The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 668 Scandal
In 1992, U.S. President George W. Bush entered the final year of his term.

With a resounding victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, which made the United States the sole superpower, Bush's presidency was marked by numerous military achievements, and he was full of confidence in his re-election.

In January, Bush visited ally Japan, where he played tennis with the Japanese Emperor in the morning and attended a dinner hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa in the evening.

However, during the dinner, Bush suddenly felt unwell and vomited violently, landing right on the Japanese Prime Minister's trousers, and then fainted.

This unexpected event caused chaos at the scene. Secret Service agents rushed to the scene and escorted the president away from the banquet to a doctor for examination.

The doctor later stated that the president had acute gastroenteritis and felt better after taking antiemetics. The following afternoon, Bush resumed his normal schedule and continued his visit to Japan.

This incident, and the blurry video, quickly garnered significant attention in the United States.

The Saturday Night Live show parodied the incident, comparing it to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Afterwards, Bush refused to speak publicly about the incident, but public opinion suggests that his presidential challenger, Bill Clinton, may have benefited from it.

Clinton would become the Democratic nominee in the November 1992 presidential election. Clinton was as young as John F. Kennedy, while Bush's illness and old age made him look more like Richard Nixon.

Later, rumors circulated that Bush's vomiting was not due to gastroenteritis at all, but rather because he saw sashimi at the dinner party, which reminded him of his comrades who were eaten by the Japanese during World War II. This triggered a stress reaction, causing him to vomit and faint.

By February, the American sports world was shrouded in three major events, all of which were related to scandals.

The first thing is Mike Tyson's rape case.

This super boxing champion, who was famous in the late 80s and early 90s, has been embroiled in various scandals in the past two years.

First, he lost to Buster Douglas in a championship fight in Tokyo in 1990, causing the biggest upset in boxing that year.

During the match, Tyson was knocked down by Douglas, marking the first time in his professional career that he had been defeated by knockout.

This was a huge blow to Tyson's boxing career.

By 1991, although Tyson was still winning fights, he no longer had the formidable reputation he had in the 80s.

He was plagued by a series of off-field problems. He divorced his wife Robin Givens, parted ways with manager Bill Keaton, fired his longtime coach Kevin Rooney, and entered into a relationship with renowned boxing promoter Don King.

This may be one of the main reasons why he lost the match against Douglas.

In 1992, Tyson was charged with raping 18-year-old Driss Washington, a Black woman from Rhode Island. If convicted, he would be sentenced to prison.

A prison sentence is about to befall this once-arrogant and famous boxing champion.

This street-born boxing champion, who left an extremely deep impression on people, has fallen as hard as he once did.

Such stories have been happening all along in the North American sports world, which is dominated by Black athletes.

A poor but talented Black boy becomes famous overnight through a sport, gaining immense fame and fortune. However, his life experience and character cannot support the heavy crown; he is either crushed or makes mistakes, ending up with nothing.

These Black boys are always surrounded by a group of gluttonous agents, promoters, and advertisers who don't care about the athletes' future and development, but only about squeezing as much wealth out of them as quickly as possible.

Of course, the problem ultimately lies with the athletes themselves; if they can't control their lower bodies, they will pay a heavy price.

Tyson paid the price with imprisonment, while Magic Johnson paid the price with an incurable disease.

The news that Johnson had contracted HIV last November was like a nuclear bomb, shaking the NBA and the North American professional sports world.

It is said that after this news came out, many athletes secretly went to get blood tests to check if they had HIV.

Meanwhile, pimps' business became difficult, and for a period of time, NBA players became like puritans, focusing on games and training and losing interest in women.

Although Johnson chose to retire due to illness, his basketball career did not end there.

He was still on the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball roster, along with Larry Bird, who retired earlier.

His HIV infection had a significant impact not only on the sports world but also on the entire American society.

Faced with such a scandal, Magic Johnson chose to be honest rather than cover it up or disappear from the public eye.

After all, with such a prestigious reputation and a vast network of vested interests behind him, he must stand up and honestly face everything.

Johnson could have chosen to conceal everything and say that he had to retire due to other illnesses, which would have garnered him more sympathy than criticism.

However, in a society like the United States where the media is highly developed, the consequences for celebrities to lie are very high. Moreover, it is very difficult to hide something like having AIDS, and the number of people who know about it will only increase.

Therefore, Johnson simply chose to be open and proactive, leaving no room for rumors to survive.

After holding a press conference to explain his illness and announce his retirement, Johnson adjusted his mental and physical state and decided to participate in a talk show—the late-night talk show by Arthur Hall on Fox Television.

One of Johnson's main purposes in appearing on the show was to dispel rumors that he was gay.

Because in those days, AIDS was considered a deadly disease specific to homosexuals, after all, it was most prevalent in this community in the early days.

Before the program aired, the TV station and the host were under immense pressure. They worried that interviewing AIDS patients would have a negative impact, that the program would trigger a media storm, or that they would be unable to handle Johnson's negative emotions during the program. But they persevered and produced the program.

The show was a great success. Johnson's positive media reputation, built up over a decade, made him a hit with audiences, who cheered and applauded for two minutes when he appeared on screen.

Johnson clarified his sexual orientation and urged everyone to be morally upright. He cited A.C. Green as an example, saying that he should have realized sooner that Green's appearance was a reminder from God, but he ignored it.

Following his talk show appearance, Johnson gave an interview to Sports Illustrated, further clarifying his sexual orientation. He said:
“I have never had a same-sex relationship… I am certain that I contracted the virus while having unprotected sex with a woman who was carrying it. The problem is, I cannot determine the time, place, and person. Before I got married, I never lacked partners. After arriving in Los Angeles in 1979, I had sex with as many women as I could, most of them unprotected.”

Johnson's candor in exposing the decadent side of his private life also brought this "Yellow Devil," who had once hidden in the castle, into the public eye.

Johnson's image has collapsed. Even after he announced that he had been diagnosed with HIV, many endorsements were still willing to use him, since being sick is not a heinous crime and his image was still very good.

However, revealing his past promiscuous history was a huge blow to his image, especially since many of the commercial brands he endorses target teenagers, such as Converse, Nestlé, Pepsi, Spalding, KFC, Virgin, etc., so a good spokesperson image is very important.

Following the talk show and interviews, these companies issued statements, called Johnson's agent, expressed their support and appreciation for Johnson's candor, and stated they would not terminate their contracts with him. However, despite these statements, Nestlé quietly abandoned its planned advertising campaign featuring Johnson, Converse stopped allocating marketing funds to him and suspended all commercial promotions and marketing plans, and Pepsi also excluded Johnson from its advertising shoots. This essentially sealed the fate of Magic Johnson in terms of commercial endorsements.

Of course, not all companies abandoned Magic Johnson. A condom company and a pharmaceutical company offered Johnson endorsements, which he naturally declined, as he didn't want to make money by endorsing AIDS.

He still longs to play basketball, hopes to be a basketball player, and be able to participate in competitions, especially the Olympics and the upcoming All-Star Game.

As February 1992 approached, this year's All-Star Game was set to take place in Portland.

On February 4th, the Rose Garden Arena, located next to the Memorial Stadium, was officially completed after a year and a half of construction and is ready to be used for this year's All-Star Game.

Normally, the construction period for such a large stadium is about two and a half years. However, in order to meet the 1992 All-Star Game, Tang Jianguo worked overtime and added money to complete the project a year ahead of schedule. The speed of construction was astonishing.

For this construction project, a construction company jointly owned by Kenny Carr and Gan Guoyang was used, and a considerable number of Chinese workers were hired in order to expedite the project.

These Chinese workers were hardworking and skilled. They lived and worked on the construction site for a year and a half, earning US dollars. They earned more money in a year and a half than they could earn in a lifetime.

The Rose Garden Arena has been put into use, and All-Star voting is coming to an end.

Gan Guoyang, playing on home soil, undoubtedly topped the voting list.

Following closely behind was not Michael Jordan, but the retired Magic Johnson.

Fans still hoped to see Johnson on the court, and Johnson submitted an application to Stern, hoping to participate in the 1992 Portland All-Star Game.

Stern expressed his support, hoping to give the former superstar a dignified exit, and that Johnson's participation would demonstrate the NBA's inclusivity.

But some players disagreed, fearing they would contract the virus, while others were tired of Johnson's smile and the fact that he had been dominating NBA headlines for the past two or three months because of AIDS.

Mark Price, for example, raised concerns about the safety of the game. After all, basketball is a close-contact sport. Players wear short sleeves, engage in intense competition, and have a lot of physical contact. They may have wounds and could potentially contract the virus.

Karl Malone has made it clear that he does not want to play on the same court as Johnson because he is afraid of contracting the virus.

What saddened Johnson the most were his former Lakers teammates, Byron Scott and A.C. Green, who both believed that Johnson should not play if he retired, as they were worried about his health.

However, things changed in early February during a game between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers.

In Los Angeles, Johnson was watching the game from the sidelines when Gan Guoyang, during warm-up, suddenly invited Johnson to come onto the court for a one-on-one match.

Johnson paused for a moment, then readily agreed. The two then engaged in numerous exchanges under the basket, under the watchful eyes of many media cameras.

Gan Guoyang appeared calm, showing no resistance or fear despite Johnson carrying the virus. He played normally, and the two went back and forth.

At the end of the warm-up, Johnson gratefully shook Gan Guoyang's hand and said, "Thank you, Sonny, thank you. It's really hard to understand without experiencing this. Thank you."

Gan Guoyang said, "I have a friend who died of AIDS a long time ago. You must live well, Magic, and don't mess around anymore."

The news of Gan Guoyang and Johnson's one-on-one matchup quickly spread across the United States, indicating that Gan Guoyang agreed that Johnson could participate in the game, and the voices supporting Johnson's participation in the All-Star Game grew louder and louder.

While supporting Johnson's participation in the All-Star Game, the league has also taken measures to reduce the risk of infection. If a player suffers a scrape or bleeds during a game, the game will be suspended, and the player will be substituted to treat the wound until the bleeding stops.

In short, Magic Johnson made it to the 1992 Portland All-Star Game, an All-Star appearance that is destined to go down in history.

However, while most people's attention was drawn to Mike Tyson's rape case and Magic Johnson's AIDS, Michael Jordan was being hit by a gambling scandal. It's just that the former two incidents overshadowed it, and for some reason, the media's attention was not on Jordan during this period, so it was not widely exposed.

It all started last December when James Bly, a cocaine dealer under police surveillance in Charlotte, cashed a $57,000 check signed by Michael Jordan at a bank. Police launched a tax investigation into him, which eventually led to Jordan's involvement.

Jordan and Bly lied, claiming that the money was a loan Jordan had given to Bly, and that the two were old acquaintances. However, the police quickly discovered that the two were lying and that it was not a loan at all.

However, Jordan has extensive connections in Charlotte, and the matter has been temporarily suppressed. Boehler was released on bail, and Jordan may need to testify in court in the future, but not now, not during the season, and not during the Olympics.

In February, Boehler's bail guarantor, Eddie Dow, was shot and killed at his home by burglars who took $2 in cash but left behind three checks for $10.8—also bearing Jordan's signature.

During the murder investigation, police noticed the checks and later confirmed that Jordan had used them to pay off gambling debts.

From this point on, the fact that Jordan was addicted to gambling off the court gradually became known to the media, and some reporters urged David Stern to investigate the matter.

Gambling is always taboo for professional athletes, because gamblers are very likely to go so far as to bet on sports—although Jordan seems unlikely to do so.

With the All-Star Game approaching, David Stern didn't want Johnson and Jordan to be embroiled in scandals, so he adopted a low-key approach and instructed the Bulls management not to respond.

However, Jordan was still in a bind because Richard, who had once won $120 million from him, appeared. He seized the opportunity when Jordan's gambling habit might be exposed and demanded that Jordan return the money.

He followed the Chicago Bulls to different away games to watch them play, watching Jordan from the sidelines to put pressure on him.

Before the All-Star Game, Richard Eskinaz bought tickets to the Rose Garden, intending to travel to Portland to "collect a debt."

Jordan finally couldn't take it anymore and called Eskinas: "You have to give me some space and some time. I have so many things to deal with. I'll pay you back when I'm free. The NBA isn't going to suddenly collapse!"

Eskinas said, "You have money, Michael. I hope you can pay it all off in Portland, and then I won't bother you anymore, okay?"

"Why does it have to be in Portland? I've already paid you back part of it, can't you wait a little longer?"

"No, no, I... I've already given your IOU to Agan. If you don't pay it back, or if you try to harm me, he'll expose everything."

"What? What did you say? You told Forrest Gump?"

"Yes, I need to keep this in mind. Forrest Gump is trustworthy, but you aren't!"

Jordan didn't say anything more; he angrily hung up the phone.

After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't dial that once-familiar number.

(End of this chapter)