[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-569":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1444036,1896,"Chapter 569 - 1 1988-1989","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-569",569,"\u003Cp>[I like my surname—T-rump.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I named many things after my surname.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the T-rump Hotel that bears my name, you can slip on T-rump slippers, apply T-rump shampoo, dab a bit of T-rump conditioner, don a T-rump shower cap, take out T-rump brandy from the fridge, sit on a T-rump sofa, turn on the T-rump TV, and watch a game of the Portland Trail Blazers on ESPN.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sorry, but I couldn’t change the Trail Blazers to the Portland T-rumps, though the idea is nice with both starting with the letter T.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, when I acquired this team in 1988, in an effort to curry favor with Portland’s superstar, I swallowed my pride and let him give me a Chinese name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave me one and then extended his hand as a sign of acceptance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I liked this name as it heralded my future destiny, and I am very grateful for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I believe it was a gift from God, just delivered to me through His messenger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1988, Ah Gan was God when Portland won the three-peat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I remember him sitting half-naked in the locker room, cradling the gleaming trophy, his physique like a carved Greek statue, the golden cup shining brightly in his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was brought into the locker room by former Trail Blazers owner Larry Weinberg, I was nervous. I went over to extend my hand to him and told him we are going to create an even greater era!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just looked at me, indifferent. I knew that selling a team that had just won a three-peat was puzzling, and he was wary of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was puzzled too!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weinberg was a gentleman, like me, started with real estate. He loved basketball, but everyone’s passion has a limit; he was tired, he just wanted to be a pure fan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hoped the person taking over the team would also be a pure fan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I became one of the bidders, I wasn’t trusted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Initially, Weinberg favored Paul Allen from Seattle, who had made a fortune with Microsoft, a nouveau riche.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But during the playoffs, when plans to purchase the team were leaked, Weinberg called off the deal with Allen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some said I had leaked the plans, sabotaging Allen’s acquisition of the Trail Blazers. I completely denied it; integrity is the foundation of my business and my life. I don’t need such methods to achieve my goals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leak was by someone else; evidence pointed to Miami Heat’s head coach Pat Riley, who had recruited many former Trail Blazers players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He is the most cunning, the most deceitful conspirator in the league; he used many underhanded tactics to undermine the Portland Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, I appeared, I was the one to take over the Portland Trail Blazers, to build on the three-peat and create an even greater dynasty!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was a year of significant business expansion for me; I had ample funds. I planned to buy a casino hotel in Atlantic City, then assemble a luxury air fleet to fly wealthy people into the hotel for premium services.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This would consume about 600 million US dollars of capital, a highly risky investment. Many people advised against it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I had full confidence in myself; I believed there would be no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only problem was, I heard Weinberg wanted to sell the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart was completely stolen by the Trail Blazers; I’m a die-hard sports fan, in love with football, basketball, boxing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I always wanted to own my own professional sports team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1981, I attempted to purchase the NFL’s Baltimore Colts but was rejected, in 1983 I switched to acquiring the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, to take on the NFL.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, the USFL dissolved. Many people blamed my antitrust lawsuit against the NFL for this outcome, a baseless accusation. The USFL died because of the NFL’s monopoly and the loopholes in this country’s legal system, serving only certain classes of people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the Portland Trail Blazers could compensate for all my regrets, this legendary team, they were on the path to an amazing three-peat, who wouldn’t want them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, I took the lead in the bidding war by being willing to add an extra 50 million US dollars, pushing its price to a record-breaking 200 million dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>million dollars, for an NBA team, remember that just a few years earlier, this league was on the verge of bankruptcy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I only spent 6 million dollars when I bought the New Jersey Generals, but the Trail Blazers were worth it, completely worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This price made Paul Allen back off; he only had 175 million US dollars in cash after selling part of his Microsoft shares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Larry Weinberg was a gentleman, a fervent fan, but ultimately a businessman; he accepted this perfect price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, I easily dealt with the 200 million dollars, the simplest part of running an NBA team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I witnessed the Trail Blazers complete the three-peat at the Memorial Coliseum, a sight that remains vivid in my memory, as if the whole world was celebrating their championship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, I was in the locker room facing Ah Gan, the first challenge I had to deal with, how to get along with the team’s star player.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew he was the most incredible player in the NBA, a miraculous wonder, some Chinese people even worshiped him as a deity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I actually saw him, I knew it was true, and I even felt the urge to kneel before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I asked him, grant me a name, a Chinese name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the title of this book—\"My Name Is Tang Jianguo\".]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>————Published in 2017, an excerpt from T-rump’s autobiography \"My Name Is Tang Jianguo\".\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the summer of 1988, in June, after the Trail Blazers completed their three-peat, a series of events unfolded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the day of winning the championship, Tang Jianguo held a press conference in the locker room, announcing that he was the new owner of the Portland Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>",1003,"2026-06-06T01:41:33.911Z",1,"novelbin.me","8020449e481ea8f1021c67d6b38cb0acb65cc3391bc4299bcba21f64f595a78d","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-570","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-568",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]