Chapter 673: Chapter 55: The Curse of Misfortune
January is a brief lull for the NBA; this period belongs to the NFL.
The NFL playoffs reached their climax at the end of January, with the Super Bowl taking place on January 28th at the Louisiana Stadium in New Orleans.
The San Francisco 49ers easily defeated the Denver Broncos with a score of 55:10, lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second consecutive year, and securing the team’s fourth Super Bowl in history, becoming the most successful football team of the 80s, and unsurprisingly gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated’s February issue.
By February 9th, another major news shook the North American professional sports world: MLB began a lockout due to labor disputes.
This was the seventh strike in MLB since 1972, showing that baseball players are indeed quite militant.
The reasons behind the labor disputes were similar to the NBA’s, also relating to free agency transfers and signings.
Following the NBA’s example, the Players Union sought free agency, desiring to switch teams without restrictions.
Without reaching a consensus in the negotiations, the Players Union decided to strike until an agreement could be reached.
The MLB lockout objectively shifted the professional sports spotlight to the NBA, with the NBA All-Star Game kicking off in Miami on February 11th.
This year marked the first All-Star Game of the 90s, introducing some new faces, while former All-Star regulars disappeared from the fans’ view as time passed.
Jabbar retired, and Moses Malone was no longer in his prime, dropping out of the All-Star Game.
The Eastern All-Star’s starting center was the in-form Patrick Ewing, while the Western All-Star’s starting center was firmly occupied by Guoyang Gan.
On the substitute list, A.C. Green of the Lakers, Terry Porter of the Trail Blazers, Reggie Miller of the Pacers, Scottie Pippen of the Bulls, and Dennis Rodman of the Pistons made their first appearance in front of the general public.
Karl Malone, due to injury (not inflicted by Ah Gan), was unable to participate in the All-Star main game, and his starting position was filled by A.C. Green.
Green, an inconspicuous yet unique individual in the NBA League, found himself with possibly the only opportunity to start in an All-Star Game in his career.
David Robinson originally had a high call to enter the All-Star Game, but the Western Conference could only select two centers.
With Ah Gan and Olajuwon occupying the two spots, it was a great pity that Robinson missed out on becoming an All-Star.
The competition for the center position was fierce.
With David Stern’s vigorous reforms and the League’s careful preparations, the influence of the All-Star weekend kept growing.
This Miami All-Star brought forth many memorable NBA moments.
In the most thrilling dunk contest, Scottie Pippen showcased his tremendous jumping ability with a free-throw line dunk.
The dunk was highly difficult, but his body was stiff in the air, lacking grace and beauty.
Much like his personality, he never seemed to let go.
Shawn Kemp, another contest participant, was the opposite, fully displaying his flamboyant personality in his dunk moves.
However, Kemp, flamboyant as he was, lacked originality in his moves and fell during the semi-finals.
In the end, legendary dunker Dominique Wilkins defeated Kenny Smith to win the Dunk King title once again.
However, when opponents were no longer Michael Jordan or Ah Gan, who were unwilling to participate in the dunk contest, the significance of the event was not as high as it was in the 80s.
Gradually, as Dominique Wilkins also became reluctant to participate in the dunk contest, the event would slowly lose its association with superstars, becoming a stage for the younger generation to vie for exposure.
Compared to the dunk contest, another event, the three-point contest, was a bit more joyful—thanks to Clyde Drexler.
This year’s All-Star was held in Miami, Clyde Drexler’s home court; logically, he should have participated in a dunk contest to showcase his prowess.
However, multiple unsuccessful attempts at previous dunk contests left Drexler disillusioned, and he no longer wanted to participate.
Jordan and Ah Gan tried desperately to persuade Drexler to join the three-point contest, especially Jordan, who normally had an average relationship with Clyde and even sent him text messages expressing his eagerness to see him in the three-point contest.
Drexler was no fool; he knew exactly what these two trashy brothers were up to: they wanted to see him embarrass himself on home court!
Therefore, Drexler firmly refused, no matter how Ah Gan tempted him, for fear that he might break Jordan’s record of only 5 points in the event.
However, David Stern personally stepped in, hoping Clyde would participate in either the dunk contest or the three-point contest.
As Miami’s sole star, if you don’t perform some act to spice up the All-Star Game, the League would feel like the event was missing some excitement.
David Stern’s intervention in various events was unprecedented; when he first became president, he even inquired about the placement of napkins on the dining table, let alone key programs like the dunk and three-point contests.
The keen-nosed Stern noticed that stars were losing interest in these two events.
Superstars like Jordan and Ah Gan refused to participate in these events, despite all persuasions.
As the host of Miami, Clyde Drexler naturally had to shoulder the responsibility; choose between the dunk and the three-point contest.
