Due to the extended hiatus, many players with weak self-control developed issues with weight gain or excessive drinking.
Camp and O'Neal were prime examples of players experiencing significant weight gain! O'Neal fared better; his weight gain was distributed evenly, even leading to another period of glory. Camp, however, suffered greatly. The rapid weight increase severely impacted his agility on the court, ultimately causing a sharp decline in his performance.
Van Every represented the issue of alcoholism. Numerous players have had their careers derailed by alcohol abuse; Van Every was neither the first nor the last.
The outspoken Barkley later summarized the labor dispute with a rather insightful observation: "Everyone was a loser. We missed three months of games, and we hurt the fans and our intangible assets…"
He Xi Meng had long known that this labor dispute would drag on for a considerable time, so he kept his schedule packed.
From representing the Chinese team in the World Championships, to accompanying his mother on the Nike China Tour, to visiting Kaila on a beach in Puerto Rico for a vacation, and finally returning to Los Angeles early to train with Kobe...
On February 5, 1999, when the new 1998-1999 season officially kicked off, He Xi Meng had already adjusted his condition, ready to team up with Kobe and O'Neal to once again contend for the championship!
This time, the Bulls dynasty had crumbled, and the league was entering an era of fierce competition...
On opening night, the league scheduled 12 games, featuring nearly all the teams. The opening matchups were truly something to behold...
The Bulls were again pitted against the Jazz. However, without Jordan, Pippen, or Rodman, the Bulls, led by Harper and Kukoc, were no match for a Jazz team with an unchanged roster. By halftime, the Jazz held a 15-point lead over the Bulls, and the game held little suspense. At the end of the game, the Jazz easily defeated the Bulls, marking the end of an era.
The Lakers' first game of the new season was against the formidable Rockets!
That summer, the Rockets signed Pippen to a massive five-year, $77.36 million contract. This was the largest contract of Pippen's career!
Speaking of Pippen's player contracts, it's a story filled with hardship. Due to a lack of foresight and an overemphasis on long-term security, Pippen earned only $20 million in salary during his ten years with the Bulls, averaging $2 million per year...
In 1987, when Pippen first joined the Bulls, he signed a six-year, $5 million contract. In 1991, after the Bulls won their first championship in franchise history, the two sides renegotiated.
During this time, His Airness had advised his new partner that long-term contracts were not cost-effective as the salary cap increased. However, Pippen, adopting a "content with mediocrity" mindset, did not heed Jordan's advice and instead stubbornly agreed to a new seven-year, $18 million contract with the Bulls...
And so, the league's best second option, earning an annual salary of $2 million, helped His Airness secure six championships... Was there any player in league history with a better cost-performance ratio?
Therefore, faced with the Rockets' lucrative offer, Pippen didn't even hesitate to give up his role as the Bulls' leader and headed straight for Houston to form a new Big Three with Olajuwon and Barkley. For money, he willingly demoted himself from a second option to a third option...
When the Rockets offered Pippen a substantial contract, their expectations were clearly high. If not an immediate championship, at least a Western Conference title, right?
In their first game of the new season against the Lakers, the previous season's Western Conference champions, the Rockets management paid close attention, wanting to see how Pippen would mesh with the two veteran leaders on the team.
The Rockets' starting lineup consisted of Olajuwon at center, Barkley at power forward, Pippen at small forward, Michael Dickson at shooting guard, and Maloney at point guard.
To put it mildly, the frontcourt trio were all superstars, while the backcourt duo were relatively unknown...
On the Lakers' side, the core lineup remained unchanged.
The starting center was still O'Neal, albeit a significantly heavier O'Neal.
The starting power forward was Horry, but Horry seemed to have been inactive during the break and accidentally strained a muscle during pre-season practice, forcing him to miss this opening game. Blount would start at power forward in his place.
Also absent from the game, like Horry, was Fox. He had been traveling with the Pirates of the Caribbean film crew during the offseason. In reality, his total screen time amounted to less than three days, yet this extra, after filming his scenes in just three days, stayed with the crew for three months... Eating from the crew, drinking with the crew, fraternizing with the crew... *cough cough*...
However, Fox wasn't entirely idle. After completing his own scenes, he voluntarily became a handyman for the crew, and what's more, an unpaid one. From studying acting to directing techniques, Fox was filled with curiosity and passion for filmmaking... The result was insufficient training during the offseason, and upon the Lakers' team call for practice, Fox, like Horry, suffered a muscle strain after even a slight increase in intensity... forcing him to rest for a couple of days.
Before the Lakers even played a game, they had lost two key players, leaving Head Coach Harris scratching his head.
Fortunately, the backcourt duo, He Xi Meng and Kobe, were in good form. He Xi Meng's overall abilities had clearly reached a new level after his experience in the World Championships. This was something Head Coach Harris had anticipated. However, the other half of the duo, Kobe, had not played any games during the offseason yet still made significant progress, which left Harris somewhat bewildered. Was this the power of discipline?
Kobe had finally been elevated to the Lakers' starting shooting guard position, thus embarking on his new journey.
With Kobe starting at shooting guard, Eddie Jones was forced to play small forward.
Both players were listed at 1.98 meters tall, with similar heights, positions, playing styles, and team roles... Although Harris often played them together during the latter part of last season to strengthen the wing offense and defense, and it had yielded decent results, this did not diminish the competition between them. Kobe's rapid development was a serious threat to Eddie Jones's position on the team.
In comparison, He Xi Meng's position was relatively stable. On the point guard front, Van Exel, the only player who could challenge He Xi Meng, had finally found a new home and was traded to the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets' return package was the 23rd overall pick in this year's draft: Tyronn Lue!