Chapter 796: Chapter 22 Missed an Ah Gan_2
Winning championships, Gan Guoyang is stronger, but in terms of popularity, one has to admit Jordan is a notch above.
It’s an undisputed fact that guards sell more shoes than centers.
This season, Jordan earned $10 million from endorsements and commercials off the court, which is four times his contract salary.
Together with Ah Gan, he surpassed Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and others to become the hottest and most profitable commercial spokesperson in All-America.
He had so many endorsement activities that he simply ignored the smaller invitations.
For instance, a $20,000 store opening or a $25,000 business meeting attendance—easy gigs that could pay more than a lower-tier player’s half-season salary—were directly dismissed by him.
Jordan wasn’t willing to attend these, preferring to play golf or hang out with close friends instead.
Except for Jordan, no one else on the Bulls could secure high-value endorsement deals.
John Paxson shot a commercial for a razor because he had a decent image.
Bill Cartwright was invited to shoot a public service advertisement, for which he was not compensated at all.
As the second in command, Pippen received a sneaker contract worth $200,000, making him the highest-paid endorser on the team after Jordan.
This is the biggest difference between Jordan and Ah Gan; both could earn handsomely, but Ah Gan led his team to four championships, thereby boosting the value of his teammates.
Players like Kossie, Porter, and Thompson clinched numerous endorsements in Oregon, bringing in much more than the average NBA player.
Without championships, the Bulls only had Jordan as a true valuable asset, leaving teammates unable to benefit from his shine.
So, it was natural for Jordan and his teammates to become increasingly distant from each other.
After the outbreak of the Gulf War, this became even more pronounced and obvious, as the external major event caused ideological shocks within the team.
Hodges was like an internal time bomb, concealing his beliefs and viewpoints, yet he continuously expressed his dissent secretly.
After finishing an away game in Orlando, Chicago Bulls flew to Atlanta to prepare for the match against the Hawks Team.
The famous Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, which houses the renowned Martin Luther King Center.
Under American law, the third Monday of every January is Martin Luther King Day; in 1991, this day fell on January 15th, the day before the outbreak of the Gulf War, and also the US-imposed final deadline for Iraqi troops’ withdrawal.
On January 18th, a few Bulls’ players, including Bill Cartwright, Hodges, and Grant were invited by Turner TV station to visit the center along with Mrs. Kleta, the widow of Martin Luther King.
During the visit, Hodges talked with Mrs. Kleta about the war, pointing out that after the outbreak, over fifty percent of the frontline combat troops were Black, making them the most vulnerable in war.
Luckily, Turner TV didn’t broadcast the visit live, nor did they put their discussion on the news headlines, otherwise it would have sparked another media uproar.
Of course, not every Bulls player was keen on participating in such serious social activities, as most NBA players were indifferent to such events.
Coming to Atlanta, many players were very happy because there are many nightclubs here, especially some adult-rated ones.
When players like Levinston arrived in Atlanta, their first thought was to have the PR manager arrange a visit to a VIP nightclub to enjoy themselves, otherwise the long away game trips were simply too dull.
In the end, he went to the Golden Club and enjoyed the ’big chest to face’ service.
On the evening of the 19th, the Bulls played an away game against the Hawks.
The Bulls maintained the lead for the first three quarters, entering the fourth quarter 10 points ahead of their opponents.
But in the fourth quarter, the Hawks launched a counterattack, capitalizing on the Bulls’ sudden shooting slump in offense, quickly narrowing the gap to just 1 point.
This season, the Hawks changed their head coach, Mike Frilot left the position, and before leaving, he informed the team management that Dominique Wilkins was an utterly selfish player and with him, the Hawks could never win enough games and championships.
Bob Weiss, who took over from Frilot, had played for Chicago Bulls during his player career and served as an assistant coach for multiple teams after retiring.
After Weiss took over, he adjusted the roles of the Hawks’ players.
He required Wilkins to participate more in defense and rebounding, transformed the aging Moses Malone into a role player—he was no longer the MVP he once was—and allowed Spud Webb to take on a bigger role.
This little spud had an average scoring of 14 points this season, and as the second shortest player in the league, he had become a vital member of the Hawks’ backcourt.
Bob Weiss’s control over the team was stronger; it was said that if a player didn’t play according to his plans, he wouldn’t let them play at all, thus transforming the overly lax and selfish team.
In the fourth quarter, the Hawks turned the situation around, although Jordan still scored 30 points, the Bulls’ bench did horribly.
The Bulls’ bench scored only 21 points in total, whereas the Hawks’ bench scored 47 points.
Grant managed 11 points and 10 rebounds in the game, accounting for half of the bench scoring.
