The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 716 Hatred
In early September, Miami remains a peak tourist season, with beaches, sunshine, and sexy bikinis attracting visitors from all over North America to enjoy the scenery of the South Coast.

Riley sat in his air-conditioned office, still wearing a well-pressed suit despite the sweltering summer heat. His hair was neatly combed, and the thick layer of scalp oil often made people wonder how much time he spent styling it every day.

On the desk in front of me were two promotional posters for the new season. One was predominantly a fiery red, featuring large portraits of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, with other Heat players in the background. Below it was written in black: "Fiery Championship Dream, Miami Heat, 1992-1993 Season."

The other image features yellow and blue as its main colors. The blue represents the ocean, and the yellow represents a giant ship sailing on the sea, heading straight towards us. The ship bears the Heat's logo and reads: "Get ready for the new season, the South Coast Giant Ship, Miami Heat, 1992-1993 season."

This is a promotional image designed by the advertising agency for the Heat for the new season. The rich colors and bold composition are very impactful, full of 90s design style, and more importantly, the theme is very clear - the Heat are going to make a big splash in the 1992-1993 season.

Just yesterday, the league office approved the trade request between the Heat and the Rockets. The Heat traded Ronnie Sekkali, Xavier McDaniel, and future draft picks to the Rockets for Hakeem Olajuwon.

This trade shook the league and drove the entire Miami team into a frenzy. They finally acquired another superstar, a superstar who was qualified to compete with Forrest Gump.

Pat Riley, who spearheaded the deal, breathed a sigh of relief after it was finalized, but his attention was more focused on another signing: he acquired Cliff Robinson from the Portland Trail Blazers.

This is the final piece of Riley's revenge plan, and the last piece of the puzzle for his Miami basketball empire.

With everything settled, he was in his office today discussing the selection of promotional posters for the new season with his executives.

This is the smallest part of the Heat's massive plan for the new season, just an appetizer in a grand feast personally prepared by Riley.

Riley had been preparing for this day, for this season, for more than five years. Ever since he left the Lakers in the 1987 season, he had been plotting revenge.

Of course, would his hatred linger for so long? Would he think of revenge day and night? Not likely.

Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers only defeated Riley and the Lakers, they didn't kill Riley's entire family.

So aside from causing trouble for the Trail Blazers in 1988 by poaching Drexler, Riley focused more on business than revenge afterward.

If the Trail Blazers fail to achieve success or win a championship after 1988, and the league is dominated by the Pistons, Bulls, or other teams, then the intense hatred in his heart during 1987-1988 will become a mark on his life journey. Many years later, when he recalls this period, it will remind Riley of what happened back then, why he came to Miami, and why his career took a turn for the better.

But that wasn't the case. From 1988 to 1992, Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers continued their dominance of the league, winning their second three-peat.

Therefore, even though Riley had let go of the so-called concept of "revenge" in his mind, his goal in building the Heat was still that giant in the northwest corner and his Portland Trail Blazers.

Since that's the case, why let go? Let the hatred rage even more fiercely, and let it become the driving force for your ascent to the peak.

Riley looked at the two posters, shook his head, and said, "I think this might be... a bit too much. There's no need to be so flamboyant. Keep it simple, just highlight our new members for the new season. It's always better to be low-key."

The most important thing Riley learned in those five years was to be humble.

He poached so many people from the Portland Trail Blazers, from the general manager to the vice president to the scouts, and even brought in former championship coach Jack Ramsey to do commentary.

From them, Riley had heard more or less about Gan Guoyang, how he trained, how he approached competitions, how he conducted himself, and so on.

To some extent, it can be said that Pat Riley is a veteran stalker of Gan Guoyang, and knows all about Gan Guoyang. He may even know Gan Guoyang better than Gan Guoyang himself.

Combining all the information, Riley had a deep understanding of Gan Guoyang. Unlike his passionate and domineering personality on the court, Gan Guoyang was always calm and low-key off the court.

His low profile is not an act of escapism or a deliberate avoidance of crowds to avoid trouble; it is simply his principle to conquer everyone with outstanding achievements and solid performance on the field.

Instead of making a big fuss, using various propaganda methods to brainwash the public, using public opinion to enhance one's own image, misleading those who are naive, and creating a false impression of strength.

Forrest Gump was never silent, but his vocal organs were his fists, not his throat.

In Los Angeles, Riley was a boisterous guy, but in the years since he came to Miami, he has been trying to adjust himself.

Talk less, do more, let victories and results speak for themselves, tear off the mask of weakness, and truly make themselves and the team strong.

At the meeting, Riley readjusted the publicity plan, selecting a more down-to-earth set of promotional posters and new season slogans that were not aggressive.

Subsequently, Riley also developed a new ticketing strategy, approved the new season's jerseys and logo, and so on.

He hopes everything is new, and that it's time for the Miami Heat to have a true rebirth and embark on the road to contending for the championship.

After the morning meetings, Riley had a very important event on his schedule in the afternoon: attending Hakeem Olajuwon's signing ceremony.

Riley spent at least six months working on this blockbuster trade, making it the best of his several plans to strengthen his frontcourt – Plan A.

Plan B targets Patrick Ewing, and Riley has been trying to persuade the Golden State Warriors and Chris Mullin to sign a mega-contract that surpasses Ewing's annual salary.

This would trigger a clause in Ewing's contract, making him a free agent. The Miami Heat could then use their salary cap space to sign Ewing outright, at the cost of giving up McDaniel's Bird rights and completing a trade with the Warriors to send Secari to Oakland.

However, the Knicks certainly wouldn't let this happen and lose Ewing for nothing. They went directly to the league office from New York and threatened the Warriors not to pay Mullin more than Ewing's annual salary.

Ultimately, the Warriors couldn't withstand the pressure from New York and abandoned the idea, and Ewing stayed with the Knicks.

Riley's focus remained on Plan A, Hakeem Olajuwon, and he tasked Drexler with persuading Olajuwon to agree to the deal.

The conflict between the Rockets' management and Hakeem Olajuwon became the catalyst for the trade. Although Tomjanovich tried his best to persuade the Rockets to keep Olajuwon, the bleak situation in the Western Conference made the Rockets lose patience.

After a comprehensive assessment, they concluded that Hakeem Olajuwon was unable to break Forrest Gump's dominance in the West, especially after Gan Guoyang led the Chinese team to the finals at the Olympics and delivered an astonishing performance, plunging Western teams into despair.

Ultimately, the deal was finalized, and Hakeem Olajuwon left Houston, where he had spent 10 years, and moved to Miami, Florida.

Unlike more than 10 years ago when he had just arrived in Houston from Nigeria, when Hakeem Olajuwon's plane arrived in Miami, he was greeted by a huge crowd.

The Heat's owner, management, and Drexler, Olajuwon's college teammate and good friend, all came to the airport to welcome Olajuwon to the Heat.

Riley deliberately changed into a light-colored, approachable suit to reduce his conspicuousness in the crowd and leave the spotlight to Hakeem Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon flew in from Los Angeles, and after a period of excellent training and rehabilitation, he looked radiant and in great spirits.

Leaving Houston was a difficult decision for him, but once the decision was made and the deal was completed, his heart felt incredibly open and bright.

The weather in Miami was fantastic today, sunny and breezy, and wherever Hakeem Olajuwon went, he was greeted by cheering crowds and fans.

At the signing ceremony, he showed reporters his new season's Heat jersey, number 34, with the main color scheme changed from red and yellow to red and black—even the same as the Trail Blazers' jersey.

Hakeem Olajuwon's contract remains the same one he signed with the Rockets, and his salary this year is $317 million.

The league's salary cap this year is $1400 million, and Hakeem Olajuwon's salary accounts for 22% of the salary cap.

Considering that future maximum salaries could reach 30%-35% of the salary cap, Hakeem Olajuwon's salary is relatively low. Clyde Drexler's salary this year is only a little over $100 million, considering that when he signed, the league's salary cap was only $700 million.

It's no wonder the Heat had enough cap space to acquire Cliff Robinson; Riley's excellent salary management freed up a lot of room for the team's operations.

Unlike Riley's low-key promotional strategy, Hakeem Olajuwon didn't need to be low-key when he arrived in Miami. After putting on his Heat jersey, he announced to the Miami fans in attendance: "Miami fans, we're coming for the championship!"

"Not in the future, not later, it's right now, right now!"

After years of suppressing his feelings, Hakeem Olajuwon was finally able to express his desire for a championship.

Putting everything else aside, it's definitely easier to reach the Finals in the East, even with Jordan there.

It's better than facing Forrest Gump in the West.

Following the signing ceremony, the Heat organized a fan meet-and-greet and jersey signing event at a beach sports store.

The line stretched for two miles. Regardless, Hakeem Olajuwon was a player who brought a shock to the league.

In today's center position, he is truly second only to one other player, a figure who can bring about a qualitative change for the team.

Not only fans were present, but also Miami city councilors, television actors, Miami Dolphins players, and more.

People were so enthusiastic that everyone knew there was real hope when Olajuwon and Drexler reunited.

The book signing went on very late, but the line didn't thin out at all. Riley suspected that if it continued, people all over Florida would have to come.

Hakeem Olajuwon was definitely not up to the task, so he had to temporarily end the autograph session and postpone it to the next one.

On his first night in Miami, Hakeem Olajuwon stayed at the Drexler's house.

Drexler has been married to his wife, Gainell, for many years, and they have two daughters, Austin and Elise.

In July, he took his wife and daughter to the Barcelona Olympics and won a gold medal with the Dream Team.

However, Drexler was not given much playing time at the Olympics. His knee was not feeling well, and in the final match against China, Berman did not give Drexler a chance to play.

This made Drexler very uncomfortable. He felt that this was Biellman retaliating against him, a former "traitor" from Portland. But in the end, they won the championship, and Drexler had nothing to say.

After the Olympics, Drexler heard some comments about him, with his Dream Team teammates saying behind his back that he was wasting a lot of talent.

Jordan and Pippen, in particular, bluntly stated in an interview, "When we trained with Drexler, we realized that the stars in the same league trained so roughly. His attitude towards training seemed a bit absurd to me. He was relying on his talent reserves to play."

“Clyde always had his head down. He seemed a bit lacking in energy. Aside from his relentless fast breaks, Clyde didn’t contribute much. It’s a shame he wasn’t a good fit for the team.”

Such comments angered Drexler, who was perhaps one of the few Dream Team members who regretted participating in the Olympics—he felt he hadn't been properly trained and had instead aggravated his knee injury, preventing him from getting a proper summer rest.

Seeing Hakeem Olajuwon arrive in Miami put Drexler in a great mood, rekindling his motivation and making him eager for the new season to begin.

Since joining the Heat in 1988, he has accomplished almost nothing, and people call him a "ticket-selling machine," meaning his only role is selling tickets.

Forget about recreating the glory of his Portland days; he lost miserably in his competition with Jordan, with both his team's record and his individual performance being completely inferior.

"I want revenge."

After dinner, the two chatted in the courtyard, and Drexler spoke frankly.

"Forrest Gump?" Hakeem Olajuwon asked.

"No, everyone, Bellman, Pippen, Jordan, Stockton... and all those people who make me unhappy. You'll be with me, won't you, Hakim?"

"Of course I'll be with you, but I don't feel hatred. God doesn't want me to play basketball with hatred, but to approach basketball with a sincere heart and start a new life."

Drexler looked at the somewhat eccentric Hakeem Olajuwon and thought to himself that the guy's faith was becoming more and more devout, so he said, "Hakim, don't you want to beat Forrest Gump? This is a good opportunity."

Hakeem Olajuwon said, "Of course, I always want to beat Forrest Gump, but I don't hate him. Do you hate Forrest Gump?"

Drexler was momentarily speechless. He hadn't really thought about this question properly. Did he hate Forrest Gump? That didn't seem right.

Riley seemed to hate them; he always used Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers as his targets, mentioning them from time to time.

Look, besides Anthony Mason, he's also lured Cliff Robinson in this year. The Trail Blazers are going to be completely hollowed out by him.

But Riley always praised Forrest Gump, regarding him as a benchmark for basketball players. It is said that Riley was willing to trade the entire Heat team for Forrest Gump to come to Miami.

The two skipped that topic and began brainstorming a blueprint for the new season, discussing how they would work together to build a balanced inside-outside game for the Heat.

Hakeem Olajuwon couldn't wait to show off the results of his summer training on the basketball court in the yard: his light footwork, faster shooting, and agile movements.

Drexler was surprised and delighted by this, but he told Olajuwon with some regret, "I may have to undergo arthroscopic surgery on my knee in mid-September. I will be recovered before the start of the season, but I don't know if I will be in good enough shape to perform well enough."

Drexler is 30 years old this year, and his competitive state is at a turning point.

Hakeem Olajuwon comforted Clyde Drexler, saying that the season was long and they needed to have faith in each other.

Late at night, two former college teammates shared a room, each sleeping at one end of the bed.

They have so much to say and so many dreams to pursue.

As they chatted, they both became so drowsy that they almost fell asleep.

Drexler hesitated, then suddenly said, "Hakim, I don't hate him. In fact, he's always been right, always..."

"Who did you say?" Olajuwon asked, but Drexler's snoring could already be heard from the other end.

That night, Miami was bathed in clear skies and a gentle breeze.

But in Drexler's dream, it rained all night long.

(End of this chapter)