The Golden Age of Basketball

Fleisher played a pivotal role in the 1964 All-Star strike, the 1970 Robertson lawsuit, and the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. He was also a well-known agent in the League.

Stern, who was 12 years younger than Fleisher, was the only one in the League who could match Fleisher in legal experience, physical stamina, and cunning.

Someone knocked on the office door, and without looking up, Stern just said, "Come in."

"David, stop working. Let's watch a game together."

It was the voice of Commissioner Larry O'Brien.

Stern looked up quickly and asked, "What game? Today is March 1st; there are no League games."

"The League isn't all there is to basketball. Come on, let's watch it together. I watched the first half, and it's very interesting. Call Granik and Beteman, tell them to turn on their TVs too. The more people watching, the better."

Stern hastily put down his work and followed Larry O'Brien out of the office.

In more corners of America, those listening to sports broadcasts in their cars, at home turning on the radio while reading the newspaper, or being drawn in by a game on TV while visiting someone's house...

Some of them returned home and immediately turned on the TV, some shut off the familiar radios and decided to see what was on TV, and some took advantage of the halftime break to head home, then switched on their TVs...

In the 1980s, relationships between neighbors had not yet become as distant and cold as they would be later. In Californian, New York, Massachusetts, and Texan middle-class neighborhoods, young and adult males gathered to drink and talk sports—baseball, football, horse racing, bull riding.

Then someone would come out and say, "Hey, there's an interesting game on, let's watch it together. My buddy just called, said it's really fun."

Or in the poor but lively African-American communities of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, elders sat languidly in the yard, children played outside.

Couples passing by would say: "There's a game on CBS that everyone says is good, let's go back home... Grandpa! Stop idling in the yard, go turn on the TV set!"

In an era without the internet, when contact between people primarily relied on telephones and all news was delayed, a program or game experiencing a sudden surge in ratings from the first to the second half was very rare.

All promotions were settled before the game, those who were interested would pay attention, and those who weren't, wouldn't get the message.

Unless someone got killed during the game, most people were unlikely to turn on their TVs halfway through to watch it.

However, this CIF California championship game saw its reputation soar with a spectacular second quarter.

Simultaneously, as there were no other major games on March 1st—with NBA teams resting, NCAA March Madness not yet begun, and the NFL and MLB in their offseasons—this solitary Californian high school basketball showdown suddenly became the center of attention.

Maybe many were uninterested in the game itself, but they had heard that Northern California might have a Chinese basketball prodigy recently.

With such curiosity, they decided to turn on the TV and see what this game was, what this Chinese star was like.

The Nielsen Company's receivers placed in many homes started picking up signals from CBS Sports Channel, continuously transmitting them to the company's headquarters.

The players on the court were unaware that the number of eyes watching them was steadily increasing; their focus was solely on their opponents and the championship trophy at the sideline.

The sluggish pace at the game's start was nowhere to be seen; the second half began with a confrontation as sharp as bayonets. The Shui Zhong Team kept trusting their only ace, continuously feeding the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Riverbank Polytechnic High School hadn't reached the finals by luck; they possessed a formidable outside shooting capability, invincible in the predominately zone defense of high school games.

The CBS announcer's pace quickened to more than double from the first half:

"Number 11, Sonny Gan, catches the ball, turns, pump fakes, drives in, lays it up for two!"

"A fast break from Riverbank, Reggie Miller with a direct jump shot! It's in, a hurried shot, but it's in."

"Shui Zhong Team isn't slowing down; their speed is fast. Gan drives down the middle to catch, dunks! Woh! A one-handed slam!"

"Riverbank Polytechnic High hits another shot, my God, I couldn't even see who shot it, the camera couldn't keep up."

"Sonny Gan is unstoppable; he breaks through the double-team, powers his way to the basket, another dunk!"

"Gan blocks his opponent on defense, counterattacks, drives to the basket, alley-oop from Gan, dunk! Shui Zhong's offense is like they've gone mad! Does Riverbank need a timeout?"

"No, Reggie Miller takes a corner long shot, nails it! Roar! My god! Both teams' offenses can't stop for a moment."

The two teams played what might have been the most thrilling offensive battle of that year's CIF championship in the third quarter.

Gan Guoyang was virtually responsible for all of Shui Zhong Team's scoring, while Miller always managed to hit shots in critical moments.

The offensive rhythm of both players felt extreme; their trash-talking never ceased.

As the third quarter ended, the two "reluctantly said goodbye" at the sideline; Gan Guoyang was no longer restraining himself to gentle jabs, he had lost control.

He was also getting heated, unleashing everything he had learned from the Beelman Swearing Training Class on Miller, who took it all in and returned a few of his own.