The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 927 Forrest Gump's Vow
The Chinese men's basketball team's training in Eugene lasted for a full month, from late July to August.

For the men's basketball players, this past month has been both happy and tough.

The good thing is that the training center provides the best material benefits and training environment.

The scenery here is beautiful and the air is fresh. Every morning when you wake up, you can feel the tranquility of the valley and forest, which is much more comfortable than living in the city.

The center's facilities are all NBA-level, with floors, lighting, and equipment that are several levels higher than those in China.

Playing on the courts here, there's just one feeling: comfortable.

The food supply was abundant and plentiful; Gan Guoyang specially hired a Chinese chef from San Francisco to cook for the players.

Gan Youwei even personally came to the center to provide guidance, showcasing his still-sharp culinary skills.

In the small villa where they lived, each room had a DVD player and a large-screen TV, and the center offered many classic movie discs.

After training each day, I can go back to my room and watch whatever I want; all kinds of Hollywood blockbusters that I can't access in China are available.

The center also has a mahjong room and an arcade, allowing players to relax and have fun during their breaks from training.

In short, the logistical support and leisure activities were handled very well, so there was no need to worry about the boredom of the closed training life.

However, the more provisions and pay they receive, the more desperately they will fight.

The men's basketball team's closed training camp this time has been unprecedentedly arduous.

The training volume remains high, and the amount of learning content is unprecedented.

And most importantly, because of Gan Guoyang's presence, everyone was on high alert, not daring to relax for even a second.

This kind of intense concentration and focused dedication to basketball training for a whole month leads to rapid and significant improvement, but it is also quite grueling.

He is completely focused on basketball and cannot be distracted for even a moment. He would never leave the center to go out and play, let alone collude or engage in any underhanded tactics.

This is the pressure Gan Guoyang exerts. Not only the men's basketball team players, but even the veterans from the Trail Blazers who came to practice with him are forced to train hard every day.

Mullin, Sabonis, and Barkley, who should have been enjoying their retirement, have had their professional careers extended by an extra month.

The environment for basketball in China is still in a semi-professional state, just like the Chinese economy, which is transitioning from early planning to marketization.

These players all grew up under the national sports system, selected from local teams layer by layer. They can be said to be the pride of their respective regions.

When they come to the national team, they represent national honor, but when they return to their hometowns, they are treated like royalty on the field, so the players are all quite temperamental.

Coupled with the various overt and covert competitions between local sports bureaus, there is often no shortage of struggle in places like the national team, and a single national team spot often involves many factors.

This also puts a lot of management pressure on the head coach. Any outstanding men's national basketball team head coach has to put a lot of effort into player management.

Like Gong Luming, the head coach of the 1996 Olympics, who took the reins of the national team despite external doubts, and clashed with Sun Jun, a key player in the team, not long after taking office.

During a warm-up game, Gong Luming required each player to dunk during their pre-game warm-up to stretch their bodies and boost team morale.

As Sun Jun got older, he almost stopped dunking. During warm-up, he forgot Gong Luming's instructions and didn't dunk. As a result, Sun Jun sat on the bench for the rest of the game.

This incident created a rift between the two, and they later had a verbal conflict during training. Sun Jun then left the field and refused to train anymore. The incident caused quite a stir at the time, and with the media adding fuel to the fire, they said that Gong Luming was too inexperienced to manage the veteran players and was not qualified to be the head coach. Gong Luming faced a major crisis.

Later, the two reconciled through communication, and Sun Jun stayed in the national team, where he performed well in training and his performance was outstanding. Gong Luming also secured his position as head coach.

However, this does not mean that Gong Luming is easily subdued. On the contrary, Gong Luming is just as tough as Jiang Xingquan. He was not polite to another senior player in the team, A Dijiang, the core defender who won the silver medal in 1992.

Adijiang was a veteran player, but during closed training, he violated regulations by bringing his family into the training center. In addition, as a veteran player, he did not set a good example. Therefore, Gong Luming made up his mind to expel this veteran player from the national team.

Despite various pleas from the outside world, Gong Luming remained steadfast this time. Even if it meant the team would be left with only Li Xiaoyong as a point guard, Gong Luming would not change his decision to exclude Adijiang from the national team.

The balance between strictness and relaxation effectively established Gong Luming's authority, and the national team's performance at the 1996 Olympics was actually quite good.

Later, Gong Luming left the national team, and head coach Zhang Bin took over. However, the national team lost to South Korea in the 1997 Asian Championships, directly missing the 1998 World Championships.

It is known that the men's basketball team in 1997 was more mature than that in 1996, and every player reached the peak of their career.

Zhang Bin also brought back Adijiang, who had been dismissed by Gong Luming. On paper, the team was stronger in 97 than in 96.

Media outlets, unaware of the full story, were very optimistic about the men's basketball team before the tournament, believing they could easily win the Asian Championship.

Furthermore, Zhang Bin is mild-mannered and lenient with his players. The media believes that a good mentor-student relationship can inspire the players' fighting spirit.

The result was astonishing; even the South Koreans lost, missing out on the World Championships. Afterwards, some members of the national team pointed out that Zhang Bin was indeed very gentle and kind to the players.

However, this has fostered some unhealthy tendencies within the team, preventing everyone from working together and focusing their energy on training and matches, which has naturally led to a significant decline in their fighting strength.

This time, Jiang Xingquan returned to power and once again used the magic weapon of strict discipline. Gong Xiaobin became the sacrificial lamb, and the discipline of the national team was once again rectified.

However, after arriving in Eugene for training, Jiang Xingquan became much more relaxed. His usually stern face relaxed, and he even had some humorous moments during training, despite his usual serious and aloof demeanor.

The key reason is that after Gan Guoyang joined the national team, Jiang Xingquan no longer needed to emphasize discipline and management every day, and the players were extremely self-disciplined every day.

They got up early to eat breakfast, did morning exercises, and were fully engaged in training. In the afternoon, they did strength and physical training without complaining. Even in the evening, they persevered through the tactical study sessions, no matter how difficult or painful it was.

No one dared to complain, no one slacked off or formed cliques, and no one said, "I want to go out for a walk."

Because Gan Guoyang was there, and because he devoted himself to training with everyone and trained better than anyone else, his example and authority fostered a high degree of unity within the team.

Yao Ming, the youngest member of the team, felt this most deeply. When they were training at Lake Karen, although everyone was very serious, their true colors were revealed more or less after training.

Occasionally, they might have a few drinks, go out for a stroll to have some fun, or take a short break, feign a minor illness, or do something sneaky—it's bound to happen.

Even the strictest management will always have loopholes, and water that is too clear will have no fish. So Jiang Xingquan sometimes turns a blind eye and doesn't go too far.

This gave Yao Ming, who was just 20 years old and new to the world, a little "social shock." He realized that the older generation of mentors also had a human side, and he learned some things from them through observation and experience. This is what inheritance is all about.

But when he arrived in the United States, at the American Basketball Academy, Yao Ming saw in Gan Guoyang what it means to be the greatest basketball player in history, what it means to be a living legend, and what it means to be a role model.

From beginning to end, Gan Guoyang didn't set any rules for anyone. He only said one thing at the opening of the camp: "I hope that whatever I do, you can do as well. I will always be watching you, always." Just that one sentence had such a powerful deterrent effect that it lasted for an entire month.

However, Yao Ming later realized that what was truly powerful was not that sentence, but Forrest Gump's example.

By the time the training camp ended in August, the players all felt like they had been reborn and had seen the light of day again.

On the final day of the scrimmage, Gan Guoyang led the national team's starting lineup—Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Hu Weidong, and Li Xiaoyong—to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers' retired veterans team, composed of Barkley and Sabonis.

It's worth noting that when the training camp first started, even with Gan Guoyang present, the national team still lost in a 20-minute scrimmage.

A month has passed, and Gan Guoyang has integrated well into this young and promising team. In the competition, they lost the first game but won the second, successfully reversing the situation.

In particular, they unleashed a 14-0 offensive surge at the end, completely overwhelming the Trail Blazers' veteran players who were already exhausted, and successfully concluding the training camp.

At the end of the game, Barkley, holding his knees and panting heavily, said, "If the American team doesn't handle this well, they will definitely suffer a big loss this time."

Barkley may seem rude and foolish, but he is actually a shrewd and very intelligent person.

He participated in two Olympic Games, in 1992 and 1996, so he has a very direct understanding of the development of the Olympic Games.

In 1992, the US Dream Team was truly dominant, winning the championship without any suspense.

During the game, Barkley could clearly feel that players from other countries were on a completely different level, many of whom were not even at the NCAA level.

Even in the final against China, Agan tried to turn the tide, taking on the Dream Team single-handedly, but ultimately failed.

Moreover, they are the kind of teams that you can't win even if you play them again or in another series.

The scene was intense, and the score was close at one point, but the gap between the other players and the NBA was too great.

In 1996, the Dream Team played on home soil, and Barkley participated again, winning the championship once more, with dominant victories in every game.

But in just four years, Barkley noticed that basketball outside the United States was making significant progress.

More and more international players are coming to play in the NBA, and leagues around the world are also moving closer to the NBA.

Therefore, the competition became more intense and suspenseful, with many matches won by large margins, but the powerful Dream Team felt the resistance.

Unlike 1992, when it was like a hot knife through butter and you could easily win by 50 points, in 96, it was a serious game where you could win by 30 or 40 points. The feeling on the court was very different.

After winning the gold medal that year, Barkley said, "I can clearly feel that other countries are catching up. Our only real advantage now is depth. In terms of individual ability and tactics, we no longer have an overwhelming advantage."

Barkley's ability to express such views demonstrates his profound understanding of basketball development and his excellent court awareness.

This is why when Gan Guoyang applied for a long-term, large contract for Barkley at Turner Television, the station accepted Barkley's application.

Of course, another reason is that Gan Guoyang agreed to make a guest appearance on Turner TV in the future, which makes Barkley's contract even more meaningful.

A wonderful and memorable training camp has come to an end. The national team is ready to travel overseas to California and Australia to play a series of warm-up matches and make final preparations for the Olympics.

However, Gan Guoyang could not travel with the team because his eighth hearing in the espionage case was scheduled for August 21 in New York.

It is understood that this will be the last public hearing in the Gan Guoyang espionage case. After this hearing, the case will come to an end and become history.

After Gan Guoyang won the 2000 championship, achieving his tenth title, the espionage case and hearings have become a farce with no results.

The FBI has consistently failed to produce more compelling evidence, and Congress has lacked the resolve to investigate thoroughly. At this point, everyone is simply going through the motions, putting on a show, and bringing the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

The American public should move on to their next target.

At 10:30 a.m. on August 21, Gan Guoyang appeared on time in the City Hall lobby of New York City.

Everything followed a familiar procedure. The committee questioned Gan Guoyang in court about the past issues and the latest findings of the investigation (which actually uncovered nothing).

As always, Gan Guoyang answered the questions as usual and denied all the accusations against him.

He only admitted that when he first faced the Detroit Pistons in the 1984-1985 season, his tackle on Bill Laimbeer was intentional, not because Laimbeer provoked him first.

"The purpose is to intimidate other players in the league, because I am a foreigner and a Chinese, and I am afraid of being bullied by them."

Faced with Gan Guoyang's confession, the investigation committee was left speechless, while the reporters were delighted, finally finding something to write about at this hearing.

At noon, the hearing, which lasted for an hour and a half, came to an end. The committee announced that day that the investigation had come to a close and the committee had been dissolved.

Although the committee claims it will reopen the investigation should evidence emerge in the future, this sounds more like a helpless threat.

Gan Guoyang's espionage case was over, and the weight on his mind was finally lifted. Gan Guoyang just smiled, as if it had no effect, but he was still greatly relieved.

As he left City Hall, a large number of reporters surrounded him. The drama had finally come to an end, and Forrest Gump was, in fact, the victor.

Although he paid a considerable price for it—energy, reputation, and wealth—he didn't lose anything that was rightfully his, demonstrating the unmistakable strength of a powerful figure.

When asked by a reporter how he viewed the hearing of the longest case in history, Gan Guoyang was silent for a moment. He looked up at the Twin Towers of New York that stood tall in the distance, his gaze stretching far, far away.

The reporters followed Gan Guoyang's gaze and looked into the distance, wondering what he was looking at.

"What are you looking at, Sonny?" a reporter asked.

"I'm looking at the World Trade Center, a great symbol of America, where finance, law, and freedom are embodied in these two magnificent towers."

Gan Guoyang looked away, and the reporters all thrust their microphones over, knowing that Gan was bound to have something to say.

"However, in this country that relies on these cornerstones to carry dreams, more and more cracks are being born. For a whole year, I was troubled by a baseless charge, and attended eight hearings without any evidence. I was exhausted. I have nothing more to say. I am too tired. I just want to leave a vow in this country with faith. I swear on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that if I am wronged, the Twin Towers will weep for me."

After saying this, Gan Guoyang left the bewildered reporters behind, got into his car, and left the city hall.

A vow similar to the "Curse of the Holy Infant" has been passed down ever since, with a far more profound impact than the espionage case itself.

While the Holy Infant's influence was limited to Boston baseball, Forrest Gump's vow is etched into the entirety of American history.

(End of this chapter)