The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 115 The Challenge to Jordan
Jerome Kossie experienced a thrilling training camp in October 1984, followed by a preseason game that solidified his position.

Jim Paxson missed training camp due to contract issues, Drexler was promoted to the starting lineup, and Kossie became the main substitute, getting a lot of playing time along with Cort.

The first day of training camp’s intra-squad scrimmage undoubtedly enhanced his and Cort’s role and status in Coach Ramsey’s eyes. The rookie team, led by Agan, actually defeated the starters. From that day on, the Trail Blazers’ intra-squad scrimmages became very rare, or they could play, but Agan was not allowed to participate.

In his book "Long Hot Winter," Adelman said that this was for the sake of team unity and harmony, as it was too discouraging for Forrest Gump to always beat the starters with substitutes.

But according to Drexler, they still secretly organize scrimmages, and the key players work hard to improve themselves in order to avoid being humiliated in the scrimmages—Drexler has never been late for training camp since he was humiliated in his first scrimmages.

The Trail Blazers performed exceptionally well in the preseason, winning all their games. Their appearance at Memorial Arena quickly won over Portland fans, and Forrest Gump's effortless performance in the preseason quickly erased the slight negative impressions he had from the summer.

However, Agan's stats were average. He gave up many scoring and rebounding opportunities to Kossie, Cort, and Schaeffler, who needed to showcase their abilities to earn a contract to stay in the NBA.

Drexler put up extremely well-rounded numbers; his shooting was still poor, but his rebounds and assists were noteworthy.

In an exhibition game against the Clippers, Kossie came off the bench and scored 19 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and made 2 steals. In a game against the Utah Jazz, he scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Mitchell Thompson called Jerome Koch a "younger version of Bernard King," a statement Forrest Gump strongly disagreed with—he and King were good friends.

More concerning than the preseason statistics and performances are the relationships between Gan and Bill Walton, and Gan and Stockton, after the two games.

After the game, Walton claimed to be Gan's number one fan, saying that Gan's performance on the court had always been his ideal. The two were very friendly before and after the game, and Walton took Gan Guoyang to his favorite Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles.

Stockton was Gan's college classmate, and the two were very close. Jerome Koch, also a good friend of Stockton, was also present at the post-game dinner. The two met at the Chicago league during the summer, exchanged contact information, and established a good friendship.

Stockton's arrival further strengthened the relationship between Gan and Korsey, so some people believe that the Trail Blazers' decision to keep Korsey was related to Gan. However, this statement ignores Korsey's efforts and outstanding performance, and Gan himself does not agree with it.

Halfway through the preseason, Jim Paxson finally signed a long-term contract with the Trail Blazers and successfully returned to the team. However, his absence from training camp resulted in Drexler's rapid rise in status within the team, showing signs of replacing him.

Moreover, Drexler unusually practiced shooting extra every day after training, and Vandeweghe would take him along; the two became good friends.

Drexler and Gan's relationship off the court has always been lukewarm, partly due to Hakeem Olajuwon's relationship with the Houston Cougars, and partly due to their different attitudes and pursuits in life. However, they have become increasingly compatible on the court.

Dr. Jack Ramsey had been trying to reform Forrest Gump during the preseason, but he couldn't find a breakthrough. Later, he finally agreed to Dr. Ogilvy's suggestion, took a psychological test, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by Ogilvy, who recommended that he undergo treatment.

Ramsey refused therapy, saying that his bipolar disorder was caused by basketball and that basketball should be used to cure it. He then gradually gave up on trying to change Ramsey and became increasingly calm.

Many years later he said, "Gan cured my illness. He slowly healed me with his calm and stable emotions and his impeccable performance on the field."

Late in October, during the preseason, the night before the team decided on its cut list, Kossie dined with Gan, Cort, Thompson, Schaeffler, and the team's sports psychologist, Dr. Ogilvy, before returning to his motel room.

Around 10:30 p.m., Gan and Ogilvy knocked on his door and said, "You're staying here!"

"Get out of here, don't make fun of me!" Kexi, who was under immense pressure from being laid off, simply didn't believe it.

"At first I thought they were joking, especially Gan with his smirk. That guy's played pranks on me, this country bumpkin, a few times. He's a good guy, but I didn't trust him," Kossie later said. "After Dr. Ogilvy confirmed the news, I was so excited. I was going to be on the team. I couldn't sleep at all, my adrenaline was pumping. I called everyone I knew, watched TV non-stop, and then Gan dragged me to play some ball. I got completely wrecked by him before I calmed down and went back to sleep."

—Excerpt from "Jerome Kersey—Overcoming The Odds," a biography of Jerome Kersey written by Kerry Eggers and published in 2021.

One evening after the preseason ended, Gan Guoyang returned to his home in Lake Oswigor after training and waved goodbye to Jerome Kossie.

After signing a rookie contract with the Trail Blazers, Kossie first paid the down payment for a house for his grandparents in Clarksville, Virginia, and then bought a townhouse in Lake Oswig, becoming neighbors with Gan Guoyang.

His neighbors included Drexler, Mitchell Thompson, and Vandeweghe—Vandewe didn't buy a house here; he chose to rent and live with his sister, Toona.

The house was empty and no one was home. After school started, Wang Fuxi would stay in the school dormitory during the week to make it easier for her to study, and she would come to keep Gan Guoyang company on weekends so that the two of them could spend some time alone together.

Wang Fuxi originally wanted to move here completely, but Gan Guoyang suggested that she stay at the school. He said that being together too much too early would not be good for their respective development, and they both needed some space.

After confirming that Gan Guoyang was not bringing other women to his home, Wang Fuxi decided to respect Gan Guoyang's wishes.

I had just turned on the light and taken a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator when the phone rang.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that it was most likely Fu Xi checking up on the situation. He picked up the phone on the wall, but a man's voice came through.

"Hey Gan, is that you? Is this your phone?"

"I am Gan, who are you?"

"You can't recognize my voice anymore, I'm Michael."

"Michael?"

To Gan Guoyang's surprise, it was Michael Jordan who called. Since the Olympics, the two had gone their separate ways and lost contact. However, in this age of telephones, it was relatively easy to reconnect. They had a good relationship during training camp, and after a period of no contact, they had even more to say.

Gan Guoyang first complained about the Olympics over the phone, saying why the American team beat the Chinese team so badly that Gan Guoyang didn't dare to show his face and just left after the game.

Jordan laughed on the other end of the phone, saying, "We won that game so easily. Actually, we were leading by a lot of points long before, but Coach Knight said during a timeout, 'Play like crazy, don't give Forrest any face!' In fact, we held back in the end and didn't play full defense, otherwise the point difference would have been even greater."

"Fuck, it's a shame Knight is coaching at the college level and I can't go back, otherwise I would definitely crush his team."

Gan Guoyang could picture Bob Knight's serious face, with a hint of sly mischief in his eyes.

However, after criticizing Knight, they all admitted that Bob Knight was a very good coach who cared about every player under his wing, including those who were eliminated.

Jordan told Gan Guoyang that when more than 70 people participated in the training camp, whenever a player was eliminated, Knight would explain to the reporters and scouts why he was eliminating these players. It wasn't because they weren't good enough, but because they didn't fit his team-building philosophy, nothing more.

Knight did this to avoid affecting these players' future prospects and to prevent scouts from thinking they were rejects with poor abilities.

In fact, these players later had very good development in the NBA, and Knight deserves some credit for that.

The two then inquired about each other's situation with their respective teams. Jordan said that the Bulls were virtually invisible in Chicago and couldn't compare to the Chicago Cubs (an MLB team) in terms of popularity.

Moreover, Chicago, as the third largest city in the United States, is home to the Chicago Bruins of the NFL and the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, both of which were founded in the 20s, making them much older than the Bulls.

The Chicago Cubs have a history of over 100 years. In 1984, they had a legendary season, winning the National League Eastern Conference regular season title for the first time in 40 years since 1945 and advancing to the Major League Playoffs. (MLB's playoff qualification rules are much stricter than the NBA's. There are 26 teams in four conferences, with the regular season champions of each conference advancing to the playoffs to compete for the league championship. The National League and American League champions then play the World Series. This is similar to the NBA playoffs, which directly proceed to the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, followed by the NBA Finals.)
This led to the Chicago Bulls being even less popular, including Jordan's arrival. Jordan said that when he arrived in Chicago, nobody paid any attention to him. The Bulls also had no nationally televised games planned for the new season.

The Trail Blazers are in a much better position in Portland. They are the only professional team in Portland and even the entire state of Oregon, a lone star showered with attention.

Although Gan Guoyang experienced some negative emotions due to contract and medical issues, with his performance in the preseason and the new season approaching, the media and fans have long put these trivial matters behind them and are now fully supporting their number 11.

"Our training facility is dilapidated and old, the floor is as hard as steel, and rackets clang loudly on it. Plus, we have to wait for the elementary school students in front of us to finish their classes before we can even use the court. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever encountered," Jordan complained to Gan Guoyang over the phone.

"So what? You didn't train properly?" Gan Guoyang knew Jordan well; he knew this kid wasn't here to complain to him.

"Of course not, I crushed them in training camp. I don't care what kind of gym we train in, even a concrete floor is fine. As long as I'm on the team, I'm guaranteed to win. You know, our coach, Raohri, put me on the first team, we were leading 8-0, and then he suddenly switched teams and put me on the second team. He messed with me, and I scored 9 points in a row and led the second team to a comeback."

Jordan sounded quite proud on the phone. In fact, he rarely talked about these things with others. He wasn't a boastful person, but he couldn't help it when he was with Forrest Gump.

Because they are from the same world.

Seeing Jordan reveal his true colors, Gan Guoyang said, "Really? I don't even play in scrimmages anymore. They won't let me participate, saying I'm disrupting the balance. On my first day, I led four rookies and beat Drexler, Thompson, and Vandeweghe. And it was a game-winning shot. You should see Coach Ramsey's expression; his head was as red as a volcano about to erupt."

"Oh, oh, oh, who can prove what you're saying?"

“Every player and staff member of the Trail Blazers. Mike, did you call me just to say this? Is there something else important you want to tell me?”

Jordan chuckled on the other end of the phone and said, "You know how I feel. I wanted to share some good news with you. A shoe brand in Portland signed me to a contract with Nike, five years for $2.5 million, which is a little more than your contract."

Jordan specifically emphasized the Portland brand and that it was "slightly bigger than yours," which immediately infuriated Gan Guoyang. This kid was definitely showing off!
After all that rambling, the point is simply to show off my unprecedented super sneaker contract.

Of course, Gan Guoyang knows that Jordan is worth it. Even if we don't look at the future and only look at the present, Jordan's popularity in the game is still unmatched.

In New York, in Indiana, at the Peoria Civic Center, Jordan's games caused a sensation, giving fans a basketball experience unlike anything they had ever seen before.

In the game in Indiana, Jordan scored 40 points. After the game, a large group of fans followed him into the player tunnel. He looked like a Pied Piper, and the team had to use a human wall to isolate him to protect him.

However, Gan Guoyang did not tell Jordan that he had received the same treatment in Oregon, where his jersey was torn to shreds by fans after a game against the Jazz.

"The regular season is about to start, shall we have a contest to see who scores the most points in the first game?" Gan Guoyang challenged Jordan.

"Hehe, that's exactly what I was thinking. Let's wait and see the post-game report." Jordan loved this kind of challenge.

The two made a deal. Just then, Gan Guoyang heard someone knocking on the door. He hung up the phone and opened the door. It was Jerome Koch.

"What's wrong, Cauchy?"

"Oh, your girlfriend called me and asked why your home phone is always busy and whether you're chatting with some woman."

Gan Guoyang sighed helplessly and said, "No, no, I... I'm talking to a friend. Fuck, I'm going to call her."

(End of this chapter)