The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 774 So-called Friends

The prefrontal cortex of the human brain is the slowest developing and latest maturing organ.

Other organs, such as the heart, lungs, intestines, kidneys, and anus, have already grown and developed in the mother's womb, but not completely.

The prefrontal cortex only begins to grow after birth and doesn't mature until around age 20.

This organ determines a person's emotional control and abstract thinking ability.

Therefore, during adolescence, the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed, making it easy for emotions to become uncontrollable.

At the same time, when thinking about problems, one tends to be more concrete rather than abstract.

It is only when a person is fully developed that they gradually become mature and complete in terms of emotions and thinking.

At this point, when looking at and thinking about problems, you will gradually have a sense of enlightenment, and when you recall your younger self, you will have thoughts like, "How could I have been so stupid back then? How could I have acted like that? It's so embarrassing."

Because the brain's way of understanding the world has changed, it is now clearer and able to abstract the essence of events.

Some late bloomers may not fully develop their frontal lobes until they are 25 years old, thus becoming a person who can truly take responsibility for their words and actions.

NBA players often have high levels of hormones, and many have poor emotional control. It's normal for their prefrontal cortex to develop more slowly or later.

Kevin Garnett just turned 20 this year. A few years ago, when he was a junior in high school, he was involved in an assault case.

At the time, Garnett's high school basketball team lost the state basketball game. The players were in a bad mood, so they surrounded a group of white people who were usually racist and verbally threatened and insulted him.

The man later called the police. He had injured his foot and identified Kevin Garnett as one of the bullies because of his height.

Garnett was taken to the police station for questioning. The investigation revealed that Kevin Garnett had done nothing; he had simply stood by and watched.

The man's injured foot wasn't caused by Garnett, but rather by him kicking the locker in anger after being humiliated.

Finally, Garnett was released from the police station after posting bail of more than $10,000, but his reputation was tarnished as a result, and he was no longer trusted in schools and the community.

To protect her son, Garnett's mother decided to leave South Carolina and transfer to Chicago to finish his final year of high school.

This incident shows that Garnett is not a violent person with a violent gene. If it were some violent thugs, they would have rushed up and started a fight long ago.

At the same time, Garnett is also a person who is unwilling to be quiet. When people are fighting, he will join in the fun and watch from the sidelines. He will not participate if asked to. As a result, he is too tall and conspicuous and gets targeted by others.

To put it bluntly, he's just an ordinary teenage boy who likes to follow trends and act in groups. He doesn't consider the consequences of his words and actions, but when he's about to make a big mistake, he still has a bottom line in his mind to prevent him from going astray.

In just two short years, Garnett has experienced a lot and he is more mature than before.

He can live independently, has learned to take care of his own life, trains hard, and treats the NBA as a job to the fullest.

But at the same time, he was still that teenage boy in high school, knowing nothing about money, never looking at his contracts or bank accounts, leaving everything to his agent.

He makes a lot of noise on the training field and the court, baring his teeth and shouting to make himself seem powerful and even capable, but in reality he can't play at all.

Throughout his rookie season, Kevin Garnett punched his chest 35 times, bared his teeth 80 times, yelled 63 times, headbutted the ball 15 times, and got into fights 0 times.

He has excellent basketball potential, but he's not a truly ruthless player. Who are the truly ruthless players?
Players like Gan Guoyang and Hakeem Olajuwon are truly ruthless; in their rookie seasons, they were the league's fighting kings and queens, respectively.

He fought every game, and went on to fight all the notorious thugs in the league. He would often get into a fight and never waste words when it came to taking action.

By the time they were 30, the two had made a name for themselves in the league and established themselves. As they got older and had families to support, they gradually stopped fighting.

But as soon as the two of them put on a cold face, glared, or clenched their fists, anyone with common sense knew not to mess with these guys who were truly capable and skilled at fighting.

Therefore, when Garnett faced Forrest's relentless offensive onslaught in the third quarter, he knew he couldn't hold on.

He has neither the guts nor the inclination to resort to dirty tricks to retaliate against the other party.

Garnett has always played cleanly and honestly; he's not the kind of person who would resort to dirty tricks or dirty tactics.

Seeing that he was about to be smashed, he couldn't help but think of Kobe and the "tomato" he had mentioned.

If he were an adult, experience would tell him that this was definitely not reliable; there are no safe words on the NBA court.

Besides, Forrest Gump is your opponent. If you really can't handle the beating, you can just stop defending against him.

Or, if all else fails, find an opportunity to kneel down and beg him; he'll definitely let you off the hook during the regular season.

What's with saying "tomato"? Are you two into some kind of BDSM game? And you even used a safe word.

Unfortunately, Garnett was only 20 years old, a big boy, with underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, and his mind was sometimes confused.

He never expected that his good friend Kobe would betray him and set him up in such a mess.

As for Gan Guoyang, he didn't think anything was wrong at first, because even as a mature adult, he couldn't imagine that an American would suddenly shout "Tomato!" on the field.

Is he out of his mind? He'd actually think Garnett was swearing.

Gan Guoyang has been in the league for over a decade, and he has a huge influence, which has also spread Chinese trash talk.

Words like "fucking hell," "your mother's," "idiot," "moron," and "fuck" are relatively mild and are understood by many players in the league.

They could understand it, but not a single person dared to use it to Gan Guoyang's face, let alone curse him in Chinese.

You might insult Gan Guoyang in English, but sometimes Gan Guoyang doesn't seem to care because English isn't his native language, so he doesn't feel anything when insulted.

But one's mother tongue is deeply ingrained in their genes, and the moment those swear words are uttered, one's anger immediately flares up.

Poor Garnett thought he would be treated gently because he said a safe word, but in the next round, Gan Guoyang put him under scorching pressure one-on-one on defense.

Garnett only received the ball briefly at the top of the arc, but Gan Guoyang marked him closely, preventing him from passing or dribbling, and then the ball was lost.

The gap in strength and experience between the two was too great. Gan Guoyang directly overtook the ball and stole it, then dribbled and countered, finishing with a one-handed dunk!

Garnett chased after him relentlessly, but it was clearly in vain. Even if he caught up, he couldn't block the shot and could only watch helplessly as Gan Guoyang completely dominated him on both offense and defense.

He was very confused. He had already shouted "Tomato," so why wasn't he stopping, bro? Had he not shouted loud enough that he didn't hear him?
Garnett was stuck in a mental loop, still not realizing where the problem lay. So, holding his breath, he yelled at Gan Guoyang, "Damn it!"

The noise on the court was deafening. Gan Guoyang was running back to the backcourt when he heard Garnett yell behind him again, another "fuck!"

"Fuck~"

Gan Guoyang's anger flared even more, which ignited his fighting spirit on both offense and defense.

If you calm down and listen carefully, you can tell that Garnett was shouting in English, not in Chinese.

The last note is still different.

But Gan Guoyang didn't think too much about it at the moment. No matter what you said, it was clear that you seemed unconvinced.

Giving you a lesson and teaching you a good lesson is never a bad thing; it's also a performance for the Minnesota fans.

So, in the next few rounds, Gan Guoyang stopped passing the ball and instead used all his skills to treat Kevin Garnett like he would Jordan.

On the offensive end, he displayed maximum power and skill; on the defensive end, he was 100% physical. He kept a close eye on Garnett from the moment he was off the ball, making Garnett's face grow increasingly grim.

Dunks, hook shots, turnaround jumpers, layups, and unstoppable free throws—if you foul him and send him to the free throw line, you're just giving him points.

The King of the Third Quarter exploded in the third quarter, scoring 21 points, grabbing 3 rebounds, making 2 steals, and blocking 2 shots, dominating both ends of the court and crushing the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves originally had a chance to take the lead in this game. After all, they were playing at home. Although they were behind at halftime, if their offense found its rhythm, they might still have a chance to turn the game around.

The Trail Blazers currently have many weaknesses on both offense and defense.

Moreover, apart from Gan Guoyang, the other players' outside shooting touch was not good.

The team's second offensive option, Riddell, was benched by Bird for most of the time due to his lateness.

If the Timberwolves can stabilize in the third quarter and slowly erode the Trail Blazers' advantage, they will definitely have a chance to turn things around in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, a "tomato" (a type of shot) angered Gan Guoyang, and as a result, he played better and better, continuing the superb form he had in the previous game against New York.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers had already taken a 19-point lead over the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves were completely out of the game, having been crushed by Agan alone.

Sanders shook his head helplessly on the sidelines. In fact, he had already realized something was wrong halfway through the third quarter; Forrest Gump had started to go on a killing spree.

He tried to make adjustments, but once a superstar gets going in a game, there's nothing you can do about it.

Moreover, the Timberwolves' morale was completely low; they couldn't find a winning formula and were completely overwhelmed by Forrest Gump's momentum.

The one who truly fought the Trail Blazers to the very end was Stephon Marbury, who continued to attack with all his might even when the game was almost over.

On the defensive end, he actively double-teamed Agan, repeatedly risking steals to try and regain the upper hand. However, the ball in Gan Guoyang's hands was like a leashed dog, impossible to lose. Marbury did his best, while Garnett was dumbfounded. When Sanders substituted him, his head hung so low it was almost buried in the ground.

Then he sat on the bench and completely covered his head with a towel. It was unclear whether there were tears on his face, but he didn't want anyone to see them.

Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal, who had been all smiles before the game, were no longer happy. They hadn't expected the consequences to be so severe—because they were both big boys with underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes.

I joked with my friends because it was fun, without ever thinking about the consequences.

They never expected Forrest Gump to be so brutal, beating a gifted teenager to the point of being powerless.

Seeing Garnett looking so devastated, Kobe wanted to stop him more than once, telling Garnett that he wasn't insulting him, that it was just a joke.

He's already backed down, so please stop attacking him like this, but Kobe didn't know what to say.

It wasn't until Garnett was substituted and covered his head with a towel as if he was crying that Kobe realized he had messed up.

He took advantage of his friend's trust, betrayed him, and led him into a trap, where he was destroyed in a game.

This game might be a turning point in Kevin Garnett's career, and his confidence may be completely shattered as a result.

And then what? Then his performance got worse and worse, his rising career began to dim, then he got injured, fell out of the rotation, and his performance got worse year by year.

When his contract expired, the Timberwolves were unwilling to offer him a high-priced extension, so he had to leave and play as a substitute for other teams until no one wanted to sign him.

After finding no basketball opportunities in the United States, he went to Europe to play and earn money, thus becoming a basketball nomad, and his promising future was completely extinguished.

Kobe had witnessed such examples. His father was a player of similar caliber, with a promising future, but in the brutal NBA, a single choice or a single ups and downs can completely alter one's destiny.

Kobe was having random thoughts, which prevented him from performing well in the second half, resulting in two turnovers.

Bird quickly substituted him, and seeing Kobe's listless expression, he yelled, "What are you thinking? A turnover? Why did you have to make another turnover!"

Kobe pursed his lips and said, "Sorry, I'm not in the zone tonight."

"Professional players have to force themselves to be in top form every night. If you find yourself not in top form next time, just tell me and I'll let you sleep in a hotel."

Bird had no idea what these young guys were thinking. They were laughing and joking before the game, but halfway through, with the team leading by so much, they suddenly became confused.

"What the hell are young people thinking these days? Shit, shit!"

Bird was in a bad mood today; he'd been yelling at people ever since Riddle was late this morning.

It might be related to the cold weather in Minnesota, or it might... be related to Kevin McHale.

After arriving in Minnesota, he hesitated about whether to call Kevin McHale to say hello and chat for a bit.

But in the end, he still didn't make the call, and after arriving at the Target Center, he didn't go to check on the Timberwolves either, because he was afraid of running into Kevin.

Their relationship has always been lukewarm, neither too close nor too distant. They are good partners on the field, but always keep a distance off the field.

After retiring, when they start to miss each other, it's hard to take that step to say hello or shake hands.

The game was no longer in doubt by the final stages of the fourth quarter, and Bird substituted the starters.

Gan Guoyang scored 44 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks, truly a super all-around king who dominated the game.

After the game, Bird patted Gan Guoyang on the shoulder and said, "Take it easy on the kid, it's only the beginning of December."

Gan Guoyang said, "I didn't want to either. I just got into the swing of things and decided to just crush them."

Bird understands that some games are indeed like that; once you get into the zone, no one can stop you.

Moreover, Gan Guoyang has already mastered offensive choices and techniques, possessing both internal and external skills, making him extremely difficult to defend against.

Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal got playing time in the final stages, but both looked listless and just coasted through the last few minutes.

The game ended with the Trail Blazers winning 104-89, a 15-point victory over the Timberwolves on the road, extending their winning streak to six games.

Most of the fans at Target Center left early. The Timberwolves lost, but it was worth it to see Forrest Gump's amazing performance.

Kevin Garnett left the bench with his head still hanging down, and Kobe saw it all. He was thinking about how to explain it to Garnett after the game.

Back in the locker room, Kobe took the initiative to confide in Gan Guoyang, saying, "Sonny, did Kevin curse at you on the court? He said 'f***er,' but that's not what he meant. I tricked him by telling him to go easy on you if I told him to use a tomato."

Kobe told Gan Guoyang about the three of them drinking and chatting the day before, and about how he lied to Garnett.

Gan Guoyang was sitting on a stool changing his clothes. After listening to Kobe's words, he did not react at all.

After Kobe finished speaking, Gan Guoyang simply nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

Kobe was at a loss. He stared blankly at Gan Guoyang, wanting to hear what he had to say about it.

Gan Guoyang said, "What are you standing there for? Go do what you're supposed to be doing."

"You...you don't have anything to say?"

"What are you talking about? Am I supposed to go apologize to Kevin Garnett and say sorry, I made a mistake, you're not insulting me, you're begging for forgiveness, I shouldn't have scored so many points over you~ What the hell are you guys thinking? This is the NBA, it's a game, it's a job. Guarding me is his job, if he didn't do it well, it's his incompetence. What explanation do I need to give him? I did my job well, even exceeded my expectations, I did a great job, I'm happy."

"As for you lying to him, that's your business. Towards the end, I started to feel something was off; Kevin didn't seem to be provoking me. But so what? Am I going to let him off the hook, let him score a few points over me? Fuck you, I'm not part of your jokes. If you're afraid of losing this friend, go and explain the situation to him, tell him you tricked him. But remember, if you're not good on the field, you're not good, and that has nothing to do with anything else."

Kobe was given a severe dressing-down by Gan Guoyang, and his face turned extremely ugly, but he endured it all with a pout.

Garnett was attending a press conference when Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal waited for him outside the press room for a while until the interview ended.

When Garnett came out, Kobe went to greet him, and Garnett opened his arms and hugged Kobe.

"Hey! I got a beating tonight, buddy!" Garnett looked good, grinning to reveal his white teeth.

Kobe felt guilty and said, "I'm sorry, brother, I lied to you. It was a joke, but I..."

Garnett put his arm around Kobe and said, "Man! This is nothing. I was just outmatched. I shouldn't have yelled 'tomato,' right? I surrendered, but I got beaten even worse. This taught me a lesson: those who surrender often die the worst."

Kobe looked at Garnett with disbelief, never expecting him to say something so reasonable.

However, Garnett quickly added, "Forrest told me during the game. He could tell I wasn't swearing, but he still beat me badly. I'll always remember that."

This game did indeed become a turning point in Garnett's career, but not a downward one; rather, it was an upward one. He gained a stronger motivation to work hard and surpass those who were difficult to surpass.

After this game, the Trail Blazers will continue on to their next destination.

Bird stood in front of the bus, waiting for everyone to finish packing and get on to head to the airport.

As the head coach, he always made sure to keep track of attendance to prevent anyone from being late or leaving early.

These details can enhance a coach's authority, and Bird valued them highly.

Bird waited until the last person boarded the bus and settled their luggage before getting on and setting off.

"Hey, Larry!" someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

Bird turned around and saw Kevin McHale.

He approached, and both of them looked somewhat awkward, like lovers who had broken up for many years reuniting.

Bird licked his lips and said, "Hey, Kevin, uh... good game tonight."

"It's good for you guys, we lost badly, terribly."

They both laughed, but after a long while, they couldn't say anything.

McHale went up to Bird, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Good luck, Larry. See you next time."

Bird nodded and said, "See you in Portland, remember to come for the away game."

"must."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Once on the bus and seated, Bird waved to McHale outside the window, and McHale waved back.

As they set off, Bird felt much better, letting out a long sigh of relief, even more relaxed than after winning the game.

(End of this chapter)