The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 756 The Big Winner

Compared to the explosive news of Gan Guoyang's comeback, the fierce conflict between NBA owners and the players' union has not become the focus of public attention.

Although the media had been paying attention to and reporting on labor disputes from the 1995 offseason and throughout the 1995-1996 season, the public and fans remained indifferent to such news.

A similar situation occurred during the 1995 MLB lockout strike, where both players and owners tried to gain the upper hand in public opinion, hoping to portray the other side as greedy.

But the reality is that fans aren't stupid. Although they enjoy watching the games, most of them don't empathize with owners worth hundreds of millions and professional players with annual salaries of tens or hundreds of millions.

The fans and the public are neutral. They can argue however they want, but once they reach an agreement, they can focus on the game. I'm paying to watch the game.

If you can't reach an agreement, then stop working. The world won't stop turning just because it's missing MLB or the NBA. Ordinary people will just go about their lives as usual.

This is very different from the situation in the 60s and 70s. In the 60s and 70s, many players were high-level employees, and their salaries were similar to those of ordinary people. Ordinary people could understand the hardship of players sacrificing their health and youth for a little salary and were willing to stand on the side of the players.

In 1988, players rebelled at the All-Star Game. At that time, the NBA was still on the rise, and player salaries were high, but not yet so high that they were unattainable.

Many people idolize basketball stars, and their every move is considered to have a role model effect. In 1988, the players' actions received public support.

By the 1990s, things were different. The NBA had grown into a money-making monster. In 1995, the NBA signed a new broadcasting agreement with television stations, which led to a surge in league revenue and the salary cap soaring from $1500 million to $2400 million.

This means that the average salary of league players will reach $300 million—an amount that many ordinary Americans in the 90s could not earn in a lifetime.

NBA players are no longer ordinary laborers. Their work and income levels have changed dramatically. Most of them are millionaires and high-earning professionals, and a small number of superstars have social influence comparable to those capitalists and bosses.

Those talented rookies who have just entered the league often sign contracts worth tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions.

In July, in an effort to retain Juwan Howard, the Washington Bullets offered him a massive 7-year, $1.05 million contract to match the Philadelphia 76ers' offer.

Before the Lakers officially signed Shaquille O'Neal and before Gan Guoyang had even begun contract negotiations with the Trail Blazers, Dwight Howard, a rookie, secured the first $100 million contract in league history.

At that time, his annual salary exceeded that of most of the big stars who had been playing in the league for many years.

And his salary accounts for more than half of the entire salary cap.

It's easy to imagine how crude and chaotic the NBA's contract rules were back then.

Juwan Howard's good teammate in Michigan, Chris Webber, was drafted by the Rockets in 1993 and signed a 15-year, $7000 million contract with the Rockets.

With the league salary cap skyrocketing, Webber chose to terminate his 15-year contract in 1995 and re-sign with the Rockets, signing a 6-year, $96 million contract—the closest a player ever came to a $100 million contract, with Webber's annual salary reaching an astonishing $16 million.

Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to 72 wins and another championship in 1996, earned $385 million that year, a fraction of Webber's salary.

It's no wonder that after the new agreement between the labor and management was reached, Jordan took the lead in rebellion and threatened to dissolve the union.

Because the new collective bargaining agreement introduced the luxury tax rule, which means that if a team's salary exceeds the salary cap by too much, it will have to pay a certain percentage of the salary as a penalty to the league.

This rule effectively limits teams from giving players larger contracts, acting as a de facto hard salary cap, which is certainly disadvantageous for veteran superstars like Jordan.

We've fought tooth and nail in the league for so many years, earning millions of dollars a year, and helped expand the league's profits. But as we approach the end of our careers, the league is making more and more money, and we don't get any benefits at all. Instead, those rookies who have just entered the league and haven't played many games are reaping all the rewards. Who would be happy about that?

In this respect, Grantham, the union's vice president and legal counsel, demonstrated his weakness.

He had been trying to please the players and manage his relationships with them, but he couldn't withstand the pressure from the league and the owners on crucial negotiation issues.

He failed to appease the superstars, unite the majority of lower- and middle-level players, or wage a vigorous struggle against the investors led by Stern.

For the past few years, he has been relying on the legacy left by Larry Fleischer to navigate complex situations, but when faced with real challenges, his lack of resources and wavering stance have rendered him incapable of solving problems.

Just one week after Gan Guoyang announced his comeback, Grantham held a press conference to announce his resignation as vice president of the union and legal counsel.

Buck Williams, the players' union president, also resigned. He failed to firmly and accurately represent the players' interests during labor negotiations and instead reached a secret agreement with the owners, which made it impossible for Buck Williams to remain in the position of union president.

Of course, this is not to say that Buck Williams abused his power for personal gain; on the contrary, Buck has always tried to represent the interests of the broader player base.

During the 1995-1996 season, he attempted to reorganize the players' union and change its bylaws from a three-quarters majority election to a full member election, in order to allow more people to participate in the discussion of the agreement in a more open and transparent manner.

He also hopes to establish a brand-new electronic disclosure system, which will convey every detail and information of the negotiations between the union and the management to every player via email.

Unfortunately, Buck Williams misjudged the political passion and sophistication of NBA players and lacked a full understanding of the power structure within the league.

Although the players have equal influence in the election, each player gets one vote.

However, the influence of superstars both on and off the court is obviously much greater than that of ordinary players.

They not only have fame and money, but also the support of an entire sports industry capital.

Therefore, none of Buck Williams's actions were implemented, and the agreement they reached privately with the league was easily overturned by a delegation of several superstars.

With Grantham and Buck Williams resigning one after another, a power vacuum has emerged in the union, and the players urgently need a representative to step forward and balance the negotiations.

Otherwise, if the players' union were to dissolve, it would face the same situation as in 1988, where players would lack a unified organization and teams would have to negotiate with them individually.

However, compared to 1988, the balance of power between the two sides has changed significantly.

First, David Stern's biggest rival and arch-rival, Larry Fleischer, passed away in 1989.

With Fleischer dead, Stern had no rivals in negotiations; the likes of Grantham were no match for him.

Otherwise, Grantham wouldn't have so easily agreed to the secret agreement, which led to its exposure, boycotts by superstars, and ultimately, his resignation.

Secondly, Stern and the team are no longer so afraid of the players' union being dissolved.

You've already used the same trick from 1988, do you want to try it again?
The owners had clearly made ample preparations and decided not to be threatened by the players.

The negotiations quickly reached a stalemate, and when someone needed to step up and stabilize the situation, Gan Guoyang became the person everyone expected to be.

1996年7月18日，甘国阳和他的人一道坐飞机前往佐治亚，今年的奥运会将于7月19日在亚特兰大召开。

Gan Guoyang's purpose in coming to the Olympics was not to represent China, but to take this opportunity to hold the NBPA Players Association Congress in Atlanta.

Gan Guoyang had been the vice chairman of the union for many years, but after the Portland tragedy and his retirement, he didn't really get involved and just spent his time playing the wooden fish in St. John's West.

He was just waiting for an opportunity, for Grantham to mess things up, for a situation that no one else could handle, so he could step in and clean up the mess.

With Buck Williams' resignation, Gan Guoyang automatically became the acting union chairman. His trip to Atlanta is to re-organize the election, rightfully become the union chairman, and also serve as president.

Prior to 1994, Gan Guoyang's nationality was a problem and a key factor preventing him from becoming the chairman of the trade union.

However, a study of the union law and the players' union bylaws revealed that the bylaws do not prohibit foreign players from serving as president or CEO.

Furthermore, Gan Guoyang, as the vice chairman of the trade union and acting chairman, automatically gained the right to be elected. It can be said that he exploited a loophole, as the successive resignations of the trade union chairman and president gave him the opportunity.

The position of vice-chairman and the bug in the bylaws were precisely left for him by Fleischer; before him, the union did not have a vice-chairman.

With his nationality issue resolved, no one in the labor union could stop Gan Guoyang from becoming the union chairman.

All the people who worked with Fleischer back then supported Gan Guoyang to become chairman and concurrently serve as president.

The seeds that Larry Fleischer planted back then are finally going to blossom and bear fruit on this day, but Fleischer will never see them.

On July 19, the Atlanta Olympics officially opened, and Muhammad Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic torch with trembling hands.

On the same day, at the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, 360 NBA players attended the largest general meeting in the history of the NBA Players Association.

At the meeting, the new NBPA union manifesto and bylaws were reviewed, and a vote was taken on the appointment of the union president and other positions.

Gan Guoyang was elected with a high number of votes to hold the two highest positions of union chairman and union president, becoming the first player in NBPA history to hold both positions.

Of course, immense power also means immense responsibility; Gan Guoyang needs to fight for the players' best interests.

Gan Guoyang takes care of not only superstars, but also mid-level players, lower-level players, and even retired players.

In his inaugural address, Gan Guoyang explained his understanding of the players' union and promised to fight for the best interests of every player and ensure that the rights of each player are fully protected.

Looking across the entire league, only he possesses sufficient vision, experience, and ability to negotiate with owners, especially David Stern.

Even Jordan, Ewing, and other initiators of the dissolution of the union cast their votes in favor of Gan Guoyang in the election, all of whom vividly remembered Forrest Gump's unwavering determination in 1988. At this time, David Stern had already returned from China. Upon learning that the NPBA had reconvened and elected Forrest Gump as chairman and CEO, demonstrating unity from top to bottom, he immediately felt a headache coming on.

Before this, Stern already had enough chances of winning. He knew that no matter how much the players struggled, even if Jordan and others stepped in, in the end, it would be a small number of people, especially the superstars, who would benefit.

His original plan was to make some compromises, delay until the 1998-1999 season, and then unleash his ultimate move, conducting the most ruthless and tough negotiations to force the players to concede.

The reason for doing this is simple: the NBA is currently thriving, and Stern doesn't want to disrupt the overall positive environment.

However, if teams are allowed to offer excessively large contracts and newcomers are allowed to demand exorbitant prices, some teams in the league will soon fall into a quagmire of losses. At that time, owners will have a greater incentive to adhere to the new collective bargaining agreement and promote a series of rules that are conducive to reducing expenses, such as the luxury tax.

Moreover, the extravagant lifestyles of some NBA stars and their reckless spending after becoming rich overnight have already had a very negative impact on public opinion.

In the 70s and 80s, drugs, violence, and gambling plagued and damaged the image of the NBA. By the 90s, the biggest negative impression the public had of NBA players was that of nouveau riche.

Especially those Black players, after getting big contracts, they immediately spend money to buy luxury cars, gold, and diamonds, flaunting themselves all over the world and spending lavishly in nightclubs and other places.

Ordinary fans might think, "I pay to subscribe to TV basketball broadcasts just to let these uncultured and uncivilized black guys squander their money?"
This kind of thinking is very politically incorrect, but it is indeed the thought of many fans, especially the core white middle-class fans who pay for content, and Stern is well aware of this.

So he had already planned to hold back for now and then use the "Zheng Bo Ke Duan Yu Yan" strategy. Although Stern hadn't read the Spring and Autumn Annals, he understood the method of letting things take their course and then cutting off the tumor once it grew bigger.

But Stern never expected that his old rival Larry Fleischer, before his death, would leave him with an opponent and plant a landmine that he needed to deal with carefully—Forrest Gump.

As a player, Stern was very welcoming of Forrest Gump. The Portland Trail Blazers' seven championships, including a three-peat and a four-peat, propelled the NBA's fame and legendary status to new heights.

Today, the NBA has the best internationalization among the four major leagues and has surpassed MLB to become the second largest professional league in the United States, soon to be on par with the NFL.

Forrest Gump's recent decision to return to the NBA has brought the league global attention and made Stern very proud.

However, in just over two weeks, Agan quickly convened a union representative meeting, becoming the dual-role president and CEO of the players' union, inevitably leading to a new situation in labor negotiations.

Stern knew that Agan must have done a lot of preparation work to be able to gather the players together in such a short time and reach a consensus among them so quickly.

Moreover, all the elite soldiers left behind by Larry Fleischer obeyed Forrest Gump's command, including Larry's son Mark Fleischer, who was also Forrest Gump's close friend. Larry Fleischer must have made arrangements long ago.

It seems that Forrest Gump hasn't just been spending his year and a half in temples chanting sutras.

On July 20, the day after the players' union congress concluded, David Stern immediately traveled to Atlanta to begin negotiations with the new players' union leadership team.

The two met in a small room at the Hilton Hotel, with Stern smiling as always.

Compared to the 80s, Stern's hair has turned gray, and his mustache has been trimmed and shaved clean.

"Sonny, you really can bring both surprises and shocks." These were the first words Stern said to Gan Guoyang.

"No, I have always brought prosperity and strength to the alliance. Be grateful for my return, David." Gan Guoyang was as confident as ever.

This made David Stern very unhappy, as it reminded him of Fleischer, who always had a confident smile that made people feel uneasy.

Starting on the 20th, the two sides began a week of arduous negotiations, and Stern and the investors' team quickly learned how formidable Gan Guoyang was.

Negotiation meetings began at 7 a.m. each day and continued until 11 p.m., with both sides arguing their points on a large number of details and key issues.

Such high-intensity negotiations and debates require ample physical strength and highly focused attention, which is precisely Gan Guoyang's greatest strength.

He is probably one of the most energetic people in the world. With enough sleep and food, he can maintain a high level of concentration and sharpness from the very first minute until the last moment of the negotiation.

Moreover, unlike those black athletes who get dizzy at the sight of text and can only engage in physical exertion but not high-intensity mental work, Gan Guoyang is quite intelligent and clear-headed. Even though he lacks experience and knowledge in areas such as law, he has the help of a team of legal advisors, which allows him to firmly control the situation.

Moreover, he constantly used various psychological tactics and verbal attacks to provoke Stern, and somehow obtained some unfounded accusations, which repeatedly brought Stern to the brink of mental collapse.

After three days of this mutual attack, the investment team couldn't take it anymore. Even the usually energetic David Stern couldn't withstand Gan Guoyang's relentless efforts to wear down the old man.

At this point, Gan Guoyang began to present his proposed labor agreement:
First, the luxury tax will be temporarily suspended, mainly to ensure that star players with 10 years of experience can fully enjoy the benefits of the salary cap increase.

In the future, a maximum salary ratio will be set based on the size of the salary cap to limit the maximum amount of compensation, but not now.

Second, in the new round of labor-management negotiations in 1998, a luxury tax could be considered, but the wage distribution ratio for the labor side should be appropriately increased at that time.

Third, introduce a rookie salary tier system, which means establishing standardized contracts. The salary range and duration of the contract will be determined based on the draft order to prevent unreasonable super-large contracts.

Fourth, introduce a middle-class exception, giving each team a middle-class exception, which will account for a certain percentage of the salary cap, and will be used by the team to sign ordinary players with good ability in the league.

Fifth, introduce a minimum salary rule to allow teams to sign some lower-level players on the cap, while the league should allocate 1% of its revenue each year to establish a new pension fund for retired players.

In addition, Gan Guoyang also requested that the league include revenue from luxury box tickets, advertising revenue, etc., in the league's total revenue and share it with the players.

All of these provisions were actually measures that were later proven to be effective in balancing and satisfying the relationship between labor and management; Gan Guoyang simply brought them to the forefront earlier.

The investors also found that this was indeed a relatively safe and reasonable solution that could balance the interests of all parties.

During a break in the meeting, Stern asked Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, how long have you been thinking about these things?"

Gan Guoyang said, "It's been many years. Larry had this idea back then, and I'm just realizing his dream."

Stern smiled and said, "Larry is remarkable, but not quite as prescient as he seems. You don't need to use Larry's name; to be honest, I think these terms are indeed quite good. But I want to ask you, how much money are you planning to earn next season?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Of course I should take the value I deserve. I can't take more, that would be unfair, and I can't take less, that would affect other people's income. Larry said a long time ago that the most important thing is balance."

"Then you can't give more championships to other teams, that would be more balanced."

"I only won 7 championships, not even double digits, so what's unbalanced about it?"

Stern shook his head; this guy was truly insatiable when it came to championships and victories.

On July 27, the eighth day of negotiations, an explosion occurred at Atlanta Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring 111 others.

The bombing has spurred negotiations to some extent, as rumors suggest the perpetrator's next targets are NBA players and officials.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang, representing the labor and union, reached a preliminary agreement with the management and signed a new labor-management agreement.

The new collective bargaining agreement controls rookie wages, establishes middle-class and minimum wage provisions, and postpones the implementation of a luxury tax.

However, this labor agreement is only a transitional solution, with both sides making concessions, and full-scale negotiations will begin in the summer of 1999.

That will be the time when the two sides will truly put up a showdown.

On the day the collective bargaining agreement was signed, Gan Guoyang resigned as president of the players' union, handing the position over to Jim Quinn, a former close partner of Fleischer and chief legal counsel of the NBPA.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang appointed David Robinson instead of Patrick Ewing as vice president of the union.

The NBA Players Association needs a Black vice president, and David Robinson, who served in the military and played a key role in the 1988 struggle, is undoubtedly qualified.

Furthermore, he is intelligent, self-disciplined, of excellent character, and has Christian faith. In every respect, he is an excellent deputy and a good partner for Gan Guoyang in his work with the trade union.

In just about ten days, Gan Guoyang resolved the labor dispute, a speed that was astonishing.

After the new transitional collective bargaining agreement took effect, Gan Guoyang returned to Portland to negotiate a new contract with the Trail Blazers.

At this point, Tang Jianguo presented a contract that left everyone speechless, but upon closer inspection, it seemed very reasonable: 1 million yuan over 3 years.

The contract amount shocked the entire United States when it was revealed, but soon everyone felt that Forrest Gump was worth the price.

Now, Jordan, Ewing, and others realized who the real winner was.

So they quickly threw themselves into preparations for the 1996-1997 season, and everyone became tense.

The man really came back.

After the labor negotiations concluded, Gan Guoyang returned to Portland to continue his secluded training.

During this time, he would call Kobe and Shaq from time to time to inform them to attend the Trail Blazers' rookie training camp on time.

Gan Guoyang will attend as usual; he is eager to see what the Trail Blazers' worst rookie class in history has to offer.

(End of this chapter)