The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 945 You guys are really hardworking

The successive comebacks of Michael Jordan and Gan Guoyang have caused an earthquake in the American sports world.

The return of these two prodigies is seen as an important measure to restore national confidence in the United States after the 9/11 attacks.

With these two strong boosts, the US stock market surged, and airline stocks, which had previously halved in value, briefly rebounded to their pre-incident levels.

Stocks in sports-related industries surged, and the NBA's prestige reached its peak before the new season.

Various advertisements, endorsements, and product consumption followed suit, and the two strongest NBA stars of the 90s showed their powerful influence at the beginning of the 21st century.

Jordan's comeback press conference was held in Seattle, where he displayed his dark green No. 23 jersey in the KeyArena press conference room.

As Gan Guoyang said on the phone, Jordan's comeback in Seattle was not simply because he wanted to beat Gan Guoyang, but for many other reasons.

Of course, defeating Forrest Gump was one of the important factors Jordan considered. Since the Las Vegas Glory were assigned to the Western Conference, Jordan did not consider Eastern Conference teams for this comeback.

He also didn't really want to return to the East Coast. Under Gan Guoyang's influence, he put a lot of his investments in the high-tech industry on the West Coast.

With its vibrant economy encompassing electronics, communications, computers, aviation, and catering, the West was Jordan's top choice.

Moreover, Seattle is the aviation industry capital and Boeing's home base, and Boeing was greatly affected by the 9/11 attacks.

Michael Jordan's arrival was a boost to confidence for both Seattle and Boeing, a timely help in their time of need.

After Jordan arrived, Boeing's stock price immediately rose, and Jordan was welcomed by the entire city, which was exactly what he wanted.

Privately, Jordan has been promised that after he retires, he will receive shares in the SuperSonics, become a team shareholder, and have the opportunity to become the team's major owner in the future.

This is the reason that most appealed to Jordan: the SuperSonics are currently owned by Barry Akley's Akley Group.

He bought Supersonic in 1983 and is now 66 years old. His health is not very good, and he has already considered selling Supersonic.

Jordan saw this and selected the SuperSonics. Without signing any written agreement, he believed the owner's verbal promises and thought that one day he would get shares.

Aside from the shareholding, the SuperSonics are above average in terms of strength, and their old friend Patrick Ewing is in the final stage of his career.

Since moving from New York to Seattle, Ewing has been doing well here and has maintained his physical condition well. Last season, at 38 years old, he was still able to put up double-double numbers.

With backcourt guard Gary Payton still in the twilight of his prime, and the SuperSonics having unearthed low-draft gems like Rashard Lewis and Desmond Mason on the wing, the team is exactly missing a versatile shooting guard.

Jordan's arrival was a perfect fit for the SuperSonics' roster, something Jordan needed to consider.

He won't join the Lakers to form a super team and reap the rewards, but in order to compete with Forrest Gump, his teammates can't be too bad either.

With Ewing as an old friend, Payton as an All-Star, and a few talented young players, Jordan felt that was enough.

Moreover, unlike Portland, Jordan had won a championship in Seattle, giving him a psychological advantage.

He wouldn't be told by a SuperSonics player, "You've never won a championship here."

Another important reason Jordan chose Seattle is that the city of Seattle and Portland don't get along.

Seattle and Portland have long been rival cities, competing in everything from politics and economics to culture and sports, even vying for the title of "Rainy City."

Seattle has always held Portland in the lead because it was founded earlier, is larger, has a better economy, and a higher political status.

In sports, Portland won the championship first, but Seattle then beat Portland to the championship. Seattle has NFL and MLB teams and recently established a WNBA team. Its sports market is larger than Portland's, which only has the Trail Blazers.

But Forrest Gump's arrival completely turned the tide, single-handedly enabling Portland to surpass the entire Seattle team with just the Trail Blazers.

And as Forrest Gump's achievements grew, Portland eventually stopped paying attention to Seattle. In the 80s and 90s, they dominated the entire United States, beating up New York and Los Angeles. Who did Seattle think they were?

Even after Forrest Gump retired, the Portland Trail Blazers, led by Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal, remained the hottest team on the Northwest Coast, continuing to compete with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top spot in the West, leaving Seattle in the dust.

As Jordan and Kobe fell out and were looked down upon by the Portlanders, he immediately switched to Portland's arch-rival, Seattle, harboring resentment.

The people of Seattle have been suppressed by Portland and Forrest Gump for over a decade; it's time for them to rise up and take revenge.

After announcing his comeback, Jordan went to the plaza outside KeyArena and waved to thousands of SuperSonics fans.

He said, "It's time, it's time to reclaim our position and let the green flag fly over the Western Pacific!"

Jordan's arrival heralded an unprecedentedly fierce competition in the Western Conference during the 2001-2002 season.

The Lakers and Trail Blazers remain formidable teams, while the newly emerging Sacramento Kings are lurking in the shadows, eyeing the Western Conference throne with predatory intent.

The Dallas Mavericks are growing stronger, with Dirk Nowitzki, Mike Finley, and Eddie Jones forming a formidable trio.

The Phoenix Suns have seen Grant Hill return from injury, Antoine Walker enter his prime, and in this year's draft, they selected French point guard Tony Parker, indicating their intention to continue their offensive focus.

With the addition of the Las Vegas Glory and the Seattle SuperSonics with Jordan, the entire Western Conference is in complete chaos, and no one knows who will ultimately emerge victorious.

In contrast, the situation in the East is much clearer. As long as Tim Duncan is healthy, the Boston Celtics have no rivals in the East.

This pattern of a strong West and a weak East, but with one super team, seems likely to persist for quite some time.

However, for Jordan and Gan Guoyang, at their age and with their experience, they no longer care about the league's structure or whether the East or West is stronger.

Gan Guoyang, who had been retired for a year, and Jordan, who had been retired for three years, both immediately threw themselves into the team's training.

No matter how complicated the reasons behind his comeback, his love for basketball and his passion for competition will never change.

Otherwise, no amount of motivation could sustain two 37- or 38-year-old middle-aged people to return to that kind of ascetic, painful life.

The Radiant team's training camp opened early in October. As a brand new team, they needed to start training early to get used to each other.

The players selected in the expansion draft arrived in Las Vegas, and the team quickly arranged accommodations for them.

Everyone stayed together in luxury suites at the MGM Hotel, enjoying top-notch room service, and in the evenings they could have dinner, drinks, parties, and even gamble at the casino.

The purpose of this is to help the players quickly get to know each other and become friends, laying a good foundation for the start of training camp.

For the young players, this kind of life is simply too good. The wealthy and powerful Glory team not only covers all the food and lodging, but also reimburses part of the cost of special services, allowing the young players to have a blast at night.

Of course, for veteran players with families and coaching staff, staying in hotels is not a long-term solution.

The team immediately began arranging for them to find suitable accommodation through real estate agents, and if possible, to bring their families to live with them as soon as possible. The team's new head coach, Tomjanovich, wasn't interested in finding a new house and chose to stay in a hotel temporarily.

After arriving in Las Vegas, he spent every day in anxiety. He was a very responsible and competitive person.

He knew that coaching a completely new team, especially one led by Forrest Gump, would be extremely challenging.

Every day when he opens his eyes, he thinks about team building and keeps looking for assistant coaches.

After making countless phone calls, he finally recruited his former players Jim Boylen and Dean Cooper from the Rockets.

Nowadays, most teams in the league have three to four assistant coaches, but Tomjanovich is finding it increasingly difficult to find people willing to come to Las Vegas; everyone is waiting and seeing.

Coaches are different from players. Coaches have a smaller circle of friends, and they are mostly middle-aged people with families who are unwilling to move easily.

With two assistants at least, Tomjanovich started holding meetings to develop training plans and the team's tactical structure.

To be honest, doing all this when most of the opponents have only a superficial understanding of the game is like building a skyscraper from scratch, fraught with difficulties and obstacles.

The day before the team's training camp began, Danny Ainge called Tomjanovich: "Rudy, how's the preparation going? Training camp starts tomorrow."

"To be honest, it's a complete mess, and I have no idea where to begin," Tomjanovich said frankly.

“Okay, I was in the same situation as you, everything was a mess. But can you believe it, the team started to get going, and then we’re going to start playing next month, my God… You know what’s keeping us going? Money, and faith.”

Ainge's situation isn't much better than Tomjanovich's. Although he's got the expansion draft and roster sorted out, there are still many details to work on as a general manager.

The team manager is responsible for everything from the team's strategy and personnel arrangements to the slogans and logos used in team promotions.

Moreover, the division of responsibilities within the team is still unclear, with multiple departments issuing conflicting orders. Everyone is highly motivated, but their efforts often go in opposite directions, resulting in a net loss that is causing Ainge a lot of headaches.

The good news is that after Angie became the manager, Gan Guoyang devoted himself entirely to basketball training.

For specific matters, he only asks and offers suggestions, without making any decisions, giving Ainge sufficient authority to maintain team order.

Otherwise, given Gan Guoyang's authority within the team, if he speaks, Angie's words are meaningless, making the manager's job difficult.

Wang Fuxi also followed the style of Tang Jianguo, the boss, and kept basketball affairs as separate as possible from other team affairs so that they would not affect each other and the team's other business would not influence the basketball department's decisions.

This gave Anji room to maneuver, but correspondingly, it also put enormous pressure on him.

In less than a month, Ainge looked visibly haggard, and he was also anxious about what the outcome of his first season would be.

The two talked on the phone for a while, and then Angie said, "Rudy, actually your job should be easier than mine."

Tomjanovich said, "Are you kidding me? I'm fucking peeing blood, and I'm still feeling fine."

"That's because you don't know how to relax. Haven't you heard? With Forrest Gump around, the coach is the most relaxed. Give the ball to Forrest Gump, trust him, and everything will be fine."

"Of course I've heard of Danny; everyone dreams of coaching him. But... he's 37 after all."

"Forrest Gump is 37 years old, not the average 37-year-old player. Use him with confidence, Rudy. Anyway, if your performance is not good, you won't stay here for long."

Tomjanovich was speechless for a moment. Angie spoke bluntly and made no attempt to hide his cold-bloodedness.

In his own words, if one day the team needs him to sacrifice himself to achieve a championship, he will not hesitate to sell himself—just like Stu Inman did back then.

After hanging up the phone, Tomjanovich realized what he needed to do, and that night he slept very soundly.

The next day, the first training day, was also the first collective appearance of the Las Vegas Glory team. The team arranged an open training session and media interviews.

The training session and media meet-and-greet were held at the Cox Arena, a newly built facility at UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas).

This is a medium-sized indoor multi-purpose stadium built in cooperation between Cox Communications and UNLV. It can accommodate 2800-3100 people and is used to host intramural women's basketball games, relatively less important men's basketball games, as well as various other events such as concerts, lectures, boxing matches, etc.

Anyway, as long as you pay the rent, the venue construction company will be happy for you to use it.

For a rising star team like the Las Vegas Glory, the arena owner simply lets you use it for free for a season, essentially as advertising for the arena and Cox Communications.

Because you won't let the Glorious team use it, there are plenty of arenas available for the Glorious team; there are many arenas in Las Vegas.

The Glory team's first training day was definitely headline news in the sports media, with a large number of reporters coming to take pictures and conduct interviews.

The company is eager for the advertising effect of having the name Cox mentioned repeatedly in the news.

Head coach Tomjanovic left early; he didn't want to arrive too late on the first day.

He set off with two assistant coaches, drove to Cox's Arena, and found the parking lot was almost full.

"Shit, it's only the first day of training, is it really this big? It's only a few o'clock, and so many people have already arrived?"

As soon as he got out of the car and walked to the arena, Tomjanovich was surrounded by reporters waiting outside.

With cameras and microphones flying everywhere, a barrage of questions came at once. Fortunately, Old Tang was a seasoned veteran and politely declined the reporters' interview requests, saying that everything would be discussed after training.

He knew that with a new team and a new coach, he had to be careful with his words and actions, and that the team's message should be consistent both internally and externally. The coach couldn't just make careless remarks, or he would be embarrassed if he were proven wrong later.

Tomjanovich went to the locker room with the assistant coach to change his clothes and found that veteran Terry Porter had changed his jersey and was sitting on the bench in the locker room, looking dazed and miserable.

As a veteran, he arrived so early.

Potter always had a sad face when he was young, and it only got worse as he got older.

Tomjanovich stepped forward and asked with concern, "Hey Porter! You're here early today, time to start training! It's always good for veterans to set an example."

Porter slowly turned to look at Tomjanovich and said, "Coach, I've been practicing for an hour and a half. I'm going to come in and rest for a bit."

"What? Why are you here so early?"

"Forrest helped me rent a house next to his, and he woke me up early in the morning to train."

"...Oh, oh...you guys are really hardworking, no wonder...you've won so many championships..."

(End of this chapter)