The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 414 King of San Francisco

I spent my first season in Golden State, and everything went very well.

That year was great, quite successful, and felt like a redemption from what ended in Cleveland.

The Warriors didn't have a general manager, so I took on a lot of the work. Finnegan and I were responsible for all the personnel decisions.

The players were very engaged in the game. I know how to communicate with the aloof Joe Barry Carroll, which is not easy; he is misunderstood by many people.

He was indeed very indifferent, which sometimes annoyed me greatly. The things that ignited me on and off the field had absolutely no effect on him, as if we were made of completely different substances.

However, I still tried my best to activate him. With him, the Warriors had a support system. The previous year, they only achieved a record of 30 wins and 52 losses, and fans did not like to go to Oakland Arena to watch games.

This season we went 42-40, the Warriors made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, Joe Barry Carroll and Dreamer Floyd were selected as Western Conference All-Stars, and we started planning how to beat the Portland Trail Blazers before the playoffs.

That's right, we want to beat the Trail Blazers. They are the defending champions, and for many years, the defending champions have always run into trouble in the second year.

The 76ers, who were almost invincible in 1983, fell to the New Jersey Nets in the first round in 84. Why can't we?

Of course I know Portland has Forrest Gump, a super scorer who averaged 38 points per game and a beastly bastard who scored 81 points in the last game of the regular season.

Because of his presence, we anticipated before the series that we wouldn't get support even in San Francisco, where there are far more Chinese people than the hair on my head.

The Trail Blazers are very strong, and playing against them is incredibly stressful. Forrest Gump is a terrifying sadist and wrestling expert, and the entire league lives in his shadow.

We lost badly in the first two games, getting crushed by a large margin in Portland, and we looked hopeless.

During the second game, a conflict broke out among the players, and the TV commentator shouted, "George Karl hit someone! George has lost his temper and attacked a fan!"

That's not how it happened. Drexler and Greg clashed, security was poor, and many fans rushed onto the field, causing chaos.

Forrest Gump was restrained by the referee, and then he grabbed the referee and rushed to the vicinity of the crowd to calm everyone down. But a hotheaded bastard wearing a hat rushed in and punched me in the back.

I was already seething with anger and extremely dissatisfied with how the team was playing, and now someone has ambushed me!
I turned around and rushed towards him. This coward kept backing away. I didn't hit him. It was Mulin who rushed over and pushed him. I didn't lose my temper.

At this moment, Forrest Gump appeared, first throwing Mullin out, then dragging the fan over to apologize to me. I didn't accept it; I couldn't feel any sincerity in his apology from his arrogant behavior.

After the game, I gave a speech in the locker room. I criticized Forrest Gump and said things that many people dare not say. I said he was a hypocrite, a pretentious guy, and that we were going to beat them and take a piece of their flesh.

Of course, when Forrest later found out what I said, he was very magnanimous and didn't say anything. I admit that at the time I just wanted to take advantage of the players' emotions and the fans' emotions.

The emotions of fans throughout the Bay Area were ignited, and I fanned the flames in the media, saying that we were going to win the next home game and send the defending champions home, a tradition that has been going on in the NBA playoffs for the past 17 years.

I know many people don't believe me; they think we'd be lucky to win even one game. I don't care, you have to go into the game with an unwavering belief in victory.

—Excerpt from George Carr's autobiography, *Furious George*, published in 2017.

The arrival of the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang in Oakland has made tickets for the April 28 game extremely difficult to obtain.

The enthusiasm of Chinese fans in San Francisco is extraordinary. Gan Guoyang, who has continuously created basketball miracles, is a spiritual idol for Chinese Americans, second only to Mazu. Some older people call him "Gan Zu".

In order to prepare for the competition without any distractions, Gan Guoyang did not leave the hotel at all after arriving in the Bay Area, except for training, and did not go home to visit his family.

It's playoff time now, and even if he wins the first two games by a large margin, he won't relax at all. The worst thing in the NBA is to relax and think that the opponent will surrender without a fight.

Everyone here is a professional athlete, and although there may seem to be a huge gap between them, neither side can guarantee victory. Once you bleed, even a seemingly weak opponent can turn into a bloodthirsty shark.

There are countless examples of teams underestimating their opponents, allowing weaker opponents to build confidence, and even suffering a comeback defeat.

Gan Guoyang constantly reminds himself that his strength comes from focused play, not from accumulating experience in past matches.

Every game, every goal, is a brand new challenge; what happened in the past has nothing to do with what is about to happen.

The Oakland Arena was packed to capacity on the night of the 28th, with Warriors fans and Trail Blazers fans almost evenly split between each other.

Gan Guoyang always enjoys home-court treatment when he comes here, but he doesn't really like it. With so many fellow townsmen, he feels embarrassed to play too aggressively. He prefers playing in noisy, hostile away games. He likes to silence the huge arena, enjoying the pressure and joy of facing the whole world.

Therefore, many of Gan Guoyang's classic games were played away from home. He was more focused, more competitive, and more ruthless when playing away from home.

Tonight, the Warriors, fueled by George Karl's motivation, unleashed tremendous fighting power, taking a 9-point lead of 25-34 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers began to close the gap, and Gan Guoyang used one-on-one plays repeatedly in the latter part of the quarter to help the team regain their rhythm.

However, the Warriors had a very good offensive touch in this game. George Karl designed a lot of outside shooting tactics, creating scoring opportunities for Floyd, Mullin, and Short.

The third quarter is usually the quarter when the Trail Blazers are best at widening the score gap, but the Warriors used extremely tough defense to constantly disrupt the Trail Blazers' passing combinations and prevent every ball from being passed to Gan Guoyang.

Morale does indeed greatly boost a team's fighting power. In the third quarter, a period the Trail Blazers excel at, the Warriors outscored the Trail Blazers 31-23, regaining the lead.

In the fourth quarter, the two sides entered the final battle. Gan Guoyang finally tore off the mask of being a fellow countryman that he had worn in the first three quarters and began to attack the Warriors' three-second zone with the toughest and loudest methods.

Relentlessly grabbing offensive rebounds and relentlessly drawing fouls in the low post, Gan Guoyang repeatedly scored on putbacks and made free throws time and time again.

The Trail Blazers caught up, but the Warriors didn't give up. Sleepyman Floyd stepped up and engaged in a scoring duel with Gan Guoyang in the fourth quarter.

Floyd was on fire tonight, driving to the basket with all sorts of floaters and layups, and Porter couldn't do anything about it.

He was clearly in top form, unstoppable by anyone, and the entire Oakland arena erupted in cheers as the Warriors once again took the lead.

At this critical moment, only Gan Guoyang stepped up. Facing the Warriors' wolf-like defense, he used his strong body to press down under the basket, made a layup, a hook shot, and scored on a second-chance opportunity.

When he scored 81 points against the Hawks, all those fancy offensive tactics disappeared. Gan Guoyang used his ruthless inside scoring to continuously cool down the scorching Oakland Arena.

The score was tied at 83-83, and the two sides fought all the way to 110-110.

At the start of the game, George Karl wore a carnation on his suit lapel.

But by the fourth quarter, the carnation had vanished without a trace, the neat tie was loose and askew to one side, the shirt was wrinkled, and the hair was a mess.

George Karl was on edge. In the final moments, Floyd drove to the basket on offense, drawing a foul from Gan Guoyang, which earned him two free throws.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang committed five fouls, putting him in danger of being ejected after scoring 45 points. This excited George Karl, who clenched his fists tightly on the sidelines, waved his arms repeatedly, and his face turned bright red.

Floyd made both free throws, scoring a whopping 25 points in the fourth quarter, almost accounting for the team's entire score in that period.

The Warriors took the lead, 110-112. George Karl held his clipboard, ready for the Trail Blazers to call a timeout so he could set up the defense.

Unexpectedly, the Trail Blazers didn't call a timeout. Porter quickly dribbled across half-court and, with the Warriors players collapsing under the basket, passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang received the ball at a 45-degree angle, pulled up for a three-pointer, and made it! The Warriors had less than two seconds left.

Auckland Stadium is half seawater and half flames.

George Karl was dumbfounded. He could only call a timeout, his defensive plan wiped from his mind, and he had to quickly come up with an offensive tactic.

As Gan Guoyang returned to the bench, he shouted at George Karl, "I am the true King of San Francisco, you guys can go home and go fishing!"

On the final possession, Floyd's layup was intercepted by Gan Guoyang, resulting in a turnover and the end of the game and the series.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors 113-112 on the road, sweeping their opponents 3-0 in the series and advancing to the next round.

[But sometimes belief isn't enough. Floyd scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3, finishing with 50 points, but was ultimately defeated by a three-pointer from Forrest Gump, ending his season.]

—Excerpt from George Carr's autobiography, *Furious George*, published in 2017.

(End of this chapter)