The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 20 I've Wanted to Beat You for a Long Time
Upon arriving at their destination, Walnut Creek, Gan Guoyang vomited all over the place after getting out of the car.

His body was clearly not used to riding in a car; the slight bumps and the smell of gasoline made his stomach churn.

Gan Guohui patted Gan Guoyang on the back and handed him water, saying, "Cousin, why are you still carsick?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Nonsense, I've never ridden in a car in China. I can't stand the smell of gasoline... Ugh..."

Arriving in a country like the United States, where people travel by car, Gan Guoyang needed to adapt to being in a car as quickly as possible.

Karp-Raven saw them through to the end, taking them to the stadium registration area where they met Frank Alok, the founder of the summer camp.

Anyone who teaches basketball in the San Francisco area would know Karl LaVine, and Alok was somewhat surprised by LaVine's personal visit.

Upon learning that Karp had brought two Chinese teenagers to the training camp, Alok asked, "Chinese? They are your...friend's children?"

Karp shook his head and said, "No, they've been making a name for themselves on the streets of San Francisco lately, especially that tall guy, he's worth watching."

Karp was referring to Gan Guoyang. Alok glanced at him and said, "He has a great physique, but if he wants to pursue a professional career, this place might not be the best choice."

Alok doesn't mean their summer camp is unprofessional; rather, it means that those who choose to participate in this type of summer camp are mainly basketball enthusiasts.

Satellite towns around large cities like Walnut Creek are middle-class neighborhoods, and most of the children attending this summer camp are twelve or thirteen-year-old white middle-class kids.

For these children, basketball is more of an extracurricular hobby; none of them dream of playing professional basketball in the future.

The truly talented players are all at top basketball schools. In the summer, they either attend advanced training camps run by retired professional players or play in amateur leagues for money. Who would come to this kind of white basketball youth program?

Karp said, "This kid's situation is a bit special. He's from China and doesn't seem to have been playing basketball for very long, but he's very talented. Anyway, please take good care of him. If you need anything, feel free to ask me."

Faced with Karp's offer of a favor, Alok quickly replied, "No problem, we always cherish basketball talent. We have a coach at our summer camp who is quite good, and I'll ask him to mentor this young man. However... he's facing some personal difficulties, and he needs a coaching job to help him get back on his feet..."

Karp understood what Alok meant and said, "I understand. I'll try to get him an interview for a coaching job. If he's good enough, I don't think it should be a problem."

"Thank you so much. He's my basketball assistant coach at Notre Dame University, and he's very talented... but, you know, talented people are always a bit careless when it comes to life planning."

“That’s life, it’s never perfect.” As Karp spoke, he looked at Gan Guoyang, who was concentrating on dribbling practice not far away. “This guy is in your hands. I trust your professionalism, Professor Alok.”
-
The Excel in Basketball summer camp provides food and accommodation, and the training lasts for ten days. From this perspective, the price of $150 is reasonable.

Gan Guoyang and his companion were arranged to stay in the student dormitory at Concord High School, eat in the school cafeteria, and train at the COPA Sports Center, which was two blocks away.

On the 3rd, after familiarizing themselves with the surroundings and settling into their accommodations, they called the restaurant to let the other person know they were safe and sound, and then went to sleep early with excitement in their hearts.

On the morning of the 4th, the two got up at seven o'clock, arrived at the sports center at eight o'clock, and everyone arrived on time for the first training session at eight-thirty.

Among the group of teenagers in their early twenties, Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui were not the only Asians; together with the two of them, there were five people of Asian descent.

However, there wasn't a single Black face inside; there were absolutely no Black children participating in this summer camp.

Gan Guoyang's height stood out among the others; most of the children were under 6 feet tall, some of them looking like they were just starting to develop, thin as bean sprouts.

Before the coach came to warm up, Gan Guoyang dunked a few times, leaving the kids speechless and wondering if this was the person they were training with.

Frank Alok and Bobby Bellman arrived at the stadium wearing white athletic polo shirts and shorts, just in time to see Gan Guoyang performing his one-armed gliding dunk.

Alok said to Bellman, "Bobby, that's the kid. The one Karp wants to look after, he's in your hands now."

“Sunny-Gump, not bad, he does have some connections, no wonder he’s so arrogant.”

"Arrogant? You two knew each other before?"

"Oh no, it's nothing, I just felt something."

Bellman pulled out his whistle and blew it loudly. The sound echoed throughout the stadium, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Good morning, dear ladies and gentlemen, your basketball summer camp has begun. I'm giving you 10 fucking seconds to line up in this line, or be prepared to do 20 shuttle runs!"

Bellman's shouts were even more piercing than his whistle, and then he began counting down "10, 9, 8..." and everyone immediately rushed over to line up.

Alok said, "Bobby, this is a summer camp for teenagers, it doesn't have to be so... so strict..."

“3, 2, 1… Look, they’ve lined up. The younger the child, the more strictly they need to be disciplined, just like livestock.”

"But that would lead to complaints from parents, so be gentle, Bobby."

"This is the gentlest I've ever been... Alright, you explain the training content to them."

Alok gave the children at the summer camp an opening ceremony, including the schedule, training courses, extracurricular activities, accommodation and meals, and so on.

The ten-day summer camp curriculum includes shooting, dribbling, rebounding, positioning, defense, passing, offensive moves, 3v3, speed and agility, and full-court 5v5 drills.

"Today is the first lesson of training camp, and the topic is shooting. We'll have a 15-minute theory lesson first, and then we'll start practicing."

The first lesson was a basic shooting class. Gan Guoyang did not become complacent because of his accurate shooting, nor did he ignore the coach's explanation.

On the contrary, he was very humble, listening attentively to the 15-minute theory lesson, and then began to dominate in the practical class... Halfway through the practical class, Alok put his hands on his hips, looked at Gan Guoyang, and asked Bellman, "Has this kid ever missed a shot?"

"two."

"Only two were missed?"

"Two balls grazed the rim."

"...This guy is indeed not very suitable for our summer camp, but he listens and practices very seriously. We should definitely give him some more professional training."

"Leave it to me. He's an interesting guy. I hope he's not just an empty shell."

Training lasts from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with a 1.5-hour lunch break.

After training ends at 2:30, members are free to do as they please. They can stay in the training hall to continue training or participate in other fun activities at the summer camp.

Gan Guoyang showed no interest in anything else; full of energy, he stayed in the gym to practice shooting. He still learned a lot from today's class.

Although he possesses exceptional shooting talent, the skill of shooting is a continuous pursuit of perfection; no one can achieve perfect shooting, only approach perfection.

He was gradually left alone in the training hall. Gan Guohui had all left and gone to play video games with his new friends. There was a Pac-Man arcade machine in the summer camp activity center.

The first half was soaked with Gan Guoyang's sweat as he kept shooting, trying to form the deepest muscle memory.

Bellman appeared under the basket like a ghost, startling Gan Guoyang. He stopped and looked at Bellman, saying, "Are you here to help me retrieve the ball? If so, my efficiency will be higher."

"No, I'm here to create some obstacles for you. Shooting at thin air, is your future dream to play on a basketball shooting machine?"

Berman is about 185 cm tall, and at that height, he would have little impact on Gan Guoyang in one-on-one defense.

However, when Bellman pulled out a foam board more than a meter long from behind his back, Gan Guoyang knew that things were not so simple.

In the following days, after each training session, Berman would stay at the training hall to train Gan Guoyang extra, giving him special instruction.

The two, who had previously been arguing on the phone, have now changed their views on each other.

Berman initially thought Gan Guoyang was an arrogant and immature teenager, but after a few days of training, he felt Gan Guoyang's overflowing talent and passion for basketball.

Gan Guoyang also received very professional guidance from Bellman. This guy was practically a basketball encyclopedia. He knew every detail of every technique and every tactic, and he could always come up with some new tricks to help Gan Guoyang practice.

Of course, he always had a foul mouth and was constantly making personal attacks on his trainees.

Gan Guoyang essentially paid $150 and got a $1000 private basketball coach as a bonus, plus a crash course in swearing.

What puzzled him was why such an excellent and all-around coach would be working as an assistant coach at a summer camp in a small town in California.
On the ninth day of the training course, the penultimate day, after the speed and agility course ended, Bellman did not appear at the training hall.

Gan Guoyang completed the extra training by himself, but he didn't train for long. Without Behrman yelling and making sarcastic remarks beside him, he felt a little uncomfortable.

On his way back to the dormitory, he saw Behrman lying drunk in the stairwell, talking nonsense and asking Gan Guoyang if he wanted a drink.

It turned out he had gone drinking, and had gotten completely drunk.

Without saying a word, Gan Guoyang carried Behrman on his shoulders and took him back to his dormitory.

Throughout the journey, Behrman kept yelling and cursing, "Put me down! You little brat!"

"Are you crazy? You idiot... I'm going to twist your head off and use it as a toilet bowl!"

"You little beast, you birdman!"

Gan Guoyang slapped him across the face, and he fell silent.

The next morning, Bellman knocked on Gan Guoyang's dormitory door and said to Gan Guoyang, "I'm sorry, I lost my composure yesterday."

"It's okay, I really enjoyed that slap. I've wanted to hit you for a long time."

"...I can't practice with you today either, I have to go for an interview for a high school coach position."

"Wow, congratulations Mr. Bellman, your basketball career has made great progress."

"Hey Gan, you haven't joined the high school team yet, right? If I get the job, would you like to join my team?"

"I don't want to."

"why?"

"I want to leave my talent in Chinatown."

(End of this chapter)