The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 898 Stepping onto the Main Stage

A 48-point performance has convinced people that Gan Guoyang is still at the peak of his career.

After the game against the Mavericks, the media's praise made people feel that Forrest Gump was still Forrest Gump, and the Trail Blazers were still the Trail Blazers.

At the same time, the Nasdaq index in the United States reached an all-time high of 11722 points, marking the peak of the internet finance bubble.

The highest peak actually signifies the turning point of the downhill slope, but at the time many people thought that this historical peak was just the foot of an even higher peak.

Gan Guoyang is past his prime; his high scoring is merely a facade. He is trying every possible way to make his decline appear slower and less noticeable.

After their game against the Mavericks, the Trail Blazers fell into a vicious cycle of winning one game and losing another.

They had a record of 4 wins and 4 losses in the remaining games of January, with neither a winning streak nor a losing streak, and the team was in a state of fluctuation.

The reason is simple: when Gan Guoyang stops giving his all on defense and focuses his energy on offense, the Trail Blazers' game becomes more affected by his shooting touch.

There's a famous saying among basketball coaches: "Defense doesn't lie." The other side of that saying is, "Offense does lie."

In this game, everyone is in excellent form and can easily win by cutting through the opponent's defenses. However, in the next game, if everyone's form is poor, they are likely to suffer an unexpected defeat.

For a team whose core consists of veterans over 35 and young players under 25, instability is perfectly normal.

As the All-Star Game draws closer, teams have become somewhat complacent, making the outcome unpredictable.

Even the Lakers, who were first in the Western Conference, had a mediocre record of 4 wins and 5 losses in late January, which prevented them from widening the gap with the teams behind them.

Gan Guoyang, on the contrary, won the league's best player in January 2000 because of his outstanding statistical performance, while Phil Jackson won the best coach of the month.

This indicates that in the latter half of this month, everyone in the league was in a mixed state, with no one standing out. Even the Boston Celtics in the East experienced a period of instability, suffering a three-game losing streak in mid-January.

Before the All-Star Game and the trade deadline, everyone was doing their best to adjust their form and roster, waiting for the All-Star Game break and the all-out sprint afterward.

This is the calm before the storm, a crucial stage for the team and players to calm down, solve problems, and think about the later stages of the game.

In every previous season, Gan Guoyang would carefully adjust himself at this stage, working with the coaching staff to plan for the second half of the season and the playoffs, preparing for the final sprint.

This season is clearly over. After playing his last game at the end of January, Gan Guoyang received summonses from the FBI and the New York District Attorney's Office, ordering him to go to New York for questioning and hearings.

This time, unlike previous times, the prosecution appears to have obtained some key evidence. On January 29, the FBI raided Gan Guohui's home in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, and conducted a full search.

Clearly, when prosecutors and the FBI were unable to make a major breakthrough on Gan Guoyang, they turned their attention to the people around him.

The FBI conducted detailed investigations in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Michigan—wherever Gan Guoyang's businesses were located.

They were determined to dig up some key evidence to make a breakthrough, and even if they didn't find any evidence, digging up some dirt would be good.

To the surprise of the FBI and prosecutors, during their nearly six-month-long, meticulous investigation, they discovered that Gan Guoyang had no blemishes on his finances or private life over the past twenty years.

There was no tax evasion, no insider trading, no gambling, no drunk driving, no prostitution, and no mistress. In the words of prosecutor Corning Norton, "If the investigation continues, I have no doubt that Forrest Gump will be nominated as President of the United States because of his good character. He is a saint."

In fact, no president was cleaner than Gan Guoyang.

Despite possessing immense wealth and fame, Gan Guoyang devoted most of his energy to basketball.

He devotes the rest of his time to his family and some career development, and he is quite content with maintaining the happiness and prosperity of his small family circle.

In choosing industries to invest in, he avoided those areas with deeply entrenched interests or frequent insider trading, and instead focused on the relatively simple funeral industry, where he achieved remarkable success.

Given Gan Guoyang's achievements in the basketball world, his wealth could have been much greater, but at a certain point, Gan Guoyang chose to exercise restraint.

He strives not to become a slave to capital and wealth, but rather to become their master, for being too poor or too rich would lead to a loss of control due to the imbalance of power.

Gan Guoyang's controlling nature would certainly not allow such a thing to happen, so he kept everything under control, and most importantly, he controlled his own desires.

So the FBI kept trying to make a breakthrough by investigating people around Gan Guoyang. They investigated Wang Fuxi, Quentin, Gan Guohui and various other related people, but they never made any breakthrough progress.

The people around Gan Guoyang were exceptionally loyal. They ignored all the coercion and inducement from the prosecutors and the investigation bureau and were unwilling to make any statements that would be detrimental to Gan Guoyang—in fact, they couldn't say anything detrimental to him.

Wang Fuxi was subjected to a major investigation, but she stated that she was ready to divorce her husband at any time and would take responsibility for anything that might damage his reputation.

“If necessary, I can choose to commit suicide, and then leave a letter accusing you and making it public. I don’t know if you can bear the consequences.” In her aggressive and unexpectedly ruthless manner, Wang Fuxi impressed the prosecutors and the FBI more than her husband.

Until January 2000, the prosecution made some progress with a Chinese foundation in San Francisco, and all of this was related to Gan Guohui.

Therefore, the prosecution raided Gan Guohui's home in Pacific Heights, conducted a thorough search, and made some unexpected discoveries.

On February 1st, Gan Guoyang flew to New York. He had already received news that Gan Guohui had been detained by the New York prosecutors and might make unfavorable accusations against Gan Guoyang.

On the plane, Gan Guoyang and his wife discussed the pros and cons of the matter, where they could be assured of not being eavesdropped on.

"Impossible. Ah Hui wouldn't make any accusations against me. I believe Ah Hui."

“But Ahui is one of the few people who knows some inside information. Even the slightest clue could be seized by the prosecution, which is very dangerous.”

"Danger? What can we do about danger? Are you going to have someone kill Ahui?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Ah Hui is your brother. We can only...we can only believe Ah Hui. Besides, even if they get a little bit of information from him, they don't have any solid evidence."

"That's why I said I trust Ahui. Also, this time I'm going to kill Cox and make him wish he were dead."

Gan Guoyang was fed up with Cox's relentless pursuit, and his season was being cut short.

Never before has a celebrity been subjected to such frequent investigations and hearings, with one hearing per month.

Of course, this is related to the nature of Gan Guoyang's work. The NBA is trying to avoid putting Gan Guoyang in a long hearing investigation, otherwise he will miss a lot of training and games, affecting the league's ratings.

In the words of The New York Times, Forrest Gump's hearings have become a monthly occurrence in New York.

The only benefit of the hearing was that it helped him lose weight; he recently dropped to 270 pounds, which made him feel more comfortable. Upon arriving in New York, Gan Guoyang began sending people to gather information and attempt to bail Gan Guohui out.

He assigned his best lawyers to accompany Gan Guohui to ensure that no word Gan said would give the prosecution any grounds for attack.

The hearing on February 2nd was held in the afternoon. Due to the hearing investigation, Gan Guoyang will miss another game.

In the morning, the lawyer came to the hotel to find Gan Guoyang and reported the latest news to him, saying, "Ahui did not betray us, he didn't say anything. The prosecution found some things about him that are detrimental."

"what?"

"He has a mistress in Auckland, and he has a child with her."

"what?!"

Gan Guoyang never expected that his younger brother, the chubby boy who was once troubled by love, would now be so cunning.

While having a family and children, he also kept a mistress outside the marriage, and they even had a child together. It's truly unbelievable.

"The prosecution seized on this issue, trying to force him to make some statements that were detrimental to you, otherwise they would make the situation public. But Ahui did not give in. He made a phone call on the spot and told his wife that he had a mistress and an illegitimate child. He said that when he got out, the two of them would divorce and all the property would go to his wife. So, the prosecution did not succeed, and they did not obtain any evidence against you."

At the critical moment, Gan Guohui showed the courage to make a tough decision, sacrificing his reputation and family harmony.

Because Gan Guohui knew clearly in his heart that as long as Gan Guoyang didn't fall, everything would be alright.

Once Gan Guoyang falls, and because of his younger brother, the so-called harmony and integrity of the family will cease to exist.

The prosecution and the FBI clearly underestimated Gan Guohui's willpower and decisiveness; they became too impatient after gaining a glimmer of hope for a breakthrough.

After all, this case has dragged on for too long and has too much influence; a case that makes it to the Senate hearing is bound to go down in American history.

The prosecution and the FBI have been trying to turn the case into a criminal prosecution, but they still haven't found a breakthrough and can only torture Gan Guoyang with hearings—just like they did with Oppenheimer.

But in reality, it's not necessarily true who's tormenting whom.

In the afternoon, at New York City Hall, Gan Guoyang requested to make a self-statement at the hearing.

The committee agreed to the request, and Gan Guoyang began his speech at 2:30 p.m.

To the committee's surprise, Gan Guoyang's speech lasted from 2:30 p.m. until 9:30 a.m. the next day!

The 18-hour-long speech left everyone exhausted—but Gan Guoyang insisted on continuing despite being repeatedly interrupted.

Lengthy speeches are a tradition in the U.S. Congress. When one side doesn't want the agenda to proceed normally, they will launch an excessively long speech that torments everyone and makes the meeting impossible to continue.

The longest speech recorded in the Senate was delivered in 1957 by Strom Seymond of South Carolina, who gave an exceptionally long speech of 24 hours and 18 minutes on the Civil Rights Act to stop the proceedings.

He wore a diaper on stage to ensure he could keep talking without needing to go to the bathroom.

It can be said that those who become members of Congress or politicians in the United States are all formidable in terms of physical fitness and mental strength.

Gan Guoyang did not wear diapers. He emptied his bladder before going on stage and had plenty of rest before beginning a lengthy 18-hour self-narration.

During his self-narration, he demanded that Cox sit there and listen to him speak. After repeated exchanges between the two, Cox finally fainted in his seat and was carried away from City Hall on a stretcher by paramedics and taken to the hospital.

In the end, only two people remained at the scene, staying with Gan Guoyang to finish his speech and spending what was probably the longest afternoon and early morning of their lives.

As Gan Guoyang left the city hall, he felt a bit dazed. His physical strength and energy were outstanding, but standing and giving a speech for 18 hours was also a huge test.

In an interview, he said, "If I were ten years younger, I could talk for another 18 hours."

The committee again came up empty-handed at this hearing, and the prosecutors and the FBI began to waver, postponing the next hearing to April.

This means that in the final stages of the regular season, Gan Guoyang will have ample time to train and participate in matches without having to worry about the hearing.

On February 11, the All-Star Weekend kicked off at the Warriors' home arena, Oakland, and Gan Guoyang was selected as the Western Conference starter as the All-Star vote leader.

His popularity remains unmatched. In the absence of Michael Jordan in the East, he shines with unparalleled brilliance, seemingly unmatched by anyone else.

Given that this might be Gan Guoyang's last All-Star game, everyone is discussing giving him a dignified experience.

However, in an interview, Gan Guoyang said, "First of all, I'm not sure if this is my last All-Star game, so don't think about giving me a farewell party or an MVP award. It's really unnecessary. Secondly, I'm not the brightest star. My brilliance doesn't shine in the All-Star game. This is a stage for young people, a place for them to perform. My brilliance is less than a fraction of theirs."

The reporters all thought Gan Guoyang was being modest, but when the competitions started, they found out that he wasn't.

This year's All-Star Game truly was a stage for young people. In the dunk contest, which was back to normal, Vince Carter's amazing dunk stunned everyone.

McGrady and Francis then delivered equally spectacular performances, but in the end, Carter secured the dunk contest championship with an incredibly smooth between-the-legs dunk.

This dunk contest can be said to have saved the dunk contest itself. After Kobe won the championship in 1997, the league canceled the dunk contest because everyone thought it was too boring.

The All-Star Game did not include a dunk contest in 98 and 99, but no good alternative could be found, so the dunk contest was reinstated in 2000.

As a result, Carter and others' performance brought the game back into the spotlight and gave it a new lease on life, something Gan Guoyang could not achieve. Carter was the brightest star.

When it came to the All-Star Game, the only starter from the East and West was Gan Guoyang, a player born in the 80s; all the other players were rookies from the 90s.

Gan Guoyang had no intention of competing for the MVP award; he handed the stage over to O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett, Allen Iverson, Kidd, and Carter.

Wearing their team uniforms, they unleashed their talents on the court, dazzling the audience with dunks, alley-oops, and dazzling dribbling skills.

In terms of entertainment value, today's All-Star Game is much better than the one in the 80s. Everyone has unique skills and a strong desire to perform.

This All-Star Game was a huge success, achieving exceptional viewership and high praise, thus ushering in a new peak period for the All-Star Game.

The Silver Generation has taken center stage in the league, occupying more and more of the spotlight and becoming a part of the fans' memories.

(End of this chapter)