The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 974 I can't outlast you
Van Exel's arrival provides the Las Vegas Glory with a powerful ball-handling firepower on their bench.

Although this firing point is unstable, it's better to have it than not.

At 30 years old, Van Exel has reached the peak of his career. Putting aside off-court factors, Glorious definitely made a profit in this trade.

Although Eddie House is a good young man, he still has a long way to go in his development.

The Glory team already has a lot of young players who need to develop, and House is probably the lowest on the development list.

His departure from the Glory to rebuild the Nuggets might not be a bad thing.

As for Van Exel's worrying off-field factors, they are unlikely to exist for Agam.

In terms of sheer depravity, Van Exel cannot compare to Riddell in any way.

This guy is a criminal, except when it comes to playing basketball. He's even capable of illegally recording phone bills on other people's phones, which shows just how low his moral standards are.

You're a strong, tall Black man, why don't you just grab a gun and rob someone on the street?

But with the Trail Blazers, he played two solid seasons, won two championships, and became a member of the 77-win team.

After leaving the Trail Blazers, he fell into a rapid decline, and even in Los Angeles, Phil Jackson couldn't handle him.

Actually, you can see from the Riddle incident that Phil Jackson's claim of handling Rodman was somewhat exaggerated, because Rodman wasn't as difficult as people thought. He was a very emotional person, just a bit rebellious due to his upbringing. If you find his weakness, this guy is pretty good.

But Riddle was different; he was a complete criminal, devoid of any sentimentality, a bad seed.

One of his favorite things to do was to play pornographic videos in front of the flight attendants on airplanes, and he felt very proud of himself when he saw their embarrassed expressions.

When faced with people whose animalistic instincts outweigh their human nature, Phil Jackson's shamanistic rituals are completely ineffective.

Only when Gan Guoyang pointed a gun at his head and told him that following him would ensure a life of luxury, and that disobeying him would result in a terrible death, would he understand and obediently restrain himself.

After joining the Glory team, Riddell, as a substitute, was still able to fulfill his duties and live up to his price tag.

He was never late for training, never showed pornographic films to the flight attendants on the plane, and did whatever the instructor told him to do.

He's also contributing 9.3 points and 4 rebounds per game, with a 39% three-point shooting percentage, which is much better than his performance with the Lakers.

That's all. What more could you ask for? The eighth and ninth substitutes are more than enough.

When Van Exel came to the Glory, the team required him to be a sixth man, a sixth man who could truly carry the offensive transition.

Porter is too old to have that ability, and Cole, whether he's old or not, doesn't have that ability either.

Insufficient firepower during transitional periods is the biggest problem facing Glorious this season.

With Gan Guoyang off the field, the attack lost its backbone.

The young players have developed resilience, but they will still lose games they are destined to lose.

Van Exel's arrival has given the team's second unit more possibilities.

However, the effect was not immediate. On February 24, in the game where the Glory played against the Timberwolves on the road, Van Exel, who made his first appearance as a substitute, missed all three of his shots.

He hasn't participated in team training or matches for over two weeks, and his performance in matches has been mediocre.

The Timberwolves are in great form this season, and the combination of Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury is proving to be a powerful force.

Although the two are said to be at odds in private, their record can temporarily cover up their differences.

The Timberwolves are currently ranked fifth in the Western Conference, placing them in the upper-middle tier of the league.

Although they are not on par with top teams like the Kings, Trail Blazers, and Lakers, their overall strength is quite good, and their roster is very complete, with good talent in every position.

After years of honing his skills, Kevin Garnett has developed into one of the best power forwards in the league.

He, along with Nowitzki, Duncan, and Webber, were known as the four great power forwards, ushering in an era for the power forward.

They are called the successors of Forrest Gump, possessing versatile offensive and defensive skills, no longer confined to the backcourt as shadow warriors alongside the center.

Of course, the total number of championships for the four of them is 0 so far.

I wonder if, by the end of their careers, the combined number of championships they have won will reach half of Forrest Gump's.

Garnett has matured a lot; he's no longer as boisterous as he was when he first entered the league.

In the game, he can be more proactive and open in his confrontation with Forrest Gump, rather than being too afraid and underperforming.

Of course, competing against Gan Guoyang was still difficult. He learned to rely more on his teammates and the team as a whole, rather than thinking that he could take down the opponent by himself.

In the icy, snowy landscape of Minnesota, the glorious sun did not rise.

Van Exel, making his debut, had a poor performance, shooting 2-for-10 and scoring only 5 points, failing to fulfill his role as the sixth man.

After the match, back in the locker room, Gan Guoyang simply patted him on the shoulder and said, "If you're bad, just practice more."

Training, high-intensity recovery training. After arriving in Las Vegas, Van Exel did not immerse himself in gambling but instead spent his days in the training gym, shooting three-pointers every day.

After each training session, the ones who stayed in the gym until the very end were either Van Exel or Arenas.

Both of them had crazy shooting training sessions, with an enormous amount of practice to deeply embed muscle memory into their nerve cells. This is the only way to improve.

Van Exel seems to be making up for the time he wasted during his years of wandering and drifting in Las Vegas.

He himself didn't know how long he could keep going; he might not be able to keep going like this for more than a month.

After all, the allure of Las Vegas is too great: sexy women, the clatter of slot machines, and dazzling strip clubs are all huge temptations for both away and home players.

Nick felt it was a miracle that he could hold on, and he felt pretty good about himself anyway.

Since he had just arrived and hadn't been assigned a place to stay yet, he stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel.

During training, he would train as usual. When he wasn't training, he would often go to Gan Guoyang's office on the top floor, where there was a gym.

He used Gan Guoyang's gym for strength training to improve his combat abilities.

Gan Guoyang would sometimes accompany him. Seeing how hard Van Exel was working, he would say, "It takes time to get back into form. Don't be in such a hurry. You're only 30 years old. You have plenty of time."

Gan Guoyang was also afraid that he would lose interest after a short time. He was just starting out in Vegas and got all fired up, but after a while, he would be tempted to go downstairs to get some chicken essence.

Van Exel remained unmoved and asked Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, why are you always able to resist temptation?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Resist temptation? I have never resisted temptation. On the contrary, I really can't resist temptation. Otherwise, why would I have retired twice and made two comebacks? And now I even want to build my own team to play with? It's just that the temptation of basketball is too great."

Van Exel then realized that for Forrest Gump, the allure of basketball far outweighed the allure of sensual pleasures; no wonder the guy was never satisfied.

And yet, he spends all his time in his office at the MGM Hotel. As the most powerful monarch in this palace, he never seems to bring any beautiful women up to his spacious office to have some fun.

Van Exel was lost in his own thoughts, probably forgetting that the team's mistress was in her office on the same floor.

As March arrives, the NBA season is entering its final stage.

The trading market is closed. Apart from the buyout market where you can still find some bargains, there is not much room for change in the rosters of each team.

Those who should aim for the playoffs should aim for the playoffs, those who should tank should continue tanking, and those who should plan their playoff seeding should start preparing early.

For the first time, Gan Guoyang's team has fallen to the edge of the playoffs, and everyone needs to work hard to make it into the playoffs.

They are probably the opponent that the top four seeded teams in the West least want to face.

With such a phenomenal combination as Forrest Gump and Van Exel, no one knows what will happen in the best-of-five first round.

Therefore, the teams at the top of the Western Conference are playing cautiously, not daring to win by too much and widen the gap in their records. Otherwise, if the Glory team secures the eighth or seventh seed, they would be in trouble if they were to face them in the first round.

You must leave some room for maneuver so you can better calculate the rankings later.

As a result, the top four teams in the West – the Lakers, Kings, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers – are all within 1.5 games of each other in wins, and none of them are willing to step up and take the lead.

Glorious, however, didn't care about anything else and charged forward headfirst, determined to make it into the top eight in the West and qualify for the playoffs.

With hard work in training and gradual integration into the Glory team's system, Van Exel's performance became increasingly better and more consistent by mid-March.

His strong three-point shooting and unpredictable footwork provided a great complement to Glorious's already somewhat disorganized tactical system.

With a veteran player to fall back on, the substitutes no longer have to helplessly pass the ball around in the half after Forrest Gump leaves the game, which would have been quite an awkward situation.

As for defense? Players like Porter and Kerr were already outmatched; everyone was pretty much the same.

In March, Glorious achieved a good run of results, winning three and then four consecutive games, gradually solidifying their position in the top eight of the Western Conference.

However, the competition in the Western Conference is indeed quite fierce. The teams in seventh, eighth, and ninth place are neck and neck: the Glorious, the Jazz, and the Spurs.

On March 19, the Glorious Team visited Salt Lake City, which had just hosted the Winter Olympics in February.

The Glorious will face off against the Jazz head-on in an effort to widen their lead in the playoff race.

The two teams have met twice before, with each side winning and losing. Since they are not in the same division, this will be the last match between the two teams this season.

Gan Guoyang met his old friend Stockton again. Compared with each previous encounter, Stockton was noticeably more frustrated and silent this season.

He used to be silent and quiet, but he was rarely frustrated; his eyes always shone.

This season he didn't. Before the game, he warmed up quietly, sitting on the sidelines stretching his legs. When Gan Guoyang came over, he jogged over, smiled slightly, and hugged Gan Guoyang, but there was some unease in his eyes.

Gan Guoyang knew what he was worried about, and said, "I won't recruit you to Las Vegas. I know your mind won't change."

Stockton relaxed a little, then frowned again and said, "Sorry Sonny. But to be honest, I did consider it. But then I realized I'm happy with my career, and even if it ends like this, it's not a big deal."

“I know you’ve had a great career, and we’ve won championships together, haven’t we?”

"Yes Yes."

After the 2001 season, Stockton signed a two-year contract extension with the Jazz and announced his retirement after the contract expired.

Of course, he didn't expect that Forrest Gump could be reincarnated and make a damn comeback.

Even so, he did not change his mind and decided to end his 19-year basketball career in Salt Lake City.

Everyone has their own choices and principles. For him, winning the championship in another city wouldn't make him happy; it wouldn't be a true championship for him.

In the evening game, the Glory team played exceptionally well, with Gan Guoyang and Van Exel raining down three-pointers that pierced through the Jazz's defense.

Glorious defeated their opponent 104-91, a 13-point advantage, securing a crucial victory in the battle for the top eight.

When the game ended, Stockton wasn't upset about the loss. He just asked Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, it's incredible how you could still participate in the game with such enthusiasm."

Gan Guoyang said, "I'm going to outlast you all until you retire! Then I'll be the best in the world, right?"

"What are you talking about? We wanted to outlast you, but we couldn't even outlast you."

Stockton himself admitted that Forrest Gump was truly a master at keeping old men entertained.

To prove that Larry's confidence in my abilities was correct, I generously accepted his offer of a two-year salary.

As I closed the door and left his office, I intended to continue throwing myself into the game I loved, to satisfy both the team and myself.

They had to rip my jersey off and drag me out of the arena to stop me from playing.

However, I underestimated the burden a player carries when ending their career. I didn't want to disappoint my teammates, coaches, and fans in any way, and that worried me deeply.

Loyal relationships have provided me with the motivation to move forward, but they have also placed a heavy burden on me, which has become heavier and heavier over time.

I struggled, unsure if I could muster the courage to fight with all my might on the field every night, and feelings of frustration always enveloped me.

I expect my armor to develop more cracks, but it's a different story when you actually have to take it off.

I witnessed two outstanding teammates, Darrell Griffiths and Mark Eaton, retire during my first decade with the Jazz.

I thought to myself, these guys are too good, they shouldn't retire.

Watching someone hang up their boots when they could still make significant contributions to the team was perplexing to me as a young person; I could only partially understand it.

I have a vague idea of ​​the physical pain they endure in order to be able to play every day, but I can't fully empathize with it.

I naively wondered why anyone would retire from this sport.

Playing basketball and earning money at the same time, and a lot of it at that, what a great job!

Frank Leiden used to say, "This is fucking better than working!"

Later, I watched as two other teammates decided to end their professional careers.

One of them was Antoine Carr, who approached me on a team flight and talked to me about the idea.

He was depressed and frustrated about many things. Later I discovered that frustration is a common feeling among players of a certain age.

Because in society, people over 35 are just starting out in their careers, which is the prime of their lives.

But here in the NBA, you have to retire at 35-40! This is actually the time when a person is most mentally mature, yet you have to leave.

Of course, I still didn't quite understand at the time, and I regretted not comforting him and telling him how important he was to us.

Another player who left was Jeff Hornacek, whose departure in 1998 didn't surprise me as much.

Because I knew he was very happy, we talked a lot about retiring.

At that time, I understood the mindset of Darrell, Mark, and Antoine better than before.

I begged Hornacek to reconsider, but he was determined, and the guy even flashed his ring at me.

I guess he was probably tired of running around with an injured leg and having to go toe-to-toe with two defenders who were much stronger than him.

And of course, there are rings.

Jeff's departure struck me deeply. The Jazz have undergone many changes. We've become younger, but we're not as in sync anymore, and there are many new faces.

Throughout the league, there are more and more unfamiliar faces, and their clothing, appearance, and playing styles make me look more and more like an antique.

As I neared my departure, I came to understand my old teammates more and more, but I found it increasingly difficult to understand Forrest Gump.

I once thought I could do it. I watched him retire and then come back. I know he can't leave the court.

However, when he retired and then returned to competition in 2000, I don't know how he managed to keep going.

In the past, no matter how many championships he won or how many times I lost, I still felt that I could keep up with him and that one day I could catch up with him, defeat him, and win a championship. I almost did it in 1997.

But this time, I really couldn't keep up. He was too far away, far away.

—Excerpt from John Stockton's 2012 autobiography, Assisted.

(End of this chapter)