As the rookie tryouts concluded and scouting reports were released, the NBA also finished its regular season, officially entering the playoff contention phase!
The top eight teams in the Eastern Conference: Bulls, Magic, Pacers, Cavaliers, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, and Heat!
The top eight teams in the Western Conference: SuperSonics, Spurs, Jazz, Lakers, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Suns, and Kings!
In the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Jordan, leading the Bulls, swept the Heat, led by Mourning and Tim Hardaway.
The Magic, led by O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, swept the Pistons, led by Grant Hill and Allan Houston.
The Knicks, led by Ewing, swept the Cavaliers, led by Terrell Brandon.
Due to Reggie Miller's injury, the Pacers were upset by the Hawks, led by Steve Smith, who staged a comeback.
In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the SuperSonics, led by Payton and Shawn Kemp, smoothly defeated the Kings, led by Richmond.
The Spurs, led by David Robinson, smoothly defeated the Suns, led by Barkley.
The Jazz, led by Malone and Stockton, were nearly defeated by the Trail Blazers, led by Strickland and Sabonis.
The Lakers, led by Ceballos, Divac, and Eddie Jones, surprisingly fell in the first round, losing to the Rockets, led by Olajuwon and Drexler!
In the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Ewing's challenge to Jordan failed, and the Knicks were eliminated by the Bulls.
The Hawks' comeback momentum halted, unable to stop O'Neal, who had entered his prime!
The Magic advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, challenging the invincible Bulls!
In the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, Olajuwon and Drexler lost to Payton and Shawn Kemp, and the Rockets were swept by the SuperSonics.
The Spurs and Jazz battled fiercely for six games, ultimately losing 2-4. David Robinson could match Malone, but Avery Johnson was completely outplayed by Stockton... Moreover, from beyond the three-point line, no Spurs player could counter Hornacek's three-point assault...
In the Eastern Conference Finals, O'Neal was hampered by foul trouble, and Anfernee Hardaway alone couldn't overcome Jordan. The Magic were unfortunately swept by the Bulls and eliminated.
The Western Conference Finals featured the SuperSonics and the Jazz, both teams built around a center and a point guard as dual cores! Their strategies were largely similar, with the outcome depending on team depth and on-court performance.
Ultimately, Malone and Stockton's combination proved slightly inferior. In Game 7, Payton and Shawn Kemp led the SuperSonics to a four-point victory over the Jazz, advancing to the Finals to challenge the strongest Bulls!
In the NBA Finals, despite Payton's trash talk, he could not overcome Jordan's triumphant return!
Playing baseball had not affected Jordan's dominance in basketball. The Bulls once again claimed the championship, bowing down to a league of strong contenders...
With the exciting NBA Finals concluded, the 1995-1996 season came to a successful end!
For the players, after nearly nine months of a long season, they could finally enjoy a well-deserved vacation.
Most NBA players chose this time to take their families and friends to the beach for a holiday.
Of course, there were also some workaholics who used their vacation time to hone their fundamental skills, address their weaknesses, and improve their techniques.
However, for the team management, the work was far from over!
Because immediately following the NBA Finals was the 1996 NBA Draft!
The success of the draft, to a certain extent, would directly impact the team's future... With a stroke of luck, selecting a talented player could directly help a team achieve a breakthrough opportunity not long after... Therefore, throughout the league, no team management dared to underestimate the NBA Draft.
On June 27, 1996, the NBA Draft was held as scheduled at the Continental Airlines Arena, the home of the New Jersey Nets, in East Rutherford!
Two months prior, this venue had hosted the NCAA Final Four! Wake Forest University, led by Josh Heisman and Duncan, had defeated UConn, led by Ray Allen, and Georgetown University, led by Iverson, to lift the 1995-1996 NCAA Championship trophy!
Two months ago, this court had been a lucky charm for Josh Heisman.
Two months later, would this court still bring him luck?
According to past practice, the top 20 to 25 most anticipated rookies of the year would be invited to the draft site to await their destiny!
In the area between the stage and the audience, where the rookies waited to be drafted, was a section enclosed by a meter-high green partition, commonly known as the "Green Room." Invited rookies and their parents and friends would wait in this area for David Stern to announce their names.
The league had invited 21 players to the Green Room this year!
And Josh Heisman's projected ranking from various sources was around the 21st pick in the first round, with expectations he would be selected by the Knicks!
Perhaps, David Stern's original intention was to invite 20 rookies. Last year, Stern had invited 20 rookies to the Green Room.
However, with David Stern currently vigorously expanding the Chinese market, how could he miss out on a trump card like Josh Heisman?
Thus, David Stern waved his hand and increased the number of spots from 20 to 21, as any number below 25 did not break tradition.
And so, Josh Heisman earned his qualification to enter the Green Room at the Continental Airlines Arena! Being invited to the Green Room indicated that his prospects had been recognized by most teams in the league. At the very least, Josh Heisman did not have to worry about going undrafted. Most likely, he would be selected in the first round!
Of course, this was not a foolproof guarantee. The NBA Draft had seen players projected to be in the top three, with high expectations for a front-row seat in the Green Room, whose draft position later slipped beyond the top 10. Some were even more unfortunate, with players projected in the top 14 lottery picks eventually falling to the second round before being selected. In an extreme case, even a rookie sitting in the Green Room could go undrafted...
However, this last scenario was extremely rare.
Josh Heisman would most likely be selected by a team in the latter half of the first round.
Originally, Josh Heisman had wanted to invite Keira to the Green Room to witness the start of his professional career. However, upon hearing that Josh Heisman's mother would also be traveling from China, Keira reconsidered and ultimately chose to decline. This left Josh Heisman somewhat disappointed.
However, Keira had promised to watch the live broadcast on television and cheer him on.
With Keira not coming, it would be rather meager to bring only his mother into the Green Room! So, Josh Heisman invited his good friend John and his roommate Duncan to accompany him and provide some support!