Stern had thought about inviting Gan Guoyang and Jordan to participate in the dunk contest again, but these two big shots were already uninterested in competing.
Lose, and it’s embarrassing; win, and it doesn’t benefit them at all. Who would participate in that?
Gan Guoyang had just gotten into the elevator, arriving at the 15th floor where his room was located. As the door opened, someone rushed in recklessly, almost bumping into him.
Gan Guoyang stepped aside and realized it was an old acquaintance, Pistons’ center Bill Lambier. He was wearing a fleece-lined suit and sunglasses, exuding an air of self-importance.
"Woh! Hello Sonny! Great to see you!"
"F**k You Bill, why are you here? Are you an All-Star? Are you in the top fifty?"
Gan Guoyang’s barrage of questions made Lambier a bit embarrassed. He took off his sunglasses and said, "Cleveland is relatively close to Detroit, I... I’m just here to watch the game."
Gan Guoyang didn’t have much of a relationship with this guy and was about to leave when Lambier stopped him, saying, "Hey Sonny, I wanted to ask you, does your company have any needs for packaging materials?"
"Packaging materials? Do you mean my construction company or funeral company? The construction company doesn’t need packaging, and the funeral company’s packaging is coffins and urns. Why, are you in this business?"
"Oh no no no, I’ve been running my own packaging company in recent years. You have a variety of industries, so if there’s a business need, you can contact me." Saying this, Lambier handed Gan Guoyang a business card.
On the card was printed "Lambier Packaging Company," indicating that this guy chose to go into business after retiring, though from his tone, it’s probably not doing very well.
Gan Guoyang accepted the card and said, "I’ll consider it, but you might want to consider transitioning to making coffins; this way our cooperation would be closer. Best to you, Bill."
After saying this, Gan Guoyang left the elevator. Lambier personally escorted him out, and only then did he go back into the elevator to go downstairs.
Gan Guoyang was right; the packaging company jointly funded by Lambier and his father wasn’t very successful.
This company is located in Detroit, mainly producing corrugated cardboard boxes, and many factories and enterprises in the Great Lakes region need cardboard packaging.
The problem was, although America’s economy was booming in the late 1990s, it wasn’t the traditional manufacturing sector that developed, but rather trade, finance, and technology.
The Detroit area was rapidly declining, and businesses were struggling more and more; without products being produced, his packaging paper naturally wasn’t useful.
And although Gan Guoyang did not dive into the hottest tech industry, he thrived in the funeral industry, becoming one of the four giants of the American funeral industry.
Furthermore, in the sports industry, his Skyscraper brand had become America’s most famous personal sports brand with huge global sales.
With numerous categories, various commemorative editions, and special editions, it had become collectibles for some collectors, with substantial brand influence.
Lambier figured if your shoes were all packed in my boxes, even just a portion of the orders from the Michigan area would keep him comfortably well-fed.
Who knew Ah Gan would suggest he make coffins; Lambier sighed, thinking about finding Coach Belman for connections in the future, hoping it might help.
-----------------
On the night of February 8th, the dunk contest and three-point contest of the All-Star weekend’s prelude show were held at the Cleveland Gund Arena.
There was heavy snow in Cleveland that day, with fans braving the cold to come to the arena, admire, and support their favorite stars.
Although no big-name stars were appearing tonight, this batch of young stars had extremely high popularity among fans.
For instance, those participating in the dunk contest included Kobe Bryant, Michael Finley, and the rookie challenge featured Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Kittelers, and others.
The rookie challenge was held first, and as the first rookie challenge in the league’s history, this game garnered multi-faceted attention.
It was from this rookie challenge that the league consciously and actively began its star-making campaign.
Previously, NBA stars needed pushing hands from officials and public opinion, but it used to be more unconscious or natural.
By 1997, capital sectors realized that stars can be packaged; talent is the innate foundation, but subsequent packaging and promotion are equally important.
An outstanding basketball idol can bring extremely rich returns—in shoes, advertisements, endorsements, movies and TV shows, and various commercial activities and community events.
The NBA needs idols, it needs stars, especially rising stars, because professional players update and iterate quickly; today everyone likes A, and tomorrow they might like B.
Moreover, generations of fans grow up quickly; this batch of fans likes Jordan and Ah Gan, while the new generation of fans needs new idols.
With interests at stake, capital and related organizations are motivated, and the NBA naturally needs to provide a platform for launching future stars; the rookie challenge is undoubtedly a beginning.
For this All-Star Game, the league no longer issued special All-Star uniforms but allowed players to wear their team jerseys.
This year the game took place in Cleveland, so the Eastern team wore the home team’s light-colored jerseys, and the Western team wore the dark-colored away jerseys (later because the Lakers’ home jersey was yellow and could be confused, so the Western team always wore dark-colored away jerseys).
The rookie challenge was the same, where players wore their team jerseys, colorful and diverse, blending well with the 90s style.
The league’s primary consideration for doing this was financial; the All-Star game helped promote team jerseys and boosted jersey sales.