The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 228 Unexpected
Liuhua Gymnasium is an old gymnasium designed and started in 1956 and completed in 1957. The venue is usually used for table tennis competitions.

For this basketball game, the best possible quality hardwood flooring was specially imported from Hong Kong to ensure the smooth running of the game.

However, the construction workers lacked experience, the floor was not fully calibrated during installation, and the floor quality was generally poor, with some areas being uneven and warped. This caused rackets to have insufficient rebound force or change their trajectory, affecting the player's dribbling.

Even so, both teams played at a high level, considering that some NBA arenas have floors that are not as good as those at Liuhua Arena.

When the match became a one-on-one duel between Gan Guoyang and Jordan, the floor sometimes became a prop to increase the excitement of their confrontation.

As Jordan was dribbling, the ball hit the edge of a slightly raised section of the floor and bounced in another direction.

Jordan had to chase after the ball, retrieve it, and then turn around and launch an incredibly difficult fadeaway jump shot—and the ball went in.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause. The number 23 black man was so physically gifted that his basketball moves were so graceful that it made people forget his dark skin.

"We're lucky," Gan Guoyang said to Jordan.

"Luck is part of skill, Sonny."

Jordan took the ball from Gan Guoyang and broke through on the left wing again.

He was extremely fast, but he didn't reach his maximum speed; he wanted to leave room for adjustments at any time.

Using his speed, which was half a body length ahead of Gan Guoyang, he broke into the basket, folded his hand in mid-air to avoid the block, and scored with a right-hand layup.

The crowd erupted in applause once again. The way the goal was scored was too advanced for the audience at the time, and it really took their time to process it.

Guangzhou can be said to be one of the cities in China with the highest enthusiasm for basketball. Since the 50s, various groups, units and enterprises have had basketball teams, and there are countless basketball competitions.

After the turmoil ended and all undertakings across the country returned to normal, the basketball ecosystem in Guangdong, like a grassland after a fire, quickly recovered its vitality.

However, the development of basketball in China was severely affected at that time.

In the 50s and 60s, the team relied on tall center Mu Tiezhu to make a name for itself. However, by the 70s, basketball players all over the world were becoming taller, faster, and stronger, and a new generation of talented players emerged on the court. The clumsy playing style of tall centers gradually became outdated.

The Trail Blazers' 10-day visit to China showcased the highest level of basketball in the world, demonstrating skill, speed, and agility.

National men's basketball head coach Qian Chenghai accompanied the team from the capital to every game. He was both pleased and worried, concerned that the gap between China and the world's top level was too large.

In 1979, the so-called American college team visited China, and the Chinese team won two games.

In the same year, the NBA champion Bullets visited China, and the Chinese team was able to put up a close fight, losing by only 11 points.

In 1982, Han Pengshan was able to compete against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the court.

These friendly matches did not make the Chinese team truly realize how big the gap was between them and American basketball.

It wasn't until the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, when the Chinese national team competed against a truly elite American college Olympic team, that they realized the gap between them was immeasurable.

The 58-point difference in the score doesn't truly reflect the gap between the two teams (in fact, this difference could have been smaller, but Gan Guoyang made a significant contribution).
Michael Jordan was one of the players who left a particularly deep impression on Qian Chenghai. When defending Jordan's shot, a Chinese player jumped up to block it. Jordan didn't shoot, and after the Chinese player landed, Jordan was still in the air.

The second Chinese player jumped to block again, but Jordan still didn't shoot. The Chinese player landed, while Jordan was still in the air.

The third Chinese player repeated the same action, and Jordan made the shot, but the Chinese player still landed first.

Such exaggerated physical attributes and hang time, coupled with tall, fast, and strong black players like Ewing and Perkins, truly made one feel hopeless.

To his delight, Qian Chenghai heard that there was a Chinese player in the United States whose skill level was higher than that of these American college students.

At first, Qian Chenghai didn't believe it, but after watching the video and now seeing Gan Guoyang and his teammates compete in person, he realized it was true.

Even Jordan was no match for him.

Jordan scored another goal, and Gan Guoyang said, "Not bad, not bad, you're still 8 goals behind me. Keep it up, Michael, everyone likes you."

Despite Jordan's two spectacular goals, Gan Guoyang held a commanding 10-2 lead on the scoreboard.

There's no way around it; a power center has an unparalleled advantage over a shooting guard in a one-on-one situation—they're not even in the same league.

Without teammates drawing attention away from them, and without the back-and-forth pace of offense and defense, the only advantage a guard has against a center is speed. But Jordan clearly sensed in the first few possessions that Forrest Gump was faster than before. What had that kid eaten?
Moreover, he didn't exert himself at all during the exhibition match; he was saving his energy for the final one-on-one duel!
I should have agreed to his request.

Gan Guoyang's single move was to dribble face-up and drive straight to the basket, then push past Jordan for a layup or hook shot, leaving Jordan with no way to stop him.

Gan Guoyang's dribbling skills are much better than those of most inside players. He also learned from Vandeweghe how to accelerate with his left hand and how to shoot with a step-back jumper.

These two moves are Kiki's signature skills. The Vandeweghe step is something he created himself while learning at Pete Newell's training camp in the summer, mainly to avoid Kermit Washington's brutal defense.

Van de Wesley's left-handed breakthrough wasn't particularly fast, but his strides were long and his starting footwork was very skillful. Gan Guoyang even copied it perfectly.

Gan Guoyang is right-handed, and now that he can play with both hands, he is even more difficult to defend. Jordan can only gamble on stealing the ball, succeeding once out of 10 attempts, thus creating a fast break opportunity.

Jordan accelerated again for the third time, forcefully attacking the basket from the right side. After a mid-air collision with Gan Guoyang, he released the ball while still airborne, dodging Gan Guoyang's block and making the shot!
Jordan needed to make such a difficult shot; after losing his balance, he landed on one foot, took two steps back, and regained his footing.

The Nike consultants who stayed on the sidelines to watch the game were on tenterhooks, fearing that Jordan might get injured in such a match.

But Jordan couldn't refuse a match between Jordan and Forrest Gump, nor could the staff at Nike and Avia.

After landing, Jordan looked at Gan Guoyang and frowned, saying, "Sonny, have you lost weight?"

Gan Guoyang asked, "Did you gain muscle, Michael?"

"I've been spending a lot of time in the gym, but I feel you're a bit lighter than last season, aren't you?"

After the regular season ended, Jordan spent all his time in the gym building up his muscles, an experience he learned from Gan Guoyang.

While building muscle, Jordan doubled his shooting practice to maintain his shooting touch. Once a person has a goal to chase, their efforts become even more intense.

Gan Guoyang lost more than 5 pounds after the Western Conference Finals, which took a huge toll on him.

After losing weight, Gan Guoyang did not rush to return to normal. Instead, he continued to hone his skills while maintaining strength training.

He already dominates the entire league in terms of strength. Next season, he has two options: one is to further expand his advantage, increase his weight, and become an even more invincible low-post monster.

Another option is to lose some weight to improve speed and agility, especially to keep up with the Lakers' frontcourt, which is crucial for defeating the Lakers.

The second option has a prerequisite: the Trail Blazers must find a suitable backup center this summer. Otherwise, relying solely on him and the aging Mitchell Thompson, Gan Guoyang cannot lose weight.

"I've become lighter, but in order to become faster, my offensive skills are now more comprehensive than yours."

As he spoke, Gan Guoyang successfully closed in on Jordan, forcing him to attempt a difficult turnaround shot that missed.

In the transition between offense and defense, Gan Guoyang turned from facing the basket to facing away from the basket, and with a Bernard King-style backheel spin, he caught a high-flying jump shot.

The entire movement was incredibly smooth; Jordan didn't even have a chance to stop it, and the ball went in easily.

The applause grew even louder, with many people standing up to cheer and clap. In those days, Chinese people loved to applaud enthusiastically, just like American basketball fans in the 60s.

Jordan knew that this one-on-one matchup was very unfair, as centers had a huge physical advantage over guards.

Jordan asked, "Sonny, how long are you planning to play?"

Gan Guoyang said, "How about we beat them until the audience can't take it anymore and leaves on their own?"

Jordan forced a smile and said, "I couldn't ask for more."

In 1985, the grand NBA basketball China tour was an unprecedented success. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, as one of the five NBA teams, played an exhibition game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Guangzhou.

After the game, the crowd's enthusiasm prevented the players from leaving the arena. To satisfy the crowd's desire, Forrest Gump and Michael Jordan engaged in a one-on-one duel. The two strong-willed guys fought an almost endless battle until the crowd couldn't take it anymore and left on their own.

Ultimately, Michael Jordan was forced to end the long game due to leg cramps from exhaustion, a shadow that cast over his competitive life, and he could never escape the shadow of Forrest Gump.

—Excerpt from "Michael Jordan: The Life," a biography of Michael Jordan written by Roland Lazambi, published in 2016.

(End of this chapter)