The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 182 Little Secret

Gan Guoyang's incredible dunk made the outcome of the game less important.

Just like Gan Guoyang's amazing turnaround dunk when facing the SuperSonics, many years later people will only remember that dunk, and not many people will remember who won or lost the game or how it went.

On January 5, 1983, almost exactly two years ago, Dr. J Irving stole the ball and launched a fast break in a game against the Lakers at Spectrum Court, using the move "Rock the Baby." The entire arena erupted in cheers, and the fans were overjoyed.

This became the most exciting score of 1983, and the dunk later became even more famous than the 76ers' championship in 1983, and was appreciated by fans time and time again.

No one can perfectly replicate that dunk in a game, not even Kyrie Irving himself could do it later. It was a moment of genius, just like Gan Guoyang couldn't replicate his 360-degree spin dunk.

Gan Guoyang's "Rock the Baby" is the most accurate recreation yet. A center recreating Dr. J's most classic dunk in a game sounds incredible.

But Gan Guoyang was not lying at the time; his dunks in high school were just like Kyrie Irving's. He also maintained a consistent yoga training regimen, resulting in excellent flexibility and coordination.

During Dr. Ogilvy's visualization training, Gan Guoyang repeatedly envisioned completing a "Rock the Baby" dunk during a fast break.

This finally came true in the competition, like a dream come true. The psychedelic feeling was intoxicating, and the competition even became crazy.

Both sides went all out and began to attack each other, with Drexler and Dr. J Irving being masters of fast break dunks.

They started running, setting the pace of the game very fast.

If the opponent has a chance to dunk and neither side commits a foul, then the opponent gets the chance to dunk.

The latter half of the third quarter and the fourth quarter almost turned into a dunk contest, with Drexler, Irving, Kirk, and Tony all bombarding the rim in their own ways.

Even Sam Perkins, who is known for his laziness and never dunks during games, was spurred on by the frenzied atmosphere and drove to the basket to try and dunk.

As a result, Gan Guoyang rushed over and blocked it with a big block—Gan Guoyang's sixth block of the game.

As Jordan's former close teammate and right-hand man, Sam Perkins' personality was completely different from Jordan's.

He came from a poor family and grew up with his grandmother. He only started playing basketball in his senior year of high school because he was tall and wanted to escape poverty.

Therefore, Perkins doesn't have a strong desire to win when it comes to basketball. It's just a job for him. He trains and plays basketball regularly, and he doesn't spend a single minute of his spare time on basketball.

He is very talented and can do the job assigned to him by the coach very well, but he is unwilling and disdainful of doing anything extra, such as dunking, which he considers a waste of energy.

Since it's all for two points anyway, dunking wears down my knees more, consumes more energy, and makes my hands hurt. I'll just do a layup; why bother with dunking?

Sam Perkins's thinking was further reinforced by Gan Guoyang's block. After being completely stunned by the block, Perkins lamented in his heart: "Why did I have to dunk like that? Look, I got blocked. If I had just done a layup, it might have gone in. What a waste of time..."

Fans who bought tickets to watch the game at the Memorial Arena tonight are in for a treat, as they're seeing twice as many dunks as usual, and all of them are top dunkers in the league.

The coaches of both teams stopped caring. Billy Cunningham knew that the 76ers were gradually softening and would never return to the tension and toughness they had when they won the championship in 1983.

Even though the 76ers are in much better form this season than last season, Cunningham knows they are winning more with talent and inertia than with determination.

Ramsey stood silently on the sidelines, not shouting "Run, run, run!" He just watched the players run, chewing gum in his mouth—this old man had actually started chewing gum.

As the team continued to run, the 76ers gradually lost their pace, which was somewhat unbelievable for Dr. J, the former league's top fast break player.

There was no way around it; his legs and stamina were indeed not what they used to be. By the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers' young forwards, guards, and center were still running at full speed, and Irving's knees began to feel burning.

Kyrie Irving, Karl Malone, and the injury-plagued Andrew Tony had to slow down, and Sam Perkins certainly didn't want to miss out on the excitement. The young Trail Blazers overwhelmed the 76ers in a relentless offensive onslaught, the younger generation ultimately prevailing over the older, securing a 119-131 victory by 12 points.

甘国阳全场18分22个篮板球7次封盖3次抢断，范德维奇拿下30分，帕克森22分，德雷克斯勒19分。

Gan Guoyang's lead in rebounding is growing, and he's aiming for 20 rebounds per game, a feat no player has achieved since 1970.

During Gan Guoyang's incredible rebounding spree in every game, his own formidable rebounding ability was one factor, but the contributions of Vandeweghe and Paxson, two white forwards and guards who never missed a rebound, were also immense, giving Gan Guoyang countless rebounds.

If Vandeweghe is traded for Marquez Johnson, Gan Guoyang's rebounding will indeed decrease significantly, since the total number of rebounds per game is limited.

As the final buzzer sounded, Dr. J, Irving, came over to shake hands and hug Gan Guoyang, while reporters on the sidelines frantically took photos of the two.

"An incredible dunk. I never thought anyone could replicate it in a game," Kyrie Irving said, showering Gan Guoyang with praise.

"I'm just imitating you, following the path you've walked." Gan Guoyang also knows how to say polite things.

Before leaving the arena after the game, Gan Guoyang asked Irving, "Doctor, how did it feel to punch Larry Bird?"

Irving had a strange expression on his face, but when he learned that the Trail Blazers were going to Boston for an away game next week, he smiled again.

"It felt great. We made up afterwards, but I'll let you in on a secret: I don't regret it, I just feel like I didn't hit you hard enough."

After the 42-6 brawl in 84, Bird and Irving seemingly reconciled, and the two even promoted a video game called "Larry Bird vs. Dr. J Irving" together.

After saying that, Irving leaned closer and whispered to Gan Guoyang, "I'll tell you a secret. When I was beating Larry, his teammates didn't come to help. My teammates rushed up and grabbed Larry, but his didn't. Robert Parish was standing not far away, but he didn't move at all and didn't show any intention of helping from beginning to end. I think Larry is very concerned about this."

Gan Guoyang nodded in agreement. This little secret might play a role in Boston.

The day after tomorrow, the Trail Blazers easily defeated the visiting Indiana Pacers 102-119 at home.

This former ABA team only made the playoffs once after entering the NBA, and its record has always been poor.

Their operations were terrible; after entering the NBA, they would trade their draft picks haphazardly, resulting in them not having high draft picks for many years in a row.

The team almost lost its franchise due to financial losses, and had to trade a guard for the Trail Blazers' vice president to solve management and financial problems.

Their luck ran out again when it came to the race for the number one draft pick. In 1983, they lost to the Rockets in a coin toss and failed to acquire Ralph Sampson.

They then traded their 1984 first-round draft pick to the Trail Blazers, giving the Blazers the second overall pick in 1984 and relinquishing their chance to draft the golden generation.

This year, they are still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Theoretically, they can flip a coin again in the summer to compete for the top draft pick.

However, the newly appointed commissioner Stern proposed a new draft rule, reforming the rudimentary method of having the bottom-ranked teams in the East and West flip a coin to determine the number one pick, and using a probability lottery method to determine who would get the number one pick in 1985.

In 1985, Patrick Ewing was expected to run for the NBA draft, but would the league let this highly anticipated superstar go to the backwater of Indiana?
Nobody knows yet.

After this game, the Trail Blazers packed their bags and set off again.

They are about to head to Boston to begin their road trip in the Eastern Conference.

(End of this chapter)