The Golden Age of Basketball

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1984 may be one of the most important turning years in the history of mankind in the 20th century, and also in the modern history of China. At least in the sports world, later history proves that this year is extremely crucial.

In February 1984, Andropov, the general secretary of the Soviet Union, passed away. This was another supreme leader of the Soviet Union who died in two years. This also indicated that a huge storm was about to befall the Red Empire.

In March 1984, the Gonzaga Bulldogs won the NCAA championship. This may be a very inconspicuous event in world historical events, but only the MOP of the season understands that this is likely to be a key step in changing history.

In April 1984, China won the Battle of Laoshan. This seemed to be just an ordinary local defense battle, but it created a stable environment for the rapid development of China's southern region.

In May 1984, the Soviet Union announced a boycott of this year's Los Angeles Olympics in response to Western countries' boycott of the Soviet Union at the 5 Moscow Olympics.But China has participated in this Olympic Games, and this is the first time that China has participated in the Olympic Games;

In the same month, in the lottery of the NBA draft, the Houston Rockets, the last player in the Western Conference in the 83 season, and the Portland Trail Blazers, who got the pick from the Indiana Pacers in 1984, competed for the top pick in the first round through a coin toss. That is the number one lottery.

For the Houstonians, they are extremely eager to get another No. 1983 pick, so that they can let Houston's local basketball heroes stay here and form the twin towers with the No. [-] pick in [-].

For the Portlanders, it would be great to get the No. [-] pick, but more people think that it doesn't matter if they get the No. [-] pick, so that the legendary kid in Washington State can continue to stay in the Northwest. Two Bill Whartons.

For other teams, even if they don't get these two giants who are destined to become superstars, this year's draft is still an extremely rich feast, with countless delicious newcomers waiting for them to choose.

In the end, in this coin-determined game, the god of history still stubbornly let the wheels stay on the original track. The Houston Rockets won the fourth No. [-] lottery in their history. The number one lottery.

The occurrence of this situation also led to the introduction of the lottery system in the 1985 NBA draft to prevent certain teams from doing badly in order to get the No. [-] pick.

The person who changed this old system and determined the new system is the new president of the nba, David Stern, who replaced the previous president Larry O'Brien and became the fourth president of the nba.

From this year onwards, the NBA championship trophy has also been replaced, and it has become the well-known Larry O'Brien Cup.

And those rookies who shook hands with Stern one by one on Madison Park in New York, will also work with the new president to open up their golden age.

Among them, there is a yellow-skinned and black-haired player who has attracted the attention of the whole United States, because he is not only the first player of yellow race to enter the NBA, but also the highest-ranked foreign player.

Although his results in the draft had already confirmed such a result, the real result still shocked the entire United States.

The first foreign players to enter the NBA were D'Antoni from Italy (later coach of the Suns), Knight from the Netherlands and Charles from Trinidad and Tobago, but they can only be considered marginal players in the NBA. , It is really the first one that caused a huge shock before entering the alliance.

Moreover, his appearance was so sudden that he suddenly occupied the headlines of major sports magazines within half a year. The most commonly used images were on the court at the Seattle Dome Center, amidst a sea of ​​people, a Players wearing Gonzaga jerseys and a girl in a pink hat hugged each other, becoming an indelible classic picture in NCAA history.

However, the draft is only one aspect of the new vitality injected into the NBA. After Stern took charge of this major league, he felt the huge problems and the great challenges it faced.

For this reason, nba made many reforms in the summer.

Among the more important points, such as changing the first round of the playoffs to a 5-game 3-win system, changing the finals to a 2-3-2 game system, changing the next year's draft to a lottery system, and introducing an All-Star game system during the season , Introduce a salary cap system on the salary of players.

This series of reforms will prove to be very important decisions in the future. These reforms will truly change the nba, drag it out of the quagmire, and appear in front of the fans with a shining image.

However, this summer, these xing-specific reform measures are still quietly brewing, and it's not yet time for them to take effect.

In June 1984, the World Olympic Paralympic Games was played in Los Angeles as a prelude to the Olympic Games. During the competition, Chinese disabled athlete Ping Yali won the long jump gold medal and became the first Chinese disabled athlete to win an Olympic gold medal .

This also indicates that China will surely do something in the 1984 Olympic Games.

On July 1984, 7, the 28rd Olympic Games finally officially opened at the Memorial Stadium in Los Angeles, a city on the west coast of the United States.

In this white stadium full of ancient Greek flavor, beside the Olympic torch erected in the main stand, there is also a huge electronic screen.

Through this screen, spectators sitting in the distance can also see important shots and close-ups in the entire stadium.

And when the current U.S. President Ronald Reagan appeared on the big screen and said: "I declare that the 23rd Los Angeles Olympic Games is now open", the whole venue fell into jubilation, and the live band also played the Olympic song .

The former governor of California also became the first top American leader to preside over the opening ceremony in person.

"Why is the US president's opening speech so old-fashioned? I thought there would be something new." An audience member wearing a peaked cap said in a corner of the auditorium.

"You said it as if you have seen the speech of the Chinese leader." The audience who was also wearing a peaked cap replied.

These two guys are Wang Fuxi and Gan Guoyang who came to Los Angeles to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Wang Fuxi usually likes to wear a peaked cap, but Gan Guoyang has to wear a cap. Now he is a celebrity after all.

"I used to... I saw the opening ceremony of our county sports meeting, and the county leaders gave a speech like this, saying, 'Goose smoked cloth, the ground will be added to the west, and the east will be wiped, and the west will be wiped'!" Gan Guoyang looked around with a mouthful of not knowing where Learn to speak.

"What are you talking about...I can't even understand it, so you are not allowed to speak your dialect!" Wang Fuxi hated Gan Guoyang's dialect when speaking Chinese.

"Oh, it means 'I announce that the second session of the county athletes is now open'! Anyway, these leaders are all in the same tune. Give me the binoculars and let me have a look." Gan Guoyang wanted to take the binoculars from Wang Fuxi, Gan Guoyang and Wang Fuxi were seated in a biased position, and they couldn't see the situation clearly enough.

"No, you want to take it to see beautiful women? There is no way." Wang Fuxi was jealous.

"No, I want to see the Chinese athletes! They walked too fast just now, I couldn't see clearly, let me see." The athletes' entrance ceremony is over, and Gan Guoyang's neck was really stretched when the Chinese athletes entered the field Longer than a goose.

At that moment, this Chinese guy from the future felt tears welling up in his eyes when he saw Chinese athletes on the American sports field.

"What's so good about Chinese athletes? You don't know them." Wang Fuxi pouted.

"Who says I don't know him! I know Xu Haifeng and Li Ning." Gan Guoyang was not convinced. As a sports fan, he was deeply impressed by his debut in China in the 1984 Olympic Games.

"Who is Xu Haifeng? I seem to have heard of Li Ning." Wang Fuxi asked curiously.

"You don't understand, let me see, China won the first gold medal on him!" Gan Guoyang suddenly realized that this question cannot be elaborated, but can only be fooled by one sentence, grabbed the binoculars and began to look for China in the representative team Team.

Soon he found China's five-star red flag and a tall flag bearer holding a flagpole among the national flags.

The flag-bearers of China's previous Olympic Games have always been tall and mighty basketball players. From Liu Yudong to Yao Ming, they are all the leaders of the Chinese sports team.

This year, China participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in history, and the flag bearer is the main forward of the Chinese men's basketball team, Wang Libin.

"What would it look like if I could serve as the standard bearer of the Chinese team?" Gan Guoyang suddenly had such an idea in his mind.

But he thought about it again. According to the degree of openness and bureaucracy in China at that time, and his experience playing in the United States, even if he has always been a Chinese citizen, it may still be difficult for him to represent China in the Olympics.

And now he has entered the nba and has become a professional player. According to the regulations of the Olympic Games before 1992, professional basketball players cannot participate in the Olympic Games.

In this way, Gan Guoyang's idea of ​​participating in the Olympics can be said to be far away.

Gan Guoyang's thoughts suddenly drifted a little far away. He thought of the future of the NBA, the draft at Madison Square Garden, the trial training in Portland, and the unforgettable finals.

At this time, Gan Guoyang looked through the binoculars at the faces of the Chinese team that were about to become familiar to the Chinese people, and suddenly felt a strong sense of fate in his heart.

"After all, I still couldn't escape Portland's clutches." Gan Guoyang thought of his trial training in Portland and when he heard Stern say "y!" at the draft, he felt mixed feelings in his heart.

He did not expect that his battle with Sam Bowie in the semifinals changed the fate of the two being selected. In the end, Sam Bowie fell to the sixth overall pick and was selected by the Washington Bullets.

Of course, the Washington bullet did not expect that at this historical intersection that could have escaped the fate of being pitted, Washington chose to jump from one pit to another.

Stockton was selected by the Atlanta Hawks at No. 11, but the Utah Jazz picked Kevin Willis at No. 16-he was a direct victim of Gan Guoyang, a gibbon.

Afterwards, the Utah Jazz traded Kevin Willis and a future first-round pick and part of the gold in exchange for Atlanta's Stockton and old center Billy Balds.

Stockton also failed to escape the established fate, or embarked on a long journey on the snowy plateau.

But for Gan Guoyang, the fate of other people seems to be following the established track, but what about him?Came to the center's grave, a cursed place!

Thinking of this, Gan Guoyang immediately lost the intention of watching theatrical performances, although the trial training in Portland and the enthusiasm of the local fans moved his heart.

"Look, it's the torch!" At this moment, Wang Fuxi suddenly shouted, the more than one hour cultural performance was over, and the torch entered the stadium.

A girl carried the flame into Memorial Stadium -- she was the granddaughter of the late passer Jesse Owens -- and after several passes, the flame reached a black athlete in a white tracksuit, a member of the U.S. The famous track and field athlete La Johnson.

In the end, he ran to the main torch tower, ignited a five-ring-shaped torch ignition channel under the torch tower, and ignited the torch tower at the highest point of the stadium. The blazing flame burned with the cheers of the audience, and the grand opening ceremony The show has officially begun!

"Forrest Gump, tell me what game I'm going to watch tomorrow?" Wang Fuxi asked from the side.

"Shooting competition!" Gan Guoyang blurted out, he wanted to witness the historic moment when Xu Haifeng won the championship.

"Is the shooting game fun?" Wang Fuxi didn't know much about other sports except basketball.

"Shooting or..." Gan Guoyang suddenly thought, if he went to the shooting range and interfered with Xu Haifeng's performance, wouldn't he be guilty of a big crime?

Shooting sports is a test of the mental state of athletes, and any slight disturbance will change the final result.

"Forrest Gump, what's the matter? Are you still thinking about the Blazers?" Wang Fuxi thought that Gan Guoyang was thinking about signing with the Blazers.

"Ah, no, I was thinking, what's so interesting about a shooting match." Gan Guoyang said lightly, but Wang Fuxi really hit his mind.

"Forrest Gump, although you are very powerful, the conditions you set for the pioneers are too... Anyway, I have never seen anyone make such conditions." Wang Fuxi said with his arms around Gan Guoyang.

"You don't understand... Anyway, my condition is very important!" Gan Guoyang said.

"But... once you mention this condition, a group of people from other teams will lose their jobs. How bad it is."

It turned out that Gan Guoyang's condition for signing with the Trail Blazers turned out to be that Portland's medical team had to be replaced with a candidate Gan Guoyang was satisfied with.

This is really unbelievable in the history of the nba. Not to mention rookies asking for such conditions, even those famous superstars are only asking for the amount of money and the contract period when they are close to the contract conditions. No one asks to change the team doctor.

But Gan Guoyang was extremely insistent on this, and he didn't care about other conditions, and it didn't matter if he didn't have any benefits.

So at the end of July, he went to Los Angeles to accompany Wang Fuxi to watch the Olympics. In August, he will return to Portland. On the one hand, he will participate in the training camp in Portland, and on the other hand, he will complete two signings.

"Hmph, anyway, I just don't like that Shui Miao! She's so old and still not married!" Wang Fuxi said suddenly angrily.

"Uh, but..."

"Stop talking, we'll see later!"