The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 120 Bodyguard
Jordan held a grudge for a long time, even years later, after losing to Gan Guoyang by one point in his first career game.

Later, when he learned that Gan Guoyang had called Barkley that day and told him to let Barkley beat him to a pulp, Jordan finally understood why Barkley had been charging around like a tank that day.

One of the plays involved a defensive play that collided with Jordan's chest, causing him to fall to the ground and take a while to recover, which affected his performance in the second half.

Jordan was furious about this and threatened to break off his friendship with Barkley. Barkley said he was just playing normally. Later, the two had a big game on the golf course, and Jordan only felt relieved after defeating Barkley.

The morning after the first game, the entire Trail Blazers team flew back to Portland. Ramsey gave everyone half a day off to rest and prepare for the home opener against the SuperSonics the day after tomorrow.

That evening, Gan Guoyang invited Ke Xi to his home for dinner. Gan Guoyang personally cooked a table of dishes, which shocked Ke Xi. This guy not only knows how to play ball, but he can also cook.

Wang Fuxi and Kexi established a good friendship, and Wang Fuxi won Kexi over with a dish of apple pie made by the hostess, who then became Wang Fuxi's informant and spy.

Gan Guoyang didn't mind. If he wanted to, it would be easy to turn Ke Xi against his own side. However, his mind was focused on basketball, and he had no intention of doing anything else.

Women just find this hard to understand.

The reason Gan Guoyang invited Ke Xi to dinner was because he knew that Ke Xi had spent almost all of his first paycheck.

Buying houses for grandparents, buying houses for themselves, leaving only some pocket money in their hands—that's how Black players are; they've been oppressed by poverty for too long.

In their consumption philosophy, saving money is non-existent; they believe in spending money as soon as possible and enjoying life as early as possible, otherwise they don't know what will happen in the future.

It's not that he's wrong, but rather that people from different cultural backgrounds have different beliefs about survival. Gan Guoyang respects Kexi, who is a tough, optimistic, and lively guy. Gan Guoyang admires his style and attitude on the field.

In the first game, Kossi only played for 3 minutes during garbage time, and his stats were all zero. He just went up and ran around, and probably didn't even break a sweat.

But Kossi is very confident about his future. After all, when Ramsey asked him to go to Europe to play, he didn't go. Instead, he gritted his teeth and stayed to participate in the training camp, proving himself with his performance.

So even though he was penniless and waiting for the team to pay his next paycheck, Ke Xi still asked Gan Guoyang to go look at cars together on the 29th.

Kossie simply couldn't suppress his love for cars. The United States, as a nation on wheels, indeed has a highly developed car culture. For an adult, not having a car is like being naked, making them feel uncomfortable.

The Ford that Gan Guoyang had bought before was still sitting in the garage of the villa. Although the car wasn't expensive and was a budget brand, it was quite good-looking, and Gan Guoyang liked it very much. He had no plans to buy another car.

"You're almost out of money for food, why are you buying a car?"

"Forrest Gump, it's not that I don't have money, it's just that I haven't received my salary yet. And I'm an NBA player, I'll make a lot of money in the future, the car dealer will lend me money, and I'll pay it off quickly, don't you think?"

The US has a highly developed financial industry, and indeed, almost everything can be financed through loans and installments.

After Gan Guoyang signed Avia's contract with the Trail Blazers, bank credit card advertisements started flooding his mailbox like snowflakes.

Although Kossie's contract is not large, financial institutions will not miss the opportunity to extract interest from NBA players, given their future development.

Finally, Ke Xi agreed to accompany Gan Guoyang for two hours of one-on-one training after buying the car, and Gan Guoyang agreed to go to see the car with him.

This was a considerable sacrifice for Kossi; going one-on-one with Gan Guoyang was very painful, which shows how obsessed and eager this guy is for cars.

On the morning of the 29th, after finishing his one-and-a-half-hour morning run, Gan Guoyang drove Kexi to a Volkswagen/Porsche/Audi dealership in northeast Portland.

Shortly after they entered the store, the store's sales manager, Joe Horasani, greeted them and quickly recognized Gan Guoyang.

"Oh! You're Forrest Gump! I saw you in the newspaper! You played great the other day, welcome to Portland, welcome to the Trail Blazers!"

In Portland, any sports fan will definitely love the Trail Blazers; there are no other competitors. Trail Blazers players are very popular here.

Gan Guoyang shook hands and greeted Horasani. Horasani glanced at Kosi beside him, his eyes asking, "Who is this?"

Kossi was a little embarrassed. Damn, they didn't recognize him. It seemed his excellent performance in the preseason hadn't received any attention.

Gan Guoyang said, "This is my bodyguard."

Horasani suddenly realized what was happening and greeted Kossi, "Hello, Mr. Bodyguard."

Gan Guoyang quickly explained with a laugh that this was Jerome Kersey, a player for the Trail Blazers and this year's rookie.

Horasani quickly apologized to Kosi, but Kosi didn't mind. Gan Guoyang said, "It's okay if you don't know him now, you will in the future."

When Horasani learned that it was Kossi who wanted to buy a car, he immediately recommended the Porsche sports car in the store to him. He knew that the black player had just received a contract and was unlikely to be interested in a Volkswagen or Audi, so going straight for a Porsche was the best choice.

Kossie looked left and right and settled on a black 1984 Porsche 944 coupe. The car looked powerful and suited Kossie's skin tone and personality. Gan Guoyang accompanied Kossie on a test drive. The seat had been adjusted to allow him to comfortably stretch his long legs.

The car sped around the road twice, demonstrating excellent handling and powerful performance.

Although Gan Guoyang wasn't particularly interested in cars, he had to admit that they were indeed very attractive.

Car designs in the 80s were very distinctive, featuring many impractical but cool features, and were also highly stylish in appearance.

Unlike later cars, which were more practical but lost their individuality in design and became monotonous.

"I wonder if NBA basketball has developed in the same way." Gan Guoyang's thoughts drifted back to basketball.

Back at the dealership, Kossi was very satisfied with the car. He said to Horasani, "But I don't have any money in my pocket right now. Can I get a loan? You know I signed a contract."

When Horasani heard that he wanted a loan, he was even happier and immediately prepared the loan contract, saying that as long as Kossi signed the contract, he could drive the car away.

Ke Xi was about to sign the contract when Gan Guoyang stopped him, picked up the contract and reviewed it for him. Only after confirming that there were no problems or traps did Gan Guoyang allow Ke Xi to sign it.

This Horasani is pretty good; there are no hidden pitfalls, and the price and interest are reasonable. He's a fairly honest seller.

The staff drove the test drive car away, and after signing the contract, Horasani took the two to the parking lot to get the new car.

Kossie was incredibly excited, jumping up and down as he walked. This was clearly not his only car; once he landed a big contract, he'd have one after another.

Gan Guoyang reminded him, "You need to pay attention to your financial health. You can buy a car, but it's best to buy one with an outstanding design that will retain its value in the future. Take good care of them; they will be an asset many years later."

Kossie nodded, but he couldn't hear anything right now; his mind was completely occupied with the new car.

Upon arriving at the parking lot, Horasani handed the car keys to Kossi, but Kossi noticed two identical Porsche 944s.

"Why are there two? Am I supposed to choose one? They should be the same, right?" Kexi asked.

"Oh, the one on the left is yours, and the one on the right is Gan's."

"It's Gan's?" Kexi was surprised. "Didn't you say you didn't buy cars? What, you got envious when you saw me buy one, so you bought one too?"

"I didn't buy it. Did you see I signed a contract?" Gan Guoyang asked in surprise.

Horasani quickly explained, "This wasn't bought by Gan; it was a gift from our store, given to him."

Kossie's joy was overshadowed by shock; his smile vanished, and he asked, "A gift? You gave him a Porsche?"

"That's right, it's for Mr. Gan. But we'd like to have you take a picture with the car; we'd like to use it for advertising. Is that alright?"

Gan Guoyang was helpless. Why did he give me a car for no reason? I didn't want a car.

Or I could take the car and give it to Koshi, then Koshi wouldn't have to buy it?

This won't do. It disrespects Kesch and the dealers. The contract has already been signed.

Finally, Gan Guoyang thought, why not just let Wang Fuxi drive the Ford and he can drive this Porsche himself? This Porsche is indeed fantastic.

"Okay, but can I make a request? Could you change the color to gold?"

"No problem! No problem, we have gold stock, it just arrived today, only one, reserved just for you!"

The staff drove over a gold Porsche, which gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight, as dazzling as gold.

Gan Guoyang took a photo with the car, made a handprint, and then received the car keys. He plans to get a certificate and license plate when he has time, and then the car will be his.

When they arrived at the training ground in the afternoon, Ke Xi's already dark face became even darker. Gan Guoyang asked Ke Xi why he was still unhappy after buying a car.

Ke Xi rolled his eyes at Gan Guoyang. "You're asking a question you already know the answer to! I worked hard to take out a loan to buy a car, and the dealer just gave it to you for free!"
Is this something that can happen between humans? Cox regretted taking Forrest Gump to buy a car.

But then he thought, next time why not impersonate Forrest Gump's bodyguard, have the distributor deliver things to Forrest Gump, and then give them to himself? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

(End of this chapter)