The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 458 - 76: A World of Ice and Fire

The 1986-1987 regular season finally came to a close, and Gan Guoyang’s 81-point game brought a huge shock to the league.

David Stern was quite satisfied with the final scoring battle between Gan Guoyang and Jordan, which was very good news as the playoffs approached.

According to the league’s revenue-sharing rules, most regular season income goes to the teams, while the playoffs are mainly for the league’s profit, and this 81-point game was an excellent trigger to hype up the playoffs and make money for the league.

For nearly a week, Guoyang’s 81 points dominated important sections of America’s sports news media and were mentioned repeatedly in various programs.

His scoring highlights from the game were edited by networks like ESPN and featured in special segments on morning news programs.

ESPN, without broadcasting rights, managed to earn a wave of pay-per-view subscribers in this way.

They last did this after the first "Gan vs. Jordan" battle, and ESPN had already tasted the sweetness of success.

Beyond sports media, Guoyang’s 81 points also made it into other news segments, including mentions in talk shows and TV dramas—this meant that Guoyang and the NBA had broken out of their usual circles.

The NBA needed this kind of outbreak effect, which was something Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points didn’t have in terms of social impact back then.

In Chamberlain’s era, news media were not as developed, and the NBA wasn’t as popular as college basketball; they only had fewer than 10 teams, huddled in the Northeast, playing in a handful of industrial cities, lacking true national influence.

Back then, people’s anticipation for players breaking scoring records wasn’t even as high as their interest in track athletes running a mile in under four minutes.

After the 100-point record was set, the report didn’t even appear on any of Philadelphia’s local newspapers’ sports pages—not a single news story.

Instead, the New York media gave Chamberlain’s hundred-point feat extensive coverage, but it did not resonate warmly—people weren’t interested and had no concept of 100 points.

It’s like someone who doesn’t understand soccer can’t grasp the concept of scoring five goals in nine minutes; they might think, with the goal so big, isn’t it easy to score?

The New York Daily News commented, "Basketball is not thriving because most Americans of normal stature can’t relate themselves to the towering, odd basketball stars. It’s hard to sell a seven-foot-tall scoring monster to the most gullible young people."

Now, the situation has changed. Basketball elites are no longer seen as monsters. They are not like Bill Russell, who used to be turned away at the doors of upscale restaurants; they are not like Wilt Chamberlain, who was constantly asked what it felt like to be so tall.

They are stars, idols, the smiling faces on massive billboards, the protagonists in heartwarming ads, and the frequent and favored guests on talk shows.

After returning to Portland, Wang Fuxi told Gan Guoyang that he had received countless invitations for ads, commercial events, and TV interviews. Guoyang would have to be Sun Wukong to attend them all.

To prepare for the playoffs, Gan Guoyang declined most invites and only took part in the opening ceremony of a funeral home—Gan and Knight were planning to invest in it.

Wang Fuxi asked if attending such a ceremony might have a negative psychological impact on the playoffs.

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "It’s okay, the games that are played should be laid to rest. 81 points are of no use in the playoffs and will only become a tool to whip me when I perform poorly, ’Look, you could score 81 points in the regular season, but you’re wilting in the playoffs!’ So forgetting about it sooner is better for me."

Wilt Chamberlain called to congratulate Gan Guoyang. The man was vacationing in Florida and was very happy to see Gan score 81 points.

Over the phone, he told Gan, "What you said in the post-game interview was right. Many people thought I was selfish to get 100 points, but I also thanked my teammates afterward for giving me chances, for passing me the ball. It’s not one man’s achievement; it’s the honor of the entire team. Nicely done, Gan."

Chamberlain’s encouragement brought some warmth to Gan, but at the end of the call, Chamberlain still said with a hint of sourness, "81 is still 19 short of 100, though. You sure are getting a lot of attention."

Gan replied, "Without the pioneering and hard work of predecessors like you, how could we have the attention we have today? I’m just an athlete who loves basketball, simply putting the ball into the basket."

"You little rascal, you really have a way with words now~ But you’re right, I acknowledge your status as the second-highest scorer in history!"

Having received Chamberlain’s acknowledgment, Gan devoted all his time to preparing for the playoffs.

With the last game played, the situations in the Eastern and Western Conferences were completely clear.

The Los Angeles Lakers finished with a record of 64 wins and 18 losses, earning the top seed in both the league and the Western Conference.

The Trail Blazers finished with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, ranking second in the league and third in the Western Conference due to divisional rules.

The second seed in the Western Conference was the Dallas Mavericks with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses, which is the best regular-season performance in the history of the Mavericks, and it was harvest time for Dick Motta and Mark Aguirre.

The fourth and fifth seeds in the Western Conference were the Rockets and the Jazz, the same old foes, who met in the first round for the first time since the 1985 season, ready to renew their rivalry.

The duel in the Western Conference between Olajuwon and the Malone-Stockton combo officially commenced.

Ranked sixth in the West were the Golden State Warriors, who had a respectable performance this year.

After a change in ownership, the Warriors made it into the playoffs, which was great news for Gan Guoyang, since Oakland was essentially his home court.

Ranked seventh were the Supersonics, who started the season with momentum but experienced turmoil midway, trading away Gerald Henderson and promoting Nate McMillan.

Around the time of the All-Star Game, they suffered consecutive losses, displaying much instability. In March, they signed the former star Eddie Johnson to a 10-day contract, followed by a guaranteed contract.

The team was cobbled together, and after trading Jack Sikma, their rebuild was roughly taking shape, though they didn’t look very strong.

However, it’s worth noting that among the games the Supersonics won, there were many against strong teams, while conversely, they lost numerous games to weaker teams.

They managed to beat the Los Angeles Lakers by a huge margin of 24 points, followed by a streak of eight consecutive losses, including defeats to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Pacers.

They also lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, who finished the season with a record of 12 wins and 70 losses, with the Supersonics’ charity included in those pitiful 12 wins.

This showed that the Supersonics were a very emotional and unstable team that could defeat the strongest opponents when they were motivated.

But the long, dull regular season could cause this group of poorly integrated rookies to lose their form, succumbing to the weakest teams.

In any case, the Supersonics and their starting small forward Xavier McDaniel were an "X-factor," much like the player himself.

Ranked eighth were the Denver Nuggets, whose injuries compromised their competitiveness this season; they were at a major disadvantage facing the Los Angeles Lakers.

Looking around the Western Conference, it seemed to be a contest primarily between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers, with the Rockets and Nuggets falling out due to drugs and injuries.

The Mavericks appeared to need more seasoning, and as for the Warriors, Supersonics, and Jazz, they all seemed to be just making up the numbers, with a significant gap in talent and ability compared to the top two teams.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics once again secured the first seed, though their record was only 58 wins and 24 losses, not reaching 60 wins.

The Hawks and Pistons followed closely behind, with the Pistons in particular bolstering their strength after acquiring James Donaldson, achieving their best historical record of 55 wins and 27 losses.

The Washington Bullets ranked fourth with 51 wins and 31 losses, the Milwaukee Bucks were fifth, the Pacers sixth, the Chicago Bulls seventh, and the Philadelphia 76ers eighth.

Once the matchups were announced, the teams got busy with preparations. Just as David Stern was pleased with the wide anticipation for this year’s playoffs, some bad news arrived.

On April 21, just two days after Gan Guoyang’s 81-point performance and three days before the start of the playoffs, the Maricopa County prosecutor’s office in Arizona suddenly indicted several men on 21 felony charges, including possession and trafficking of cocaine.

Among them were three current Suns players, James Edwards, Jay Humphries, and Grant Gondrezick; two were retired Suns players, Mike Bratz and Phil Heid. They were all potentially facing serious charges.

Six others were "involved or aware of illegal drug deals," and they were also current or former Suns players. Suns’ leading star Walter Davis was specifically named by the police; he had undergone drug rehabilitation treatment in 1985.

The news erupted across America as soon as it was released.

Such a large-scale, widespread drug scandal brought shame upon the entire NBA.

David Stern, still basking in the aftermath of the 81-point game’s media peak, was immediately confronted with a predicament.

Drug scandals had been a recurring problem and now, just as the regular season ended and the playoffs were about to begin, came a total explosion.

Stern felt the striking contrast between ice and fire. He immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss strategies for response.