The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 874 The Chosen Son

In the summer of 1999, the smell of blood seemed to be more intense and stronger in the American air than in previous years.

A white supremacist named Benjamin Smith carried out a three-day “minority cleansing operation” in Illinois.

He was driving along the road when he randomly opened fire on minority groups he encountered, resulting in 2 deaths and 10 injuries. His suicide brought the death toll to 3.

In mid-July, a small plane went missing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, with the three people on board, including the pilot, still missing.

Police investigations confirmed that the pilot of the plane was John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former President John F. Kennedy.

He was born shortly after his father was elected president, and he grew up in the White House until he was three years old, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

After the plane went missing, the Coast Guard found the wreckage at sea, and several days later, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s body was recovered.

The Kennedy family's death curse continues to exert a strange influence; John F. Kennedy Jr. was the tenth member of the family to die an unnatural death since 1944.

In late July, in Atlanta, Georgia, a man named Mark Patton killed his wife and children before going to the stock exchange and indiscriminately opening fire, killing nine people and injuring 13.

Mark Patton committed suicide by shooting himself before being arrested by police in what was the largest and deadliest mass shooting in Georgia's history.

The main perpetrator in the case, Barton, was a stock trader who was fired for poor performance. At the same time, his own stock investments suffered heavy losses during the dot-com bubble of 1999. Deeply mired in debt and depression, he ultimately committed the bloody crime with a gun.

In August, another shooting occurred at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles, where a white supremacist opened fire in the center’s lobby with an Uzi submachine gun, injuring five people. The gunman later murdered a deliveryman.

This incident sparked a massive gun control protest in Los Angeles, with people strongly calling for gun control to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

But the key issue seems to lie not only in the gun.

In September, at a church in Fort Worth, Texas, another white supremacist and anti-Semite shot and killed seven people before committing suicide.

Within two months, three shootings related to race, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism occurred in succession across the United States.

Meanwhile, the internet finance bubble has been growing ever larger since 1995, with stock prices soaring as long as they are associated with the internet or computers.

The entire American society was immersed in a speculative frenzy of making a fortune through stock trading, and the Nasdaq index, dominated by technology stocks, was already three times that of 1997 in the summer of 1999.

The bubble is getting bigger and bigger, and with each increase in stock prices, wealth is being concentrated in the mouths of certain Wall Street Jewish tycoons.

The stock market bankruptcy shooting, one anti-Semitic shooting after another, and the death of yet another member of the Kennedy family—these seemingly isolated and unrelated events actually outlined a picture of American social problems in the last year of the 20th century, before the arrival of the new millennium.

Jewish finance, family politics, and racial conflicts—these tendrils will entwine this country and society as they step into the 21st century.

Against this backdrop, Gan Guoyang's espionage case appears much "mild and interesting." It has attracted the attention of the vast majority of Americans, focusing their attention on a case that is both topical and legendary, yet does not reveal any sharp contradictions, such as whether "a historic basketball player was a foreign spy."

Such cases are perfect for the general public to gossip and enjoy the drama. What could be more beautiful and spectacular than the collapse and fall of a deity's statue?

This case has also been hyped by the American media as "a case of the century comparable to the 1994 O.J. Simpson murder of his wife".

In fact, this case later became a more famous and legendary case spanning the millennium than the O.J. Simpson case.

The key reason, similar to the O.J. Simpson murder case, is that Gan Guoyang launched a very strong counterattack when faced with multiple accusations.

The FBI investigation made no concrete progress until they had to end Gan Guoyang's house arrest and he shook hands with Michael Jackson as he left New York. At that time, the voices supporting Gan Guoyang reached a peak in the United States.

Supporters around the world have sent letters and organized various activities to express their support for Gan Guoyang, believing that this is purely persecution by the US government.

The much larger group of Jackson fans also sided with Gan Guoyang, joining forces with his supporters to form a fan club to show their support for their idol.

Trail Blazers owner Tang Jianguo then stood up to support Gan Guoyang, saying that this was a conspiracy by the current government, a persecution targeting basketball heroes and diverting attention from internal conflicts.

Of course, Tang Jianguo's main purpose was not to support Gan Guoyang, but to take this opportunity to express his own political views.

He proposed a 14.25% "one-time" net worth tax on people with a net worth of $1000 million or more to help pay off the national debt.

Tang Jianguo also claimed that if he became president, he would raise $5.7 trillion and eliminate the debt in one fell swoop.

"According to my meticulous calculations, 1% of Americans who control 90% of the country's wealth will be affected by this plan, while the other 99% will receive substantial reductions in federal income taxes! It's a perfect plan!"

Old Tang's so-called plan didn't even conform to basic economic common sense, so naturally it didn't cause much of a stir, and people's attention remained focused on the espionage case.

U.S. officials quickly announced that, given the special nature of the case, a hearing on Gan Guoyang will be held in Congress in Washington in September, and an investigative committee is currently being formed to investigate the case.

This means the case has been elevated to an unprecedented level, and Gan Guoyang will become the first Chinese person in U.S. history to attend a congressional hearing.

After returning to Portland, Gan Guoyang secluded himself at home, living a semi-reclusive life. Apart from his bodyguard, wife, and housekeeper, there was no one else in the house.

The child and father were sent to San Francisco, as Gan Guoyang did not want his family to be affected by the case.

Due to being under close surveillance by the FBI, Gan Guoyang did not discuss anything related to the case with anyone at home.

I don't know where they installed the eavesdropping devices, or if they have some high-tech recording equipment that can determine what a person is saying just by reading their lip movements.

Gan Guoyang had already decided to keep everything to himself, including the specific bombing time provided by Clinton—which was several hours earlier than Gan Guoyang remembered.

Keeping the secret was an easy task for Gan Guoyang, after all, he had been living here for nearly 20 years with a huge secret.

The secret was part of his life; he didn't need to tell or prove it to anyone. He even had reason to believe that he was the chosen one.

A true chosen one fears nothing, no one, and will never run away.

During his time in Portland, Gan Guoyang trained normally under FBI surveillance while communicating with the Portland Trail Blazers to prepare for the next season.

Gan Guoyang's attitude was very clear: he would be fine and would play in the 1999-2000 season, but this season would very likely be the last season of his career.

Gan Guoyang didn't give a definitive answer. Although he and David Stern promised that he would choose to retire in 2000, everything would depend on the situation.

Deep down, Gan Guoyang didn't want to retire. He thought about how incredibly boring his life was for the two years after he retired in 1994.

After getting used to the NBA's tight schedule and intense competition, retirement seems like a distant dream.

Gan Guoyang has never cared much about money or women. Even if he did, he should have had his fill of fun by now. The basketball court is the main arena of life.

However, circumstances are beyond human control. Gan Guoyang could foresee that no matter how many people openly supported him, in reality, from the league to the teams, to the players of each team, to many young fans, and even major sponsors, everyone was waiting, or even expecting, for Gan Guoyang to end his professional career perfectly.

Only when a great star falls can the light of other stars shine, and only then can an era change.

There are many people who want to rise to power, and there are undercurrents of power struggles below. Even if Gan Guoyang can suppress them, can he suppress them forever?
Rather than being driven out like an aging lion king in defeat, it's better to depart voluntarily in the prime of life. This is indeed a wise choice, which is why Gan Guoyang has always been hesitant and struggling internally.

So he decided to wait until the end of the 2000 season to see what the situation would be like before making a final decision.

Compared to his struggles and anxieties when facing basketball issues, Gan Guoyang was unusually calm when dealing with the espionage case.

During his time in Portland, FBI agents were always near him, ostensibly for protection, but in reality for surveillance.

Gan Guoyang got along well with them, cooking for them at home and playing ball and exercising together.

FBI agents initially remained vigilant, believing it to be a scheme by Gan Guoyang and cautioning against falling for it.

But as time went on, they discovered that this basketball superstar, the idol of idols, truly possessed extraordinary mental qualities and charisma.

Later, they not only became good friends, but they also came to believe deep down that Forrest Gump was truly innocent.

As for why he was wronged, major media outlets have already made analyses: because relations between the two sides of the Pacific have turned hostile, Gan Guoyang was used as a scapegoat.

Meanwhile, racial and religious conflicts within the United States are becoming increasingly acute, and the Gan Guoyang case can effectively divert public attention—a tactic that has proven effective time and again in the past.

On September 11, Gan Guoyang arrived at the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to begin his first Senate hearing.

These kinds of hearings will continue to be held in Washington and New York in the future. It seems that the US is pinning its hopes on the Hawks' strategy to wear down this basketball superstar.

But they definitely underestimated Gan Guoyang's physical strength and energy. This guy is a master of the "endure the old man" tactic, and it's really not easy to outlast him.

Gan Guoyang's arrival caused quite a stir in the entire Washington, D.C. The last time he came here in the summer was in the 1988 NBA Finals, when he led the Trail Blazers to an easy victory over the Bullets and complete their first three-peat.

It can be said that Washington was a witness to Gan Guoyang's first coronation. Now, that Washington bullet has long since disappeared, and everything has changed from top to bottom.

The team name, logo, and uniforms have all undergone major changes, from "Bullets" to "Wizards." Moses Malone and Bernard King have already retired, while Barkley is still hesitant and observing.

The hearing took place at 10 a.m. on September 11 at Capitol Hill, and was broadcast live by various television networks including CNN, NBC, and ABS.

It is speculated that the viewership ratings for this hearing livestream have reached a new high, proving that Gan Guoyang's title of "King of Ratings" is truly well-deserved.

The last time a congressional hearing was broadcast live in such a comprehensive manner was during the Watergate investigation in 1973.

At the time, major television stations broadcast the hearing live for 319 hours, and it was estimated that 85% of American households watched the program.

PBS also rebroadcast the hearing in the evening, allowing people across the United States to witness the entire process of clarifying the case.

Around 9 a.m., Gan Guoyang and his team members and lawyers entered the Capitol Building and sat down in the dock with a calm and composed demeanor.

Gan Guoyang was wearing a custom-made brown silk suit and a red tie. Before entering, just like in the movie "The Godfather," he raised his hands and was searched by security.

Reporters took photos like crazy; Gan Guoyang's imposing figure made everyone present look like a clown.

Sitting in his seat, Gan Guoyang appeared natural and relaxed, occasionally straightening his posture, which made him look particularly upright.

The hearing officially began at 10:00 AM, with an investigation committee composed of numerous members of parliament, senior officials, and experts questioning him.

Faced with a variety of detailed, even somewhat difficult, questions, Gan Guoyang provided gentle and patient answers.

Gan Guoyang is a very eloquent person. As the chairman of the players' union who has participated in many labor negotiations, he has very strong negotiation skills and a high degree of language sensitivity.

The committee conducted a detailed investigation and preparation, and Gan Guoyang also made extremely thorough preparations.

Many questions were asked starting from when Gan Guoyang came to the United States in 1981, involving various details of Gan Guoyang's high school and college years.

Gan Guoyang answered fluently and flawlessly, because there were no problems with these questions to begin with.

Or even if there is a problem, it has nothing to do with the espionage case, but rather with Gan Guoyang's identity as a time traveler.

The hearing was paused for one hour at noon and resumed at 12 p.m.

The hearing lasted two hours in the morning, during which many questions were asked, but overall, nothing was achieved.

However, Representative Christopher Cox, a member of the committee and the author of the Cox Report, said, "The less problematic something is, the more problematic it seems."

Clearly, Gan Guoyang's response was too perfect, without any flaws, which made people feel that he had been prepared for this.

If there are no problems, why prepare everything so perfectly? They must find the problem.

During his lunch break, Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "Damn it, instead of uncovering my spy secrets, they've dug up my time travel! This is truly... the greatest mystery in history. But even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Oh well, I'll just keep playing along."

The energetic Gan Guoyang continued to participate in the hearing in the afternoon, and the bigger the scene, the more enthusiastic he became.

He even questioned the committee during the hearing, and in particular, he seemed to threaten to reveal scandals involving certain members of Congress, causing chaos in the room.

Beside him, Gan Guoyang's lawyer whispered a reminder: "Say less, you're asking for trouble."

"I'll keep things in check. Don't worry unnecessarily. Everyone has something to hide, so it's actually fine."

Finally, after a five-hour hearing, Gan Guoyang walked out of Capitol Hill with high spirits and a flawless result.

In the first battle between the two sides, Gan Guoyang achieved a partial victory, which basically declared that the espionage case would not have any substantial results unless the investigation could obtain new key evidence.

It is said that the US has been using spies from across the strait in an attempt to obtain crucial evidence and counter espionage, but it seems they have gained nothing.

Gan Guoyang's brilliant performance and charming appearance at the hearing further boosted his popularity among the public, gaining him even more supporters.

That evening, Gan Guoyang, who had been released from FBI surveillance, received a call from Charles Barkley, who bluntly declared, "Sonny, I've made up my mind. I'm joining the Portland Trail Blazers. As a friend, I'll always support you!"

Barkley has been waiting for the hearing results. If things don't go well and Gan Guoyang can't continue playing, he probably won't come to the Trail Blazers.

However, Barkley was one of the first to speak out in the media, saying he believed Gan Guoyang was one of the innocent players, which shows he was a good friend.

This is the last year of his career, and he must choose carefully in order to win the championship.

Gan Guoyang then told Barkley, "You're welcome to come, but first you have to lose 30 pounds."

(End of this chapter)