The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 482 Rooted
The 1988 All-Star Game ended perfectly with Gan Guoyang snatching the All-Star MVP award from Jordan.

Despite the undercurrents and tensions between the players and management, the stars still delivered one of the most exciting All-Star games in recent years.

The cold weather and snow in Chicago did not extinguish the passion for basketball; on the contrary, it ignited the flames of basketball throughout the United States during the winter.

Gan Guoyang, carrying the union ballots, flew back to Portland with Song Tao.

Along the way, Song Tao was happy for Gan Guoyang winning the All-Star MVP, but also worried about his senior.

That night, because Gan Guoyang stole Jordan's All-Star MVP award, Song Tao, who was watching from the sidelines, was verbally attacked by some emotional fans who said that the Chinese had stolen their honor.

Criticism of Gan Guoyang gradually increased in newspapers and television media.

After all, Gan Guoyang was no longer a dragon-slaying hero, but a true evil dragon.

Fans love watching young warriors slay dragons, and each dragon represents a young boy from the previous generation.

Gan Guoyang remained calm about this, telling Song Tao, "When you only win one championship, the fans will be happy with you. When you win two championships, some people start to get tired of it. When you win your third championship, everyone starts to support your opponents and hopes to see you fail. But if you can continue to win championships and the fans get used to it, everyone will support you again."

The saying goes, "Killing one person is a crime, killing ten thousand is a hero," and the same principle applies to winning a championship.

Winning one championship makes you a king, winning three championships makes you the king of kings, and winning six, seven, or eight championships makes you a god.

Moreover, even though the American media gradually began to attack Gan Guoyang and support Jordan, at least in Portland and Oregon, Gan Guoyang was still the supreme basketball hero.

Upon returning to Portland, Gan Guoyang distributed all the ballots and patiently persuaded each player to agree to dissolve the union.

Instead of using his prestige to pressure everyone, he spoke with each of them individually, trying to persuade them and promising that if any trouble arose in the future and they faced financial difficulties, he would definitely help them and would never break his promise.

This allowed the Trail Blazers to collect their votes the fastest, mailing them to Larry Fleischer's office in New York a week after the All-Star Game, making them the fastest team to complete the process.

Fleischer took the ballot sent by Gan Guoyang from Gan Guohui and praised him, saying, "Your brother is politician material. He is clear-headed, determined, eloquent, has strong execution ability, and is of excellent character with no blemishes. His only shortcoming is that he refuses to become a U.S. citizen. Otherwise, he would definitely achieve great things if he entered politics in the future."

Gan Guohui said, "If he were willing to become an American citizen, he wouldn't be the determined Forrest Gump."

Fleischer nodded in agreement, which also made him feel regretful. If Forrest Gump were American, he could have promoted Gan Guoyang to be the union chairman this time, and there would have been much more room for maneuver in the future.

Gan Guoyang's Chinese identity largely limited his achievements in terms of public influence in the United States.

Gan Guohui shared Song Tao's concerns and asked, "Larry, the media seems to be getting increasingly critical of Forrest Gump, especially after he stole Jordan's MVP award. I see the political situation in Europe and China is constantly changing; will this affect Forrest Gump's future?"

As he smoked his pipe and examined the ballots, Fleischer said, “That is indeed a problem. But while Stern is a jerk, overall he’s an inclusive and open-minded commissioner, and the NBA will become increasingly international. If the NBA can be made into an international, global league, his influence will be even greater.”

"Also, as Forrest Gump's assistant, you need to expand his business empire and bring him together with as many interest groups as possible. The more interests he represents, the more people will speak up for him."

Gan Guohui nodded, then looked troubled and said, "Larry, he's my brother's investment savvy..."

Fleischer sighed and said helplessly, "I know, this kid is in the funeral home business, and also construction, and suits. I heard he's going to open a maternity hospital too!? Damn, he has a really unique eye for investment."

“My brother told me to pay more attention to companies in Silicon Valley. Recently, Microsoft founder Paul Allen contacted me.”

"Allen? What is he planning to do?"

“I don’t know yet, he’s just someone I know. But from what he said, I could tell that he’s very interested in the Trail Blazers.”

Since Microsoft went public, founder Paul Allen's net worth has skyrocketed, quickly making him one of America's new richest men.

There will be more and more tech billionaires like this in the United States in the future.

They will be an unstoppable new force in American society.

Larry Fleischer urged, "You must hold onto this connection; it will be a great help to Forrest Gump in the future. Emerging forces need to partner with other emerging forces."

Fleischer has already foreseen the trends in the NBA: firstly, the small business owners who used to form groups will gradually be replaced by large business owners with their own industries; secondly, some old-money individuals will be replaced by a new class of wealthy individuals.

Of course, this process won't happen overnight; it will definitely be a long one. As a rising force in the league, if Forrest Gump can combine with emerging forces off the field, he will be invincible.

At the very least, his status as a foreigner will not be an obstacle to his development.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang is different from ordinary foreign players. He did not go directly into the NBA. He played in the NCAA and has "roots" in the American basketball world.

As a person with roots, one is certainly different from a foreign mercenary who parachutes in without roots.

In short, Fleischer considered all aspects of Gan Guoyang's development.

Gan Guoyang's choice of this agent back then was truly a wise decision.

While Fleischer was worrying about Gan Guoyang's future, Gan Guoyang, having secured the votes, began to focus all his attention on the competition.

With the All-Star Game over, the NBA regular season has entered its second half.

With the trade deadline approaching, teams are making final reinforcement trades.

The Lakers, the Trail Blazers' biggest rival, are quite satisfied with the acquisition of Edwards, and Jerry West has filled the Lakers' last gap.

In addition to trading away Edwards and Larry Nance, the Suns also traded away Jay Humphries in February, sending him to the Bucks to make room for Kevin Johnson's arrival.

The defending champion Trail Blazers were not idle either. After the All-Star Game, the Trail Blazers management made a trade with the Celtics, sending away former All-Star guard Jim Paxson and acquiring guard Jerry Cissin in return.

The Trail Blazers had many considerations in mind when making this deal.

First, Jim Paxson has lost his rotation spot with the Trail Blazers due to recurring injuries.

The Trail Blazers' backcourt is now dominated by young players: Drexler, Porter, Hornacek, and Curry. The roster is already full.

Secondly, whether in terms of his playing condition or style, Paxson is completely out of step with the current Trail Blazers.

He lacks ball-handling skills, and under the Trail Blazers' current tactical system, Paxson cannot perform well.

The Celtics were looking to acquire Paxson, as their fast break and passing system needed a traditional guard like him, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Finally, the Trail Blazers also have another consideration: they hope to alleviate some pressure regarding the salary cap.

Because they need to retain both superstars Gan Guoyang and Drexler in the summer.

Both players have refused to extend their contracts early, leaving the Trail Blazers' future in a state of turmoil and anxiety.

Gan Guoyang and Paxson had a good relationship. When he learned that they were going to part ways, Gan Guoyang called Paxson.

"We'll try to see each other in the Finals," Paxson said on the phone.

The Celtics still have the ability to reach the NBA Finals.

However, the Eastern Conference is no longer the Celtics' domain.

On February 9th, in their first game after the All-Star break, the Trail Blazers traveled to Washington to face the Bullets.

At this point, the Bullets had firmly secured a top-four position in the Eastern Conference.

After a dismal start to the new season, they opted to change coaches.

They fired Raheri and selected veteran Wes Unseld.

Furthermore, former highly successful coach Dick Motta was added to the team's coaching staff.

Unseld, the strong man nicknamed the Bone Crusher, is working with his teacher to turn bullets into the most terrifying meat grinder in the East.

(End of this chapter)