NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 37 Sweet Dreams (1)

After the 1992 NBA Finals, Jordan could not enjoy a long vacation, but had to travel for his country and play in the Barcelona Olympics.

In fact, Jordan did not want to go to Barcelona.In the past two seasons, the Chicago Bulls have won the NBA championship, which means that for two consecutive years, Jordan has fought until June. He is tired and needs to rest.For an athlete, it is of course a great honor to play for the country, but it takes Jordan a lot of rest and adjustment time.What's more, as early as 6, before Jordan officially joined the NBA, he had already played in the Los Angeles Olympics and won the Olympic men's basketball gold medal. He felt that the opportunity should be given to young people now.

However, in the history of world basketball, the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 has extraordinary significance. The American men's basketball team that Jordan joined had a profound impact on the development of world basketball.Standing at the height of history and adopting a world perspective, the Barcelona Olympics does require Jordan's participation, which is Jordan's destined mission.

The story begins a long time ago.

In January 1974, Boris Stankovich, a 1-year-old Yugoslav, set foot on American soil for the first time in his life. He was sent by his boss to inspect American basketball.Mr. Stankovic worked for FIBA ​​(International Basketball Federation), when FIBA ​​Secretary-General R. William Jones (R.William Jones) said to him: "If you don't understand American basketball, you can't understand basketball."

At that time, Stankovic had not yet become the leader of FIBA. He was a complete layman to American basketball. He learned everything about American basketball like learning how to order hamburgers.Soon, a European who was obsessed with basketball was stunned by the way American players played.Stankovic later recalled with a smile: "It looked like another sport. The speed was faster, but at the same time the basic skills were solid. You watch a guy like Bill Walton play, watch for 1 minute, and you will find him. The level is much higher than anyone we have in Europe."

At that time, FIBA ​​prohibited professional players from participating in FIBA ​​games, and the rules of FIBA ​​were the rules of Olympic basketball, so American NBA players could not participate in the Olympics.At that time, everyone thought it was justified, and everyone believed that it would continue like this forever.However, outside the United States, some de facto professional players have been participating in the Olympics-many national teams are composed of the best basketball players in their countries, but those athletes "officially" are not professional players, but Be military or police.

Of course, no one is in a hurry to push NBA players to play in the Olympics, because even if college players are used to play, the status of American basketball is supreme and unshakable. The NBA and the Olympic Games are like two parallel lines, each facing each other and never intersecting.

However, Stankovic does not think so.Stankovic has been playing for America's best players since watching the American pros on television and seeing performances by Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Walter Frazier and Pete Maravich. Good players struggle with not being able to compete in the Olympics.Stankovic hopes that basketball can become better and stronger, but there is a gap between the NBA and FIBA ​​in the basketball world, which in Stankovic's view is intolerable.

After returning to Europe from the United States, Stankovic began to persuade Secretary General Jones to cancel the rule that only amateur players can participate in FIBA ​​competitions, clearing the way for the best American players to participate in the Olympics.Stankovic wasn't sure what Jones was really thinking, but Jones' instruction to him was: Don't do it.

Over the next ten years, FIBA's regulations have not changed.Although Stankovic became FIBA ​​secretary general in 1976, he never met "Magic" Johnson or Larry Bird until 1992 and only briefly watched Jordan play at the 1984 Olympics. .And these three were the best basketball players in the world at that time.

In 1985, NBA commissioner David Stern, along with vice commissioner Russ Granik, hosted Stankovic at the league offices in New York.After a few pleasantries between the two sides, Stankovic went straight to the point. He said: "I don't agree with these restrictions, who should play and who should not play. The best players in the world should play in all games, including the Olympics. But , I couldn’t do it alone.”

Later, many people took it for granted, saying that Stern had long had global expansion ambitions, and immediately realized the importance of connecting the NBA and FIBA, and soon began to cooperate with Stankovic, but this is not the case.At first, Stern didn't want to get involved in the Olympics.Granik later said: "David and I felt that globalizing basketball was as much a burden as a benefit. That's what we told Boris at the time."

However, Stankovic then suggested setting up an event where NBA teams and FIBA ​​teams could participate and communicate with each other as the first step of cooperation. Stern immediately agreed, saying: "We will host the event." And so was born the McDonald's Open, which was first held in Milwaukee in 1987.

Stern doesn't plan to send his players to the Olympics, in large part because he has more pressing and thornier problems to solve than global expansion. The league was poorly run in the early 20s, and when Rick Welts was hired to oversee league sponsorships in 80, the NBA had no business plan at all, and it wasn't selling anything to anyone.Wiltz and his colleagues found that the nation not only didn't pay attention to the NBA, but completely and utterly hated it.Wiltz said that there were too many black players in the NBA at that time, too many drug problems, and too many teams were losing money. The NFL, MLB and college sports were more commercially valuable than the NBA. Investors even preferred Choose the NHL and don't choose the NBA.

To change the survival dilemma of the NBA, the only thing marketers can do is to brighten the lights on the stage to attract more people's attention.Stern had been taking advice from Stankovic, and one idea Stankovic kept feeding Stern was this: If the United States could get their best players together and put them in the same jersey, Send them out to play and great things will happen.

To get all the stars together is to turn the lights on the stage to the brightest.

For NBA players to appear in the Olympic arena, it needs an opportunity. It needs to give Americans a sense of urgency. Will shake soon.

This is the fact.

Since basketball became an Olympic sport, the U.S. has rarely lost a gold medal.From the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the United States won seven consecutive Olympic men's basketball gold medals. It was not until the 7 Munich Olympics that there was an accident.

The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was notorious.The U.S. team and the Soviet team fought to the last moment and it was still hard to tell the outcome. Three seconds before the end, the U.S. team led by 1 point with Doug Collins' two free throws, and the Soviet team had a chance to make the final blow.Next, the most controversial scene in the history of Olympic basketball occurred: the referee unbelievably judged that the game was not over after two consecutive offensive misses by the Soviet Union, and gave the Soviet Union a third chance to serve out of bounds. Scored the ball for the first time, thus narrowly winning 51 to 50 and winning the gold medal.The Americans were outraged, and they refused to receive the silver medal after the game.

After 1972, the United States successively won the men's basketball gold medals in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (the 1980 Moscow Olympics was boycotted by the United States due to political reasons), reshaping the image of the king of basketball. The accident in 1972 seemed to be caused by a conspiracy, and there was no shame in losing.

However, the overall level of world basketball is improving, and the gap between other countries and the United States is narrowing. This is a reality that cannot be ignored.By 1988, USA basketball was shaking even more strongly than it had been in 1972.

The American men's basketball team that went to the Seoul Olympics in 1988 was coached by Georgetown University coach John Thompson. The team included David Robinson, Danny Manning, Mitch Richmond (Mitch Richmond), Dan Marley and other future NBA stars, the book strength is not weak.But all the way to the semifinals, they suddenly encountered an unprecedentedly strong Soviet team and lost 76 to 82.This time, there is no conspiracy.A crisp defeat, a real defeat.

The group of Soviet players in 1988 can be called the most elite group in the history of their country, including the famous super center Arvydas Sabonis, and the first-class guard Sarunas who later entered the NBA · Matthew Leonis (Sarunas Marciulionis).The whole team is not only strong in personal ability, but also very well trained. Their head coach is the legendary coach, Alexander Gomelsky, known as the "Silver Fox".

Facing the United States, Gomelski is also facing a big enemy.Two days before the semi-final, he began to communicate with his players individually, talk and cheer.Matthew Leonis remembers the coach coming to him three times, each time with the same message: You have to believe in yourself, Americans are not gods, they're just college players.

On top of that, top players like Matthew Leonis, Sabonis, Alexander Volkov, get extra motivation.The organization either explicitly or implicitly, directly or obliquely, in short, let them know in their hearts: If you play well this time, you can go abroad and play in the NBA."We saw the Olympics as our ticket to freedom," Matthew Leonis later recalled. That was no small motivator.

Gomelski also set the stage for John Thompson's tight end.In the training session in Seoul, Gomelsky seldom practiced anything else, just kept practicing screens, using various complicated and well-designed screens, liberating Matthew Leonis, and playing for Sabonis, Wolverine Erkov creates an open shot.Gomelsky asked the perimeter players to control turnovers as much as possible. He told his men: "Don't let them fast-break dunk! Once you give them that opportunity, their arms will become wings."

According to Gomelsky's instructions, the Soviet team really killed the US team.It was a bona fide victory and, as David Robinson later said, "the team was robbed in 1972, we were beaten".

It is conceivable that the shock of the 1988 Olympic Games to American basketball far exceeded that of 1972.The gold medal is the Soviet Union, the silver medal is Yugoslavia, and the bronze medal is the United States.American basketball is third, and American basketball is only ranked third!

Americans obviously don't want to see such a situation happen again, they have to make changes, they want to win back their dignity, they want to let the world know what the real American basketball looks like, and they have to make a big move.

After the United States lost the 1988 Olympic men's basketball gold medal, calls for professional players to participate in the Olympics became louder. In April 1989, FIBA ​​passed a resolution to abolish the provision that professional players cannot participate in international competitions.In this way, since 4, the Olympic Games has officially opened its arms to NBA players, and the Americans can send their best players to conquer the world.

After the FIBA ​​decision was passed, the NBA executives quickly got involved in the work of the American Basketball Association.

The so-called "Basketball Association" is actually a term borrowed from an official Chinese organization.In the United States, the first organization recognized by FIBA ​​and responsible for organizing the US national team to participate in FIBA ​​international competitions is the AAU Amateur Sports Union.Until 1974, an organization called "American Amateur Basketball Association" (ABAUSA for short) was established. After a power struggle, they became the official organization of American basketball and were recognized by FIBA ​​and the US Olympic Committee.After April 1989, the word "amateur" lost its meaning, and ABAUSA was reorganized into USA Basketball, which is the American Basketball Association we know later.

USA Basketball has a few specific questions to address in sending professional players to the Barcelona Olympics, not the least of which is: What caliber of NBA players will be involved?At first they felt that it would be nice to have six NBA players participating, and these six NBA players might not be top stars.The reason for thinking this way is that they feel that the NBA's elite players will never sacrifice their vacations for an Olympic gold medal.

Of course, who will coach this team is also a question.At first, in the opinion of the American Basketball Association, there will be no fundamental change in the overall mode of team participation in the Olympic Games. "Coach" Mike Krzyzewski will be the obvious choice to head coach.However, after the NBA took over the power of the Olympic men's basketball selection committee, the situation changed.

Even among the major coaches in the NBA, the name Chuck Daly was not the first to be mentioned by everyone.Don Nelson applied for the job early, and Pat Riley and Larry Brown were also very popular candidates.Selection committee member Billy Cunningham was the first to propose Daly.When Cunningham was coaching the Philadelphia 76ers, Daly served as his assistant.

In 1989, Daly had just commanded the Pistons to win the NBA championship.A year later, in the summer of 1990, before the selection committee made its final decision, Daly won another championship.In addition, Daly has a special advantage: He has coached in high school, college, and now in the NBA, representing all classes of coaches in the United States.Bottom line: No one doesn't like Daly.

The "Bad Boys" coached by Daly played rough and fierce, and made many enemies, but for some reason, Daly had a way to separate himself from the bad image of the Pistons, as if he was not a member of the "Jordan Rules" The chief designer is just a helpless father who can't control his children.Former Bulls general manager Rod Thorn, who has served at the top of the NBA, said: "Chuck's ego is not as strong as his team's ego."

On Valentine's Day 1991, a limousine picked Daley up before the game and rushed him to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.There, Daly was told that he had been elected as the head coach of the 1992 USA Basketball team and that Lenny Wilkens would be his first assistant.

With the coach identified, USA Basketball wanted to announce the roster in September 1991.The earliest idea was 9 NBA players + 6 college players; soon, this idea gave way to the "6+8" combination plan; it didn't take long for even "4+8" to be untenable.CM Newton, a member of the selection committee, said that seeing those famous names in the NBA, it is difficult for you to let go of any of them. At that time, they knew that the college kids were finished and they would not have a chance.

(End of this chapter)