The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 244 I Know What's Going On

The day after the game against the Warriors.

As the Trail Blazers players boarded the earliest flight to Los Angeles, they began to miss the carefree, relaxed life of the offseason.

Starting their away trip means they will return to a life of getting up early every day to catch flights, living in hotels, and often having their days and nights reversed.

The team still traveled on a regular commercial flight, but this time the players were all given VIP seats so they could get better rest during the flight.

This is a player benefit that the league started promoting last season, and it has been fully implemented this season after the league partnered with American Airlines.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "Stockton can save even more money over the season. This kid can sit in the regular seats and use the difference to make up for the difference."

On the plane, Gan Guoyang took out the latest newspaper as usual and began to read it. After scoring 50 points, he was eager to see how the major media outlets would react.

As a result, I went through several newspapers with sports columns. Apart from The Oregonian, the main newspaper, which praised Gan Guoyang, other newspapers such as the Los Angeles Tribune and The New York Times only mentioned him briefly, and did not even give him a headline.

The New York Times, for example, focused more on Patrick Ewing's performance, giving extensive coverage to his season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, where he scored 18 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots.

The Knicks lost the game, with Moses Malone scoring 35 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and blocking 3 shots over Ewing, giving the number one draft pick a good lesson.

Gan Guoyang thought disdainfully, "The first time I played against Malone, I made him bleed. Patrick is really spineless, letting Malone score 35 points! If it were me, I would have elbowed him out of the game when he got 30 points, so he wouldn't be able to score any more points."

Of course, the New York media remained quite patient and hopeful.

In September, Ewing successfully signed a super long-term contract of 10 years and $30 million.

The contract is very complex, with many clauses, including a guaranteed salary for 6 years and a non-guaranteed portion for 4 years.

Regardless, this is the biggest contract ever signed by a rookie, even bigger than Magic Johnson's 25-year contract.

This is enough to show how much New York values ​​this super rookie and how wealthy New Yorkers are.

Unlike the Golden State Warriors, who couldn't even retain Bernard King and Joe Barry Carroll.

The Los Angeles Tribune, however, focused more on their rivals, the Boston Celtics.

The Lakers inexplicably embarked on a four-game road trip at the start of the new season, and they won't be able to start their opening game at the Western Conference until November.

Meanwhile, the Lakers' biggest rival, the Celtics, made a noteworthy trade in the summer: they sent Maxwell, a former championship contributor and 1981 Finals MVP, to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for another star forward, Marquese Johnson.

The Celtics' strength has increased significantly as a result, but the Los Angeles Tribune pointed out in a report that Auerbach's decision to trade away a former championship hero has raised doubts within the Celtics team. Bird, McHale and other key players are confused because Auerbach said they are a big family.

Maxwell's departure made everything seem like a lie, making people realize that the so-called NBA is not a family, but a business.

The Celtics lost to the New Jersey Nets in overtime in their season opener, before narrowly defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in their second game.

The Celtics clearly desperately want to reclaim the championship title in the new season, but it doesn't seem like it will be that easy.

Bird's performance in the first two games was mediocre, with frequent missed shots, and the Los Angeles media naturally did not miss the opportunity to question them.

Gan Guoyang finished reading the newspaper, threw the tattered pages under his seat, and said, "Is my 50 points really that insignificant? These big newspapers, all they ever do is focus on the Celtics and Lakers—they have no foresight at all!"

Hearing Gan Guoyang's complaint, Jack Ramsey, who was sitting in the front, said, "You're washed up."

Everyone burst into laughter. Gan Guoyang said, "Jack, I'm not really famous yet. This year is the year we embark on the road to becoming champions."

Ramsey didn't even turn his head, saying, "You probably didn't sleep well last night. I suggest you catch up on your sleep; you sounded a bit like you were talking in your sleep." Gan Guoyang knew that Ramsey's expectation for the team this year was also the championship, but he wouldn't casually mention the championship.

Because Ramsey experienced a fall from the peak to the bottom, the nascent dynasty was plunged into darkness just before dawn.

The season has only just begun, and nobody knows what will happen next.

As for Gan Guoyang, he is certainly not washed up. Rather, after a stunning rookie season, the media and fans have significantly raised their expectations of him.

Scoring 50 points against a weak Warriors team no longer excites people; they just think Forrest Gump is pretty amazing. But I think I've seen this episode before, so let's wait for the more exciting parts.

Gan Guoyang is like a novelist who writes a brilliant chapter and posts it online, only to find that all he gets in the comments is "read".

This feeling of resentment quickly dissipated as the plane landed at Los Angeles Airport, and he was ready to focus on the next competition.

Although the Clippers are a bad team and Sterling is a bad owner, it doesn't mean they can be easily defeated.

On the contrary, the Trail Blazers lost three games to the Clippers last season.

They won't make the playoffs, but the Trail Blazers won't have an easy time against the Clippers, and it's not all because of Ugly Duckling Night.

The Clippers had a very talented roster last season, but the owner was a huge liability, the team's team building was a mess, and everyone was disunited.

Besides Walton, Marquese Johnson also said when he arrived in Boston, "That was the worst basketball team I've ever experienced."

James Donaldson, who was later traded by the Clippers, said, "Leaving the dysfunctional Los Angeles Clippers was like going to heaven after I died."

Therefore, Gan Guoyang felt very apologetic towards Valentine. It's normal for teams to come and go, but sending him to the Clippers was really tough on him.

Putting aside other things, when Valentine arrived at the Clippers, the Clippers already had 7 guards, 4 of whom were point guards.

No wonder Donaldson said the Clippers were a dysfunctional team, lacking any plan or rationality in their team building.

Even so, the Trail Blazers made thorough preparations before the game, holding a tactical preparation meeting on the evening of the 28th and a warm-up training session on the morning of the 29th.

Bill Walton said to Gan Guoyang on the training field, "Gan, I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad."

"The bad news is that I received a message from the Clippers as soon as I landed in Los Angeles. That son of a bitch Sterling sent me a subpoena. He will sue me and the Trail Blazers, demanding more cash as compensation for my signing with the Trail Blazers."

Gan Guoyang exclaimed in surprise, "What? You've already given up almost all of the deferred compensation, and he's still going to sue you?"

"Yes, that's Sterling's usual style and way of making money: hire a team of lawyers, do everything possible to sue everywhere, and then get compensation or settlements. It's more profitable than selling tickets for the Clippers."

"What's the good news?"

"The good news is that we're playing the Clippers tonight, and we can give them a good beating."

"Haha! But the player is innocent. I'll try to find a way to give Sterling a piece of my mind."

"Oh my god, he'll die, won't he?"

"It's okay, I know what's going on."

(End of this chapter)