The summer of 1998 slowly faded away in the autumn breeze.
The taste of victory gradually disappeared in the rainy autumn of Portland.
For the fans here, and for the Trail Blazers players, the fragrance of the perfect 77-win season was enough to savor for a long, long time.
Until the preseason training camp began, most of the Trail Blazers players were busy participating in various activities.
Unlike the 1980s and early 1990s, the NBA’s influence is now greater, with a wider reach and higher revenues from commercial activities.
Take Kobe Bryant, for example. He just turned 20 and is about to enter his third professional season. The Trail Blazers have already secured him with a 5-year, 62 million US Dollar contract, which will officially take effect in the 1999-2000 season.
This means Kobe’s salary matches that of Pippen, who has fought in the NBA for many years and achieved numerous accolades.
Although Kobe’s stats and on-court performance don’t yet qualify him as the Trail Blazers’ core player, both the management and the owners are optimistic about his bright future.
Besides the team contract, Adidas also upgraded Kobe’s shoe contract to 50 million US Dollars, and he received a series of commercial endorsement deals.
Such as Sprite, Spalding basketballs, and a Nintendo game specially designed for him.
Kobe’s sister and brother-in-law also moved to Portland to help Kobe’s parents manage Kobe’s business collaborations.
His sister witnessed Kobe’s influence in Portland. When they went shopping together, more and more people came up to ask for autographs, making it almost impossible to move around.
This is the kind of treatment that Ah Gan and Jordan enjoyed in their youth.
The Trail Blazers are a nearly perfect team, but a player’s popularity often doesn’t directly correlate with the team’s strength.
Some teams are exceptionally strong, but the players often lack the prowess to attract young fans.
For example, the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz have few supporters outside of their local fan base.
But the Trail Blazers really only have superstar popularity with Gan Guoyang, Kobe, and Little O’Neal.
Other players only have a large following locally, and elsewhere in America, they are only known without many willing to pay for them.
Among Kobe and Little O’Neal, only Kobe has global influence, with fans worldwide.
In the summer, Kobe embarked on his first Asian tour, hosting basketball camps in Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and Japan to meet his fans.
Of course, the most important stop was in China, the capital, where young Kobe displayed his skills at an outdoor court to the fans.
But according to Kobe, the fans in China remained calm, not as fervent as those in Korea and Japan.
Some fans even asked, "Why didn’t Lao Gan come? Without him, it’s not the same."
"Your skills aren’t there yet; you need to practice more, young man."
"Strive to win a championship after Lao Gan retires and lead the team yourself."
People in the capital were enthusiastic, keenly pointing out Kobe’s skills and affectionately calling Gan Guoyang ’Lao Gan.’
To Chinese fans, the world’s best are among them, so they don’t get too surprised by players from other countries, even American ones.
Besides the Asian tour, Kobe returned to America to host a charity bowling match, recorded a rap album, and attempted to engage in more "adult" events.
However, Kobe’s overstepping was immediately met with stern opposition from his mother, Pamela, who still treated Kobe as a child, strictly disciplining him and isolating him from those "unsavory" people.
Yet Kobe was already somewhat resentful inside, though not strongly. He was still willing to heed his mother’s advice and do the right things.
Like earning an economics degree, or watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at home—Pamela even forbade Kobe from watching "The Godfather," believing it distorted Italian culture and would corrupt Kobe.
Kobe suppressed himself, like many teenagers excessively controlled by parents, with a flame inside him with nowhere to vent.
The good news was, Kobe channeled most of the irritation and motivation from this flame into the training gym.
As September entered the mid to late period, Kobe began to actively engage in training, continuing to polish his one-on-one skills with near-madness.
He often trained alone in the old Memorial Coliseum, where the championship banners that once hung from the ceiling had already been moved to the Rose Garden Arena.
But one thing had always hung above the Glass Palace—that was Gan Guoyang’s number 11 jersey.
When Gan Guoyang first retired in 1994, he didn’t have a jersey retirement, but Portland fans insisted on hanging his number 11 in the Memorial Coliseum.
Because regardless of whether Gan Guoyang would return, his memories with the Memorial Coliseum had ended here, witnessing the glorious youthful years of Gan Guoyang.
Every time Kobe looked up, he felt a strong drive to surpass, to challenge.
He always trained alone, in the empty Memorial Coliseum, facing the basket to start his rhythm-filled footwork.
He would immerse himself in his imagination, envisioning Ah Gan defending him: left, right, feint, pull back, a quick fake followed by a sudden attack, breaking Ah Gan’s defense, dunking right over him!
Every time he made such a dunk, Kobe would gleefully shake his head, reveling in the moment.