The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 301 Inner Demon
After the game-winning shot, Ralph Sampson and his teammates embraced each other and cheered wildly.

They beat the Lakers, the defending champions, and by a 4-1 margin, in a spectacular game-winning shot on the road.

What an amazing achievement! The Lakers, with 61 wins, were easily crushed by them. So what's so scary about the Trail Blazers, with 63 wins?
However, Hakeem Olajuwon was not among the cheering crowd. He was ejected from the game with 5 minutes and 14 seconds remaining and returned to the locker room.

As he left the stadium, Olajuwon seemed to regret his actions. He had previously tried to stop Sampson from acting impulsively, but he couldn't help himself and punched Kupchak.

Hakeem Olajuwon couldn't help but wonder what Forrest Gump would do? They had already eliminated the Nuggets and were waiting for their opponents in Portland; he would definitely be watching the game live on TV.

That guy will definitely gloat when he sees me get punished. Damn it, I still couldn't resist taking action.

Back in the locker room, Hakeem Olajuwon sat dejectedly in front of his locker, praying that his teammates would win.

Even if they lose, they can still return to Houston and win the series.

He vowed that if he returned to Houston, he would not let victory slip through his fingers.

Although Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets both aimed to win the championship, in Olajuwon's mind, reaching the Western Conference Finals and defeating the Portland Trail Blazers was more important.

After the Trail Blazers secured the top seed in the Western Conference during the regular season, Hakeem Olajuwon even considered losing the last few games to drop to fourth place in the West and face the Trail Blazers in the semifinals.

If they can't beat the Lakers, wouldn't they lose the chance to compete with the Trail Blazers?

However, the outside world underestimated the Houston Rockets' potential, and even they themselves underestimated themselves.

The Rockets had a 1-4 record against the Lakers in the regular season, putting them at a significant disadvantage.

But the playoffs and the regular season are two different things. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could score 40 points on top of the Twin Towers in the regular season.

But in the playoffs, he was as slow as an old tree in front of Hakeem Olajuwon and Sampson.

Skyhook's skills remain unparalleled, but he is somewhat underweight and lacks the strength to withstand attacks.

Hakeem Olajuwon could easily push Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out of the paint, drive to the basket and grab offensive rebounds over Abdul-Jabbar, and swat away Abdul-Jabbar's hook shot.

After each game, Hakeem Olajuwon would always think, "If it were Forrest Gump, could I have grabbed the rebound over him like that, knocked him out of the paint, and swatted his shot away?"
The players of the 1984 draft class have deep bonds with each other. They are all so outstanding that they have been rivals and friends since college.

Many of them were geniuses, and in their second year in the league, they were already the main characters on the stage, causing players from the 70s to give way.

Michael Jordan scored 63 points, Forrest Gump had 40+42, Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets were about to eliminate the Lakers, and Charles Barkley led the Bullets into the semifinals, where they went to a Game 7 against the Bucks.

No rookie class has ever grown into a league superstar so quickly and shone so brightly on the playoff stage.

For Hakeem Olajuwon, the 1984 NCAA Finals was a permanent source of pain and nightmare in his basketball career, and the image of being defeated by Forrest Gump in the finals often appeared in his dreams.

Sometimes he would swat away Forrest Gump's shot in his dreams, but more often he would fail in his dreams.

In his dream, he was clearly going to seal the door, but his feet felt incredibly heavy, and he couldn't take a single step.

Once he dreamed that Forrest Gump jumped to a very high place, and Hakeem Olajuwon couldn't reach him at all. Even if he and his teammates stacked up, they still couldn't reach Forrest Gump.

He then grabbed Forrest Gump's legs tightly and tried to pull him down, but Forrest Gump's arms suddenly became very long, long enough to extend from the free throw line all the way to the basket, and then he gently put the ball in.

The moment he scored, Olajuwon woke up with a start, covered in sweat, wondering why he had such a strange dream and why he still couldn't let go of that final. Now Olajuwon understood that he had to defeat Forrest Gump in a major tournament; this was his mental demon, and he had to overcome it.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from his teammates outside. Hakeem Olajuwon felt a sense of relief; he knew the team had definitely won!
Sure enough, Sampson was surrounded by his teammates as he returned to the locker room. After learning that Sampson had hit the game-winning shot against the Lakers, Olajuwon joined the celebrations.

After a wild celebration, the Rockets left Los Angeles that night and returned to Houston, then made some preparations the next day before flying to Portland.

With three days to go before the series begins, Bill Fitch wants the players to get there early and adapt to the Portland environment.

Since last season, the Rockets' games in Portland have been consistently unsuccessful, with frequent rain and snow in the winter and uncomfortable hotel stays.

In order to ensure the players are in top condition for the match, we'd rather spend two extra days' worth of hotel fees to give them a chance to relax and recharge.

Just like during the Christmas Day game two years ago, after arriving in Portland, Hakeem Olajuwon cut off contact with Drexler and devoted himself entirely to preparations.

He kept watching replays of the Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets game in the hotel, watching Agan's performance on the court, his defense, and assessing his physical strength.

"How are you feeling?" Bill Fitch asked Hakeem Olajuwon as he played the video.

Hakeem Olajuwon did not answer directly, but instead lay down on the sofa and rested his chin on his hand.

"What's wrong, getting nervous? You know what level Sonny is at. He's MVP-caliber this year."

Gan Guoyang's performance against the Nuggets in the semifinals was overwhelming. Except for the first game where his shooting percentage was average, he only scored 27 points on 10 of 23 shots, but still managed to win the game against the Nuggets.

In the other three games, Gan Guoyang scored 33, 41 and 45 points respectively. He performed better on the road than at home, and the Nuggets were completely unable to defend him.

His rebounding, and the way he initiated attacks after receiving the ball in different positions, made everything look very easy, as if the Nuggets had no defense.

But Hakeem Olajuwon had played against the Nuggets, and he knew that the Nuggets weren't as defenseless as they seemed. Cooper and Knight were very tough defenders, but they were useless against Forrest Gump.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could also achieve similar efficiency on offense as Forrest Gump, but he didn't have the same volume of play or the same incredible defensive contributions. He single-handedly protected the rebounds exceptionally well, giving his teammates many opportunities for fast breaks.

Hakeem Olajuwon knew he needed to grab more offensive rebounds, otherwise the Trail Blazers' fast breaks would be a major headache.

Furthermore, Hakeem Olajuwon had already heard that Forrest Gump had always called himself the "Twin Towers Killer," and that no one knew better than him how to deal with the Twin Towers.

This guy is incredibly confident.

“Being a little nervous isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Forrest Gump is a challenge, a real challenge.”

Bill Fitch continued, saying that he was provoking Hakeem Olajuwon, and that he needed Olajuwon to be in better form than usual in order to deal with Gan Guoyang.

Hakeem Olajuwon remained silent. He got up to go to the bathroom and washed his face under the tap.

He turned off the tap, looked at himself in the mirror, his face dark and resolute, and told himself that he had to win, he absolutely had to win.

In the 1986 Western Conference Semifinals, I had another chance to compete against Forrest Gump for a spot in the NBA Finals. Two years had passed since my last appearance in the NCAA Finals, and I had waited two more years, still wanting to reclaim what I had lost.

—Excerpt from Hakeem Olajuwon's autobiography, *Living The Dream*, published in 1996.

(End of this chapter)