The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1619 - 1: Troubled Waters
On August 7, 1998, in Africa, the capitals of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, and Kenya, Nairobi, were engulfed by massive explosions at the U.S. embassies in these two East African capital cities.
The casualties in Nairobi were particularly severe, with more than 200 people killed and over 4,000 injured. The power of the car bombs was enormous.
When the incident occurred, it was still early morning in Eastern America. The next morning, the news reached America, causing quite a stir.
However, for most Americans, the matter wasn’t seen as so serious since it happened in distant Africa. Besides a few staff members, most of the deceased were local citizens.
The American Government quickly conducted an investigation and believed that the attack was related to a terrorist organization called "Al-Qaeda."
On August 20, just over ten days later, the American military launched cruise missile attacks on chemical plants in Afghanistan and Sudan, claiming it was a retaliatory action against the organizers of the 8/7 bombing.
The largest local pharmaceutical factory was destroyed by the cruise missiles. Afterward, this matter gradually faded from public memory, and the news media was soon overwhelmed by other dazzling information.
For instance, President Bill Clinton was once again questioned in a hearing, openly admitting to his affair with Levinsky, with more details being uncovered that intrigued everyone.
As for the attacks happening in distant Africa? Who cares, as long as it’s not happening to us. America is a chosen land, and except for the Civil War, it will never be attacked.
This was the thought of the vast majority of Americans at the time, and it was the breeding ground for the birth and promotion of America’s "splendid isolation" political ideology. Suspended overseas, far from the Old World, they always felt their world was unrelated to outside events, with a sense of superiority that "the mountains are high, the emperor is far, your world is yours, and we are beautiful alone."
However, observant people noticed that related attack incidents connected to the Middle East were increasing in number and scale, with more terrifying casualties starting from the 90s.
At this time, more than two months had just passed since the 1998 NBA Finals.
The perfect season belonging to the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang had ended, the cycle had returned, and they were preparing to embrace the new season.
As the Union president, Gan Guoyang didn’t have time to take a vacation. He had a lot of work to do this summer.
In July, Jordan officially announced his retirement, giving up the last two years of his enormous contract with the Bulls, ending his illustrious career.
Three regular-season MVPs, ten scoring titles, six Finals appearances, three championships, three FMVPs, Dunk King, Defensive Player of the Year—a long list of honors could not fully encompass his brilliant basketball life.
At the news conference announcing his retirement, Jordan’s eyes reddened. Although he was reluctant to leave the NBA, in his current state, staying to score further and surpass Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer wasn’t much of a problem.
With his attendance rate and scoring ability, surpassing 38,000 points was just a matter of time.
But that wasn’t the basketball life Jordan wanted, so he decided to retire at his peak, even with regrets and unfulfilled goals. He still did it without hesitation.
Gan Guoyang didn’t attend Jordan’s press conference, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge the reality of Jordan leaving just like that.
The two entered the League together in 1984 when they were both in their early twenties. They went to different cities and teams, starting their careers separately.
From the first season, their rivalry shook the League. Gan vs. Jordan was the most heart-pounding heroic duel in the NBA for over a decade and became an annual event during the regular season.
Though knowing such competition would inevitably end one day, it seemed to come too suddenly—to the point where Gan Guoyang was somewhat bewildered.
Sometimes, he even thought, perhaps he should have lost to Jordan once in the Finals, giving Michael the motivation to stay.
In fact, if the Trail Blazers had luckily surpassed the Jazz to enter the Finals in 1997, the Bulls would indeed have had a high chance of defeating the Trail Blazers.
It’s just that the Trail Blazers "lost at the right time."
Jordan’s sudden departure left Gan Guoyang with much less motivation.
This time last year, he was already sweating it out in the gym, preparing for the new season.
But after this Finals, Gan Guoyang only maintained basic training intensity, spending most of his time either with family or immersed in labor negotiations.
The negotiations progressed quite smoothly. Jordan didn’t execute the last two years of his contract, and subsequently, Gan Guoyang also decided not to execute the last year of his $100 million three-year contract with the Trail Blazers. Instead, he planned to renegotiate under the new labor agreement.
According to the 1996 negotiation memorandum, the new labor agreement would set the max salary contracts based on the salary cap ratio, dropping Gan Guoyang’s starting salary to $11.55 million, only one-third of the original contract.
As the Players Union president and the League’s top player, Gan Guoyang took the lead in reducing superstars’ salaries, which meant more money could be allocated to mid-tier and lower-tier players.
This naturally drew opposition from many superstars. High-paid players on old contracts like Ewing expressed dissatisfaction, believing Gan Guoyang betrayed the players’ interests by compromising and yielding to the owners.
Gan Guoyang didn’t engage much in verbal battles with the superstars. Instead, on August 25, he held a general assembly of active players in the underground conference room of Madison Square Garden in New York, gathering hundreds of players to explain the significant impact of the new labor agreement, especially for ordinary and lower-tier players.
