The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 136 Your circle is so chaotic
During the team's afternoon competitive training session, Drexler and Adelman had a heated argument.

Drexler discovered that no matter how his opponents fouled or bumped into him, referee Adelman would not blow the whistle.

Drexler was already in a bad mood, and he was no longer late for training; he arrived much earlier than last season.

But today, shortly after arriving at the training facility, Adelman called him into the video room, where, accompanied by Ramsey, he watched a video clip for more than ten minutes.

All of these are clips of Drexler in the previous game and the games before that, some of which he played well, and some of which he played poorly.

The clips of Drexler's shots alone lasted for more than five minutes.

What made Drexler blush was that his shooting form was basically inconsistent for more than five minutes.

From his hand gestures to his leg movements, there was no consistent standard, and the blurry video made it seem like he wasn't throwing the same person.

Drexler explained that it was to adjust to the best balance. As for the hand shape, it was purely based on how it felt when he shot; he shot it that way because he felt it would go in.

Ramsey hadn't criticized Drexler much lately, but he'd been holding back all this time, and today he criticized most of Drexler's choices on the field.

They even said that Drexler was "the essence of human shooting form," which hurt Drexler a bit. It turned out that not being criticized before was just an illusion.

After being repeatedly bumped into during training without being able to draw a foul, Drexler vented his anger on Adelman, and the two almost came to blows.

Ramsey reprimanded the two men, and Gan Guoyang, Vandeweghe, Thompson, and others came over and separated them. Drexler said some trash talk to Adelman.

Adelman didn't retort, but simply took off his whistle and left for the locker room, temporarily canceling the halfway-through scrimmage.

Ramsey told everyone to go back and rest, as there was a match tomorrow, but Drexler was furious and decided to stay and practice more.

In fact, Drexler had been practicing extra every day since the start of training camp, under the guidance of Gan Guoyang, but shooting is something that cannot be mastered overnight.

Some people are just born with a talent for shooting; with a little practice, they become excellent shooters. Others train like crazy, but in the end, they can only maintain a decent level.

Drexler is the latter, and his training volume can only be described as average. His free throw percentage in his rookie season was only 72%, which is low among perimeter players.

Drexler was a very thoughtful player, excellent in every aspect except shooting, especially finishing at the rim and passing vision.

He believes that playing basketball should be about playing to your strengths and avoiding your weaknesses. Instead of focusing on your weaknesses, you should make the most of your strengths. He often makes some amazing shots, and his dunks are exceptional.

As for shooting, he felt that as long as he practiced hard and gradually accumulated experience, he would eventually reach a qualified level, so there was no need to rush.

Until Gan Guoyang joined the team this year, as a center, his free throw percentage was the second highest on the team, second only to Vandeweghe's 89%.

His performance on the field and the praise from his coach greatly motivated Drexler.

Drexler had another argument with Adelman today, and filled with resentment, he focused his energy on extra shooting practice.

Gan Guoyang, Vandeweghe, Paxson, and others stayed behind to practice shooting.

Half an hour later, Paxson went back to the locker room to get dressed and left.

An hour later, Vandeweghe wiped his sweat and said goodbye to the two men.

Two hours later, it was completely dark outside, and Drexler's limbs were starting to feel weak from practicing.

Gan Guoyang showed no signs of stopping. He went to the gym and did a few sets of bench presses before coming out to continue shooting hoops.

After that, I ran to do a few sets of dumbbell exercises, then ran out to shoot hoops, and did a few pull-ups, before shooting hoops again.

"Fuck you, are you a robot? Why don't you get tired?"

“I’m more afraid of losing than of being tired,” Gan Guoyang replied.

Drexler gritted his teeth and decided to do the same as Gan Guoyang: use strength training to tire himself out, and then continue practicing shooting.

It wasn't until after dinner time that their stomachs started growling, and they finally finished training. By then, there was no one else in the training hall.

They drove to a restaurant in downtown Portland for dinner. It was the first time they had eaten alone together. His relationship with Clyde was not as close as his relationship with Koch, Thompson, or even Colter.

Because the two are so different, this difference becomes apparent when they talk about certain issues over a meal.

For example, Drexler didn't have any career plans; he didn't hire an agent from his rookie season onwards.

He signed a contract with the Trail Blazers, simply hiring a temporary agent to handle things. Once the contract was signed and the fees were paid, the employment relationship was terminated. Drexler had no interest in hiring a stable, influential agent because he felt he was just signing contracts; he could consult a professional next time. Why had he been supporting an agent for three years?

Gan Guoyang is different. He knows that an agent can effectively expand his influence and secure the most benefits. Fleischer plays a crucial role in Gan Guoyang's development.

Not only does Gan Guoyang have a powerful agent, but Jordan also has a reliable agent, David Falk. Unlike Fleischer, Falk is a new-era business agent who will use his talents to maximize Michael's commercial value.

Drexler had no idea or concept of this. In fact, if his dunking and all-around talent had been properly packaged, he wouldn't have ended up being selected so late by the Trail Blazers. If the Rockets had used their third overall pick in 83, Drexler's fate and the Rockets' fate would have been very different.

Gan Guoyang could sense Drexler's longing for Houston. He would often mention his time in Houston, and he would definitely return to Houston during the summer offseason.

Of course, Gan Guoyang respects Drexler's plans and ideas for his career. Everyone has a different personality. Drexler has a romantic sense of freedom, which gives him a casual and elegant beauty when he plays on the court.

In their private lives, the two are also going in opposite directions. Gan Guoyang has a steady girlfriend and is very devoted to her. He doesn't like to waste his energy on frivolous romantic affairs.

According to his plan, he will marry Wang Fuxi in the future, start an ordinary family, and stay together for a long time.

Drexler, on the other hand, told Gan Guoyang that he had no plans to get married and that he enjoyed dating different pretty girls.

Of course, he didn't really like girls in Portland, thinking they were too conservative. He preferred girls from Los Angeles and Houston, and he and Magic Johnson were good friends.

Gan Guoyang was very surprised. He knew Drexler liked to play around, but he didn't expect him to hang out with Magic Johnson, which meant that he must be playing a big game.

This guy looks refined and has a high, prominent nose, which is rare among black people, but I never expected him to be such a cunning and treacherous person.

When discussing marriage, Drexler said he had no plans to get married, and he also secretly told Gan Guoyang, "But I'll tell you, I have a newborn child."

Gan Guoyang, who was drinking water, almost spat it out and said, "Didn't you say you weren't planning on getting married?"

"Yes, but I have a child, a daughter."

Considering the phenomenon that Black Americans often lack fathers, Gan Guoyang felt this was very reasonable.

"Won't your daughter's mother contact you?"

"Oh no, we've already broken up. I'll go see her and our daughter when I go back to Houston this summer."

"Uh...you don't want to bring your daughter to live with you?"

"My God, how could you have such a thought? I'm a young man in my early twenties, training and playing basketball every day, how could I possibly take care of a baby?"

"You're right, that makes sense, that makes sense..."

Seeing that Gan Guoyang didn't quite understand, Drexler explained that this was very common. Magic Johnson also had a three-year-old child, as did Larry Bird, who got married and divorced in college but had a daughter who is probably almost in elementary school now.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "This social circle is really messy." He immediately realized that he absolutely couldn't let his father, Gan Youwei, know about this, otherwise he would have another reason to pressure him to get married and have children. "Look at other people..."

It was quite late after dinner, and Gan Guoyang didn't go back to Lake Oswick. Since Wang Fuxi wasn't there either, he went straight to Drexler's apartment in downtown Portland.

Drexler rented a house in Lake Oswigo for training purposes and bought an apartment in the city center for evening matches, which is close to Memorial Stadium.

"I can't help it, I like to sleep in, so the closer the better, so I can sleep a little longer," Drexler explained, adding that he was late for training because he loved to sleep in.

However, since Gan Guoyang joined the team, this problem of his has improved a lot.

That night, Gan Guoyang slept in the guest room, while Drexler slept in the bedroom. He wondered what time Gan would get up the next day.

In his memory, every time he got up, Gan Guoyang would already be up, either running in Oswick Lake Park or washing the car in the yard.

The exhaustion from the intense training caused Drexler to fall into a deep sleep. He was awakened in the morning by the sound of a door opening and closing. When he got up, he saw Gan Guoyang wearing sportswear and drinking water.

"Hey, you're up so early?" Drexler rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock; it was only a little past six.

“I’ve been exercising for two hours and I’m back. You’re awake? Everyone says you sleep until 11 every day. Sorry to bother you.”

"You're back from exercising? You...you got up at four in the morning? You're crazy, don't you need to sleep?"

"Of course I need to sleep. I usually sleep for a long time when I'm tired from playing ball, but I didn't get enough exercise yesterday, so I can't sleep."

"Shit, you're not even human! I'm up too, let's go practice shooting together!"

(End of this chapter)