do the trick.

Therefore, before the start of the draft in June, each team submitted a list of protected players. During the negotiation, the league still determined the number of protected players at eight, instead of the nine that the bosses tried their best to expand. Some teams' fringe main players or potential new stars may fall outside the protection list.

At the same time, the league also added some rules, such as completely free agents or players who can become free agents through contract options, are not included in the selected list to prevent some selected players from being unwilling to report to the new team.

Of course, there are some more specific and complex regulations in it.

As a compromise, the league also stipulates that existing teams are allowed to compensate the new team (usually with draft picks) in exchange for the new team's selection or non-selection of one of its players.

Therefore, in the expansion draft in mid-June, each team had to provide a player for the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets to select, but in the end the Miami Heat had a total of 6 players, but 17 rookies. !

The Charlotte Hornets adopted a different strategy. Instead of aggressively collecting draft picks from other teams, they selected players of all ages in a reasonable manner, mainly young players.

Even so, the Hornets' lineup doesn't look much better than the Heat's, so now Stern looks at the two teams' rosters, team work reports, schedules, etc. Tragic Fate" mentally prepared.

What he wants to think about now is how to attract local fans despite the fact that the team's record is doomed to be poor.Nova?Gimmick?

Stern's mind never stops thinking.

However, the second question is simpler but more complex than the first.

On Stern's desk was a letter just delivered by the secretary, from the Basketball Federation of the Soviet Union and the CSKA Moscow Basketball Club. Application for playing ball.

Stern did not expect that under the mediation of Gan Guoyang, Sabonis would actually be able to break through the political barriers between the United States and the Soviet Union and come to the highest stage of the NBA.

When Gan Guoyang came to New York in June to meet with Stern and put forward his ideas, Stern still felt that this kid was too naive. Now Stern wants to feel Gan Guoyang's ability in this matter.

"Actually, I should have thought that he has such abilities." Stern lay on his big armchair, recalling Gan Guoyang's actions in the past two years.

Gan Guoyang was injured in the finals, which made Stern both regretful and fortunate. It is a pity that without Gan Guoyang, the finals became no suspense. His godlike performance in the first game made the Portlanders now Nian, if Gan Guoyang is not injured, the championship will be theirs.

Fortunately for Stern, the result of the Celtics winning the championship is in line with Stern's concept of building the NBA. Gan Guoyang's absence undoubtedly contributed to this. In fact, the Americans may not be ready for a Chinese to become the president. Mental preparation for the final mvp.

Subsequently, Gan Guoyang's reimbursement for the 1987 season cleared the way for the Lakers to reach the finals. The re-encounter with the Celtics made the ratings of the finals hit a record high that year.

Of course, Stern didn't know that the appearance of Gan Guoyang indirectly caused Baias to survive. A series of chain reactions made the Celtics healthier and stronger. As a result, the Celtics successfully defended the title and rewrote history.

Just when the league was developing in full swing, Gan Guoyang, who was reimbursed for the injured season in 1987, did not decline or even degenerate like some black players. He first chose to return to Gonzaga University, and spent one year studying in the university for four years. credits and received a degree certificate.

At the same time, Stern also learned from Gan Guoyang's agent David Falk that Gan Guoyang never relaxed his recovery training in Gonzaga.

Because of Gan Guoyang's right hand injury, before recovering from the injury, Gan Guoyang practiced the technique of his left hand to perfection. Falke once brought a video to Stern. Gan Guoyang used his left hand to dribble and shoot during training. left-handed.

Sure enough, in the next season, Gan Guoyang made a strong comeback and won the league's Player of the Week and Player of the Month in the first two months. In the second half of the season, Jordan came from behind, and the two almost dominated the media at that time.

In the selection of mvp, Gan Guoyang also lost to Michael Jordan with a slight advantage and ranked second. In the playoffs, neither of them entered the playoffs. One was because his teammates were too weak, and the other was because The opponent is too strong.

Since Gan Guoyang was able to recover so well, Stern believed that this star was worthy of praise and support. In the summer of 1988, Gan Guoyang once again changed Stern's view of him.

First, in the summer blockbuster, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Gan Guoyang not only played a voice role, but also became an investor in the film, and it is rumored that this groundbreaking blockbuster mixed with animation and live action provided Enough creative support to get Spielberg's appreciation.

Now, Gan Guoyang has been invited to participate in the next Oscar awards ceremony, becoming a sports star among the bright movie stars.

Not only that, Gan Guoyang has never given up his Chinese nationality in recent years. Instead, he has always stated that he is Chinese and is willing to make efforts for the development of Chinese people. This makes him have a very strong Chinese support group in the United States.

Thinking of this, Stern looked at the work plan, the plan to go to China to open up the Chinese market in the future, and thought that Gan Guoyang must contribute here.

At this time, Stern realized that Gan Guoyang was no longer a simple Chinese player playing in the United States. In the United States, he had a deep fan base, which was due to his outstanding performance; overseas, he represented a huge potential market. , and a very high reputation in Europe - the cooperation with Sabonis will undoubtedly further increase his exposure in Europe.

He also has close cooperation with Hollywood's capital tycoons. For some unknown reason, he caught up with Robert Zemeckis, and then caught up with Spielberg. From David Falk's respectful and obedient attitude towards Gan Guoyang Looking at it, it is also possible that Gan Guoyang has the support of a large Jewish consortium.

A Chinese boy, through a sport, has reached such a height, which is beyond Stern's imagination.

Now, how to cooperate with this guy who has grown into a big man has become a problem that Stern must consider.

In fact, in order to protect the Blazers this season, Stern even greeted in private, hoping that the Heat and Hornets would not use the Blazers' players.

However, perhaps Stern's imagination is sometimes too rich.

At this time, Gan Guoyang has returned to Portland with Behrman, and the team's training camp has begun. For Gan Guoyang, there is nothing more important than basketball, victory, and championship.