The Golden Age of Basketball

Not only the superstars, but also the mid-level players, lower-tier players, and even retired players, Gan Guoyang aims to take care of them all.

In his inauguration speech, Gan Guoyang explained his understanding of the Players Union, promising to fight for adequate benefits for every player and ensuring that each player's rights are fully protected.

Across the entire League, only he has the vision, qualifications, and capability to negotiate with the owners, especially with David Stern.

Even initiators of the union's dissolution like Jordan and Ewing cast their votes in favor of Gan Guoyang during the election, deeply impressed by Ah Gan's determination in 1988.

At this point, David Stern had already returned from China. Learning that the NPBA had reconvened, electing Ah Gan as chairman and CEO, uniting from top to bottom, he immediately felt a headache coming on.

Before this, Stern was already confident of victory, knowing that no matter how the players struggled, even if Jordan and others intervened, ultimately only a minority, especially the superstars, would benefit.

His original plan was to make some concessions, delay until the 1998-1999 season, and then play his trump card by engaging in the most severe and tough negotiations, forcing the players to compromise.

The reason for this was simple: the current prosperity of the NBA, and Stern didn't want to ruin the overall good environment.

However, if teams were allowed to wastefully offer huge contracts and rookies were allowed to demand exorbitant prices, the League would soon see teams plunging into loss, at which point owners would be more motivated to insist on a new labor agreement and promote rules such as luxury tax to reduce expenses.

Moreover, currently some NBA stars are living extravagantly, and their behaviors of wasteful spending after suddenly becoming wealthy have already led to a very negative impact in public opinion.

In the '70s and '80s, drugs, violence, and gambling plagued and damaged the NBA's image. By the '90s, the biggest negative impression the public had of NBA players was that they were nouveau riche.

Particularly those Black players, upon receiving big contracts, would immediately spend to buy luxury cars, gold, and diamonds, flaunting everywhere, splurging in clubs and other venues.

Ordinary fans couldn't help but think, am I subscribing to basketball broadcasts just to provide these uncultured, unsophisticated black folks with piles of money to squander?

Such thoughts are quite politically incorrect, but this is indeed what many fans, especially white middle-class fans who are the backbone of paying supporters, think, and Stern was acutely aware of this.

So he had already planned to endure for the time being, using a strategy akin to "Zheng Bo conquered Duanyu." Though Stern hadn't read the Spring and Autumn Annals, he understood the strategy of letting things develop till they became problematic and then cutting them off with a blow.

However, Stern couldn't have anticipated that his old adversary Larry Fleisher would leave him a challenger before his death, planting a landmine he must cautiously handle—Ah Gan.

As a player, Stern very much welcomed Ah Gan; the Trail Blazers' seven championships, including three consecutive and then four consecutive wins, elevated the NBA's reputation and legendary status to a peak.

Currently, the NBA has the best international presence among the four major Leagues, has surpassed the MLB, and is rising to become the second-largest professional league in America, nearly on par with the NFL.

Recently, Ah Gan's decision to come out of retirement further propelled the NBA's global reach, garnering attention worldwide, which made Stern feel proud and satisfied.

However, in just over two weeks, Ah Gan surprisingly convened a union representative assembly and became the dual role of chairman and president of the Players Union, inevitably presenting a new situation in labor discussions.

Stern knew well that for Ah Gan to gather the players in such a short time and rapidly reach a consensus internally, there must have been long-term preparations.

Moreover, the elite troops Larry Fleisher left behind all obeyed Ah Gan's directives, including Larry's son Mark Fleisher, who is also a close friend of Ah Gan; clearly, Larry Fleisher had laid out plans long ago.

It seems that during the year and a half of retirement, Ah Gan wasn't just spending time in a monastery tapping wooden fish.

On July 20th, the day after the Players Union meeting concluded, David Stern immediately headed to Atlanta to begin negotiations with the new leadership team of the Players Union.

The two met in a small room at the Hilton Hotel, with Stern as usual smiling.

Compared to the 1980s, Stern's hair had turned gray, and his little moustache was shaved off, trimmed cleanly.

"Sonny, you can be both surprisingly delightful and shockingly startling," was Stern's first statement upon seeing Gan Guoyang.

"No, I have always brought prosperity and strength to the League. Be grateful for my return, David." Gan Guoyang remained as confident as ever.

This aspect made David Stern quite annoyed, reminding him of Fleisher, who always wore a confident smile, leaving people uneasy.

Starting from the 20th, both sides embarked on a week-long arduous negotiation, during which Stern and the management team quickly experienced Gan Guoyang's prowess.

The negotiation meetings began at seven every morning and continued until eleven at night, with both parties steadfastly arguing over numerous details and key points.

Such high-intensity discussions require ample physical stamina and incredibly focused attention, which is precisely Gan Guoyang's forte among fortes.

He might be one of those with the most remarkable energy in the world. With sufficient sleep and ample food, he can remain intensely focused and keen from the first minute to the very last moment of negotiations.