The Golden Age of Basketball

In July, he attended the Barcelona Olympics with his wife and daughter and won a gold medal with the Dream Team.

However, Drexler wasn't heavily utilized during the Olympics, as his knee was constantly bothering him, and in the final match against the China Team, Beelman didn't give Drexler a chance to play.

This made Drexler uncomfortable; he believed Beelman was retaliating against him for being the former "traitor" of Portland. But in the end, they won the championship, and Drexler had nothing to say.

After the Olympics, Drexler heard some discussions about him. Players from the Dream Team were commenting behind his back, saying that Drexler wasted a lot of his talent.

Especially Jordan and Pippen, who bluntly expressed in an interview, "When we trained with Drexler, we realized that a star player from the same League trains so crudely. His attitude towards training seemed ridiculous to me. He's relying on his natural talent to play."

"Clyde always keeps his head down; he seems a bit lacking in energy. Apart from just burying himself in fast breaks, Clyde didn't contribute much. It's a shame; he's not quite suitable for this team."

Such comments made Drexler angry. He might be one of the few members of the Dream Team who felt a bit regretful after participating in the Olympics—he believed that he didn't get to improve, and instead, his knee injury worsened, preventing him from properly resting during the summer.

Seeing Olajuwon arrive in Miami lifted Drexler's spirits, filling him with motivation and an eager hope for the new season to start.

Since he came to the Heat in 1988, he has achieved "almost nothing," and people labeled him as a "ticket machine," meaning his role was just to sell tickets.

Let alone recreating the glory of his Portland era, he lost badly in his competition with Jordan; both the team's performance and his personal display were completely outclassed.

"I want revenge."

After dinner, while chatting in the yard, Drexler straightforwardly mentioned.

"Against Ah Gan?" Olajuwon asked.

"No, everyone—Beelman, Pippen, Jordan, Stockton...and all those, who made me uncomfortable. You'll be with me, right, Hakeem?"

"Of course, I'll be with you, but I don't hold grudges. Allah doesn't want me to play with hatred; I should treat basketball with a sincere heart, starting a new life."

Drexler looked at the somewhat mystical Olajuwon, thinking that his faith had become more devout, and said, "Hakeem, don't you want to beat Ah Gan? This is a good opportunity."

Olajuwon said, "Of course, I always want to beat Ah Gan, but I don't hate him. Do you hate Ah Gan?"

Drexler was at a loss for words; this question he had never really thought about—does he hate Ah Gan? It seems he shouldn't.

Riley seems to hate him; he always targets Ah Gan and the Trail Blazers, mentioning them from time to time.

You see, besides Anthony Mason, this year he also got Cliff-Robinson over here, trying to dig out the Trail Blazers.

But Riley also constantly praises Ah Gan, setting him as a benchmark for basketball players. It's said that Riley is willing to trade the entire Heat for Ah Gan to come to Miami.

The two skipped over this subject, starting to envision the blueprint for the new season, discussing how they would cooperate to build a balanced Heat team, inside and outside.

Olajuwon eagerly showcased the results of his summer training on the backyard basketball court, with nimble footwork, faster shots, and agile body movements.

Drexler felt surprised and delighted at this, though he somewhat regretfully told Olajuwon, "I might need to undergo an arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-September; I'll recover before the season starts, but I'm not sure if my condition will support me in playing well enough."

Drexler is already 30 this year, at a crucial stage in terms of his competitive state.

Olajuwon comforted Drexler, saying that the season is long, and they need to have confidence in each other.

Late at night, the two college teammates slept in the same room, each at one end.

They had too much to talk about, too many dreams to pursue.

As they chatted, they both drowsily drifted off to sleep.

Drexler murmured, suddenly saying, "Hakeem, I don't hate him, in fact, he's always been right, always been..."

"Who are you talking about?" Olajuwon asked, but from the other end, Drexler's snoring was already heard.

That night, the sky over Miami was clear, with a gentle night breeze.

But in Drexler's dream, it rained the whole night.