The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 237 - 123: Classic Flavor
In April 1985, Coca-Cola launched their brand-new product, New Coke, in response to the competition from sugar-free soft drinks.
Before rolling out this Coke, the Coca-Cola Company conducted thorough market research and blind taste tests, asking consumers to sample Coca-Cola and its competitor Pepsi-Cola without packaging. They discovered that consumers preferred the sweeter taste of Pepsi-Cola.
Based on market research and blind taste tests, the Coca-Cola Company decided to reformulate their Coca-Cola, and in April, launched the all-new cola with a new taste, new packaging, and new labeling.
However, following the launch, confident Coca-Cola, relying on statistical science, was met with enormous backlash. The reaction to the new Coke in American society was extremely negative, especially in the traditional southern regions, where a professor from the University of Mississippi said, "Changing the Coke formula is an invasion of tradition."
Because the CEO of Coca-Cola, Goizueta, had Cuban ancestry, newspapers in Alabama considered the change in Coke’s formula to be a communist plot.
An overwhelming number of phone calls and letters flooded Coca-Cola’s consumer department expressing dissatisfaction with the new Coke flavor. The front desk hotline received up to 1,500 calls per day. Even Fidel Castro, Cuban leader and long-term consumer of Coca-Cola, stepped forward to declare that the new Coke was a symbol of American capitalism’s decadence.
Ultimately, the Coca-Cola Company could not withstand the pressure from all sides, and coupled with the fact that the launch of New Coke did not halt the trend of declining market share and even showed signs of further reduction, they reverted to the original Coca-Cola formula, with New Coke being sold as some sort of derivative product.
In the rapidly changing world of 1985, Coca-Cola’s major change unexpectedly ended in a Waterloo. People’s nostalgia and adherence to old things surpassed many business operators’ expectations, and for a long time to come, Coca-Cola tried to understand why this reform had failed.
The failure of Coca-Cola served as a cautionary tale for many business operators eager for reform, reminding them that newer isn’t always better, and that change isn’t always about increasing speed—overextending can lead to trouble.
But David Stern ignored such risks, and as the 1985 regular season was nearing its end, he announced a very important new rule: the order of the draft picks for the 1985 draft would no longer be determined by a coin toss but instead through a random draw that would be broadcast live on television in May, unveiling the entire process of the birth of the first draft pick to audiences across America.
This change immediately sparked opposition from teams that did not make the playoffs, particularly the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference and the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference, as for them, the drawing system meant their original 50% chance of getting the first pick dropped to 14.3% or even lower.
For the Pacers, they had not touched the first pick position for many years, and this year presented the best opportunity; with the first pick, they could secure Ewing.
Some NBA commentators believed that this lottery-like drawing system turned the NBA draft into a big lottery game, making the NBA more like an entertainment event than a serious basketball competition. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
However, most media and some teams looked forward to this new draft drawing system, especially the New York Knicks, who, originally second last in the Eastern Conference, had no qualification to vie for the first pick; with the new system, they equally stood a chance to secure the top spot and potentially grab Ewing.
With Bernard King’s severe injury sidelining him for the entire 1985-1986 season, Ewing meant that the Knicks could rise again.
Meanwhile, the playoff teams had no time to be concerned with the draft. The 1984-1985 regular season officially concluded in mid-April, with the team records determining the playoff matchups.
In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers had an astonishing finish of 22 wins and 2 losses in March and April, securing the top spot in the West with a 61-21 record.
Following closely behind were the Trail Blazers with a 58-24 record, equaling their best historical performance from the 1978 season, but due to division rules, they ranked third in the West.
The Denver Nuggets benefited from the division rules, ranking second in the West with a 50-32 record, and these three teams were the only ones in the West with more than 50 wins.
Ranking from fourth to eighth were the Houston Rockets, the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Phoenix Suns.
The Jazz and the Mavericks had identical records, but the Jazz held a slight edge in head-to-head encounters, ranking fifth and set to face the Rockets in the first round.
The Trail Blazers’ first-round opponent would be the Dallas Mavericks, with the first game scheduled for April 18 at the Memorial Coliseum.
All in all, the Trail Blazers had a near-perfect regular season, and during the summary meeting, Ramsay unusually praised everyone with hardly any criticism.
Larry Weinberg, the owner who seldom appeared in team management affairs, invited all the players to play golf at the Lake Oswego country club, offering them rest and relaxation to ease the fatigue from a long season of 82 games and to brace for the even tougher playoffs.
Gan Guoyang missed a game due to suspension and averaged 41 minutes in the other 81 games, leading all rookies. He managed to score 27.5 points per game (sixth in the League), grab 17.6 rebounds (first in the League), block 3.3 shots (second in the League), and make 1.8 steals (fifteenth in the League).
Such performance had already reached the standards of a league superstar, and in the MVP race, he even began to outpace Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Particularly, his leading the team to a double victory over the Celtics, his three-point shooting demolishing the Lakers, and his duel with Jordan scoring double 50 points, as well as a 50-point game on the head of Bill Lambier, brought a huge shock to the League.
The immense power of this fresh impact was significant, especially for a rookie. Many expressed that Guoyang’s performance was even more impressive than when Chamberlain entered the scene.
Over the entire season, Gan Guoyang hardly had any setbacks; his stable and consistent performance both on and off the court was close to perfection, winning him a massive fan base.
Particularly, those who originally did not believe Asians could succeed in professional sports were forcefully convinced by Guoyang’s performance, and this shift in attitude weighed heavily in the MVP selection.
In the early years, the regular season MVP was chosen by the players, who voted for who they believed was the strongest in the League.
In the ’70s, despite the Lakers’ poor performance, Jabbar was undoubtedly the strongest in the League, commanding respect from all the players, which is why he won five regular season MVPs.
If the MVP were chosen by the ’70s standards, Guoyang would have had an even greater chance of winning. In just one season, he had almost convinced everyone in the League, even made them apprehensive.
Who else would the votes go to if not for him?
Later, the selection process was reformed to allow the media to vote, considering various factors without a unified standard, with impression points being very important.
The results of the MVP selection would be announced during the playoffs, and just before the first round began, the calls for Gan Guoyang to be MVP grew louder and louder.
Gan Guoyang knew that this was the effort of Avia and Larry Fleisher from behind the scenes; they were creating momentum for him, as his rookie year performance was indeed impressive.
While the Trail Blazers were resting at the Lake Oswego Country Club, Larry Fleisher gave Gan Guoyang a call and said, "Sonny, I’ve been gauging the temperature with the major media outlets, and you have a very good chance of getting the regular season MVP! The playoffs are about to start, and you need to perform well."
"What does the regular season MVP have to do with the playoffs?"
"Indeed, the regular season MVP is only about regular season performance, but impression points are very important. If your playoff performance deviates too much from the regular season, it will leave a bad impression. The jury is probably still hesitating between you and Bird, so impression points are really important. But..."
"But what?"
"But you’re a rookie after all, and the playoffs are a different ballgame compared to the regular season; it’s a lot harder, so be careful."
"Larry, are you trying to provoke me?"
"Yes, I am provoking you," Larry Fleisher laughed on the other end of the line; he was that straightforward.
"I’ll give a good performance, but not for the MVP, it’s for the victory, you know that."
"MVP is also a significant victory, which doesn’t conflict with the game victory. You have to show everyone that you deserve it. The world changes fast; people quickly forget the good stuff and discard it. Strive to become like Coca-Cola’s classic taste, something memorable and hard to forget, the MVP among drinks, understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
On April 18th, in the Trail Blazers’ first playoff game, Gan Guoyang scored 41 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, and blocked 7 shots, leading the team to a 140-125 home victory over the Dallas Mavericks, achieving the first win in the playoff series and a 1:0 lead.
