CHAPTER 1298: CHAPTER 525: THE NEW SEASON BEGINS

On the 24th, the preseason games were all completed. The Bobcats won all seven games: at home and away against the Hawks, away against the Magic Team, at home against the Bucks and Brooklyn Nets, away against the 76ers, and at home against the Toronto Raptors.

Zhang Yang played an average of 19 minutes per game, totaling 72 points, averaging 10.3 points and 2.3 assists. With limited playing time, he focused his stamina on shooting training.

During the preseason, his shooting value reached 100,000, allowing him to claim a talent point, which randomly ended up being a Three-point Talent. He initially hoped for a Mid-range Shot, as reaching 96 across the board would mean balanced development and align more with ’his’ form from the ’80s.

However, getting the Three-point Talent wasn’t bad either. With the three-point talent cap raised to 97, he could reach the historically high level of 95 more quickly.

By the end of the preseason, he had accumulated over 30,000 shooting value. Based on last season’s performance, he should be able to gather over 60,000 shooting value by the middle of November.

After preseason, the Bobcats had only two days for preparation.

Carlisle ultimately didn’t sign Adam Morrison or Sagana Diop to bolster the frontcourt depth, as he wasn’t impressed by the trial players.

Due to the failure to recruit Iverson, who decided on October 20th to return to the 76ers, Carlisle opted to re-sign Tyronn Lue.

Coach Lu had retired once in 2008, served as a Bobcats scout for a while, and later returned to play upon receiving an invitation from the Magic, feeling it was more enjoyable to play alongside the players at his age.

Carlisle valued Tyronn Lue’s experience with the Triangle Offense, allowing him to serve as a backup point guard if needed in special circumstances...

After the two days of rest, it was October 27th, and it was the opening day of the regular season for the Bobcats.

This season, the regular season openers for all teams started 2-3 days earlier than previous years, including the Bobcats.

This came from the ’player relief plan’ negotiated in 2005 between the NBA and the Players’ Union, which, coupled with the extended regular season ending date from last season by 3-4 days, gave a select number of teams, including the Bobcats, an additional week of rest compared to the 06-07 season. Today there was only one NBA game scheduled, involving the defending champion team.

A week’s time might not seem long, but this had been secured after three years of negotiations between the NBA officials, team owners, and arena holders.

Many arenas operate not solely for NBA games. For instance, besides hosting games for the Lakers, Clippers, and NHL’s Kings, the Staples Center is booked with concerts, award ceremonies, and other major events throughout the year. Professional teams can’t even use the training facilities on non-match days, leading teams like the Lakers to invest in joint-ventures to build separate training facilities.

Sterling wasn’t as concerned about appearances as Buss, and directly rented an abandoned textile factory 40 minutes’ drive from Staples, converting it into a training center, merely costing him the renovation fees.

Before 2007, the Bobcats’ Tuhang Stadium had no other business, otherwise Jordan wouldn’t have been able to acquire the team and stadium bundled for just over 300 million. Back then, singers and event organizers preferred hosting events in Church Hill, Durham City, or Raleigh City, corresponding with the largest sports venues in North Carolina, Duke, and Carolina regions.

But after winning the championship in 2007, Tuhang Stadium saw a surge in business, becoming incredibly busy during the prime times before winter and early summer.

Only a few arena owners, like those of the Luhang Arena in Rutherford Town and the Target Center in Minneapolis, wished the NBA season would extend, since continued season duration meant more visitors to the stadium, potentially boosting expenditures.

From what Zhang Yang understood, when Jordan first supported extending the season during a meeting called by NBA Vice President Stu Jackson with team owners and the Players’ Union in 2006, he later stood against the Players’ Union after famous singers added a Charlotte stop to their tours between late June and early July of 2007.

Initially, the NBA and Players’ Union plans in 2005 proposed extending the schedule by 10 days to two weeks, but a compromise reached by the owners only extended it by 5 to 7 days, partially cutting preseason time without moving up training camps, negatively impacting the labor negotiations ongoing since then that would expire in 2011.

This primarily stemmed from issues dating back to the ’80s, when the NBA had as few as 21 teams, frequent back-to-back road games occurred within divisions, fewer flights were needed, and schedules were less burdensome. Playing 82 games over 5.5 months was manageable then.

However, the roster expanded to 27 teams by the late ’80s, leading to dispersed game schedules and increased pressure, which became apparent by the early ’90s. Following the continuous dominance of the Magic Bird rivalry and the Bad Boys Legion, NBA’s popularity surged. The league, which once relied on singers and actors to fill the spotlight, became something they sought to align with, leveraging the NBA’s heat. Currently, with 30 teams, the 5.5-month schedule is clearly overloaded... Addressing the schedule extension before the ’90s would have eased later issues.

But Stern was human and had room for oversight. Upon taking over the NBA, the league was recovering from the nightmares of the ’70s, facing numerous internal challenges and competition with the ABA. While he successfully unified the North American basketball market by absorbing the ABA, when Stern became president, the league was a wreck, brimming with untapped potential...