Unlike the drug and violence scandals that filled the NBA in the 80s, by the 90s, the negative news related to basketball was all tainted with the stench of money.
Not only the NBA, but other professional sports leagues, as well as the NCAA, were also suffering from the erosion of money.
America is a peculiar place, on one hand, it’s the country with the most developed capital in the world, the core of global finance.
From the 1990s onward, world history essentially revolves around America, unfolding with finance and the green US dollar as the lubricant of the spinning axis.
On the other hand, America is far more conservative than one might imagine; even many years later, they still endlessly argue over issues like abortion, with the influence of conservative religion never fading in grassroots communities.
Contradiction and division are particularly obvious in this historically short, immigrant melting pot society, like in the neighborhoods of big cities, where, across the street, one side is a pleasant, warm community, and the other is a slum plagued by gunfire and crimes.
In the basketball world, the NCAA showcases this contradiction and division, creating commercial value comparable to the NBA on one side, yet not paying the athletes a single cent in wages on the other.
The scholarships given by schools hardly reflect the value of star players, who are highly likely to enter professional leagues in the future and earn vast wealth.
So, who knows how many "flies" buzz around these tempting player prospects, trying to establish private connections through money and bribery, hoping for future cooperation to extract greater value.
Such matters have abounded since the 70s and 80s, and the NCAA, to maintain the "purity" of collegiate leagues, strictly prohibits players from having financial connections with schools, professional teams, agents, etc., with severe punishment upon discovery.
For instance, in 1982, when Gan Guoyang graduated from high school and was preparing to choose a college, he was almost certain to join the University of San Francisco to play, inheriting the great legacy of Bill Russell.
However, University of San Francisco’s star player Quentin Daley was investigated for alleged rape, which implicated a series of incidents of illegal recruitment by the University of San Francisco, ultimately leading to the university’s NCAA participation qualification being revoked and the disbandment of its basketball department.
This incident led Gan Guoyang to miss his chance to study and play at the University of San Francisco and instead was picked up by Gonzaga in Spokane through sheer luck, creating the most legendary and perfect championship in NCAA history.
Besides the University of San Francisco, prestigious schools such as UCLA and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have also faced various degrees of penalties from the NCAA association for similar violations relating to illegal recruitment.
By the 1990s, the economic value of rookie players had become increasingly extensive, and agents were able to reap more and more profits, with some cunning agents even exploiting black star players who lacked financial management knowledge.
An increasing number of people from various backgrounds poured into the player agent industry, with more and more violations and shady operations, and the atmosphere was filled with the scent of money and hormones.
On February 17, 1996, exactly one year ago, University of Michigan basketball player Morris Taylor, driving a Ford Explorer, was involved in a rollover accident on the M-14 highway.
What started as a simple traffic accident revealed unexpected findings; during the police investigation, they discovered Morris Taylor attended a special party the previous night in Detroit, which involved gambling, alcohol, drugs, and sex trades. Besides him, multiple University of Michigan basketball players were present, all registered NCAA members.
The party organizer was an auto worker named Ed Martin, a former employee at Ford Motor Company’s Rouge plant during the 80s, a time when the American auto industry was under the assault from Japanese cars and was in decline.
Martin blazed a different trail, starting to organize illegal gambling inside the factory, accumulating wealth and using part of the drainage funds for subsidizing the auto workers, offsetting income declines due to industry recession, which made Martin a well-regarded figure locally.
This discovery prompted the NCAA investigation committee to intervene, thus unveiling a bribery case that involved the then-renowned Michigan Five players.
In February 1997, as the investigation deepened, University of Michigan basketball coach Steve Fisher was fired by the school due to the scandal, although it was proven years later that he had not committed any major wrongdoing.
By March 1997, University of Michigan and Big-ten League released their first joint investigative report, showing that Ed Martin indeed had intricate connections with University of Michigan basketball team’s star players from the mid-80s to the early 90s.
This included gifting cash and various presents, purchasing plane tickets for their families, providing interest-free loans, and offering access to prostitutes, all common issues found in previous violation investigations.
The investigation did not end with the release of this report; rather, it marked the beginning of a long legal battle, with initially acclaimed University of Michigan stars like Chris Weber, Juwan Howard, and Jalen Rose all being involved in the investigation, facing endless interrogations, inquiries, testimonies, and pressure from public opinion.
At this time, the NBA was deciding playoff round positions at a critical stage, with the Western Conference second-place contest between the Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets becoming more intense in March.
Before the incident escalated, the win margin between the two teams was around 0.5 to 1 game; whichever team relaxed slightly could lose the second and fall to third place.