Olympic Building, 645 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York.

In Manhattan's high-rise financial district, the dark gray high-rise looks less impressive, and the Olympicots are more like a bulge in the background than the Petronas Twin Towers, built in 1873 and the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the past.

But for all basketball fans and NBA players, this is the "NBA White House" in their eyes, because the NBA headquarters is located in this building.

And a room of only 25 square meters on the fifteenth floor of this building is the office of NBA commissioner David Stern.

It has been a fruitful season for the new president, who has been in office for more than a year and is nearing the end of his first full season.

The three major elements of each season in the NBA - rookie, All-Star, and Finals, the NBA under Stern has good results.

Needless to say, the rookies in 1984 were destined to be the best in NBA history, and the addition of Gan Guoyang only made them even more starry.

This year's All-Star Game was also a great success, reaching a very high level in terms of the form of the game, the venue, the broadcast, the excitement and other aspects, and the slam dunk contest before the game was also very classic.

Now, Stern is already considering adding a new element to next season's All-Star Game — a three-point contest.

The Finals Lakers vs. Celtics matchup was also something Stern wanted to see, and in 1984, Stern's first year in office, the Lake-Kai battle made the discerning Jewish lawyer realize that the feud between the two most traditional giants would be an effective catalyst for the development of the NBA.

Now that the Finals are about to be decided, Stern just returned to New York from Los Angeles yesterday and will fly to Boston to witness the championship at Boston Garden Arena.

The championship was about to be born, which meant that the 1984-1985 season was coming to an end, but that didn't mean that Stern's work was coming to an end, on the contrary, many troublesome things were just beginning.

For example, when it comes to the NBA draft in the new year, the 1985 NBA Draft will be the first time in history that a lottery will be used to rank draft picks, which is also one of the most important reforms since Stern took office.

Just on May 12th, that is, when Gan Guoyang's Trailblazers were still in the thick of the battle with the Lakers, the NBA's? The NBA's first draft draw was held at Madison Square Square in New York, and the draw was also livestreamed across the United States in an effort to amplify the NBA's reach.

According to the scouts' analysis, the quality of this year's rookies was not much worse than last year's golden generation, so each lotto team was very focused on their own picks.

Eventually, when Stern pulled one of the last two envelopes out of the box and called out "Indiana Pacers," the audience erupted in cheers because the envelope left in the box belonged to the New York Knicks, who were given the option to pick up the first pick in the 1985 draft.

However, all kinds of speculation ensued, because everyone knew that this year's draft pick was none other than Georgetown University's super center, Patrick Ewing, and sending Ewing to the Big Apple was undoubtedly very beneficial to the development of NBA business.

Therefore, many people believe that Stern has done something in this draw, among which the "envelope corner" theory and the "envelope frozen" theory are the most common speculations.

They believe that Stern manipulated the draft to allow superstars to go to bigger cities to expand the influence of the NBA, and the main purpose of Stern's draft reform is to manipulate the flow of talented players.

But no matter what, the draft picks have been settled, and no matter what the outside speculation is, a lot of things may always be buried in the hearts of those in the know.

After the troubles of the draw, Stern also worked on various details, such as the construction and layout of the team's stadiums, commercial contracts with broadcasters and advertisers, and so on.

There are two issues, which are currently at the top of Stern's schedule, and the most important issues, one is the internationalization of the NBA, and the other is the handling and shaping of the NBA's image.

The first problem is that one of the big strategic goals of Stern after taking office is to get the NBA out of the United States and into the world, open up overseas markets, and create more value for the league.

And Stern, a shrewd and resolute little man, has set his sights on the other side of the Pacific, a huge market with a population of more than a billion people, but has not yet been completely opened.

In Stern's small office, the most important thing is not the beautiful decorations or basketball memorabilia, but the telephone set on his desk, where Stern can always receive the information he needs, and can also convey his requirements and intentions to those who need them.

"Jingle bell~" Just when Stern was still thinking alone in the office about overseas market development, a phone on the desk rang, and Stern quickly answered the phone, and the voice of the front desk operator came from inside, saying that it was the phone number of Sonny Gan, a player of the Portland Trail Blazers.

"Take it in!" Stern said without hesitation, he just wanted to find this Chinese boy, but he didn't expect someone to send a pillow when he fell asleep.

"Hello, Gan, I'm Stern." Stern said kindly, he was very polite to anyone.

"Hello! Ster... Mr... Can you hear me?! Yes? But there was a roaring sound in the earpiece, and Stern was startled, but there was a lot of noise in the earpiece, and the signal over there didn't seem to be good.

"I can hear... What's the matter, Gan? ”

"I can't quite hear what you're talking about, I'm on an Iowa farm where birds don't, using a satellite phone! The signal is not very good! I just have one thing to ask you, that is, about the visit of the Chinese national team to the United States, can I participate in this reception, you know, I am still a Chinese! ”

At this time, Gan Guoyang was using Hansen's satellite phone to talk to Stern, mobile phones had not yet appeared in this era, and the signal of satellite phones was not very good, and he was arguing with the front desk of the Olympic Building for a long time before letting the front desk lady know that he was an NBA player Gan Guoyang.

Stern endured Gan Guoyang's yelling on the phone, in fact, he could still hear Gan Guoyang's voice quite clearly, but he couldn't hear Gan Guoyang clearly, so Gan Guoyang was like a deaf person talking, his voice was very loud.

Stern is very strange, how could Gan Guoyang know that the Chinese national team is going to visit the United States, according to Stern's understanding, Gan Guoyang was not selected for any level of basketball team when he was in China, not even a school team player.

After becoming an NBA player, he has never returned to China, and there is no basketball connection with China, although the Chinese Basketball Association did notice the basketball star, but it is unlikely that Gan Guoyang will be notified in advance, because even Stern himself has not been able to contact Gan Guoyang recently.

"I don't know how you got this news! But we do need your involvement! They will come to the United States in mid-July, mainly in a few cities in the east, and of course, the last stop will be Portland! I hope that you can use it as an intermediary to promote the friendship between the two sides at that time......" Stern knew that Gan Guoyang couldn't hear clearly, so he said loudly rarely.

The rest of the staff outside the office were a little surprised, they rarely heard Stern speak so loudly, and they thought he was arguing with someone on the phone.

"Mr. Stern, you're talking too loudly! I'm going to be deaf with my ears blown up! I'll be looking for you in New York in a few days! Oh no...... It should be Boston! I'll be looking for you in Boston! Ask us about your situation! ”

The first sentence Gan Guoyang said almost made Stern vomit blood, this guy who had been yelling for a long time actually disliked Stern's loud voice, Stern pressed the urge to drop the phone in his heart, and listened to Gan Guoyang finish speaking.

"I'll be in Boston during the finals, and you're welcome to the Garden Square, where I'll be waiting for you."

Some things are really unclear on the phone, and with the current call quality, Stern already wants to bring Gan Guoyang on the other end of the phone over and ban him for three games.

After hanging up the phone, Stern's ears instantly became much quieter, and he began to recall his impression of Gan Guoyang as a player.

In fact, so far, for many NBA players and fans, including the American public, Gan Guoyang is a mysterious person.

Before he came to the United States, he had almost no information, except that his father was a chef, and after coming to the United States, he began his senior year of high school and rose to prominence in the powerful California basketball scene, becoming the talk of high school basketball.

After coming to college, UCLA, the prestigious school he chose, quickly fell in love with the giants, went to the little-known Gonzaga, and after a year of silence, won the NCAA championship with a season that shocked the whole United States.

Soon, he made it to the NBA and quickly made a name for himself, establishing himself in the league, competing in All-Star Games, signing with Nike, and leading the Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Finals.

It all came so fast that Americans felt dizzy, and they didn't know why this yellow-skinned kid had such a high level of basketball talent.

He seems to be very resistant to the media, rarely giving in-depth interviews, but in the face of ordinary interviews, he is perfect in his choice of words and wording like a diplomatic spokesman.

In Stern's mind, the big man is as mysterious as the country across the Pacific, but full of great potential.

Stern knows that this player will be extremely important to the NBA, and he has exceeded Stern's expectations this season and met Stern's basic requirements.

"I'm going to give you a chance to get to the top, but it's up to you whether you can get that far."