[Michael Jordan Announces His Retirement]
The news had barely broken before the entire world was shaken.
Everyone thought it was fake news.
Danzi had just won a Three-Peat, reaching the NBA Finals three times without ever missing the championship.
And in last season's fierce battle against the Phoenix Suns, he had delivered the greatest NBA Finals performance ever, averaging 41 points per game.
To date,
Jordan had won three regular-season MVPs, three NBA Finals FMVPs, and two Olympic gold medals.
Seven scoring titles, three steals titles, eight All-NBA selections, six All-Defensive selections, and one Defensive Player of the Year award!
It was no exaggeration to say
that Danzi was the one true god of this era.
Yet,
he had chosen to retire at the very peak of his career!
Why?
At the press conference, Jordan gave the cameras this reason for retiring:
"Now, I have nothing left to prove. I no longer have the motivation to keep fighting, so I choose to say goodbye. I will take on the challenge of MLB."
But everyone knew that Jordan's retirement was about far more than one reason.
In July of that year, just one month after Jordan had led his team to an NBA Three-Peat, his father, James Jordan, was brutally murdered.
Old Jordan had gone to attend an old friend's funeral and parked by the roadside to rest. No one expected two young men looking for money to strike while he was still asleep, taking Jordan's phone and two NBA championship rings with them.
Ten days later, the police found Old Jordan's body and swiftly arrested the two criminals.
But no punishment handed down to those two criminals could change the fact that, at the most glorious moment of his life, Jordan had lost his father forever.
The incident affected him deeply. He completely lost his emotional pillar, teetered on the verge of collapse, and ultimately chose to retire.
Even though David Stern, the NBA's president at the time, fought desperately to keep Jordan.
Jordan's determination to retire was something even nine dragons pulling a coffin could not drag back.
"Li, this is insane."
When Kidd saw the news, he was so shocked he barely dared breathe.
"The Bulls just won a Three-Peat, but without MJ, who's even going to watch Bulls games?"
Li Fei shrugged.
Just the Bulls?
How enormous was the impact of Jordan's retirement on the NBA of the 1990s?
It was simply unimaginable!
The Bulls' ratings collapse was only a small part of it. The entire NBA's ratings fell by 35%!
Ticket sales dropped by 20%, while average ticket prices plunged by 15%. Advertising revenue and merchandise revenue each fell by 15% to 20%.
NBA stock prices, along with those of NBA-related business partners such as Adidas, Nike, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Air Jordan, all took a massive hit and plunged.
At the same time,
the impact on global sports culture and the emotional blow to fans were equally unimaginable.
Jordan had been one of the world's most popular athletes. His retirement left countless fans feeling lost and disappointed in the NBA, and huge numbers of basketball fans turned their attention to other sports.
"Li, do you think the NBA will have a lockout this season? MJ's retirement has had too great an impact."
"Don't worry. There won't be a lockout."
Li Fei smiled. "Not only will there be no lockout, the NBA's All-Stars are probably celebrating like crazy right now. This is their best chance to make a run at the championship."
Kidd nodded.
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Jordan's retirement
was like removing the biggest boss from an NBA battlefield where all the heroes vied for supremacy.
Li Fei said, "Whoever wins a championship during the two years Jordan is retired and carries the ratings will become a future superstar."
Thinking of that, Li Fei felt a little excited.
He would miss out this season.
But next season, he would enter the NBA. It was not as though he had no chance.
Forget championships for now. Whoever could raise the ratings and "hold up," even "make up for," the NBA's ratings during Danzi's absence
would surely become the savior of the entire league, its new darling.
They would receive the league's highest level of "special treatment."
In any era, a generational superstar needed the league's full support.
Even Jordan was no exception.
Without the league's star-making plan, Jordan could never have reached such terrifying heights.
"Li, how do you know MJ will only retire for two years?" Kidd asked doubtfully.
"Want to make a bet?"
Li Fei smiled. "MJ will return within two years. He might not even need two."
The failure of his baseball career, the Bulls management's aggressive efforts, the hopes and expectations of fans around the world, Magic Johnson's plea on his knees,
and, most importantly, the negotiations for the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement in 1995, along with Danzi's special contract, which allowed him to secure a super contract worth more than 30 million in 1996.
In the end, accompanied by that declaration that echoed across the world—"I'm back"—
Michael Jordan returned like a king near the end of the 1995 regular season, saving the NBA and saving the United States economy!
So Danzi had been gone for less than two full years. And Li Fei had reason to believe that, as he entered the NBA and the China market opened ahead of schedule, the butterfly effect would begin to flap its wings.
It was entirely possible that Jordan would return even earlier.
The news of Michael Jordan's retirement was so sensational that it became the focus of every fan's discussion.
As a result, NBC's newly released 1994 draft projections were completely drowned out.
Big Dog Robinson still ranked first overall in NBC's evaluation.
Although Big Dog had suffered the most humiliating blocked-shot game of his career in the warm-up game, his tough regular-season performances of 35 points and 10 rebounds per game still made him a top-pick talent.
Still sitting second was perennial runner-up Jason Kidd.
And since Tim Duncan and Keith Van Horn had announced that they would not enter next year's draft, neither of them appeared on the projection list at all.
Projected as the third pick was Duke University's refined gentleman, Grant Hill, as clean as the waters of San Jose Lake.
The muscular Juwan Howard and the long-range artillery piece Donyell Marshall ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lamond Murray of UC Berkeley held onto a projected tenth pick in the first round with his consistently steady scoring efficiency.
Li Fei, meanwhile, broke into the lottery in his very first appearance on the list, ranking directly behind Lamond Murray.
Eleventh pick in the first round.
"Li, you entered the lottery after only two games."
Seeing Li Fei's name on the draft projection list, Kidd looked extremely excited. "I told you, gold will always shine."
"Even eleventh isn't your real ranking."
Lamond Murray, standing nearby, also smiled. "After the next game, your projection will probably surpass mine."
However, Murray had still underestimated how quickly Li Fei's draft stock would rise.
After the California derby against the Bruins,
Li Fei shot straight into discussions for a top-five pick!
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