The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 279 Blaming You
Since last year, Gan Guoyang has been considering the selection of bodyguards, assistants, and lawyers.

Gan Guoyang usually gets Avia to recommend or provide him with tasks such as finance, security, and legal consulting.

For example, if Gan Guoyang is going to participate in an event, Avia will hire a security company to arrange two temporary bodyguards to ensure his personal safety.

When tax season arrives, Avia will ask the company's accountant to help Gan Guoyang complete the tax filing.

If you need legal assistance, you won't have trouble finding a lawyer in the United States, as long as you have money.

But Gan Guoyang knew that as his reputation grew and his assets increased, he needed some close associates to do these things.

Like Jordan, there was George Khloe, whom Jordan met when he took a taxi at the airport. At the time, Khloe mistakenly called Jordan "Larry Jordan," which was Jordan's brother's name.

Jordan found it strange and asked him, "Do you know my brother?" In fact, Khloe had called him by the wrong name, but the two started chatting and became good friends.

George Khloe was a good fit for Jordan, so he became Jordan's bodyguard and personal assistant, and was the closest person to Jordan in his life besides his parents and wife.

Unlike Jordan, who prefers to socialize with friends, Gan Guoyang is more of a loner. However, as his playing and training become increasingly busy, and he has more and more activities, he does need a dedicated bodyguard and assistant to handle various daily problems and troubles.

For example, when Gan Guoyang went for a run in the morning, he could run freely in various parts of the city, both in Gonzaga and when he first came to Portland.

But after encountering people selling illegal drugs outside Cort's house last time, Gan Guoyang knew that no city was absolutely safe.

Portland was generally very safe in the early 70s and 80s, but over time it has gradually become "Los Angeles-ized".

In fact, it's not just Portland; most mid-sized cities on the West Coast are inevitably becoming like Los Angeles.

Ironically, the more these cities try to shed their Los Angeles-like image and avoid becoming a "crime and drug hotspot" through urban planning, road improvements, and community rezoning, the faster they become Los Angeles-like—because that's exactly what Los Angeles thought and did in the first place, leading to this predicament.

Gan Guoyang can still run freely in downtown Portland now, but in a while, he will only be able to exercise in the upscale residential area of ​​Lake Hill Park.

After returning to Portland, the Trail Blazers took a short break before facing the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings in back-to-back home games, both relatively easy matches.

The Trail Blazers won easily, bringing their record to an astonishing 48 wins and 9 losses. They were just two wins away from their sweet start in 1978.

The Trail Blazers are all relaxed. Victory is the best lubricant for team relations, and any conflicts or frictions will be eliminated.

Surprisingly, Jack Ramsey's temper has become increasingly volatile lately, not off the court, but on the court, and he's not yelling at the players but at the referees.

In games against the Suns and Kings, Ramsey received technical fouls for yelling and complaining to referees, and was ejected from one of the games.

Off the court, however, he showed no unusual behavior, which puzzled the players. Later, Adelman explained, "Jack was worried about you getting injured, and he didn't want the tragedy to repeat itself. So when he saw the referee being too lenient, he got angry and became a bit irritable."

It seems that the shadow of years ago still looms over Ramsey. Once bitten, twice shy, this year the Trail Blazers are showing their dominance again, and Ramsey certainly doesn't want his hopes to be dashed once more.

In addition to pressuring the referee, Ramsey began to control the playing time of key players, further reducing Gan Guoyang's playing time from 38 minutes to less than 37 minutes.

Especially in the fourth quarter, he would only be allowed to play for five or six minutes at a time. Fortunately, the Trail Blazers were always able to build a large enough lead in the third quarter, so Gan Guoyang could afford to rest.

Bill Walton has been incredibly active, missing not a single game. Ramsey has excellent control over his playing time and usage, and he is very likely to have an incredible season with perfect attendance.

While regular season victories are important, the NBA playoff format dictates that health often takes precedence, and Ramsey, having learned this the hard way, doesn't want to be fooled again.

By the end of February 1986, the trading deadline had arrived, the market was closed, and there was not much activity from any of the stocks.

Since the Buffalo Braves traded their MVP Bob McAdoo to New York in 1976, the league has not seen a major mid-season trade involving star players for 10 years.

Back then, it was rare for NBA players to have conflicts with their teams and want to be traded. It wasn't that the players didn't have a temper, but rather that the owners held an absolute dominant position, and the players had little say.

Especially in terms of public opinion, the media mostly sides with the team. Once a conflict arises between a player and the team, the media and fans tend to side with the team, putting immense pressure on the player. Players like Earl Monroe and Bill Walton have suffered from this. The true era for players has not yet arrived, or rather, it is on its way.

On February 26, the Trail Blazers will host the formidable Houston Rockets at home. Currently, one team is ranked first in the Western Conference, and the other is ranked third.

The Rockets' progress this season is evident to the naked eye. Their twin towers have become increasingly mature. When the two teams met this year, Gan Guoyang clearly felt that the Rockets were more difficult to beat than the Lakers.

In January, the Rockets unleashed a storm in the Western Conference, losing only two games in the month: a narrow 3-point defeat to their old rivals, the Utah Jazz, and a poor performance that resulted in a crushing loss to the Mavericks. Overall, they were riding high.

However, in mid-February, their starting center Hakeem Olajuwon was plagued by injury and missed seven consecutive games. Without their core center, the Rockets lost some games.

Hakeem Olajuwon was still absent from the Rockets' roster for this game. The Rockets officially announced that Olajuwon will be out for another two weeks.

This greatly reduced the suspense of the match. While Hakeem Olajuwon could still compete head-on with Gan Guoyang, Ralph Sampson always had a tough time against him.

Despite having a significant height advantage of 7 feet 4 inches, he was often pushed out of the three-second zone by Gan Guoyang due to insufficient strength, and was suppressed on both offense and defense, making it very difficult for him to play.

With Hakeem Olajuwon's rise, Sampson's status within the Rockets has declined slightly. His stats have dropped compared to last season, with his average points per game falling to 18 and his blocks also decreasing.

This is not good news for a young center who is only 25 years old and has been in the league for three years. In fact, he is also suffering from injury problems.

For giants on the basketball court, their height is both an advantage and a burden, putting more pressure on every bone and every ligament.

There aren't many guys like Gan Guoyang who can jump around all game. He still doesn't wear any protective gear. He did wear some during the All-Star Game, mainly to promote Avia, including a unique arm protector that attracted the attention of many young fans.

The Rockets surrendered in less than three quarters, and the fourth quarter became garbage time.

Drexler had an outstanding performance in this game, recording a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Since Drexler's rise, Gan Guoyang's dominance in rebounding has been weakened, with his average rebounds per game dropping from 17.6 last season to 15.8.

Although they remain the undisputed number one in the league, their lead over second-place Laimbeer has shrunk to just 2.5 goals.

Perfect timing! After their game against the Rockets on February 26th, the Trail Blazers will travel to Detroit to face the Pistons on the road.

Two rebounding experts can have a friendly wrestling match on the court.

The Pistons are also eager to have a matchup with the Trail Blazers.

Thomas wants revenge for stealing the All-Star MVP award.

Lambiel wanted to see if Forrest Gump could still score 50 points on his own head.

Melvin Tppin will face his biggest challenge since being traded to the Pistons.

Detroit fans bought out all 22000+ tickets for the Silver Top Center well in advance, eagerly anticipating this big game.

However, Jack Ramsey has only one request for this game: that the team stay healthy.

So when the Trail Blazers arrived at the Silver Top Center, just before the game was about to begin, Ramsey said to Chuck Day in a slightly threatening tone:
"Chuck, I hope neither team's players will suffer any injuries in this game. If, and I mean if, any of our players get injured, for whatever reason, if it happens in this game, I will blame you."

Daly previously worked as an assistant coach under Cunningham, who was a player Ramsey coached on the 76ers.

Therefore, Ramsey can be considered Daly's advisor.

Looking at the advisor's serious expression, Daly thought to himself, "Who will hurt whom is really not certain!"

(End of this chapter)