Chapter 736 - 1 Shadow_3

From a business standpoint, Jordan would no longer just be an athlete under Nike, but rather a partner on equal footing with Nike—even without a championship, his influence remains matchless.

Jordan’s European tour had come to a successful close. At this time, the Gulf region was clouded with the threat of war, and America was constantly dispatching more troops to Saudi Arabia, with transport planes delivering soldiers to the desert.

However, Jordan didn’t think this was something he should concern himself with, as it was not within his control. He was more interested in returning to Washington to play golf and finding out how Ah Gan’s activities in South America were going.

He managed to make a call to Gan Guoyang in Argentina, wanting to ask when he would return to America, planning to train with Ah Gan for two weeks to continue improving himself.

The overseas call took a while to connect.

"Sonny, it’s Michael."

"Go to hell, Michael, it’s two-thirty in the morning!"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot about the time difference between Europe and South America."

"F*ck you... Spill it quick, I want to sleep."

"How has South America been treating you?"

"What can I say? Play games, attend events, take photos, referee, play against myself, first half for Team A, second half for Team B, beat myself, or lose to myself. This is the job, it must be done well, work that must be completed."

Gan Guoyang started such diligent work as a basketball idol earlier than Jordan.

When younger, Jordan took more interest in throwing parties, mingling with different women, gambling, playing golf, and fooling around with friends everywhere.

But not Gan Guoyang; he got married young and began constraining his behaviour early on, doing what needed to be done, saying what needed to be said, visiting the places he ought to visit.

Now, Jordan felt he was becoming more and more like Ah Gan.

"Any interesting stories? How’s the World Basketball Championship going?"

"Portland Trail Blazers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, the core players of the two finalist teams are our men, the Americans got eliminated again, haha!"

In 1990, Argentina hosted the Men’s World Basketball Championship, where in the semi-finals, Yugoslavia defeated Team USA 99 to 91, shaming American basketball once again.

This Team USA was still composed of college players, with strong players at its core like Alonzo Mourning, Kenny Anderson, and Reiner, who had excelled in the NCAA.

However, Yugoslavia was simply too powerful; they had Divac, Petrović, Toni Kukoc, and a group of other talented players, a European Dream Team, a group of true basketball geniuses.

A US team assembled purely from college players was already no match for the surge of European basketball; the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia faced off in the finals—Petrovic and Divac faced their teammate as well as their old rivals from the 1988 Olympics Finals, Sabonis.

The more mature Divac, alongside Petrovic and Kukoc, with a hefty 92 to 75 victory, defeated the former champions, the Soviet Union men’s basketball, and hoisted the World Championship trophy.

Yugoslavian basketball had reached their golden generation’s peak.

Unexpectedly, this would be Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union’s last appearance together in an international competition, their final showdown.

"You know, we didn’t even send our best players, the 1992 Olympics is when the real showdown will happen. Sonny, you’ll be attending the Olympics, won’t you?"

"Of course, I will definitely represent China at the Olympics."

"Wow, that will be quite the spectacle, I think everyone will be eager to compete with the China Team."

In the 1984 Olympics, because of Gan Guoyang, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team was inexplicably thrashed by Team USA.

In 1992, Gan Guoyang will personally represent China Team in the competition. One could imagine how Team USA will be indignant and eager to fight...

The two chatted over the phone for a while longer, agreed upon the arrangements after returning to America, and with Gan Guoyang too tired, he hung up the phone.

After hanging up, Gan Guoyang couldn’t fall asleep for quite some time. He thought about this Men’s Basketball World Championship, where China Team lost all three matches, with a net score difference of -103 points, which can be described as a complete mess.

To participate in the 1992 Olympics, even if someone added an Ah Gan might still be tough; it is certain that they couldn’t beat America. By then, who knows how those bastards will jump around.

However, being able to fight for the country, Gan Guoyang was already very satisfied; just do his best.

What he was more worried about was another discordant scene during the finals of this World Championship.

After Yugoslavia won the championship, players like Divac and Petrović celebrated frantically. At that moment, a fan holding the Croatian flag rushed onto the court.

Upon seeing this, Divac went forward, tore off the Croatian flag from the fan’s hands, and pushed him away, telling him, "The victory belongs to Yugoslavia, not just Croatia!"

This action was captured by the cameras and quickly caused a massive uproar within Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia, like the Soviet Union, had many constituent republics and had many ethnic groups, among which the Croats and the Serbs were the two largest ethnicities, with very sharp contradictions between the two.

In 1990, with changes in the international situation, friction began to occur between the Croats and Serbs in Yugoslavia. In May, during a match between Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb, the fans from Zagreb clashed fiercely with the police. In Yugoslavia, the police represented Serbian oppression over the Croats.

The act of Divac tearing off the Croatian flag through a sports event further magnified the conflict between Croats and Serbs.

People ignored the fact that the championship was a result of the joint efforts of talented players from both ethnicities and instead seized the flag incident to attack each other. In Serbia, Divac was hailed as a hero safeguarding national unity, while in Croatia, he was despised by all Croats.

Divac’s teammate and close friend, Petrović, was a firm nationalist. He took pride in being Croatian, and Divac’s actions put Petrović in a difficult position.

At that time, Gan Guoyang was at the scene watching the game. After the game, when he entered the locker room of the Yugoslavian national team, he could feel that the atmosphere was clearly off. Divac and Petrović, usually very close, didn’t sit together after winning the championship; instead, they ignored each other.

Especially Petrović, who remained silent, not giving Divac a single glance.

As a teammate of both players, Gan Guoyang couldn’t do anything at the time. Ethnic conflicts are not something that anyone can easily mediate.

In terms of talent, both were seen as the future stars of hope for the Portland Trail Blazers, pivotal figures on the road to the Trail Blazers’ dynasty.

But war, the shadow of ethnic conflict, loomed over them, and also shrouded the Trail Blazers’ locker room and their path to title defense.

The 1990s of the Trail Blazers thus began.