Moreover, An Ji felt both nervous and excited about the challenge of the new team.
He knew that so far, the Las Vegas Radiance had only Gan Guoyang as a player, not a single other person.
With the preseason training camp starting in October, the team had only a few weeks to assemble at least a 12-man roster, which was no simple task.
You see, every time the League held an expansion draft, teams were always reluctant and unwilling, secretly playing tricks, not wanting their valuable players to be poached.
For example, placing players on the injury list or listing overseas players selected ten years ago but never signed, to create confusion.
Privately, they would still use all sorts of methods to beg, promise, slip money, doing whatever it took to keep quality players on their team.
The new team ended up with nothing but misfits, the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.
The situation for the Glory Team was even more dire because they missed the crucial 2001 draft and could only rely on the expansion draft.
Even An Ji, who had been mingling in the League for years, found this problem challenging.
The task of finding gold among the garbage was truly not something ordinary people could handle.
However, after An Ji officially signed the contract, Gan Guoyang said, "Danny, your immediate task now is to build a coaching team and set up medical, training, and logistics. As for selecting players, you don't need to worry at all; leave it to me. When the expansion draft list is out, I'll tell you who to choose."
As Gan Guoyang's old rival, An Ji had long heard of his prowess, dominance, and genius.
Anyone who had worked with Gan Guoyang, even a court genius like Bird, would marvel, "This guy is truly a genius, a real genius."
In the past, An Ji didn't experience it firsthand, but during this expansion draft, he finally felt it for real—Gan Guoyang alone spent just an hour finalizing the expansion draft list and then handed it to An Ji to negotiate and handle the specific matters.
That day, on An Ji's second day as the team's general manager, the two arrived at the office.
The headquarters of the Glory Team was set in the office building of the MGM Grand Hotel, where the two floors were their workspace.
Once the new arena was completed, they would move to the office area of the new arena.
Gan Guoyang sat down and asked the team's HR manager to print the collated draftable list for the 29 teams and bring it up.
Each team could protect eight players, and apart from those on the injury list, all non-free agents were available for the Glory Team to select.
Of course, this did not include first-round rookies. If the Glory Team wanted a first-round pick, they would need to negotiate a trade with the other party.
They could use future draft picks or cash to purchase, provided the other party agreed.
There were a total of 179 names on the list, an average of about six players per team, and all appeared to be the old, the weak, and the disabled.
Gan Guoyang asked the HR manager to sort the names alphabetically and first found the letter "P" to circle Terry Porter.
Seeing this name, An Ji thought this was a must-have choice; Porter had considered retiring with the Spurs for the last two seasons, but it seemed he had to work with old friends again.
"I heard that Porter was recently talking about retiring. Call him and tell him not to retire, come to Vegas and play with me. Give him good benefits and make him comfortable, don't be stingy."
"What if he refuses?"
"If he refuses, then you play."
"..."
Then, Gan Guoyang quickly circled name after name.
With each circle, Gan Guoyang would tell An Ji the situation of the player, how to communicate with them, and how to arrange their role and identity in the team.
It seemed he knew every player in the League—all of them, even rookies and fringe players—clearly and thoroughly.
How much preparation had this guy done behind the scenes to know both his opponent and himself to such an extent?
No wonder he could win 10 championships and beat the Dream Team to win the Olympic gold medal. It was truly commendable.
Even a proud person like An Ji greatly admired Gan Guoyang. This whole business of circling names must have been backed by an enormous amount of work.
In just one hour, Gan Guoyang circled 11 people, plus himself making 12.
Currently, the League's roster size has expanded from 12 to 13 and then to 15, leaving An Ji with three slots to use at his discretion, as it was his prerogative.
With the list of 11 players in his hands, An Ji needed to contact these players and their home teams, negotiate, and figure out a way to quickly transfer them to Vegas and form a new team.
However, An Ji was internally doubtful; was Ah Gan's player selection reliable? Could it be that he was choosing randomly?
But An Ji didn't think too much about it; he admitted that if he were to choose, he wouldn't know who to pick either, so he decided to stick with Ah Gan's choices.
Here are the 11 players on the list:
Terry Porter (Spurs), Raja Bell (76ers), Eddie House (Heat), Brad Miller (Bulls), Mark Jackson (Timberwolves), Scott Paggett (Jazz), Kevin Willis (Rockets), Isaiah Reed (Lakers), Gerald Wallace (King), Steve-Kerr (Trail Blazers), Gilbert Arenas (Warriors).