The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 194 Strategic Deception
Jordan was not discouraged by his failure in the Slam Dunk Contest; he believed he had performed well and dunked with great enthusiasm.

It doesn't matter if he loses, he can try again next year. He believes he can definitely win the dunk contest.

Compared to Jordan, Drexler fared much worse, being eliminated in the first round and never even making it to the finals.

He was full of confidence before the competition because he was better than Jordan in terms of jumping ability, but he ended up getting the lowest score among the five people.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "You had too much fun with the magician last night, didn't you? You must have hurt your back."

If you can't even hang in the air on the court, how are you going to make some nice moves and get high scores?
Off the court, Drexler and Magic Johnson got along very well; both were known for their playful and mischievous nature.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Playing together on the court is one thing, but personalities and interactions off the court are quite another.

On All-Star Weekend Day, the 10th, Gan Guoyang got up very early in the morning, dressed quietly, and went out for a run as usual. He warmed up in the gym and shot hoops on the court for an hour.

He loves basketball and sports at heart. All the desires he had for sports in the past, which he couldn't exercise because of his illness, have come to burst forth. It is his understanding and yearning for vitality.

Therefore, he is different from those players who play basketball for work, money, fame, or women.

At the restaurant, he ran into Pat Riley, who was having breakfast. Riley was surprised that Gan Guoyang didn't look sleepy, but rather looked like he had been exercising for a long time.

As the head coach of the Western Conference All-Star team, Riley took the initiative to greet Gan Guoyang and asked him if he had gotten up early to train.

Gan Guoyang said, "Yes, I've been practicing for three hours."

"Are all All-Star games this intense?"

"I'm just used to it. Don't you also comb your hair neatly first thing in the morning?"

Although it was breakfast, Riley's head was already slicked back with shiny hair oil, and his hair was neatly combed and perfectly styled.

Riley smiled, and the two dined together, sitting down for a good chat.

This was the first time the two had spoken privately, and they got along very well. Gan Guoyang discovered that Riley was eloquent and had a great interest in history, film, and literature.

Riley also made a rare discovery that Gan Guoyang could actually chime in on certain topics, considering that most NBA players are actually not very educated and only went to college to play basketball without learning anything.

Within the Lakers, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have in-depth conversations with Pat Riley, but Riley didn't particularly admire Abdul-Jabbar's beliefs and attitude towards life; frankly, the two were not on the same wavelength.

Gan Guoyang, however, was different. He was able to engage in in-depth discussions with Riley on some historical and literary topics and offer some unique perspectives, which Riley found quite rewarding.

Gan Guoyang explained: "This stems from my cultural background. Chinese people view history from a different perspective than Americans, and our beliefs about history are also different."

Gan Guoyang and Riley talked a lot about China, especially about China's historical development and how the Chinese people's spirit in history was very different from what Westerners believed.

"In your eyes, Americans, the image of Chinese people is that of people with queues, sallow faces, hunched backs, small eyes, pointed mouths and monkey cheeks, like rats who can only do lowly jobs all day long. Or they are like Fu Manchu, a vicious villain. In fact, for most of history, we have been confident, full of energy, and open-minded, advocating force, while at the same time pursuing the highest spiritual liberation, just like me."

After listening to Gan Guoyang's account, Riley laughed and said, "Your appearance has indeed changed many people's impression of China. You're an amazing guy. By the way, are you going to continue training later?"

"Of course, we'll have two hours of strength training in the morning, and in the afternoon... well, tactical preparation."

"Tactical preparation?"

"Yes, there's a game tonight, so I need to get ready. Even though it's just the All-Star game, I can't break my good habits."

"Really? May I see how you train?"

“Of course, you’re my coach.” So, Riley went to the gym with Gan Guoyang that morning and witnessed firsthand Gan Guoyang’s amazing strength on the bench press.

Riley observed Gan Guoyang's entire training process and was quite shocked. He finally understood where Gan Guoyang's outstanding combat ability came from.

According to the original plan, Gan Guoyang was supposed to practice shooting in the afternoon, but he spent an hour looking at a book, Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha".

Siddhartha uses the story of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, to depict the turbulent life of a man.

This book had a tremendous impact in the United States; in the 60s, almost every student in American universities had a copy.
Riley read Siddhartha when he was a young man studying at the University of Kentucky.

He still remembers reading the book with many classmates, and then sitting under a tree seeking enlightenment like Siddhartha.

Siddhartha Gautama had a profound impact on American youth in the 60s, instilling the belief of "being yourself" into their minds. Hesse's book played a significant role in the pursuit of personal independence and spiritual freedom.

He didn't expect Gan Guoyang to read such books. You know, very few NBA players read books. Even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was criticized for being unsociable because everyone else was reading, which made him seem cultured.

Gan Guoyang asked Riley, "Coach, have you read this book? Do you remember it?"

Riley nodded and said, “Of course, this was practically a Bible that everyone had in their youth. I still remember the sentence, ‘Man should obey only the voice of his own heart, not succumb to any external force, and wait for the moment of awakening; this is the only good and necessary behavior, and everything else is meaningless.’ I think this is a book that everyone must read during their growth.”

Gan Guoyang didn't speak, but continued reading quietly with his head down, adding to his mystique in Riley's eyes.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "I've read this book countless times in college. I knew you guys born in the 40s would like it. Do you think I've become very profound? I'll show you something even more profound later, so you can't see through me!"

"Coach, I heard that you seem to have come up with some kind of 'Forrest Gump Rule' to target me?" Gan Guoyang suddenly closed his book and asked Riley.

Riley was still immersed in memories of his enlightenment with his classmates during his university years, and was suddenly flustered when Gan Guoyang asked him this question.

"What? What law?"

"Forrest Gump's Law".

"The Forrest Gump Law? I've never even heard of it. You're an excellent athlete like Forrest Gump, but I don't think you're strong enough to require Congress to pass a law to limit you, right? You're not a nuclear weapon."

Riley joked, and the two laughed a few times. Gan Guoyang said he was going to take notes.

After closing the book, Gan Guoyang began writing about the preparations for the evening's game, noting down the characteristics of the star players and the strategies to deal with them.

These are all things accumulated from past pre-match preparation meetings; some were guided by the coach, and some were ideas that Gan Guoyang came up with himself.

Gan Guoyang racked his brains to write these things down, pretending that he was seriously preparing for every game.

As he wrote, he also drew a table by hand, adding labels and numbers to it, such as PER, TS, OWS, and DWS.

Gan Guoyang saw these things on forums when he was a football fan, but how could he possibly know how these things are actually calculated? He just wrote them down to make it seem like a proper explanation.

Riley was shocked for the third time as he looked at what Gan Guoyang had written. He pointed to the numbers and asked, "Gan, what are these?"

Gan Guoyang smiled mysteriously and said, "This is my basketball secret, I can't tell you."

Riley couldn't ask any more questions, but he became increasingly anxious, thinking that this guy really was a nuclear weapon and that he had to prevent him from detonating it before he actually finished developing it, otherwise the West would really be blown up.

But what can be done to stop his growth?
Riley is sure to have a sleepless night these next few days.

The Forrest Gump principle needs to be further strengthened!
(End of this chapter)