In the midst of hard training, time passed quickly, and soon it was the beginning of December.

During this period of time, Stern can be described as gloomy, allowing his beard to grow wildly, as if he has a tendency to become a wild man.

In the past few months, the credibility of the alliance has suffered a huge crisis, and its influence has obviously regressed.

If it continues, fans will be very disappointed, which will further damage the credibility of the league.

"It can't go on like this!"

Stern made up his mind, and as Christmas approached, he announced that he was canceling the All-Star Game for the season.

This naturally caused a shock, and although many people expected it, it was a wake-up call for the owners and players of the various teams, there were no games, the players were not paid, and the team owners lost a lot.

It was also on this day that the angry and fragile president gave an ultimatum that the two sides must reach an agreement in the near future to end the shutdown. If it is not clear before January 7, 1999, the season will be cancelled.

At this time, Stern was like an auctioneer holding a small mallet: Buyers, don't say that I didn't give you a chance, if you don't hurry up, you will fall the hammer.

After Stern's ultimatum, the league began to have an undercurrent, and the players' union and team owners significantly accelerated the frequency, but the two sides still have a lot of differences, and it is difficult to decide in the short term.

Just as the deadline was approaching, the famous agent David Falco, the most influential agent in the NBA, owned Jordan, Barkley, O'Neal and other superstars, and at this time he was also at his peak, with more than 200 players in the league signing him.

Under the direction of David Falcao, high-paid players led by Patrick Ewinge, the president of the players' union, "cheated", and the two sides finally reached an agreement on January 6 to keep the incense of 50 regular season games.

It was an uphill tug-of-war that lasted 191 days and left the entire league devastated.

The six-month hiatus of games has taken a toll on fans, stars and teams, with the league losing a total of 464 games during the regular season, canceling preseason games and All-Star breaks, not to mention the devastated fans.

Still, there is something left behind by this shutdown. This is where the "Super Players" are born, and they will also have the maximum amount of wages.

The league wants to put a strict cap on the salary cap, but the players' union is demanding as much salary space as possible, just as O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard and Garnett have $100 million contracts.

According to the maximum salary regulations, the total salary paid by the team to the player may not exceed a certain percentage of the team's total salary.

Many insiders believe that the team owner is the biggest winner of this shutdown, with players receiving salary caps well below market value and plenty of other concession conditions that have seriously damaged the interests of players and agents.

After the shutdown ended, there was only a short period of more than ten days left for the team to bring in reinforcements and run-in.

In such a short period of time, all teams have stepped up their actions, and in addition to renewing the players of their respective teams, their main targets are the big fish in the free market.

Among these free agents, the biggest name is naturally Michael Jordan, even if His Royal Highness the Flyer is 35 years old, but no one dares to underestimate his strength, because in the previous three seasons, Jordan once again won three consecutive championships for the Red Bull.

In addition to His Royal Highness the Flyer, there are big fish such as Jason Williams, Damon Sstaudemire, Sabonis, Scottie Pippen, Antonio McDyce, Charles Barkley, and a bunch of small fish cubs.

However, due to the suspension, Jordan chose to retire again.

In order to catch the big fish of their choice, many teams make a quick move, meeting their favorite big-name players as quickly as possible, or contacting their agents in the hope of impressing them.

Originally, if you want to catch a big fish, most of them need protracted negotiations, and the big players need to wait for the price to sell, and most of them will make the final choice some time before the start of the season.

But now that time is limited, even big-name players have to make a quick decision, after all, there is too little time left for the team to run in.

Due to last year's poor record, the Nuggets opted for a rebuild, which cleared up a lot of salary space for the team to catch a big fish or two.

At the same time, the Nuggets accelerated negotiations and quickly reached deals with other teams. One of the most important is the trade with the Lakers.

The Nuggets traded Tony Barty and Kelly McCarty from the Lakers to All-Star Nick Van Axel for the price of cabbage.

It's definitely a great deal for the Nuggets. Whether it's Tony Barty or Kelly McCarty, they're all fringe players on the team.

But Van Exel, who has averaged 14.9 points and 7.28 assists per game in his five years with the Lakers, is still in his prime.

Unfortunately, as Kobe Bryant slowly matured in the 97-98 season, Van Exel's starting times were greatly reduced and began to be inconsistent with the team.

On top of that, Los Angeles fans have always had a lot of taste, and the Lakers need a savior rather than a good player, especially in the 'Magic' position.

Thus, Van Exel's tragedy was over, and he became the first target to be fired.

The simple reason is that the Lakers need to establish the core of the OK combination, and he will not allow anyone to challenge the leadership of the two, even if Van Exel is an All-Star.

In this deal, the Lakers lost on the surface, dealing with Van Exel's at 'cabbage prices', but also paved the way for the OK combination.

Without a doubt, it's a win-win deal.

But for Chi Liang, it's not so good, with Van Exel's strength, the Nuggets' ball control is bound to be concentrated on him.

It's very difficult to snatch the ball, at least in a short period of time.

During this shutdown, the team was forced to suspend the training camp due to the inability to contact the players during the period. A rebuilding team like the Nuggets will undoubtedly have a greater impact, because next season's Nuggets are basically rookies, and it will be difficult for them to go far without time to run in.

Not only that, but many players have also slacked off, and many players who lack willpower are completely tragic. Representing them were Sean Kemp and Vin Baker, who gained a lot of weight during the strike, so coaches were worried about whether they would be able to run freely on the court.

To some extent, this shutdown strike is a great boon for players like Chi Liang and Lafrenz who train hard.

Many players neglect training, and there is naturally less competition; They also have better stats against other teams.