The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 890 The Atmosphere Has Arrived
Thanks to Gan Guoyang's outstanding scoring performance of 57 points in three quarters, the Trail Blazers won the game in Salt Lake City without any suspense.

This will undoubtedly become another classic moment in Gan Guoyang's career, and news and discussions about Gan Guoyang's performance will flood the market after the match.

In terms of generating buzz and news coverage, no one in the NBA over the past decade or so can compare to Gan Guoyang.

His name alone is a news traffic generator; his performance in games always refreshes people's understanding of basketball.

His various skills displayed on the perimeter tonight once again amazed fans, commentators, and experts.

This wasn't the first time. During the exciting battles between Jordan and Jordan, when Jordan was still alive, Gan Guoyang had several performances like this.

Back then, Jordan always managed to bring out Gan Guoyang's best form, making people realize what a unique inside player he was.

Tonight was different; his skill combinations were more refined, and his use of them was more ingenious, rather than the raw power he displayed during his prime.

In the late 90s, when the offense was somewhat dull, his brilliant scoring techniques were a breath of fresh air for the audience and fans. It was truly beautiful.

Many young interior players, such as Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber, are influenced by Gan Guoyang and have developed many perimeter skills.

Furthermore, it has been used repeatedly in games, breaking through the stereotypical definitions of inside and outside players in basketball in the past.

Now 36 years old, Gan Guoyang is once again challenging this definition, and NBC will repeatedly broadcast footage of his goals.

NBA news is no longer always negative news like Forrest Gump's spy case, the war in Serbia, Larry Miller rushing into the stands and fighting with the audience, or George Sean (Hornets owner) being involved in a sexual harassment case.

Throughout 1999, the NBA was plagued by all sorts of scandals and negative news. On the eve of the 21st century, with Michael Jordan retiring and Forrest Gump likely to retire, the NBA was about to face a shock, which was David Stern's biggest concern.

Gan Guoyang's game, however, drew people's attention back to the court, back to pure basketball skills and spectacular moves.

This is undoubtedly beneficial for the NBA, and the league office really hopes for more of these positive scenarios and fewer of these unpleasant controversies.

It's worth noting that after Jordan retired, the league lost the "Gan-Jordan rivalry," and viewership and attendance stagnated last season.

Thanks to Forrest Gump, the ratings for the finals were finally saved, but how long can Forrest Gump continue to be relied upon?

After the game, in the Trail Blazers' simple away locker room, Gan Guoyang, who had delivered an extraordinary performance in three quarters, was soaking his hot ankle in an ice bucket.

Tonight, his numerous one-on-one plays, drives, changes of direction, and retreats put a strain on his ankles and knees.

Although Gan Guoyang is incredibly strong, he is 36 years old after all, and his body has been competing in the high-intensity NBA for many years.

Moreover, he is a center, not a small player, so the pressure on his ankles and knees is still quite significant, and he hasn't completely lost weight.

As time goes on, he needs to take better care of himself. Now he spends time every day on physical therapy to relieve pain and inflammation in his muscles, bones, and joints.

From an injury perspective, Gan Guoyang is in good shape; someone like Charles Barkley has been taking painkillers for years.

Sabonis started taking painkillers immediately after returning to the NBA. Thanks to Gan Guoyang, he returned tonight and, like Kobe, didn't have to play, getting two more days of rest.

Of course, Kobe, who was only in his early twenties, didn't need to rest. He wanted to play, to fight on the court, and to experience the thrill of an adrenaline rush.

But he was relegated to the bench by Gan Guoyang's performance. Even after being teammates for four seasons and having watched countless game videos of Gan Guoyang over the past decade, Kobe was still fascinated by Gan Guoyang's on-court performance.

He is tall, strong, and brave, yet elegant, composed, and skillful. This contradictory combination makes Gan Guoyang's playing style particularly attractive and worth savoring repeatedly. Analyzing it from different angles always allows one to experience different flavors.

Kobe was no ordinary fan; he would carefully learn from Gan Guoyang, constantly studying various skills and experiences on the court.

The biggest takeaway for Kobe from this game was that he realized that when skills are used to their fullest potential, scoring becomes a remarkably easy thing.

The purpose of these techniques is to evade and break down the defense, especially to break down the defense. Gan Guoyang used different combinations of techniques to deceive his opponents and win by cleverness, which left a deep impression on Kobe.

In many matches, Gan Guoyang wins by sheer power. His strength advantage is too great. He often scores by adding a finishing touch after an overwhelming power advantage.

In this match, Gan Guoyang demonstrated how he could use techniques to feign attacks and cleverly score points without relying heavily on his strength advantage, and even with his explosiveness and speed declining.

On the way to the airport, Kobe kept pulling Gan Guoyang aside and asking, "Sonny, your skill combination was amazing, incredible! How did you do that?"

Gan Guoyang replied, "Practice more."

"anything else?"

"More matches."

"anything else?"

"Have good health."

"Is health still very important?"

"Of course! Physical strength is always the most important thing. Skills can make up for some physical disadvantages, which is why they're called skills. But this is the NBA, and skills can only make up for a limited portion, maybe 30% or 70%. Don't ask anymore, go find a girlfriend, you brat."

Gan Guoyang didn't want Kobe to overthink things, otherwise, if he fell into the trap of relying too much on technique, it would affect his future achievements.

Throughout history, whether in sports, art, crafts, or war command, an excessive focus on technique often leads to bias, neglecting overall coordination and balance, ultimately resulting in more harm than good.

Kobe couldn't understand it. He sat in his seat, his mind filled with Gan Guoyang's brilliant offensive skills, and he was already planning how to practice those advanced offensive techniques.

It's easy to imagine that in the next couple of days, Kobe's dreams will no longer be limited to Vanessa, but will also include many more basketball skills.

Of course, Gan Guoyang has no intention of stopping Kobe from thinking or doing whatever he wants; he will eventually walk the path he chooses to take.

After leaving Salt Lake City, the Trail Blazers' next stop is San Francisco-Oakland, where they will face the Warriors on the road.

Gan Guoyang just scored 57 points in three quarters, which has put Oakland media on edge, because Gan Guoyang always puts on a superb performance whenever he returns to San Francisco.

As Gan Guoyang's hometown in the United States, the enthusiasm of San Francisco fans, the local sentiment, and the added boost of his ancestor Gan Guoyang make every game in Oakland a full-throttle affair.

Meanwhile, the return of both Kobe and Sabonis to the game put even more pressure on the Warriors, who were already showing signs of giving up before the game even started.

The Warriors' record this year has been poor. Since their championship in 1975, they haven't truly stood on the championship stage. They've never lacked talent, from Bernard King to Hardaway, Mullin, Richmond, and now Joe Smith, Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes, and others.

The Warriors have consistently had high draft picks over the years, giving them opportunities to select talented players each time, but they have always struggled to integrate these players into a cohesive and effective team.

The team owner has always been short-sighted, lacking a long-term team building and management plan, and just going with the flow.

In 1994, Chris Cohan bought the Warriors from Jim Fitzgerald, taking over one of the worst owners in NBA history.

When Gan Guoyang first entered the league, the Warriors' owner was Miorli, who was one of the few fan-type owners in the league at the time—meaning he didn't have any other huge businesses besides the team.

With David Stern taking office and actively bringing in large capital, Miolley sold the Warriors to Jim Fitzgerald (former owner of the Bucks) in 1986, and fan-driven owners became increasingly rare.

Later, almost all NBA owners became industry giants and business tycoons, and NBA teams were just one part of their asset allocation. The money game in the NBA got bigger and bigger.

Chris Cohan is also a wealthy entrepreneur who founded Sonic Communications in 1977, which later grew into one of the largest independent cable television networks in the United States.

In addition, he owns many businesses, especially in the emerging technology industry. With a large fortune, he bought the Warriors for $1.3 million and renovated the Oakland Arena.

In the 1997-1998 season, the Warriors also changed their team logo. Following the trend of cartoonish and colorful NBA logos, they designed a Flash-like figure, using new color schemes and cool floor colors, which can be said to have given fans a refreshing look and conveyed Cohan's ambition to make a name for himself.

Unfortunately, Cohan had no talent for running a team and lacked patience. He was also clueless about team building and often made short-sighted moves, which caused the Warriors to lack stability and slowly degenerate into a standard bad team.

In terms of roster, the Warriors are actually quite good; in fact, they have a very strong roster in terms of talent.

They have North Carolina star Antawn Jamison in the paint and Van Exel and Glen Rice (acquired in a trade for Sprewell) on the perimeter.

Aside from lacking a strong defensive center, the Warriors have a very good roster at other positions.

However, the Warriors' record this season remains poor, with PJ Carlesimo leading the team to a 6-20 record before being fired before Christmas.

The two main figures in the chokehold incident were traded to New York, while the other quickly ended up being dismissed from his post.

Without a stable coach, the Warriors have once again started to drift along with the tide. Gary Gene, who replaced PJ Carlesimo, is clearly not a good head coach, but just a transitional figure.

The Warriors' biggest problem is their terrible defense; to put it bluntly, they are the worst defensive team in the league.

They concede an average of 103 points per game, the most in the league, have the worst defensive efficiency in the league, the worst defensive rebounding, and the worst rebounding percentage in the league.

Offense sets the ceiling, defense sets the floor. Without defense, the Warriors' floor is breached, naturally resulting in a poor record.

Previously, PJ Carlesimo was not a coach who was good at handling player relationships. He held a grudge against the fact that no player came to stop Sprewell when he choked him, which caused the team to become disunited and their record to be terrible.

Tonight, facing the Portland Trail Blazers, the only player on the Warriors team who showed any real fighting spirit was Van Exel.

This former Trail Blazers player undoubtedly harbors resentment towards Portland. After many years in Portland, he failed to win a single championship, perfectly avoiding the year when Forrest Gump won the title, which is quite remarkable.

After being traded in 1997 due to a conflict with the team, the Trail Blazers quickly achieved a phenomenal 77-win season.

This subjected Van Exel to ridicule from fans and experts, who labeled him a cancerous player, damaging his reputation and causing him immense psychological torment.

As a maverick player, Van Exel was bound to retaliate, so he was always particularly energetic and unleashed his full firepower in every subsequent game against the Trail Blazers.

Even if the team can't beat the Trail Blazers, he still needs to showcase his skills statistically and prove his ability.

In this match, while his teammates were hesitant before the game even started, Van Exel stepped up and said, "I'm going to score a lot in this match, pass me the ball!"

Jamison, who was standing nearby, asked, "How high is a high score? 50 points?"

Van Exel is not Gan Guoyang, nor is he Jordan; he doesn't have the kind of confidence that says he can score 50 points.

"Stop talking nonsense, or you'll get beaten up by Forrest Gump," Van Exel said impatiently.

Jamison was indeed a little nervous; the confrontation with Forrest Gump was always heart-pounding.

In particular, Gan Guoyang's 57 points in three quarters in the last game shocked the league. In the current offensive and defensive environment of the league, such a scoring performance is truly rare.

But considering that it was Forrest Gump who scored 81 points in a single game, it's not surprising.

Before the match started, the entire Auckland Centre was packed with Chinese fans watching the game.

This has been a tradition for over a decade; the Chinese community in San Francisco considers it an honor to watch Gan Guoyang play a game.

For more than a decade, Gan Guoyang has never missed a single away game in the Bay Area, ensuring that ticket holders can enjoy the game.

Because of the espionage case, everyone knows that Gan Guoyang is very likely to choose to retire at the end of this season.

Once Gan Guoyang retires, it will be impossible to watch his games live anymore, which is why ticket prices for the Trail Blazers' away games have recently reached new highs.

Needless to say, tickets for the Warriors' home games have skyrocketed, but even that can't dampen the fans' enthusiasm. The allure of the basketball god, the goddess of sports, is unparalleled.

After the warm-up, the players from both sides were introduced. When it came to Gan Guoyang's name, the DJ's voice was louder than when introducing the home team players.

The crowd erupted in deafening cheers and thunderous applause, followed by a short video clip on the large screen above the arena recalling Gan Guoyang's games in San Francisco.

The short film even goes straight back to 1981, when Gan Guoyang, who was still in high school, led his team to participate in the CIF California League, and the semi-finals were played at the Oakland Stadium.

After entering the NBA in the 1984-1985 season, Gan Guoyang played many classic games in Oakland, scoring high points and hitting a game-winning three-pointer in the playoffs. Every game was exciting and left a deep impression on Bay Area fans.

In just two minutes, clips of Gan Guoyang's career in the Bay Area were shown, accompanied by rousing music. Even Gan Guoyang himself felt his eyes well up with tears and was somewhat moved.

After the video finished playing, the audience erupted in applause, and some fans even held up signs that read, "We will miss you in the NBA without you."

Gan Guoyang wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, thinking to himself, "Damn it, I haven't even said I'm retiring yet, what's going on? Why are they all starting to commemorate my retirement?"

This is a bad trend. The Warriors have set a precedent. What will happen if other teams start to follow suit and even give them gifts?
Now that the atmosphere has built up to this point, should I back out or not?
(End of this chapter)