The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 928 The vast sea and sky
Gan Guoyang's vow made headlines on August 21st and 22nd, but it didn't cause much of a stir.

After all, this matter has been going on for too long, and the peak of its popularity has long passed. In 2000, Gan Guoyang won the championship and had a grand retirement ceremony.

Following that, he will represent the Chinese team at the Olympics in September, where his first match will be a fierce battle against the American team, which will surely cause a media frenzy.

Therefore, the topics of public opinion regarding Gan Guoyang are packed from the past to the future, and the "espionage case" is already a forgotten point of focus.

After such a case is over, it's perfectly normal for Gan Guoyang to grumble a bit, or even utter some curses; it's no big deal.

Therefore, the headline report only briefly mentioned it and did not generate much related discussion.

Over the years, there have been countless criticisms and attacks against the United States in all aspects, including sharp criticisms from experts and complaints from the public.

Gan Guoyang's words were rather bland and lacked any real impact. People were more concerned about whether he would cause significant damage to the Dream Team at the Sydney Olympics.

Unlike the star-studded lineups of 1992 and 1996, the roster of professional players representing the United States at the 2000 Olympics was indeed not up to par on paper.

The league's most popular and strongest players have all declined to participate. Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan are unable to represent the United States for various reasons.

O'Neal declined the Dream Team's call-up. He participated in the 1996 Olympics when he was still young. Now he is in his prime, and after Forrest Gump's retirement, he is undoubtedly the best center in the league, or even the world.

But O'Neal said he had lost interest in the Olympics and that his team had many excellent interior players, so it didn't matter if he didn't go.

Of course, this was just O'Neal's explanation, and no one believed it. Many people speculated that O'Neal didn't want to make it to the Olympics and have to face Forrest Gump in the games.

Forrest Gump has finally retired from the NBA. Shaquille O'Neal was relieved that he no longer had to face Forrest Gump in games, but he immediately went to Sydney to be tortured. Isn't that crazy?
Another theory is that O'Neal was resentful of the unfair treatment he received at the 1996 Olympics, as he only got one minute of playing time in the final.

Although the US team ultimately won the gold medal, O'Neal felt humiliated because he sat on the bench for the entire final game in Atlanta, the US team's home arena.

Shaquille O'Neal, who has never been petty, held a grudge. "In 1992, you said I was too young and didn't take me, so you took Laettner instead. In 1996, you took me, but then you didn't let me play in the finals. Now it's 2000 and you still want me to suffer? I'm not putting up with this anymore!"

Looking back at the various entanglements and conflicts between O'Neal and the US Olympic Committee over the past eight years, it is perfectly normal that he did not participate in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As for Tim Duncan, he was willing to participate in the Olympics, and he did participate in training and games, but had to withdraw during training due to a knee injury.

Duncan's knee injury not only prevented him from participating in this Olympics, but also cast a shadow over the Celtics' path to the championship next season.

When Bobby Bellman left Oregon, he was worried about Duncan's injury and sighed, wondering why he couldn't be like Forrest Gump and never get injured.

The US team lacked two of the most talented giants in the paint, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, and also failed to recruit talents like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson on the perimeter.

Kobe didn't participate because he wanted to consider getting married in the summer. After winning the 2000 championship and achieving a three-peat early on, Kobe temporarily shifted his focus back to his family.

His relationship with Vanessa caused a huge uproar, and his family was in turmoil. His parents were firmly against Vanessa marrying into the family, but Kobe was determined to marry Vanessa.

In this dramatic situation, Kobe had no time to think about the Olympics, even though he really wanted to go because he wanted to beat Forrest Gump in the games.

When the Chinese men's basketball team was training in Eugene, Kobe Bryant made a special trip to visit them and played a scrimmage with the Chinese players as a practice partner.

Kobe found that Gan Guoyang was in very good form, possibly even better than during the playoffs and finals.

After regular and scientific training, his weight, physical fitness, and skills reached a very good level.

Seeing Forrest Gump in such good form, Kobe couldn't help but want to join the US men's basketball team, since he could always be a substitute if someone dropped out.

However, after Grant Hill withdrew due to injury, Kobe considered the matter and decided to give up the opportunity to be his substitute.

Because next season will be Gan Guoyang's first season away from the Trail Blazers, Kobe will take the lead and become the Trail Blazers' star player.

The era of Forrest Gump in Portland is over, and Kobe will face enormous pressure and challenges. He doesn't want to risk participating in the Olympics.

After resolving his family issues, he will focus all his energy on training and make thorough preparations to become the top player next season.

Without Kobe, without Shaq, without Duncan, the best talent in the league was not injected into this Dream Team.

However, the league still managed to assemble a very strong Olympic roster including Kevin Garnett, Alonzo Mourning, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, and Tim Hardaway.

However, the US Olympic Committee is facing a dilemma when it comes to selecting a coach: no coach is willing to coach this Dream Team because everyone feels immense pressure.

The experiences of 92 and 96 have led people to not allow the American team to lose at the Olympics. Not only can they not lose, but they also have to win easily and beautifully, ideally by a large margin in every match.

Otherwise, the NBA is touted as the strongest league in the world, with these stars earning tens of millions of dollars a year. The media hypes them up to the skies, portraying them as exceptionally talented and powerful. One player's income is equivalent to that of an entire opposing team. If they can't achieve a decisive victory, it's considered a failure.

However, while fans may have high expectations, only those in the know are aware that the gap between world basketball and American basketball has been narrowing rapidly in recent years.

Moreover, while NBA players possess strong individual abilities, once they form a team to compete in the Olympics, they face challenges such as limited training time, lack of teamwork, and, most importantly, the significant difference between NBA and FIBA ​​rules.

Putting 12 NBA players with multi-million dollar salaries together makes it almost impossible to fully utilize each player's abilities; a reduction in performance is inevitable.

With this Olympics, Agan Mingpai will be representing the Chinese team, and they will be playing against China in the first group stage match. It would be a lie to say he's not scared.

Who wouldn't back down? Who would dare not back down? In 1992, the gap in skill between the other players was so vast, yet Forrest Gump still managed to turn the game around. Now that the gap has narrowed, the possibilities are unimaginable.

Although Forrest Gump was 36 years old, he had just won the 2000 championship, and his outstanding performance in the playoffs was evident to all. The Olympics, a tournament where one battle determines the outcome, was Forrest Gump's forte.

So it's scary to even think about it. Many famous coaches have opted out of the competition, including Berman, who simply went to Eugene to be a guest coach for the Chinese team and give lessons to the Chinese players, all unwilling to get involved in the Dream Team's mess.

Others, such as Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, and Tomjanovich, were either unwilling or felt they lacked the seniority to command respect and were unwilling to take on this hot potato.

After careful consideration, USA Basketball decided to hire Portland Trail Blazers head coach Rick Carlisle to coach the Dream Team.

This shows that USA Basketball is really out of options. Although Carlisle is a championship coach with a lot of experience, he is still a rookie.

A rookie coach lacking sufficient experience leading a team full of star players is very likely to be a disaster.

However, the USA Basketball Association and the Olympic Committee really couldn't find anyone to hire. NBA coaches were unwilling to come, and veteran NCAA coaches were unwilling to return to coaching.

In the end, they could only find young people and had Larry Bird and others persuade them to let Dick Hart, Larry Brown and others become Carlisle's assistant coaches.

The script has played out before: Forrest Gump's coach becomes the Dream Team coach, then defeats Forrest Gump at the Olympics to win both the NBA championship and the Olympic gold medal.

Bobby Bellman became a renowned American coach thanks to this achievement, and now he holds sway in Boston, capable of building championship teams that follow his own philosophy.

For the young and ambitious Carlisle, the job was very attractive. Moreover, the success of the 1999-2000 season gave Carlisle a lot of confidence.

This year was very difficult, but precisely because of the difficulties, Carlisle gained a lot of experience and learned a great deal.

It can be said that Carlisle's achievements as the Trail Blazers' head coach in the 1999-2000 season were equivalent to three years of coaching at other ordinary teams.

This sense of gain and confidence, coupled with repeated requests from the Basketball Association and encouragement from those around him, finally got Carlisle carried away. After the Finals, he didn't take much rest or adjustment before throwing himself into the formation, training, and competition of the Dream Team.

But Carlisle soon realized that this was no easy task.
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On September 10, five days before the opening of the Sydney Olympics, the Chinese men's basketball team finished several warm-up games overseas and arrived in Sydney ahead of schedule to prepare for the Games.

Previously, after concluding his final hearing in New York, Gan Guoyang traveled to the city where he was playing warm-up matches to join the national team and played several warm-up games around the world.

Over a period of 20 days, the Chinese national team traveled to five major cities: Milan in Italy, Sasha in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Auckland in New Zealand, Tokyo in Japan, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, covering five continents.

Wherever they went, their presence caused a sensation throughout the city, or even the entire country—a sensation, of course, brought about by Gan Guoyang.

During this Olympics, AVIA not only acted as the agent for the men's basketball team's apparel and shoes, but also provided equipment for the entire Chinese delegation.

The men's basketball warm-up games before the Olympics are an important part of Avia's global strategy. Gan Guoyang travels with the Chinese team to various parts of the world for games and promotion.

In the past few seasons, Gan Guoyang has been focused on the NBA and busy with various offseason affairs, so he has not been able to take time to do things like European or Asian tours like he did when he was younger.

In the takeover battle for the Trail Blazers, Avia lost to Nike and failed to acquire a stake in the team because she was not supported by the league office and other team owners (who worried that if Avia took over the Trail Blazers, Forrest Gump would not retire and the Portland dynasty would never end).

Shortly after the finals and the draft concluded this year, Tang Jianguo sold the remaining shares of the team to a consortium led by Nike, putting Avia at a disadvantage in the competition for domestic brands.

However, overseas markets have always been Avia's strength and the area that Avia has been deeply involved in for many years. As the NBA's international influence grows, Avia, relying on Forrest Gump, is doing better and better.

Gan Guoyang's trip with the Chinese national team to compete in various competitions around the world is a large-scale promotional campaign by Avia to showcase their market territory and influence.

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang has now escaped the heavy workload of NBA games and the troublesome spy case, and he can devote himself wholeheartedly to the broader world of basketball.

The world of basketball is not just the NBA. Although it represents the highest level, people in other regions have just as much love and passion for basketball as the NBA.

The basketball world outside the NBA is vast and full of untapped frontiers. Compared to the highly commercialized and exquisitely packaged NBA, basketball in these places has its own unique local characteristics.

In Italy, female fans greeted the Chinese national team and Gan Guoyang with smiles and flying kisses. The level of basketball here is quite high, and it is a place where European and American basketball are combined very well.

Kobe grew up here and once owned a team, but it was sold due to poor management. Although Italians' passion for basketball cannot compare to that for football, on the day Gan Guoyang arrived, football matches had to give way to him.

During the warm-up game, Gan Guoyang put on a show for the fans with his spectacular dunks and unstoppable mid-range shots. After the game, a female fan even ran naked for Gan Guoyang.

Arriving in Sasha, Democratic Republic of Congo, reveals a completely different scene. This is a wild land for basketball, and the deepest mark that sports have left here is the jungle battle between boxing legend Muhammad Ali and the devil Foreman.

This was the first time an Asian team had come here to play basketball and had such a huge impact, especially considering that Congo had just ended a civil war in December 1999 and its political situation had been stable for less than a year.

Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso personally went to the airport to welcome the Chinese national team and Gan Guoyang, presented Gan Guoyang with the highest honors, and personally watched the game on site.

In this match, Gan Guoyang played for the Chinese team in the first half and, after taking a large lead, put on the Congolese team jersey in the second half and helped equalize the score.

The game has ended in a draw, symbolizing the Congo's transition from civil war to peace.

Subsequently, Gan Guoyang received a frenzy of attention in countries with developed sports industries such as New Zealand, Japan, and Brazil.

In 2000, New Zealand had a total population of 385 million, roughly the same as the population of a medium-sized third-tier city in China.

On the day Gan Guoyang visited with the national team, it is said that all 385 million people in New Zealand came to Auckland just to catch a glimpse of the world's basketball king.

Before the match, Gan Guoyang watched the Maori war dance performed by the New Zealanders. Then, in the warm-up match, he single-handedly defeated the New Zealanders, and the fans at the scene cheered non-stop.

Brazil and Japan are even more extreme. Brazilian women are incredibly unrestrained and passionate, often going out in crowds without clothes so that Forrest Gump can catch their eye.

It is said that when Gan Guoyang and the Chinese national team visited, the crime rate in Rio de Janeiro dropped rapidly, and gunfire almost disappeared. He became an ambassador of peace.

Of course, the most exaggerated was his trip to Tokyo, Japan. As a ten-time champion and the "God of Asia," Gan Guoyang has an unimaginably deep fan base in Japan.

Gan Guoyang's 16 years of success coincided with Japan's economic boom. His repeated victories in the United States spanned the period of Japan's economic miracle.

During this period, Gan Guoyang was mentioned in numerous films, television series, and comics as a backdrop to the era of economic miracle, becoming a symbol of the inflated confidence of that time.

Therefore, the scale of the Tokyo trip was terrifying; from the hotel to the stadium, not a single car could pass through—it was all people.

The Chinese team's bus was practically carried from the hotel to the stadium. Gan Guoyang ended up standing on the roof of the bus to ensure that more people could see him.

It is said that more than 90 people fainted during the event that day, and seven people died in the hospital despite all efforts to save them.

Gan Guoyang continued to showcase his top skills in the competition, and he also made an exception to participate in interviews and variety shows on Japanese television, once again creating a ratings legend in Japanese television.

The warm-up tournament generated a great response worldwide. Avia served both as publicity and as a global retirement tour for Gan Guoyang.

The tour broadened the horizons of Chinese men's basketball players, especially the young Yao Ming, who finally understood what a god-like idol was.

Moreover, as someone who could get close to Gan Guoyang, Yao Ming knew that Gan Guoyang was almost the same in public and in private; everything about him was genuine and not an act.

He is energetic, approachable, and down-to-earth. During fan meet-and-greets, he patiently fulfills all reasonable requests and politely refuses unreasonable ones (such as the many fans who want to spend the night with him or even have his babies).

Despite being retired, he remains disciplined and maintains a good condition through long journeys and various activities, including strength training and shooting practice every day.

When the group arrived in Sydney slightly tired, Gan Guoyang was still full of energy and able to throw himself back into training and business activities in Australia.

Yao Ming understood that Forrest Gump was born for this job; he was suited to be an idol, and he had the ability and physique to do so.

Of course, Gan Guoyang often boasts that he is more suited to be a chef, as he enjoys cooking.

"Of course, playing basketball gives me a wider range of possibilities."

Gan Guoyang's words resonated with Yao Ming, and his heart felt as vast and boundless as a sea.

(End of this chapter)