On June 28, 1997, two weeks had passed since the NBA Finals, and the 1997 NBA Draft had concluded three days earlier.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, David Stern and representatives from the NBA’s 27 teams showcased the most crucial part of this grand NBA event—its talent-producing mechanism.
Each year, only over 50 young individuals are selected through two rounds to enter this basketball empire, becoming a part of it, enjoying money, glory, and fame, while bearing all the blood and tears of professional sports.
Of these 50-odd young men, over half will survive in the league for more than three years, half of those will make it past five years, and half again will last over ten years.
Those who truly survive long-term are certainly at the pinnacle of this pyramid, and at the very top are those destined to be picked with the first overall selection as the chosen ones.
Tim Duncan is such a player, one destined to be selected with the first overall pick, a player touted as "the most likely to become another Gan Guoyang."
He could have entered the draft in 1996, but he honored the promise to his mother by completing four years of college before joining the draft.
For him, several teams tanked bottomlessly during the 1996-1997 season to increase their chances of obtaining the first overall pick.
Ultimately, it was the Boston Celtics who became the lucky recipients of the first pick in the May lottery ceremony, unhesitatingly selecting Tim Duncan at the draft.
Without a shred of hesitation, from the moment the Celtics obtained the top pick in May, the entire city began preparing for the arrival of this super inside player.
The Spurs, who got the second overall pick, were willing to trade any player—including David Robinson—for the Celtics’ first pick, only to be met with a firm rejection.
"Don’t even think about it. We’ve already started preparing new jerseys for Tim. Bill Sharman is going to give his number 21 to Tim. Forget it, Gregg."
Auerbach relentlessly responded to Popovich. It had been many years since the Redhead had participated in draft and trade affairs, but for the pursuit of Duncan, he gambled all his past prestige, pride, and expectations for the future, tanking for a high pick for the first time. There was no way he would trade away the opportunity to select Duncan.
Duncan wore number 21 in college, but that number had already been retired by the Celtics.
With the Celtics’ jersey retirement standards, there weren’t many conventional numbers left available.
But when the Celtics selected Dave Cowens in the past, Jim Loscutoff willingly gave up the number 18 jersey to Cowens.
Ultimately, Cowens’ performance led to number 18 being retired again, hung in the Celtics’ home arena rafters.
This situation was similar. Now the Celtics’ arch-rival, Los Angeles Lakers president Bill Sharman generously expressed willingness to give his number 21 jersey to Tim Duncan, stating, "It’s an honor for me and number 21 to see it back on the court. It’s a wonderful thing, and I have no objections."
The Celtics’ desire and recognition of Duncan were evident. Nothing could stop this stoic big man from coming to Boston.
After being picked, Duncan immediately received a warm welcome from the entire city of Boston. At a grand welcome gathering, Duncan confidently announced to fans, "Get ready for big wins and another championship!"
Beside him, Auerbach, cigar in hand, beamed with joy—a smile not seen on his pale face in ten years.
He compared acquiring Tim Duncan in this draft to the 1956 draft’s orchestration that landed Bill Russell, an operation that established the Celtics’ unmatched 11-championship dynasty and truly built the Celtics as the NBA’s first Evil Empire.
Forty years had passed, and Auerbach had aged, undergone a heart bypass surgery, and could no longer uphold a team’s operations.
Moreover, many of his ideas were outdated, not in step with the times, and the Celtics needed a new coach and manager to help Duncan revive the team’s prestige.
In past years, the Celtics adhered to an ancient artisan family operation principle, cultivating "one of their own" from the ground up, with people having green blood in every position, a tradition of unity, strength, and determination.
But in the ’90s this no longer worked, so Auerbach began hiring external professional managers, issuing stock, attempting changes to turn the Celtics into a modern team.
Now, Auerbach had two choices in hand. One was Rick Pitino, a legendary coach who had some achievements while coaching the New York Knicks and shone brightly in the NCAA.
The other was Bobby Berman, a legendary ornament who followed Gan Guoyang closely, using Guoyang’s influence to garner all the basketball honors.
Berman received a call from the Celtics in June, notifying him to come for an interview at the end of June. The team would choose between him and Pitino.
On June 28th, two days before the Celtics interview, Berman arrived at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas to watch the boxing championship battle between Mike Tyson and Holyfield with Gan Guoyang.