The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 21 Veil
After leaving Condco High School in the morning, Bellman drove to Palo Alto, a small town in the southwest of the Bay Area, where he was scheduled to interview for the head coach position on the basketball team at Palo Alto High School.

He combed his hair until it was shiny and smooth, changed into a decent suit, and kept looking in the car mirror to apply some face cream to cover up his dejected state after getting drunk the night before.

The head coach position at Palo Alto High School was an opportunity for him, a chance to turn his life around.

Before the age of 35, Behrman had a smooth career. After graduating from Notre Dame, he stayed on as an assistant coach for the school's basketball team while pursuing a graduate degree in sociology.

The year he graduated with his master's degree, he married his girlfriend of many years, and they soon had a lovely daughter.

He is passionate about basketball and continues to improve himself as an assistant coach, with the goal of becoming the head coach of an NCAA Division I team before he turns 35.

However, in 1977 he was embroiled in a sports betting scandal, which was quickly suppressed by the NCAA and did not escalate, but Bellman lost his job as a result.

Although the investigation later proved him innocent, his job had already been taken over and could not be reinstated.

He and his wife then faced a marital crisis and divorced in 1979. Their daughter went to live with his wife in New Jersey.

During this period, he developed an alcoholism problem and had to go to the mutual aid society every week for alcohol rehabilitation treatment, but it was not effective.

This spring, he suddenly received an invitation from his former teammate and junior, Frank Alok, to come to San Francisco, saying that he wanted to open a long-term basketball training camp and needed to find professional coaches to help.

With the economy in decline and unable to find a way out, Behrman came to California. In those days, many people from the Midwest went to the West Coast to pursue the California dream—Raymond’s friend Isbell was one of them. He later co-founded Guns N' Roses with Ross.

With Berman's abilities, summer camp is a complete waste of his talents, and he also has a bad temper, swearing on the court, which inevitably leads to complaints from clients.

Therefore, pursuing a full-time job as a team coach is his best option.

Palo Alto High School is a well-known private school in the Bay Area, with a beautiful environment and excellent teaching and student quality.

Working here is definitely a great choice.

Upon arriving at the high school, the refreshing Mediterranean style of white and green on campus had already cleared Behrman's groggy mind considerably.

The interview went very smoothly. With his past experience and professional knowledge, Bellman was more than qualified to be the coach of an ordinary high school basketball team.

Since the interview was arranged by Kap-Raven, the school had already expressed its intention to admit him, but procedurally, they still needed to interview other people and go through the formalities.

After the interview, Bellman hoped to find time to visit the school and see how the basketball team was training.

The head of the Department of Physical Education said that the team was holding summer training today and visitors were welcome to come and observe.

So Bellman went to the school gymnasium and stood on the sidelines to observe the Palo Alto Vikings' training process up close.

The Vikings aren't considered a strong team in California, so their players are just so-so.

After watching for more than twenty minutes, only one white defender named Dippenbrock left an impression on Berman.

The others were all mediocre players, none of whom could get a college basketball scholarship.

As he looked at these players, two people kept coming to mind:
One of them was my teammate from Notre Dame, Bill Laimbeer. That guy was a talent-wasting playboy who squandered his college years, went to Europe to freeload after graduation, and only recently returned to the US to join the NBA.

He got a center job on the terrible Cavaliers, playing a defensive role, but with his talent, he could have become an All-Star if he worked hard.

After Behrman left Notre Dame in 1977 for some reason, no one yelled at him or disciplined him anymore.

Another one is Gan Guoyang. He possesses a bewildering potential, like a black hole, unfathomable and constantly drawing you in.

During the 10 days of summer camp, Bellman felt that he was improving almost every day. He was like an incredible blank sheet of paper that you could paint on at will.

But in fact, he is already quite colorful; perhaps this blank sheet of paper is simply too big.

I wonder what kind of performance he will deliver in today's final 5v5 match.

With a heavy heart, Bellman ended his interview journey. The school said it would carefully consider the matter after review, while the school's sports director privately said that if there were no problems, he could start his new job next week.

We had a light lunch in Palo Alto, and in the afternoon, Bellman returned to Walnut Creek. The COPA Sports Center was empty, with only cleaning staff mopping the floor.

When he went to Alok's office, he asked about the interview with Bellman. Bellman said it went very well and he would most likely get the job.

Alok was happy for his former assistant coach. Although he was foul-mouthed and had a bad temper, he was a really good coach who was truly overlooked during the summer camp.

Moreover, in the first year of the summer camp, Alok needs to consider his reputation and can't afford any more complaints.

Bellman then asked about the 5v5 competition on the last day, and Alok raised an eyebrow and said, "You're concerned about Forrest Gump's performance, aren't you?"

"Of course, stop keeping me in suspense, how many points did he get?"

"Unfortunately, Forrest Gump didn't score a single point in the morning's scrimmage."

"Didn't get a single point? He got 0 points? You must be joking, how could that be? This pig, even if you threw it randomly, you should at least get one in."

Alok smiled and said, "Because he didn't throw any. He deliberately didn't make a move. The gap between him and others is too big."

"Deliberately not taking a shot? That pretentious bastard, then...did his team win the game?"

"Of course, he won. He just didn't score, but he grabbed 44 rebounds and blocked 12 shots. In fact, he was actually holding back, otherwise the game wouldn't have been able to continue, and the opponent wouldn't have been able to attack. I told you before, he doesn't belong here, everyone is here to have fun and experience, but this guy is serious."

"...Damn it, who was the last person who could do that? Who do you think it was?"

"The last one? Bill Russell. I heard that when he was practicing with the Celtics, if you defended him well, the intra-squad scrimmage couldn't even continue. But I think this kid doesn't have Russell's jumping ability and explosiveness, but he's more cunning than Russell and good at manipulating the psychology of his teammates and opponents. He's only sixteen years old, my god, I even feel like I'm being controlled by him as a referee on the sidelines."

Alok's words sounded incredible, adding an even more mysterious and alluring veil to Gan Guoyang.

Bellman bit his finger, eager to see what this guy would become.

(End of this chapter)