The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 115 - 20 Exile

Fleisher presented Yin Man with a comprehensive solution he had prepared, which included inviting key media to write feature articles publicly, showcasing the Trail Blazers’ healthcare system, revealing the team’s determination to prioritize player health, as well as replacing previous medical team members who had made mistakes and adding new, reliable authoritative physicians.

Fleisher recommended a professional sports medical institution from Oregon, hoping they could become health consultants for the Portland Trail Blazers, offering health consultations to the players—the costs, of course, would be covered by the Trail Blazers.

Yin Man nodded in agreement to all these measures; they were minor details. Since the legal dispute with Bill Walton, the Trail Blazers had been striving to improve their medical system, aiming to regain the players’ endorsement. It could be said that they had been doing quite well over the past few years, only lacking publicity.

For Yin Man, Gan Guoyang’s arrival was a perfect opportunity for the Trail Blazers to promote themselves and clear their name, so he wasn’t opposed to Fleisher’s suggestions.

However, there was another major initiative that Yin Man couldn’t decide on his own; he needed to consult with the team owner, Larry Weinberg.

Fleisher hoped the Trail Blazers would join an insurance program called "Player Health Guarantee Plan," initiated by American insurance giant BWD, designed to provide injury protection for players.

The program involved the team purchasing health insurance for specific players, and in the event of an injury, the insurance company would cover the player’s salary and the necessary treatment costs.

The premium would be paid by the team, proportionate to the player’s salary, and it represented a significant annual expense.

Yin Man repeatedly reviewed the details of the insurance plan and asked, "Uh... Larry, have other teams in the League started buying this kind of insurance yet?"

Fleisher replied, "Not yet, it’s a promotion, a trend that is coming. Just like when we first provided retirement insurance for players, they also need their own workers’ comp insurance. If a player can’t play due to injury, the team won’t need to pay his salary, so this insurance is also protection for the team."

"You should remember the incident with Tomjanovich in 1977. The punch from Kermit Washington cost the Lakers $2.3 million, which was their profit for a whole season, and Tomjanovich lay in bed for five months. If there had been insurance then, the losses for all three parties could’ve been controlled. From that time, the whole League has been promoting player insurance plans, but you guys, stingy as you are, didn’t want to spend more money on this. How much did Walton cost you? We should learn from this and keep risks within a controllable range."

Fleisher launched into another series of persuasive talks, but his words were not without foundation; indeed, it was the trend of the ’80s.

BWD was offering a comprehensive insurance business solution, not only targeting the NBA but the entire professional sports industry, aiming to help professional teams and players share the huge risks brought on by health issues.

After all, in the era of televised media coverage, the star effect was becoming more prominent. The commercial value that single players possessed made them more than mere athletes; they were valuable assets of the team, precious commercial brands, and a strong guarantee for box office receipts.

In the case of injuries or accidents, the losses sustained by the team could be colossal, making insurance a good option.

Yet, like any new project that adds to expenses, gaining acceptance was never easy. Seizing the opportunity during Gan Guoyang’s negotiation, Fleisher was determined to find a breakthrough with the Trail Blazers.

Yin Man said he needed to consult owner Weinberg, and Fleisher laughed, "I’ll call Weinberg later; I will convince him."

Yin Man truly believed this since, during the labor negotiations that lasted three years, Fleisher had dealt extensively with Weinberg, and they were quite familiar with each other.

From the Oscar Robertson case in the 1960s that fought for players’ retirement insurance and disability benefits to the NBA-ABA merger in the 1970s that helped unify the leagues, Fleisher had always been a figure both friend and foe to many owners, sometimes a collaborator, sometimes their worst nightmare.

This gave Fleisher significant influence; Yin Man understood that they would most likely have to compromise and pay to participate in the insurance plan, becoming the first team in the League to take the plunge.

Two days later, Fleisher concluded negotiations with the Trail Blazers management, contentedly obtaining the results he wanted:

He had secured substantial benefits and preferential treatment for Gan Guoyang and successfully promoted the player health insurance project, which would be rolled out across the League over the next few years and play a significant role.

The Trail Blazers immediately invited influential media from Portland for a press conference, featured articles in newspapers, declaring the team’s comprehensive reforms in medical and health management.

Step by step, the poor image of the Trail Blazers’ medical situation began to turn around.

The success of the negotiation was not without losses, the biggest of which was that even before Gan Guoyang had joined the Trail Blazers, he had already left a difficult impression on the Portland fans.

The Portland media had always been very "protective of their own," standing with the Trail Blazers during the conflict with Walton, as, after all, the team was the permanent institution while players were transient.

Newspapers like the "Oregonian" had previously touted Gan Guoyang’s college performance, but now they could not help but create some negative portrayals of Gan Guoyang in their reporting.