The internal "bullying" by the Dream Team towards young players allowed Gan Guoyang to successfully gain a spy.
Of course, Reiner himself doesn’t see it that way; he just thinks he’s making a phone call to chat with Ah Gan and share his thoughts.
He truly has a lot to say, a lot of grievances to vent, and a future full of fear and uncertainty.
A week ago, on June 24, the 1992 NBA Draft took place in Portland, a rare occasion where the draft moved from New York to the Oregon Rose Garden Arena.
This draft left a lasting impression, bringing several talented super rookies into the league, including Reiner.
The top three picks were all claimed by new teams; the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and Minnesota Timberwolves gained valuable high picks.
It’s hard to say whether there were any behind-the-scenes moves by the league here, as it seemed the NBA wanted these new markets to get more talent, improve their records, and expand their market.
The side effect of this is that talent continues to be diluted, making it much harder for traditionally strong teams to get super rookies.
If there hadn’t been an expansion, the top three picks might have gone to teams like the Dallas Mavericks or Denver Nuggets, who would become strong playoff contenders with a super rookie.
But for bottom teams like the Magic and Hornets, only time will tell if they can truly utilize their valuable picks.
With the first pick, the Magic secured the monstrous center from Louisiana State University, the extraordinarily talented super rookie Shaquille O’Neal, a giant who dominated the paint.
There was no controversy over O’Neal’s position as the No.1 pick; even if the Magic’s management were blind, they would know to choose this astonishing Shark.
The Charlotte Hornets then picked Georgetown University’s center Alonzo Mourning with the second pick, and Reiner was selected by the Timberwolves at the third.
The top three picks were all centers, with the first two having extraordinary talent, already famous on the college stage, and destined to become superstars.
Reiner had a lot of controversy; although his team performance was excellent, NBA drafts rarely focus on a player’s achievements or championships—they look at future potential.
As a white center, Reiner was inherently not favored, especially with Ah Gan entering the league and nearly eliminating slow, less explosive white centers.
Though Reiner wasn’t a traditional big white center, he always wanted to play like Black players, but his talent didn’t allow him to do so.
At NCAA and Duke, he could do whatever he wanted with physical advantage and systems, but in the NBA, it’s the realm of monsters.
After the draft, Reiner was summoned to the Dream Team, which sparked some controversy at the time.
At this point, he hadn’t officially entered the NBA professional circle, hadn’t graduated from college (lacking one credit for graduation at the end of the spring semester), theoretically still a college player.
Of course, the point of controversy wasn’t his identity as a college student, but why he was chosen instead of Shaquille O’Neal or Alonzo Mourning?
The committee gave a clear explanation: because Reiner was a better college player.
Indeed, during his years at Duke, Reiner bagged every player honor possible.
Leading Duke to two championships and defeating teams of Mourning and O’neil head-to-head in games.
In NCAA, Reiner could be called the dominator, but his talent was visibly inferior to O’Neal and Mourning.
After joining the Dream Team, Reiner felt immense pressure, realizing he couldn’t keep up with their training pace.
Johnson, Bird, and Jordan were all seasoned players on the court, having no patience to guide newcomers.
Either you can keep up with us, play back and forth.
If not, and you can’t catch passes and make constant mistakes, just wait to be yelled at.
That’s just one aspect; more frustrating was his lack of any voice here.
Outsiders saw him as a mere decoration, believing his selection was just to have a college player on the team.
The participation of NBA players in the Olympics was still controversial at the time, and having such a decoration would silence some people.
Being theoretically the best in college basketball, such treatment was hard for the proud Reiner to accept, yet he had no choice.
Hence, while for stars like Jordan, Bird, and Johnson, the Olympics process was a tour, play, and a basketball Dream Journey, for Reiner, it felt like a nightmare.
The huge contrast before and after was like a local tyrant, a little tycoon, suddenly entering the top tycoon circle, being excluded and suppressed everywhere, almost worthless.
The little tycoon could stop playing, return home and continue being a local tyrant, but Reiner couldn’t; the door of NCAA had closed for him, and he’ll have to continue his basketball career in the NBA.
Quitting the Dream Team was even more impossible; being selected was a great honor, quitting halfway would be laughed at for life, so he had to endure.
During the third game against Panama, he really couldn’t take it anymore, being bullied and harassed by these big shots, having his pants pulled down in front of the entire American public, utterly humiliated.
At night, Reiner found a public phone in the hotel, dialed the number Gan Guoyang gave him, and vented crazily about the Dream Team to him over the phone.