The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 948 Disciple
In the second half, Gan Guoyang moved to the power forward position and became more defensively oriented.

However, he is more like a free agent in offense, capable of playing both inside and outside, and can appear in any position.

He even contributed two three-pointers from the corner, a spot he rarely frequents, eliciting cheers from the fans in the arena.

After playing a full eight minutes in the third quarter, Gan Guoyang went to the bench for a rest and did not return to the game.

Ultimately, the Glory defeated the defending champion Lakers 100-91, a nine-point advantage, in their first preseason game in franchise history.

When the game ended, Phil Jackson came over and shook hands with Gan Guoyang, saying, "You came back too fast, Sonny."

Gan Guoyang said, "You're quick to seize opportunities too; I'm still late in coming back."

Both men spoke with barbs, but Phil Jackson seemed more frustrated.

None of his four rings were won by defeating Forrest Gump; either Forrest Gump retired or he was defeated in the Western Conference Finals.

Therefore, some people question whether Jackson is a typical example of "when the cat's away, the mice will play."

Therefore, Jackson really hopes to defend the title this season, and ideally defeat the Radiant Team in the playoffs.

But looking into Forrest Gump's deep eyes and holding his large, strong hand, Jackson felt insecure again.

After the game, the away locker room at Staples Center was packed with people, all there to interview Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang was asked how it felt to return to the competition after a year.

He honestly said, "I feel myself getting older. The passing year has had a big impact. I've become slower, and I'm losing my explosiveness, and it's happening very quickly. I hardly want to drive to the basket anymore, not because I can't, but because it's too exhausting. I prefer to back down and turn to shoot. My brain works faster than my hands, so I've noticed that my hair seems to be thinning."

"Just to add, I won't shave my head." The reporters burst into laughter.

Fans can no longer enter the backcourt of the stadium; all reporters must have credentials and pass through security.

Back in the 80s, after playing basketball at the Memorial Stadium, players could walk to the parking lot or go out for a meal with the fans. That's impossible now.

The players are all stars, stars worth millions or tens of millions, and Gan Guoyang is a superstar worth hundreds of millions.

The Glory's preseason was like a superstar tour, with the new team visiting different cities and making their debut in stadiums.

Fans, both old and new, come to the stadium to see their former king and see if he has changed in the year since he left.

A month has passed since 9/11, but the shadow of the attacks has not yet dissipated. This is not a simple hot topic event, but a major turning point that may affect many years to come.

Many people are curious about the connection between Forrest Gump and the 9/11 attacks, and the rumors about Forrest Gump's oath are becoming increasingly outrageous.

Some say that Bin Laden was a fan of Forrest Gump, and that he decided to attack Gump to prove his innocence because Gump made the vow that "the Twin Towers will weep for me."

Some people say that Forrest Gump was indeed a spy, but he could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. However, due to the distrust of the US government, this important intelligence was not discovered by Forrest Gump, which ultimately led to the tragedy.

Some people say that this was a scheme orchestrated by Forrest Gump and the FBI with the aim of sending troops to Afghanistan.

Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. military, under the pretext of counterterrorism, sent troops to Afghanistan, inserting their swords into the very heart of the Eurasian continent.

Correspondingly, across the Pacific, China gained ample space and time for development, leading some to say that this was actually a play co-directed by Forrest Gump and China...

Regardless of the movies or TV shows, the topics surrounding Forrest Gump are as numerous and endless as lice on a cow.

Wherever he went, local dignitaries and wealthy businessmen invited him to attend gatherings and give speeches.

Major sports, beverage, and car brands followed one after another, offering endorsement contracts.

As long as Gan Guoyang is still playing on the court, his commercial value will only increase and accumulate to an increasingly formidable level.

For the sake of the Glory team's profits and the 7-year revenue target of 5 million yuan, Gan Guoyang must firmly tie himself to the team.

This is undoubtedly exhausting, and because Gan Guoyang's brilliance is so overwhelming, other players don't even get much exposure.

During the preseason, Gan Guoyang realized this and instructed Tomjanovich to give other players, especially the younger ones, more playing time.

After finishing the last preseason game in San Francisco, on the private plane back to Las Vegas, Gan Guoyang took the opportunity to gather everyone together for a chat.

Gan Guoyang stated clearly: "For commercial reasons, I have to be the person with the most exposure on the team, but I am already 37 years old, and the Glory team shouldn't only have me as its name card. I want to make it clear to you all here that I personally selected each and every one of you to come to the Glory team. I have faith in you. I have faith in your strength, and even more so in the potential of the young players. I hope that by the time the season is halfway through, there will be more and more fans wearing your numbers in the stands. They are not coming to the stadium for Agan, but for you."

Steve Kerr said, "Sonny, do you think I have any hope?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Gan Guoyang said, "I'll assign you to the cheerleading squad next time. You'll definitely be very popular there."

Everyone burst into laughter again. The atmosphere within the Glory team was excellent, and the locker room of Gan Guoyang's team was always harmonious.

Disharmony among children is often due to the lack of virtue in parents. As the patriarch, Gan Guoyang has always been a very qualified person.

Gan Guoyang looked at Terry Porter and said, "Terry, are you confident you can take over my job?"

Potter reclined in his seat, glanced at Gan Guoyang, and said, "Sorry, Sonny, I'm a year older than you."

After joking with the veterans, Gan Guoyang focused his attention on the young players: Arenas, Brad Miller, Raja Bell, Eddie House, and Gerald Wallace.

Gan Guoyang didn't say much, only that you will have many good opportunities during the season, and you must seize them.

This is the era of young people, and the NBA changes very quickly. If you have the ability and ambition, you should show it and stand out quickly.

"Don't worry, I'm always very patient. If you can make something of yourselves, you'll be among the first generation of Glory's legendary stars, holding an important place in history. I won't trade you away to get established stars. Championships aren't that important to me. My real goal is to leave a future and seeds for Glory."

Gan Guoyang wasn't exaggerating. In his career, the only player he truly couldn't carry and had to be traded was Van Exel.

Other rookies drafted by the Trail Blazers all won championships alongside Gan Guoyang, including a big liability like Vandeweghe.

Despite repeated trade suggestions from management, Gan Guoyang refused, insisting on keeping the original roster. He was confident in leading his teammates to a championship, rather than constantly making changes; he wanted the most suitable lineup.

Gan Guoyang believes that there is no perfect match. It is fate that we are all on the same team. You and I, Gan, are destined to be together, so I will lead you to the championship.

For someone like Van Exel to disappear from the playoffs and leave the team, it's truly a case of not being meant to be.

Back in Las Vegas, the players disbanded and rested for a few days before the 2001-2002 regular season was about to begin.

The coaching staff certainly couldn't sit idle. After several preseason games, Tomjanovich gained a lot. Many things can only be seen on the court; they're not clear during training.

First, regarding the question of whether Gan Guoyang should play the small forward or power forward position, after observing him in multiple games, Tomjanovich believes that with Gan's achievements and abilities, trying to limit him would be a sign of a madman.

Therefore, he can use three or four numbers as he pleases, depending on his team's lineup and the needs of the game.

As a complement, Tomjanovich promoted rookie Gerald Wallace to the starting lineup.

This young newcomer, only 19 years old, has inexhaustible explosive energy in his body, which can perfectly balance out the veterans.

Secondly, regarding the point guard position, although the Glory team has two experienced veterans, Cole and Porter, Tomjanovich believes that they are too old to take on the starting role.

Porter, for example, was already unable to secure a starting position as early as the 1996-1997 season, and could only come off the bench for more than 20 minutes per game.

Now he looks like he's struggling to breathe, like he's trying too hard to live every day. It would be better to let him die than to give him a chance to start.

Steve Kerr has hardly ever started a game in his career. Now, the guards in the league are getting better and better, especially the small guards. They are all faster and more aggressive on the road. Starting Kerr would just be handing points to the opponent.

Therefore, Tomjanovich boldly used young players, starting Gilbert Arenas, who had the best physical talent and worked the hardest among point guards.

At the shooting guard position, Riddell was originally the number one starting choice.

However, after evaluation, Tomjanovich believed that while Riddell, as a former Trail Blazers player, was capable, his discipline was still too poor, and his individual performance had declined significantly.

Being a good substitute would be good enough; as for starting positions, let's give them to the younger players. So he set his sights on Raja Bell.

It can be said that Tomjanovich, as a head coach, not only understands basketball, but also politics.

The boss spoke up on the plane, saying that we should give more opportunities to young players, so he immediately decided to start young players and nurture them.

The day before the regular season officially started, Tomjanovich specially gathered the three rookies together and treated them to a meal and a chat.

Although all three were newcomers, their situations were quite different.

Gerald Wallace was a first-round draft pick. He had a very successful high school and college career, and won the Naismith Award.

He was quite satisfied with being selected 25th overall in the first round, considering he was only 19 years old. He was even happier when he was sent to Las Vegas by the expansion draft.

Sacramento is a backwater town, while Las Vegas is a big city, and being able to play on the same team as the basketball god is naturally a good thing.

So Gerald Wallace has a great attitude, he's cheerful every day, and being the youngest, he looks like a carefree little leopard.

In the team, Gan Guoyang nicknamed him Little Black Panther.

Upon learning that he would be starting, Gerald Wallace grinned sheepishly, clearly very happy.

Arenas was different from Wallace; he was equally successful in college, leading the University of Arizona to the NCAA National Championships, the highest stage of college basketball.

That was a chance for Arenas to make a name for himself, but he performed poorly due to a knee injury, making only 4 of 17 shots, which led to Arizona losing to Duke and missing out on the championship.

This became Arenas' biggest regret, and his arrogance led to him being overlooked by all teams in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft, only to be selected by the Warriors in the second round.

Not long after, he was traded to Las Vegas by the Warriors, at the cost of two second-round drafts.

Arenas felt humiliated because he had always believed he would be a top-ten draft pick.

As a result, his classmate Richard Jefferson was selected in the first round. Jefferson had always been Arenas's protégé in Arizona.

The University of Arizona even contacted him before the draft, saying that if no one wanted him, he should go back to college basketball. It is said that the teams that tried out Arenas did not think highly of him and believed that picking him in the first round would be a disaster.

Arenas was furious. He cursed every team that missed out on him and vowed to become an All-Star and teach those teams a lesson in regret.

Therefore, Arenas harbored great resentment and had a strong desire to rise above others.

When Arenas learned that Tomjanovich would start him in his first game of his rookie season, he said, "I will never let you down, coach, never."

Tomjanovich knew that he trained extremely hard, to the point of almost destroying himself.

Actually, as a 20-year-old newcomer, there's no need to practice too much; there's still a long way to go.

But Arenas was very competitive, and in order to prove himself, he specifically chose number 0.

In Arizona, he wore jersey number 25, which has nothing to do with number 0.

As for Raja Bell, the situation is different; he was an undrafted player.

Despite his impressive college performance and Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year award, none of that mattered in the draft.

In 1999, Bell went undrafted and went to the CBA, where he played for a year with the Yakima Sun Kings and won the championship, earning a spot on the All-NBA team. This gave him the opportunity to jump into the NBA.

He first went to the San Antonio Spurs, and then was signed by the 76ers in the final stages of the 2000-2001 season. He was fortunate enough to participate in the 76ers' 2001 playoffs, which led them to the Finals, and he got playing time in every game of the Finals.

Although the data is not obvious, this selection of time, playing in the CBA for a year and winning the championship, entering the NBA, and then playing in the finals with the team and being able to play in every game, greatly honed Raja Bell's skills.

So, despite appearing to be a newcomer, Bear Grylls actually has a calm and resilient mindset and cherishes every opportunity he has.

Upon learning that he had been sent to Las Vegas, he knew that his chance to take the next step had arrived.

His only concern is whether young players can develop in a team with veterans like Forrest Gump at its core.

Now, Agan has told everyone that he wants to give young players opportunities, and the head coach is also giving rookies a starting position, which looks great.

But Bale has more experience than Arenas and Wallace, and he knows that promises can be taken back. He can give you a starting spot for these few games, but not for the ones in the later games.

Today they say they're giving young people room to develop and leading them to championships, but tomorrow they package up the young players and trade them for superstars. This kind of thing happens frequently in the NBA, or in professional sports in general.

Therefore, Bell was cautious about the pie. When he heard Tomjanovich's words, he simply nodded slightly to indicate that he understood and would work hard, without any other extra emotions.

Three young people with different mindsets and ideas were thus pushed to the forefront of the Radiant Team, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Sun.

(End of this chapter)