The NBA Players and owners settle. Play begins on February 7, and the 41-game season is the most competitive regular season ever. The same fans who said they didn't care if there was a season or not come out in droves, setting per-game attendance records all over the league.
TV ratings are also higher than ever.
Buoyed by unprecedented fan support and Natalie Williams and Jennifer Azzi of the ABL, the Mystics reverse last year's 3-27 record and win the WNBA title. Michael Jordan plays the first two weeks of the short season, decides his heart isn't in it, and retires again. The IAAF approves Helmut Digel's proposal to toss out world records and start fresh after December 31, 1999. His subsequent urine test is clean. The major league baseball season starts with high hopes for another record-shattering year, but it's not to be.