Early in the morning, Liu Lang came to a gymnasium located on the outskirts of Los Angeles, because a basketball game will be held here today, between the Chinese team and the American team.
The stadium was buzzing with people, and the tickets were basically sold out. Basketball is a big sport in the United States. Although it is not as good as football, today is the game of the US national team, which of course attracted a lot of people's attention.
Liu Lang, Sun Hu and Mo Lan found their seats in the front row and sat down. Because this was a first-class seating area and each ticket cost one hundred dollars, it was quite empty compared to other areas.
Liu Lang was an avid basketball fan in his previous life, and he was also good at basketball. When he was in college, he was the main guard of the team. This game is to cheer for the Chinese team, and to take a look at the future basketball god.
Performance.
With ten minutes left before the game, several people came to Liu Lang's front row. One of them was Wang Chong, the head of the Chinese Olympic Committee delegation and the head of the National Sports Commission. He saw Liu Lang and came over immediately.
.
"Liu Lang, are you here to watch football too?"
"Grandpa Wang, you are here too!"
"Not only am I here, look, your Grandpa Samaranch is here too!"
Behind Wang Chong is Olympic Organizing Committee Chairman Juan Antonio Samaranch. When Liu Lang won three championships before, he said that he had personally awarded the medal to him.
"Little guy, we meet again!"
Samaranch was very friendly to Liu Lang and leaned down to touch the little guy's head.
"What? You also like basketball?"
Samaranch asked.
"Today is our national team's game, I'm here to cheer them up!"
Liu Lang said.
"well!"
Samaranch nodded.
There was a man following behind Samaranch. He was not tall, about forty-three or forty-four years old, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looked very shrewd. He saw Samaranch and Wang Chong greeting a child.
He was stunned for a moment, and then nodded to the child.
"Who is this person?"
Liu Lang recognized the right person at once. It turned out to be NBA President Stern.
Haha, it’s just to watch a game, and the president of the Olympic Committee and the Pope of the NBA are also here, so there’s no need to be so “mobilizing”.
In the American basketball world, it is not an exaggeration to call Stern the "Pope". In his previous life, the reason why the NBA became a basketball game that attracted the world's attention was closely related to Stern's vigorous promotion and reform.
relation.
Liu Lang knows the history of the NBA very well. In this era, although there are already superstars like "Magic" and "Bird" in the league, there are various problems in the league due to lax management, many of which
Players are all troublemakers. Even if they have great skills, they have more negative news. For example, the story of Marshal Zhang and 20,000 women is a household name, so the outside world has a very bad impression of them. In addition, internal
In chaos, the NBA was even on the verge of bankruptcy.
After Stern became the president of the league, his ability was immediately demonstrated. He formulated various management matters internally and promoted positive energy externally. In just a few years, he put a league on the verge of bankruptcy on a track of rapid development.
And the relationship between Stern and China has become a legend.
Liu Lang once read in a book that Stern had taken a fancy to the incomparably huge market behind China since he became the league president in 1984. He had been working for the Chinese market for many years, but at that time the country
It was just after the reform and opening up, very few people could afford TV sets, and the national TV station only had two channels of programs. Who would care about basketball games?
It wasn't until the early 1990s that Stern provided some videos of games to national television for free, which allowed some domestic sports enthusiasts to come into contact with the sport. The Dream Team was born at the 1992 Olympics.
, let the world see what real basketball is, and since then the influence of the NBA has spread rapidly around the world.
Liu Lang was sitting in his seat, and Stern was walking in front, chatting and laughing with the two "leaders". The future basketball pope was still just a fledgling manager at this time. The first question now was how to turn the NBA into a new player.
On the right track, but even during this period, he had already begun to make plans for China. He was a born business wizard.
Soon, players from China and the United States entered the stadium, and the audience burst into warm applause.
Liu Lang didn't know any of the members of the Chinese national team this time, but he knew two of the members of the U.S. national team. One was naturally the future god of basketball, Jordan, who wore jersey No. 9, and the other wore No. 6.
Liu Lang is also very familiar with the player in his jersey, who is dark and tall, and whose facial features resemble a gorilla. He is Ewing, the star of the New York Knicks, a traditional strong team in the 1990s.
In the 1984 Olympics, the Olympic Organizing Committee did not allow American professional basketball players to participate in the Olympics, so this time the American teams were all college players. Of course, Jordan had actually become a member of the Chicago Bulls through the draft at this time, just to
To participate in the Olympics, the two parties did not formally sign an agreement. Legally, he is still a college player.
As soon as the whistle blew, the two sides jumped the ball. As soon as the Chinese center jumped up, the ball was pushed aside by the opponent's "big black man". Jordan, wearing the No. 9 jersey, caught the basketball with a movement. At the same time, a Chinese
The players also rushed over to stop the opponent, but Jordan bent down and accelerated, disappearing in front of the defender like an arrow from a string.
Liu Lang saw clearly that the player on the Chinese team who wanted to defend Jordan was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that the opponent could be so fast. When he turned around, Jordan was already four meters away.
In just five steps, Jordan had already reached the opponent's basket from half court, then soared into the air like a roc, sticking out his long tongue and smashing the basketball into the basket!
"I am Cao!"
Liu Lang clearly heard Wang Chong's unconscious exclamation. Apparently the ball "scared" him.
"This black player jumps so high!"
Wang Chong said to Samaranch beside him, and the translator in front also started to translate at the same time.
Samaranch's eyes also lit up. This dunk was indeed pleasing to the eye and made people feel the charm of basketball.
"This player is called Jordan, and he is a college player!"
Stern explained from the sidelines.
"Is this college student so powerful?"
Wang Chong and Samaranch felt incredible.
It's not that this college player is great, but that these college players are all great. The two sides are not at the same level at all. Maybe the Chinese team is not inferior to the other side in terms of tactical coordination, but the physical difference is too much. They have already established a defensive position.
The opponent only needs an acceleration to pass the defender cleanly, and two players can't catch up even if they attack from front to back.
Jordan is even more unstoppable on the court. When he gets the ball under the basket, he dunks it, which makes the center flip over. However, the Chinese team basically cannot score the ball under the basket. Even if they can take a shot, someone in the sky is waiting and slaps them.
He was slapped away, especially Ewing, who grew up like a gorilla and had amazing strength. When he arched his butt, the opponent staggered. The Chinese team could only score in the mid-range position by relying on mid-range shots.
The game only lasted five minutes, and the score was 25 to 10, entering garbage time.
"This...is this called basketball?"
Wang Chong was dumbfounded. There have been some basketball competitions in Asia in the past few years. This national team is the absolute top team. That is to say, there are several teams in East Asia and West Asia that can compete with the Chinese team. The remaining teams are basically
They were scum above, but now, their team has become scum, and the opponent is just a group of college students. If they were adults, they wouldn't be able to go to heaven!