The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 578 - 5 Foxbat

Many years later, Jerry West mentioned in his autobiography that he was drawn to Ah Gan’s powerful personal charm and decided to go to Portland to carve out a new career.

He also claimed that as long as Ah Gan was in Portland, he would be in Portland; if Ah Gan left, he no longer wished to stay in Portland.

However, Tang Jianguo argued that there were two main reasons for Jerry West’s move to Portland.

One was financial, as West had given most of his assets to his ex-wife, Jane, during their divorce, and was raising his three sons on his own.

This put a great financial strain on West, and from 86-89, the Lakers had not won a championship, so West hadn’t received the bonuses and dividends promised by Buss.

Tang Jianguo was willing to offer West a very high salary, believing the benefits West would bring would far exceed his wages.

The other was a public relations issue, where Jerry Buss showed his fickle nature in dealing with West.

First, he sided with Don Nelson, then feeling guilty, he attempted to persuade West to stay.

But when he learned that West was considering a move to Portland, he claimed in a "Sports Illustrated" interview, "The job of a general manager is nothing special, there’s no mystery to it, many people can do it."

In the interview, Buss subtly pointed out that the Lakers in the ’70s had achieved nothing under West’s leadership until he took over.

It was his arrival that changed the Lakers and created their "show time" legend, but post-86, West had become a hindrance to the Lakers’ progress.

For example, he stopped a trade between Worthy and Mark Aguirre, didn’t sign Bill Walton but let him return to Portland, and affected Don Nelson’s decisions in the ’88 Western Conference Finals, among other things.

That interview infuriated West, and coupled with the Trail Blazers’ high salary offer, it prompted Jerry West to immediately call Tang Jianguo, declaring he would head to Portland.

At that time, there were only five days left until the start of the draft.

Tang Jianguo, upon receiving the call, was thrilled and immediately wanted to arrange a press conference to announce West’s new role as their general manager.

But West requested that Tang keep it under wraps, stating he wouldn’t go public with his position until after the draft was over.

West then flew to Seattle to attend the opening ceremony of a basketball camp and afterward drove to Portland to meet with the Trail Blazers.

To avoid attracting media attention, Trail Blazers’ vice president Harry Glickman personally picked him up and drove him to Gan Guoyang’s townhouse in Oswego Lake Park, which had been vacant since Gan moved to a larger house and was being cleaned periodically.

That night, Tang Jianguo, Gan Guoyang, Buckwalter, Beelman, Glickman, and other Trail Blazers’ key figures gathered at the townhouse for a private welcome ceremony, with Tang personally presenting West with a four-year contract.

Tang originally wanted to sign him for a longer period, but West only wanted four years, viewing his move to Portland as a challenge.

If successful, he could stay, return to Los Angeles, or move somewhere else.

If he failed, the backlash and pressure wouldn’t be small.

West was excited by this prospect, eager like a beast let out of its cage, ready to give it his all.

After signing, there was no time for rest or celebration as they immediately held a meeting through the night; West first sought to fully understand the Trail Blazers’ draft strategy and team-building policies and started reworking the plans for the draft.

West had already constructed a plan in his mind, with four main goals.

The first point was to find a suitable backup center for Gan Guoyang.

Mychal Thompson was a year older, this year Jones had retired as well, and the Brazilian center they had picked previously was not up to the task.

A backup center ready to play in rotation was critical.

West had done this job every year with the Lakers, and he was familiar with it. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

While Sabonis was definitely worth looking forward to, his performance level upon joining the NBA was still an unknown.

Especially since he had undergone Achilles tendon surgery in Portland without fully recovering before participating in the Seoul Olympics.

West had seen the Soviet Union and America play, and Sabonis’s speed and explosiveness were much diminished compared to 1986.

When up against Robinson, he was clearly outmatched, but he helped the Soviet Union secure the victory in his way, and there was no doubt about his basketball IQ.

This was also West’s second goal: to help Sabonis and Petrović adapt to the NBA environment better and maximize their potential as much as possible.

In an era where local basketball resources in America were limited and the rules were becoming more refined, making it harder for top teams to get high draft picks (like the champion Lakers getting the top pick), stacking international players with talent was a very good strategy, which could turn out to be highly effective.

Petrović joining the Trail Blazers was already a done deal; all that was left was signing the contract.

However, whether Sabonis could actually come was still doubtful, and it needed West’s follow-up.

Although he expressed his willingness to collaborate after meeting Ah Gan at the Seoul Olympics, there had been some complications.

Unlike Petrović’s personality, Sabonis seemed very worried about his ability to survive in the NBA—especially after competing with Ah Gan.

Currently, other teams were also contending with the Trail Blazers for Sabonis.

The third point was to find a reliable blue-collar worker for the Trail Blazers’ guard line.

The departure of Drexler had a significant impact on the Trail Blazers, as he was a superstar guard.