Stern wiped his mouth and said, "Thank you, Sonny, for ending this boring debate. If our league can always be united and harmonious in the future, that would be great."
Gan Guoyang said, "Would that still be the NBA? The league needs competition, it needs topics, if everything is too peaceful, who will watch our games?"
"That’s what’s performed on stage, privately, everyone is friends, not enemies, right?"
"As everyone makes more and more money, maybe it will really be like that. We’re all brothers after all, competing on the court, cooperating off the court."
Stern smiled and said, "It would be great if you could always be the head of the Players Union; the league would definitely be stable and prosperous."
Gan Guoyang said, "Come on David, I’m just a player, I just want to play well. It’s just that I promised Larry back then; if Larry were still here, I wouldn’t have come out to be the chairman. I’m Chinese, not American. Many people already opposed me stepping in, so whoever wants to do it can do it. I’ve already promoted Robinson to the vice-chairman position; he’s a good person."
Stern said, "A good person is not necessarily a good chairman, Sonny. You’ve done a lot for this day, it wouldn’t be good to give up halfway, would it? Talks in ’98 have a lot to implement. Who understands the intricacies better than you? Look at MLB and NFL, they’ve all suffered from negotiations and shutdowns, making life hard. NBA has come a long way to get to this point, and if the union comes out to mess around, disrupt the order, and destroy the games, that’s not what I want to see."
Even though it’s only 1997, David Stern is already preparing for the big negotiations in the summer of 1998.
Ten years ago, in 1987, Larry Flesher and David Stern started early preparations for labor negotiations.
Back then, the management was unprepared, and Stern was ambushed by Flesher, attacked at the 1988 Chicago All-Star Game, and the management was ultimately defeated and compromised.
Now, with Stern representing the management, they are strong and powerful. Although they were ambushed again during the 1996 talks and had to compromise, the formal negotiations in 1998 will be very different.
Of course, Stern really doesn’t want both sides to tear each other apart, which would benefit no one.
Ah Gan is indeed a tough opponent, but Ah Gan is also very smart and won’t do things that are too irrational.
In these kinds of negotiations involving huge interests for many parties, it’s not the smart opponents you fear, but the crazy or dumb ones.
With smart people, you can negotiate; at worst, you make some concessions, and in the end, everyone is happy.
With crazy or dumb people, you can’t reason with them, and if they self-destruct, everyone ends up covered in mud.
And in NBA, there’s no shortage of self-righteous crazies and energetic but not-too-bright fools.
Both types of people are highly destructive, and if they gain the discourse power of the Players Union, the negotiations are bound to end in mutual destruction.
Stern is confident of winning, but he doesn’t want to ruin the current great situation. He hopes the NBA will continue to be stable and prosperous.
"You’re someone we can trust, and if you are the opposing party, we all feel at ease."
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Of course it’s a compliment! You should really think about it. I’ve always said the secret to sports industry development is dictatorship. While playing, you can be the chairman of the Players Union, and after retiring, you can be the union president, and we can maintain a stable cooperation."
With no one around, Stern’s words were quite blunt.
For one, he is a straightforward person, and secondly, at this moment, he holds all the power, indeed having nothing to fear.
Gan Guoyang finished the last piece of steak on his plate, wiped his mouth, and said, "I’ll consider it, Mr. President. It’s indeed a fortunate thing for the NBA to have you."
Stern nodded with a smile, but Gan Guoyang added, "But your luck is meeting players like me, Michael, Hakeem, and Charles; remember to cheer for us tomorrow night."
Stern’s face darkened again; Ah Gan is still as unruly and untamed, but with him around, many things, whether domestic or abroad, are indeed a lot easier.
And while Gan Guoyang doesn’t like some of Stern’s dictatorial ways, he clearly understands that Stern is indeed someone who can shelter the whole league from the storm.
In America, this jungle society, he single-handedly raised the NBA into a giant, sitting at the top of the food chain, not being devoured by bigger beasts; all NBA players have him to thank.
Leaving the restaurant, Gan Guoyang got on the elevator, preparing to return to his room to rest for a bit, then go to the All-Star night’s rookie challenge match and the dunk and three-point contest in the evening.
This year, the league canceled the previous Legends game; the old guys really couldn’t take it anymore, and with pensions, they lacked the motivation to keep playing and make a fool of themselves.
The league had a sudden inspiration: since the old ones couldn’t do it, why not bring in the young ones? Rookies surely have more motivation to perform than the old guys, and the games would be more exciting.
On one hand, the league can promote some new players to create momentum for future publicity, and on the other hand, there are no worries about players being injured or getting sick cautiously.
Replacing the Legends game with the Rookie Challenge is indeed a genius idea, aligning with NBA’s development strategy—to look forward, not backward.
As for the dunk contest and three-point contest, with fewer and fewer participating stars, the attraction of these two events is declining.
Internally, it’s been tentatively decided that this year will be the last dunk contest, and next year, new events will be designed to attract fans.
Of course, the specific design of the new events has not been decided yet. In any case, the current dunk contest has become an advertising board for the young guns to increase their fame.