The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 853 Muddy Waters
On August 7, 1998, in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, massive explosions engulfed the U.S. embassies in these two East African capital cities.

The casualties in Nairobi were particularly high, with more than 200 people killed and more than 4000 injured. The bombs loaded on cars were extremely powerful.

When the incident occurred, it was still early morning in the eastern United States. The next morning, news of the incident reached the United States and caused quite a stir.

However, for most Americans, the situation wasn't that serious, since it happened in faraway Africa, and apart from a small number of staff members, most of the dead were local people.

The U.S. government quickly launched an investigation and concluded that the attack was linked to a terrorist organization called al-Qaeda.

On August 20, just over ten days later, the U.S. military launched cruise missile attacks on chemical plants in Afghanistan and Sudan, claiming it was retaliation for the organizers of the August 7 bombings.

The largest pharmaceutical factory in the area was destroyed by a cruise missile, and the incident was gradually forgotten by the public as the news media were quickly overwhelmed by a dazzling array of other information.

For example, when President Bill Clinton was questioned again, he admitted to having a relationship with Lewinsky, and more details were revealed, which everyone listened to with great interest.

As for attacks in distant Africa? Who cares? It's not like they're bombing our own heads. The Americas are a chosen land; our homeland will never be attacked except in civil wars.

This was the thinking of the vast majority of Americans at the time, and it was also the soil in which the political ideology of "splendid isolation" was born and developed in the United States. They were isolated overseas and far from the Old World, and they always had a sense of superiority that "the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, the outside world has nothing to do with me, you do your thing, we are beautiful on our own."

However, careful observers will notice that attacks related to the Middle East have been increasing in number, scale, and casualties since the 90s.

At this time, it had been just over two months since the 1998 NBA Finals.

The perfect season for the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang has come to an end, and the cycle has begun again. They are about to welcome a new season.

As the chairman of the trade union, Gan Guoyang has no time to take a break; he has a lot of work to do this summer.

In July, Jordan officially announced his retirement, giving up his huge contract for the last two years with the Bulls, ending his illustrious career.

Four regular season MVPs, ten scoring titles, six Finals appearances, three championships, three Finals MVPs, Slam Dunk Contest champion, and Defensive Player of the Year—a long list of honors cannot fully summarize his remarkable basketball career.

At the press conference where he officially announced his retirement, Jordan's eyes welled up with tears. Although he was extremely reluctant to leave the NBA, given his current form, it wouldn't be a big problem for him to stay and surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the greatest player of all time.

Given his attendance rate and scoring ability, it's only a matter of time before he scores over 38000 points.

But this wasn't the basketball life Jordan wanted, so he preferred to retire at the peak of his career, even with regrets and unfulfilled goals, he still went ahead without hesitation.

Gan Guoyang did not attend Jordan's press conference, as if he was unwilling to accept the fact that Jordan had left.

The two entered the league together in 1984, when they were both in their early twenties. They went to different cities and different teams to start their careers.

Their rivalry has shaken the league since their very first season. The Gan vs. Joe matchup has been the most thrilling hero showdown in the NBA for over a decade, a regular feature of the league's annual regular season.

Although he knew that this confrontation would end one day, it seemed to come too suddenly, so suddenly that even Gan Guoyang was a little bewildered.

Sometimes he even thought that he should lose to Jordan in the Finals once, so that Michael would be motivated to stay and continue.

In fact, if the Trail Blazers had managed to get past the Jazz and reach the Finals in 1997, the Bulls would have had a very high chance of defeating the Trail Blazers.

However, the Trail Blazers lost "just right".

Jordan's sudden departure greatly diminished Gan Guoyang's motivation.

At this time last year, he was already sweating it out in the training hall, preparing for the new season.

After the finals, Gan Guoyang only maintained basic training intensity, spending most of his remaining time either with his family or engaged in labor negotiations.

The negotiations progressed quite smoothly. Jordan decided not to exercise his contract for the last two years. Following suit, Gan Guoyang also decided not to exercise his contract for the last year of the three-year, $100 million deal with the Trail Blazers, but instead to renew his contract with the Trail Blazers in accordance with the new collective bargaining agreement.

According to the memorandum of the 1996 negotiations, the new labor agreement would set a maximum salary contract based on the wage cap ratio, and Gan Guoyang's starting salary would be reduced to $1155 million, only one-third of the original contract.

As the president of the players' union and the league's top player, Gan Guoyang's move can be seen as taking the lead in cutting the salaries of superstar players, which means that more money can be allocated to mid-level and lower-level players.

This naturally drew opposition from a host of superstars. High-paid players like Ewing, who were on long-term contracts, expressed their dissatisfaction, believing that Gan Guoyang had betrayed the interests of the players and made concessions to the owners.

Gan Guoyang didn't engage in much verbal sparring with the superstars. Instead, on August 25th, he convened a general meeting of all active players in the underground conference room at Madison Square Garden in New York, gathering hundreds of players together to explain the significant implications of the new collective bargaining agreement for players, especially ordinary and lower-level players.

The new collective bargaining agreement will bring more stable wages, simpler and clearer standardized contracts, standardized rookie contract templates, new clauses to protect the rights of free agents, and a foundation to guarantee players' retirement, among other things.

During the meeting, Gan Guoyang deployed security forces to isolate all the superstars' agents and sponsors from the outside world, and prohibited the players from communicating with the outside world during the meeting.

In this situation, without external support, without the backing of agents, sponsors, and fans, there is no real difference between superstars and ordinary players; everyone is just a laborer playing for the NBA.

The superstars, who were originally the fewest in number but had the biggest voice on social media, suddenly became a minority at the conference. During the exchange of opinions and voting, their voices were completely drowned out by ordinary players and those from lower-level teams.

The meeting started at 9:00 a.m., with a lunch break during which everyone was prohibited from leaving. The meeting ended at 3:00 p.m., and the labor side unanimously passed a resolution agreeing to the contents of the new labor-management agreement negotiated with the employer in 1998.

The meeting concluded successfully amidst waves of applause. Gan Guoyang stood on the podium and stated, "The working environment and treatment of NBA players will thus enter a new era. We will play in a more stable and promising environment to create the life we ​​want. Of course, we must not forget the league's predecessors, who played and struggled in this place before we were even born, paving the way and creating the conditions for everything we have today. Thank you, thank you to them."

At this conference, Gan Guoyang invited all the veterans, including Jerry West, Russell, Walton, and Robertson, to attend as honorary participants.

These veterans are definitely on Gan Guoyang's side; they have long been disgusted by the extravagance and greed of the current superstars.

Although they do not have the right to vote, their voice and advice at crucial moments have a significant impact.

The superstars led by Ewing, along with their agents and sponsors, suffered a crushing defeat at the meeting, utterly humiliated and left with no room for resistance.

David Stern was very satisfied with the situation, and as he said, with Gan Guoyang leading the players' union, the league would surely be stable and prosperous.

After the internal divisions within the players' union were resolved, negotiations between the labor and management officially began in September.

Although the labor side has reached a consensus, it does not mean that they will completely compromise and give up on everything in negotiations with the employer.

The meeting continued in New York, and Gan Guoyang once again resorted to his "endurance tactic," holding continuous, high-intensity meetings and harassing the investors 24/7. Even though the investors had learned from the lessons of 1996 and were prepared, they were no match for Gan Guoyang in terms of stamina.

David Stern stayed up for three days straight, which resulted in dark circles under his eyes and a full beard.

Finally, on September 3, the labor and management reached a final agreement, with the labor side securing a satisfactory profit-sharing ratio and various preferential terms.

A series of new measures, including maximum salary contracts, mid-level contracts, minimum salary contracts, luxury tax, and rookie-standard contracts, have been formally incorporated into the new agreement.

The investors took advantage of the situation and, with Forrest Gump's return in the past two years, everyone has made a lot of money, especially from overseas revenue and broadcasting revenue, which have been very lucrative.

Without the draining influence of those mega-contracts, owners can make money, players can play, everyone can live in harmony and make money together—why not?
At the same time, the players realized that they had to unite and find a strong negotiator to deal with the experienced and shrewd investors.

In the past, it was Larry Fleischer; now it's Forrest Gump. This has become a consensus among most players. Only Forrest Gump has this ability.

Therefore, when Gan Guoyang expressed his intention to resign as chairman of the players' union after the negotiations were successful, the owners, the players, and the league office all disagreed.

"The NBA needs you!"

"The players need you!"

"We've already lost Michael, we can't lose you too... I know you'll still play, and you have to do it, Chairman!"

Everyone insisted on keeping him, and Gan Guoyang had no choice but to continue serving as the chairman of the labor union.

After the new collective bargaining agreement was finalized, Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers ended their record-breaking $100 million contract.

Instead, they signed a new three-year maximum salary contract with a starting salary of only $1150 million and a total of $3800 million.

After that, Gan Guoyang devoted himself to the preparations for the 1998-1999 season, participating in the annual Trail Blazers rookie training camp.

In the 1998 NBA draft, the Trail Blazers made no acquisitions because they had already used up their draft picks in previous trades.

The Trail Blazers don't really need any rookies for now; Kobe, Jermaine O'Neal, and Ben Wallace are enough for them to develop.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who got the number one pick, selected a center, Michael Olowokandi, who is from Nigeria and is a fellow countryman of Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Clippers are hoping that this seven-foot giant wearing number 34 can bring about a qualitative change for the Clippers, just like Hakeem Olajuwon did, and pull the Clippers out of the abyss of a bad team.

The Grizzlies selected strong guard Mike Bibby with the second pick, while the Nuggets picked white center Rick LaFrentz. It seems they have not learned their lesson from the past decade of not selecting big white centers with high draft picks.

The Raptors drafted Antawn Jamison, but immediately traded him to the Warriors, who had the fifth pick, for Vince Carter from North Carolina.

Canada now has its own North Carolina sprinter.

The Raptors clearly understand more clearly than the Grizzlies that a rookie who plays attractively and has popularity is more important than skill.

This is especially true for newly established teams in the NBA.

In the subsequent draft, the Dallas Mavericks acquired Dirk Nowitzki, the German player whom Nelson had long desired, through a trade.

The Boston Celtics, with the 12th pick acquired from the Cavaliers, selected Los Angeles scorer Paul Pierce.

Bobby Bellman's team-building plan is still proceeding in an orderly manner. With Jordan's retirement and the Bulls' disintegration, the Eastern Conference is about to return to the era of the Celtics.

After the collective bargaining agreement was finalized, Scottie Pippen said goodbye to the Bulls for good. His first choice of team was not for a championship, but for whichever team could offer him a big contract.

The New Jersey Nets are undoubtedly the team most qualified to wield their checkbooks. They have been preparing for this for a long time, leaving more than 20 million dollars in salary cap space, waiting for the arrival of a superstar.

Pippen signed the big contract offered by the Nets without hesitation. The five-year contract, with a starting salary of $1100 million and a total value of $6100 million, finally satisfied Pippen.

Even Forrest Gump's contract wasn't all that great.

Not content with that, the Nets then signed Derrick Harper and acquired Mitch Richmond in a three-way trade with the Rockets and Kings, instantly boosting their strength.

Chris Webber went to the Sacramento Kings in this three-way trade, starting a new chapter in his career, while the Rockets acquired a bunch of draft picks.

After trading draft picks for the future, the Nets also plan to bring Charles Barkley to New Jersey to form a Big Four with Olajuwon, Pippen, and Richmond!

Barkley was caught in a dilemma. His contract with the Heat had expired, and he had originally wanted to go to Portland to ride on Forrest Gump's coattails and win a championship.

But the Trail Blazers were just too successful in the 1998 season. They had a 77-win team. Wouldn't it be a bit much to go and try to add to their success?

After much deliberation, Barkley called Jordan for advice, and Jordan simply said, "If you go to Portland, I'll look down on you for the rest of my life."

Finally, on September 26, Barkley officially announced that he had joined the New Jersey Nets, forming a "Big Four" with Olajuwon, Pippen, and Richmond.

To counter Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers, another super team has been born in the East.

Paul Allen wanted to invite Phil Jackson to coach the Nets, but Jackson, who had left the Bulls, didn't want to get involved.

The Big Four appear to be exceptionally strong, but their core lineup is aging significantly, especially Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, who are already past their prime.

The two players combined aren't enough to beat Forrest Gump alone, and with the rise of the Celtics and Pacers in the East, the Nets might not necessarily come out on top.

Therefore, Jackson chose to temporarily retire, observe quietly, and make a decision after the situation became clearer.

Desperate and grasping at straws, Paul Allen, imitating the Trail Blazers' style, set his sights on another of the 80s' two stars:
Magic Johnson.

(End of this chapter)