Chapter 2 The Wise One

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Gan Guoyang took the soonest flight back to Los Angeles.

Because he knew that, shortly after the Finals ended, the draft would take place.

If it was true what Tang Jianguo had said on the phone, that Jerry West had resigned from the Lakers, then the Trail Blazers had to quickly secure this experienced and highly qualified general manager to be involved in the drafting and trading processes.

The Trail Blazers' failure in the '89 playoffs was indeed influenced by Fleisher's passing, but that was just the immediate cause.

Just imagine, if the Trail Blazers had been strong and invincible like in '86 and '87, Fleisher's death would only have motivated Gan Guoyang to turn grief into strength, and honor his late friend with a championship.

The reality was that the '88-'89 Trail Blazers had too many gaps, and their margin for error was already very small.