Phoenix Suns, Grant Hill has returned from injury, and Antoine Walker has reached his peak phase. In this year's draft, they selected the French point guard Tony Parker, aiming to push their offense to the limit.
Along with the newly joined Las Vegas Radiance and the Seattle SuperSonics now having Jordan, the entire Western Conference is in chaos; no one knows who will ultimately stand out.
In comparison, the situation in the Eastern Conference is much clearer; as long as Tim Duncan stays healthy, the Boston Celtics have no rivals in the East.
This scenario of a strong Western Conference and a weak Eastern Conference except for one super team seems to be likely to persist for a long time.
However, for Jordan and Gan Guoyang, at their age and experience, they no longer care about the league dynamics, whether it's East strong, West weak, or West strong, East weak.
Gan Guoyang, who retired a year ago, and Jordan, who retired three years ago, immediately devoted themselves to team training.
No matter how complicated the reasons behind their comeback are, their love for basketball and obsession with competition will never change.
Otherwise, no amount of motivation could support two middle-aged men, aged 37 and 38, living such a tough monk-like life again.
The Radiance's training camp opened early in October, as a brand new team requires early training and integration.
Players selected in the expansion draft arrived in Las Vegas, and the team quickly arranged accommodation for them.
Everyone stayed together in MGM Hotel's luxury suites, enjoying premium room services, and they could eat, drink, party together in the evening and try their luck at the casino.
The purpose of this set-up was to quickly familiarize the players and form friendships, which would establish a good foundation for the training camp to begin.
For the young players, these days were truly enjoyable; the affluent Radiance not only covered all living costs but even reimbursed part of the expenses for special services, ensuring a fun night for the young players.
Of course, for veteran players with families and members of the coaching staff, staying in hotels isn't a long-term solution.
The team immediately began arranging real estate agents to find their preferred residence, and if possible, bring family over to reside together earlier.
The team's new head coach Rudy Tomjanovich had no intention of finding new housing for himself; he opted to stay in the hotel temporarily.
After arriving in Las Vegas, he lived every day in anxiety; he is a responsible and very competitive person.
He knows coaching a brand new team, especially one led by Ah Gan, is quite challenging.
As soon as he wakes up each day, he thinks about team building and constantly scouts for assistant coach candidates.
After who-knows-how-many phone calls, he finally brought in his old staff from the Rockets: Jim Boylen and Dean Cooper.
Currently, most teams in the league have three to four assistant coaches, yet Rudy Tomjanovich finds it tough to recruit more willing to come to Las Vegas; everyone is still observing.
Coaches are different from players; their circles are smaller, and they are middle-aged with families, often unwilling to relocate easily.
At least now he has two assistants, Rudy Tomjanovich began holding meetings, formulating training plans, and building team tactical structures.
To be honest, doing these things with partial knowledge of most players on the roster is like building castles in the air, filled with difficulties and challenges.
On the day before the training camp started, Danny Ainge called Rudy Tomjanovich: "Rudy, how's the preparation work going? The camp starts tomorrow."
"Honestly, a complete mess, I have no idea where to begin," replied Rudy Tomjanovich candidly.
"Well, I'm in the same situation; everything is a mess. Can you believe it? The team's operations are starting, and next month the games will begin—my heavens… You know what's sustaining us? Money and faith."
Danny Ainge's situation isn't much better than Rudy Tomjanovich's; although he managed to complete the expansion draft and player list, there was still plenty of detailed work to tackle as the manager.
From major aspects like team strategies, personnel arrangements to minor aspects like slogans and logos used in team promotions, the manager is responsible.
Moreover, the team's authority relations are unclear, often leading to multiple directives, everyone being enthusiastic yet often exerting efforts in opposite directions, counteracting each other and giving headaches to Ainge.
The good news is, once Ainge became manager, Gan Guoyang devoted himself entirely to basketball training.
He only asks questions and makes suggestions regarding specific matters without making any decisions, granting Ainge enough authority to organize the team system.
Otherwise, given Gan Guoyang's authority within the team, as soon as he speaks, whatever Ainge says would be nonsense; being a manager would be difficult.
Wang Fuxi also follows former boss Tang Jianguo's style and isolates basketball affairs from other team matters, ensuring they don't affect each other, not letting other business impact the basketball department's decisions.
This provided room for Ainge to exhibit his capabilities while also adding significant pressure on him.
In less than a month, Ainge became noticeably haggard, worrying about the potential outcomes of the first season.
The two continued chatting on the phone for quite a while, Ainge then said: "Rudy, your workload should actually be lighter than mine."
Rudy Tomjanovich replied, "Are you kidding? I'm about to piss blood, mate. I'm anything but relaxed."