In October 1988, at the Olympic Tower in New York, NBA commissioner David Stern was listening to N's TV broadcasts in his ordinary office while preparing for the new NBA season.

This is his fifth season on the job, and in the first four seasons, Stern has contributed greatly to the development of the NBA, and the league has come out of the dismal business of the early 80s, not only turning a profit, but also expanding her size.

Just this year, the NBA is about to usher in another league expansion plan after the Dallas Mavericks joined in 1980.

This season, the league has tentatively decided to build new teams in Miami and Charlotte, and the names of the teams have been chosen, namely Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets, both of which have very local characteristics.

As for Orlando and Minnesota, building teams in these two cities is still on the agenda, and preparations are well underway, but Stern believes there will be two new additions to the NBA next season.

Now, Stern has two main things to worry about, the first is the operation of the two new teams, and the situation is different from the situation when the ABA was merged, the ABA teams entered the NBA, originally had the original team, from the venue, management, staff to players, change the logo, change the ball, carry out a handover, and soon be able to integrate into the league.

The two new additions are different, they have risen out of thin air, and in terms of team composition, the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets are now poor and white, especially the players.

Therefore, the arrival of the two teams not only did not bring superstars such as Dr. J, McGinnis, and Gervin as the merger of ABA back then, but other teams had to take players to the Heat and Hornets.

Regarding how each team plays players to the Heat and Hornets, Stern has had enough of the owners of each team.

Players, especially good players, are the hearts and minds of team owners, and they are guaranteed to be a cash cow, even if it is a trade, each team will be cautious, let alone give players to other teams.

Like some stars or main players in the team, each team is definitely not like a send, the best thing is to pack the players at the end of the bench and send them over, let you pick and choose, and don't think about moving any of the main players.

Stern hopes that it is best to give the two teams some better players, so as to better stimulate the local basketball market and let fans participate more in the NBA, so that the entire NBA market can become bigger and bigger.

One side wants to protect its own interests, and the other side wants to consider the overall situation and cut meat from each team.

In fact, in the history of the league, there have been several expansions, and there are basically more reasonable options for how to select players among other teams, which is the so-called "expansion draft".

It's just that in 1988, as the NBA business got bigger and bigger, the value of players became higher and higher, plus the salary system, draft system and contract signing system became more and more complicated, so how to deal with the "expansion draft" was no longer something that could be solved by the bosses getting together for coffee in the sixties and seventies.

So before the draft began in June, each team turned in a list of protected players, and in the negotiation, the league still set the number of protected players on the roster at eight, instead of the nine that the owners are trying to expand to, so that some of the team's fringe mainstays or potential stars could fall out of the protected list.

At the same time, the league has also added rules such as full free agents, or players who can become free agents through a contract option, not to be on the list of selected players, to prevent some selected players from being reluctant to report to the new team.

Of course, there are some more specific and complex regulations.

As a compromise, the league also rules that existing teams are allowed to compensate the new team (usually with draft picks) in exchange for the new team to pick or not pick one of its players.

So, in the expansion draft in mid-June, each team had to come up with one player for the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets to pick, but in the end, the Miami Heat had 10 rookies out of 17 players!

The Charlotte Hornets took a different approach, not taking away draft picks from other teams, but instead picking players of all ages, mostly youngsters.

Even so, the Hornets' lineup doesn't look much better than the Heat, so now Stern looks at the player lists, team work reports, schedules and other materials of the two teams, and is mentally prepared for the "tragic fate" of the two teams this season.

What he has to think about now is how to attract local fans and advertisements even when the team's performance is doomed to be poor. Nova? Gimmick?

Stern's brain never stopped thinking.

However, the second question is simpler and more complex than the first.

On Stern's desk was a letter from the Soviet Basketball Association and CSKA Moscow from the Soviet Basketball Association and CSKA Moscow that had agreed to Sabonis' request to play for the Trail Blazers in Portland.

Stern didn't expect that under the mediation of Gan Guoyang, Sabonis would really be able to break the political barriers between the United States and the Soviet Union and come to the highest stage of the NBA.

When Gan Guoyang came to New York in June to meet Stern to propose his idea, Stern still felt that this kid was too naïve, and now Stern also has to sigh at Gan Guoyang's ability in this matter.

"Actually, I should have thought that he had such an ability." Stern reclined in his large chair and recalled what Gan had done in the past two years.

Gan Guoyang's injury in the finals made Stern both regretful and happy, but it was a pity that without Gan Guoyang, the finals became no suspense, and his god-like performance in the first game made Portlanders now think that if Gan Guoyang is not injured, the championship will be theirs.

Fortunately, Stern's final championship result is in line with Stern's philosophy of NBA construction, and Gan Guoyang's injury absence has undoubtedly contributed to this, in fact, Americans may not be ready to let a Chinese become the MVP of the Finals.

Subsequently, Gan Guoyang's reimbursement for the 1987 season cleared the way for the Lakers to reach the Finals, and the re-encounter with the Celtics made the ratings of the Finals that year hit a record high.

Of course, Stern didn't know that the appearance of Gan Guoyang also indirectly led to Baias surviving, and a series of chain reactions made the Celtics healthier and stronger, and as a result, the Celtics successfully defended the title and rewrote history.

Just when the development of the league was in full swing, Gan Guoyang, who was reimbursed for the injured season in 1987, did not decline or even degenerate like some black players, he first chose to return to Gonzaga University, and completed the credits required for four years of college in one year and obtained a degree certificate.

At the same time, Stern also learned from Gan's agent, David Falck, that Gan never relaxed his recovery training in Gunzaga.

Because Gan Guoyang was injured in his right hand, so before recovering from the injury, Gan Guoyang practiced the technique of his left hand to perfection, and Falke once brought a video to Stern, which was Gan Guoyang used his left hand to dribble and shoot in training, and he acted like a left-hander.

Sure enough, in the next season, Gan Guoyang made a strong comeback, winning the league's weekly and monthly awards in the first two months, and in the second half of the season, Jordan came from behind, and the two almost dominated the major pages of the media at that time.

In the selection of MVP, Gan Guoyang also lost to Michael Jordan by a narrow margin to finish second, and in the playoffs, neither of them entered the playoffs, one because his teammates were too weak, and the other because his opponents were too strong.

Since Gan Guoyang was able to recover so well, Stern thought that the star deserved to be supported, and in the summer of 1988, Gan Guoyang changed Stern's opinion of him again.

First of all, in the summer blockbuster, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Gan Guoyang not only played a voice role, but also became an investor in the film, and is rumored to have provided enough creative support for this groundbreaking blockbuster mixed with animation and live-action, which was appreciated by Spielberg.

Now, Gan Guoyang has been invited to participate in the next Oscars awards ceremony and become a sports star among the bright movie stars.

Not only that, in recent years, Gan Guoyang has never given up his Chinese nationality, but has always said that he is a Chinese and is willing to work hard for the development of the Chinese, which makes him have an extremely strong Chinese support group in the United States.

Thinking of this, Stern looked at the work plan again, the plan to go to China to open the Chinese market in the future, and thought that Gan Guoyang must be indispensable here.

At this time, Stern realized that Gan Guoyang was no longer a simple Chinese player playing in the United States, and he had a deep fan base in the United States, which stemmed from his outstanding performance; Overseas, he represents a huge potential market and has a strong reputation in Europe – and the partnership with Sabonis will undoubtedly increase his exposure in Europe.

He also has close cooperation with Hollywood's capital predators, I don't know why he caught up with Robert Zemeckis, and then caught up with Spielberg, judging from David Falke's respectful and obedient attitude towards Gan Guoyang, it is uncertain whether Gan Guoyang has the support of the Jewish big business.

A Chinese kid, through a sport, has reached such heights in a way that Stern could never have imagined.

Now, how to work with this guy who has grown into a big man has become a question that Stern has to consider.

In fact, in order to protect the Trail Blazers this season, Stern even said hello privately, hoping that the Heat and Hornets would not use the Trail Blazers' players.

It's just that perhaps Stern's imagination is sometimes too rich.

At this time, Gan Guoyang has returned to Portland with Bellman, the team's training camp has begun, and for Gan Guoyang, there is nothing more important than basketball, more than victory, and more important than championships.