The Golden Age of Basketball

Gan Guoyang originally thought it would be Wang Fuxi who called, but what came over the phone was not Wang Fuxi's soft and sweet voice, but David Stern's voice.

Gan Guoyang didn't expect David Stern to call. It's rare for league presidents to call players' hotel rooms.

"Hi Gan, I'm sorry to bother you. I have something I want to talk to you about." After the two greeted each other, Stern got straight to the point. His style has always been like this, never procrastinating.

"Say, Mr. Stern, I'm listening." Gan Guoyang still respects Stern very much. When he was a fan in later generations, he always felt that the short old man was a hindrance to the fans everywhere, which made the NBA, a competitive league, more advanced. The stench of copper is getting heavier.

But in this era, in 1980, Gan Guoyang watched the fuzzy NBA game on TV. At that time, 75% of the players in the league took drugs. In the 1980-81 season, as many as 23 of the 16 teams in the league were at a loss.

At that time, there was no live TV broadcast of nba games, and they had to wait until the next day for recording and broadcasting. Even the finals were only recorded and broadcasted but not broadcasted live. Each game had an average of only 10021 spectators present, and the attendance rate was only a pitiful 58%.

This was totally unexpected by Gan Guoyang. He thought that from very early on, the NBA was full of gold and silver, and the players were all rich and wealthy.

In 1984, Gan Guoyang entered the NBA with Olajuwon and Jordan, and Stern also began to take power. He immediately signed a TV broadcast contract and signed commercial cooperation projects with a large number of companies. on the predicament.

Then Stern made many major innovations in the system, the draft system, the salary cap system, the form of the All-Star Game, and greatly improved the image of the league, keeping players away from drugs and violence, all of which gave the NBA a new look vitality.

Since 1985, the league has turned from loss to profit, and the wages of players have also risen accordingly. In 1988, nba and TNT TV signed a huge two-year contract of 5000 million US dollars. Starting from this season, with the two new With the addition of the team, the nba's profits began to soar across the board.

Gan Guoyang’s experience of these things is intuitive. He still remembers that in 1984, when he participated in some away games, such as playing against the Los Angeles Clippers, the attendance and stadium atmosphere felt that they were not even as good as college games.

This season, even though Milwaukee's home court is not as popular as in the past, the attendance rate of the stadium is still as high as 90.00%.

At the same time, the facilities in the arena are getting more and more advanced, the lights are getting brighter and brighter, there are more and more advertisements on the sidelines, the cheerleaders are getting more and more beautiful, the opening ceremony is getting more and more gorgeous, and the team's training facilities are getting more and more advanced. are the most direct feelings.

Of course, Stern also pays great attention to communicating with players. To a certain extent, Stern is also making stars. He wants to use some young and capable players to create a good image for the league.

Gan Guoyang is an important card in Stern's future international market strategy. Stern also spared no effort in promoting Gan Guoyang, including letting the Blazers play games in Europe.

At the same time, Gan Guoyang can also feel that the referee will occasionally take care of him during the game, and now he can communicate with the referee more easily, instead of being ignored or even called a technical foul like when he was a rookie .

Now, Stern called at this time, and Gan Guoyang knew that Stern must have something to communicate with him.

"Okay Gan, I want to tell you that next month, around mid-December, the leader of the Soviet Union will visit the United States. You know, this is the first time that the leader of the Soviet Union will visit the United States. One of the current plans of the government One is to arrange for him to watch an NBA game, preferably the Portland Trail Blazers game. Of course, all the specific itineraries are secrets, and I don’t know if there will be a game. If there is a game, Sabonis is the best Can play longer, and then let him perform well. I can't directly talk to Adelman and the Blazers' management about this. You try to adjust the arrangement. I believe your weight in the Trail Blazers, and you too The best partner for Sabonis."

Stern finished speaking in one breath, with a huge amount of information. Gan Guoyang was still a little drowsy in bed, but he didn't know that Stern's phone call woke him up a lot.

Stern said that the leader of the Soviet Union is going to visit the United States. If there is no accident, it should be Gorbachev, because US President Reagan just visited the Soviet Union for the first time in June this year. Six months later, Gorbachev’s return visit to the United States is also very important. normal.

In 1988, the international environment was extremely complicated. Socialist countries faced many problems. The Soviet Union entered the stage of reform, but was blocked everywhere. Gorbachev tried to change the current bad situation of the Soviet Union by starting with the political system and international relations.

The easing of relations with the United States is an important step for Gorbachev, and Sabonis's entry into the NBA is a sign of easing relations between the United States and the Soviet Union from a political point of view. Gorbachev's visit to the United States will naturally be on Sabonis Make a fuss.

Therefore, Stern must have received news from the U.S. government that Gorbachev may come to watch the Trail Blazers game. Of course, Stern will definitely not know the specific time schedule. These are all confidential .

Stern told Gan Guoyang these news. On the one hand, he expressed his trust in Gan Guoyang. On the other hand, he also knew that Gan Guoyang’s words in the Trail Blazers were very important. Gan Guoyang’s words could affect the tactical arrangements of the Trail Blazers. Stern also notified Gan Guoyang in advance, hoping that he could help Sabonis play a bigger role in the Trail Blazers.

"I...I will try my best, but I don't know if I can influence Coach Adelman. I respect him very much in normal times..."

"No, no, I don't need you to change Adelman. I just need a little compromise. You can communicate with Adelman. And if he really comes to watch the game, the league will definitely notify the Blazers. They will understand. I just give you some news in advance. Also, I want to tell you that you have played very well recently, but you have played too casually in some games. I hope you can be more serious and give your best."

Stern suddenly said to Gan Guoyang, because Gan Guoyang was just playing in some games with a relatively large gap in strength. For example, in a game against the Clippers, there was no suspense in the second half, and Gan Guoyang began to be on the court. Playing left-handed shooting, even scored 6 points.

This kind of behavior was unanimously criticized by the media. Gan Guoyang didn't care about it. He bluntly said at the media conference that he only needs to use his left hand to deal with some teams.

Stern is obviously dissatisfied with Gan Guoyang's behavior and remarks. He doesn't want another big mouth like Bird in the league. He hopes that Gan Guoyang and Jordan can become sunny and positive representatives.

However, judging from the current situation, Gan Guoyang and Jordan's mouths are more stinky than the other, and the trash talk is more than the other. It seems unlikely that they want to create a positive representative of the alliance like Dr. J.

After chatting with Stern for a few more words, Gan Guoyang hung up the phone. At this time, he was too sleepy. Thinking of the upcoming Soviet leader, he couldn't help worrying about the fate of China across the ocean.

Gan Guoyang knew that China and the United States were in the honeymoon period at this time, and reform and opening up were in full swing in the mainland. In China, Gan Guoyang's reputation had spread all over the country. CCTV also began to broadcast some of Gan Guoyang's games. His superb skills made the Chinese excited .

At the same time, the state media's propaganda gave Gan Guoyang another layer of mystery and legend. Gan Guoyang believed that if he went back to China now, he would be surrounded on the street.

However, the footsteps of time are about to enter the new year. Gan Guoyang has no idea what fate China will face by then. He doesn't know what kind of impact his existence will have on history.

Thinking of this, Gan Guoyang couldn't sleep even more. He started to do yoga in the hotel. He has been practicing yoga since college to keep his body flexible.

In the stage of reimbursement for injuries, he specifically consulted a yoga master and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on a special trip to reduce his chances of injury through yoga.

The practice of yoga not only makes Gan Guoyang's physical condition more outstanding, but also calms his mind. The fierce nba game is not only a physical confrontation, but also a spiritual competition.

Abandoning distracting thoughts, recalling his step-by-step process, the efforts he made during the reimbursement season, the doubts he received, and the care of people around him, Gan Guoyang felt more peaceful in his heart.

It has been eight years since he came to this time and space. He has completely integrated into this era. He dresses up, behaves like a person in the 80s. He is used to a life without mobile phones, the Internet, and video games. Shorts run and play ball on wooden floor.

He also found the purpose and direction of life in his basketball career.

He not only laments the wonder of fate, but also appreciates the gift of fate. He set aside the honor, prosperity and money brought to him by basketball, leaving behind the track of chasing his dreams and the opportunity to stick to his beliefs.

Thinking of the upcoming Soviet leader, Gan Guoyang suddenly thought of a sentence from a Soviet writer's work: "When a person looks back on the past, he will not regret for wasting his life, nor be ashamed for doing nothing."

Although Gan Guoyang did not dedicate his life to the most precious cause of mankind, he believed that he would never regret or be ashamed in this new life.