At the New York train station, Chen Qiang is seeing off Hu Shi.

Hu Shih has already been appointed to return to China as president of Peking University, and he plans to take a train from New York to Los Angeles and then return to China by boat.

In front of the platform, Hu Shi shook Chen Qiang's hand and said, "Okay, you have to say goodbye to you for a thousand miles, you better go back quickly!" ”

"Take care all the way, sir. After all, the domestic situation is not peaceful, and you must also pay attention to safety. Chen Qiang said.

"Don't worry, although the domestic situation is chaotic, in a big city like Beiping, it doesn't hurt after all. Besides, I'm going back to be the president of the university this time, and I'm not going to be a big official, so no one should be unfavorable to me. Hu Shi said.

Chen Qiang took out a cashier's check from his arms, handed it to Hu Shi, and then said: "Sir, I know that domestic prices are soaring, and fiat currency is becoming less and less valuable, I have a $5,000 Citibank cashier's check here, and you can exchange it directly from Citibank in Shanghai after you arrive in Shanghai." ”

"Where can I ask for your money, I have been in the United States for all these years, and I have some savings, so I can ensure that my life is worry-free, you should take back this cashier's check." Hu Shi refused.

"Sir, even if you don't need money, but the resumption of Peking University, you always need money, the Ministry of Education's funding may not be sufficient, if you can't use this money, you can use it in Peking University, whether it's repairing the school building, purchasing equipment, it can be regarded as my contribution to education." Chen Qiang said.

Hu Shi thought about it and felt that what Chen Qiang said was reasonable, so he accepted the cashier's check, and said at the same time: "Don't worry, I will use all your $5,000 in the construction of Peking University." ”

Hu Shi turned to leave, but he thought of another thing, hurriedly turned around, and said: "But the new ambassador to the United States has some personal relations with me, if you have something to find him, you can go to him under my banner, I think he will give me some thin noodles." I know you're well-connected in the U.S., and you won't have a hard time coming to think of it. It's always good to have one more path though, just in case. ”

"Thank you, sir." Chen Qiang opened his mouth and thanked him.

The previous ambassador Wei was transferred back to China not long ago, and he was transformed from ambassador to the United States to a ministerial-level official, which can be said to be a high promotion. The person who came to replace Ambassador Wei was surnamed Gu and was a veteran Chinese diplomat.

As early as the Beiyang government, this Master Gu was already a diplomat, and he refused to sign a contract that was harmful to China's interests at the Paris Peace Conference, and because he had a background in Beiyang, he was wanted by Nanjing. During the San Francisco Conference, he was the head of the Chinese delegation and signed the UN Charter on behalf of China, and then served as China's representative to the United Nations until Ambassador Wei stepped down.

In terms of qualifications, Ambassador Gu is definitely one of China's oldest diplomats, but unfortunately he is a person from Beiyang after all, who worked for President Yuan Da at that time, and also worked as an errand under Zhang Dashuai in Northeast China, so he naturally cannot be trusted by the top level in Nanjing, so after so many years, he is only an ambassador to the United States. Otherwise, with his qualifications, he will inevitably be a core figure in China's foreign affairs.

……

Ferris, the general manager of the Buffalo Bisons, approached Chen Qiang.

"Mr. Chen, I'm going to move the team out of Buffalo." Ferris spoke.

"Why do you suddenly want to relocate, is there a problem with the cooperation with the Buffalo government?" Chen Qiang asked.

"It's not true, although our two governments are not very pleasant, but there is no contradiction, but the team's board of directors feels that the market in Buffalo is too small." Ferris spoke.

Although Buffalo is the second largest city in New York State, as long as New York City exists, other cities in New York State are in a weak position, and New York State's population and talent are sucked away by New York City, and other cities can only lick two mouthfuls of soup after New York City.

In the future, Buffalo will have an NFL football team and an NHL ice hockey team, and in the whole of New York State, except for New York City, only Buffalo has teams from the four major leagues. In that respect, Buffalo is capable of sustaining a professional basketball team.

However, the Bison still disliked that Buffalo's ball market was too small to bring more profits, so they planned to move away.

"Where do you want to move?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The City of Milwaukee promised us a new arena that could accommodate more than 10,000 people. Ferris spoke.

Chen Qiang smiled and nodded, the Buffalo Bison team still embarked on the road of history in the end.

Historically, the Buffalo Bisons, less than a year after their founding, moved to Illinois and changed their name to the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, moved to Milwaukee in 1951, changed their name again to the Milwaukee Hawks, moved to St. Louis in 1955, and went to Atlanta in 1968, which is today's Atlanta Hawks.

In this time and space, the NBA appeared earlier, the Buffalo Bison became a professional basketball team earlier, and they moved to Milwaukee earlier.

Later generations of basketball fans generally felt that Milwaukee was a small-ball city, and when the UAE entered the NBA, it had an awkward relationship with the Bucks because Milwaukee was a small-ball city.

In fact, Milwaukee is a big city in the United States, Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin, the industry is very developed, it is only 200 kilometers away from Chicago, and 10 Fortune 500 companies will be headquartered in Milwaukee in the future.

Milwaukee is a small-ball city in the NBA, not because the city isn't big enough or populous, but because the Milwaukee Brewers exist.

The Milwaukee Brewers are a team in the MLB Major League Baseball, and the Brewers were founded a year later than the Bucks, but because the Brewers were founded at the time of the golden age of American baseball, the popularity of the Brewers is naturally far greater than that of the Bucks. In the future, even if the Brewers have been terrible for many years, the Brewers will still be the true love of the Milwaukees. In contrast, the Bucks are like being raised by a stepmother.

"Going to a bigger city, having a bigger stadium is good for the team and the league, and if you're going to move the team to Milwaukee, the league will support you." Chen Qiang said.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen. It's just that Wisconsin is a little far from the east, and if other teams come to Milwaukee to play away, they may have to travel hard, and I don't know if other teams will complain. Ferris said with a worried look on his face.

Milwaukee is only 200 kilometers west of Chicago, but with the transportation conditions at the time, 200 kilometers was a train ride for several hours.

Chen Qiang said: "There are several new teams planning to join our league this year, including teams from cities in the central region, and it is inevitable that the distance between the teams will become farther away in the future." I'm also thinking about whether to divide the teams into eastern and western teams by region, and increase the number of games played by nearby teams, so that we can save time on the road. If it really doesn't work, follow the example of the Pistons and let the players fly to the game. ”.

The Pistons were the first team to use planes to transport players to games, after all, the first owner of the Pistons was the American car tycoon Zorna, who had private jets back in the early forties.

Ferris said with a smile: "The owner of the Pistons, Zorner, has a lot of money, and a small team like ours can't afford to buy a private jet." ”

"Who told you to buy a plane, you can buy a ticket directly! If you really can't do it, you can rent a flight with an airline. If the stadium of 10,000 people can be filled, are you afraid that you won't have the money to fly! Chen Qiang replied.

……

In 1946, professional sports in the United States ushered in a great development, and various professional sports leagues had new teams to join.

Chen Qiang's NBA naturally received a lot of team applications, of course, the NBA is not a team can apply to join, which requires the owners of each team to meet for discussion and review.

At that time, the professional sports leagues were mainly paid to join, and to put it bluntly, they gave the sports league some franchise fees, so that the team could enter the sports league to play. For example, in the basketball NBL league, in 1946, the franchise fee was $15,000, and no matter which team it was, as long as it could afford to pay the $15,000, it could join the NBL league to play.

Chen Qiang's NBA is different, Chen Qiang did not form the NBA to earn that little franchise fee, if the team wants to join the NBA, there is no need to pay money, the key is to look at the size and potential of the team, if it is the kind of team that does not even have a decent home court and has to play in a dance hall or middle school, it is definitely impossible to be allowed to join the NBA.

In the conference room, the owners of each team or representatives sent by the owners gather to discuss the joining of the new team.

The last time a new team joined, it was the Chicago Gears, Chicago is a big city, and the boss behind the Chicago Gears has a number of gear factories, so the Chicago Gears are also supported by the main fund.

And this time, the teams that apply to join the NBA are mixed, the kind of small teams without the support of the owner, if they join the NBA, it will make the NBA cheaper, and other teams will also suffer.

Chen Qiang, as the chairman of the NBA, took the lead in speaking: "Let's look at the first application first, the applicants are Ben Berger and Morris Calfin, who bought the soon-to-be-disbanded Detroit Gems and intend to join our league. ”

"Ben-Berger? Is it the owner of the movie chain? I heard that he has dozens of theater chains in North Dakota. Someone asked.

Chen Qiang nodded: "Yes, it's him, and he has several nightclubs." As for Maurice Calfin, he started out on a bowling alley and billiards alley, and he has several ice rinks, so you've probably heard of that 'ice holiday' show, right? He made it. ”

"I've seen ice holiday shows, in the winter this show is held in the United States, and in the summer this show goes back to South America." Someone else spoke.

"Since this team has the support of two owners, I want them to join, and there should be no problems with management, but I would suggest that they move to a bigger home stadium, and I heard that the Detroit Gems still use the Frendale High School gymnasium as their home stadium." The other spoke.

Chen Qiang then introduced: "Everyone, don't be impatient, don't worry, I haven't finished speaking." Ben Berger and Maurice Calfin didn't plan to stay in Detroit when they bought the Gems, they wanted to relocate the team to Minneapolis. ”

"Minnesota? That's a bit far away! Someone responded.

"It's a bit far from New York. I asked the two owners if they were going to charter planes so that their teams could come and play away from home. Chen Qiang paused, and then said: "Everyone, in the future, our league will continue to expand, not only to the middle of the United States, but also to the western part of the United States, maybe in a few years, we can see a new team in Los Angeles, using planes to transport players to the game, is the direction of future development, so I also hope that you will prepare early." ”

When Chen Qiang said this, he seemed to suddenly remember something, so he continued: "By the way, there is another thing I forgot to say, after this gem team moved to Minneapolis, it plans to change its name and not call it the gem team." Minneapolis has a lot of lakes, so they intend to name this team the Lakers! ”

The Minneapolis Lakers are the future Los Angeles Lakers.

The predecessor of the Lakers was the Detroit Gems in the NBL, and the Detroit Gems could not survive after only one year of playing in the NBL league, so Ben Berger and Morris Calfin partnered to buy the Detroit Gems, and then moved the team to Minneapolis and renamed the Lakers.

Chen Qiang naturally knows the details of the Minneapolis Lakers, and he knows that this team will become the most successful team in the NBA in the future, so he welcomes the Minneapolis Lakers to join, even if there is opposition today, Chen Qiang will promote the Minneapolis Lakers to join the NBA.

Subsequently, under the discussion of everyone, several new teams joined the NBA.

The Stagg team from Chicago, although it was a newly formed team, was able to join the NBA because of its backing to a big city like Chicago. At that time, Chicago was the second largest city in the United States, and the Chicago Coliseum was also a gymnasium at the same level as Madison Square Garden, which could accommodate more than 17,000 spectators.

For the upcoming 2005-2006 season, the Chicago Bulls hosted a tribute to the classics, a season in which the Bulls played three NBA games in replica Stagg jerseys.

The Bombers from St. Louis, also a newly formed team. Before the rise of Silicon Valley, St. Louis had a thriving manufacturing industry, and the city was strategically located in the geometric center of the United States, with access to all directions of the United States. The city also has a great sporting atmosphere, with the 1904 Olympic Games taking place here.

The Packers in Anderson, Indiana, were also allowed to join the NBA League, which was also a newly established team, and the owners of the team, the Duffy Brothers, made canned meat packaging, and made a lot of money by providing canned meat to the U.S. Army during World War II.

The last new team to sign was in Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana, and this team was called the Jets. Founded in 1931, the Indianapolis Jets played in a minor league called the Midwest Basketball Conference, then joined the NBL and now the NBA. Although this team does not have the support of big money owners, it has more than ten years of professional game experience, so it was able to join the NBA league.

The addition of five new teams has also greatly increased the strength of Chen Qiang's NBA league.

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