The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 286 Chef
The Trail Blazers' victory somewhat mitigated the damage that Gan Guoyang's outburst had on the team.

After the game, his teammates returned to the locker room and hugged Gan Guoyang. Drexler was grinning from ear to ear.

In the second half, Drexler was subjected to rough treatment by the Pistons almost every time he drove to the basket.

But given his personality, he wouldn't fight with his opponents. He has a temper, but he won't hit people.

Not only him, but also players like Vandeweghe, Paxson, Walton, and Thompson are all serious players.

This is related to their upbringing and personalities. First of all, putting everything else aside, most of the Trail Blazers players have powerful fathers.

Vandeweghe and Jim Paxson are second-generation basketball players; both their fathers were former NBA players, and they followed in their fathers' footsteps. Their family background and education are unlikely to be lacking.

Wharton's father was a music teacher and social worker, and his mother was a librarian. Wharton was exposed to music, literature, and art from a young age.

Mitchell Thompson was born into a Catholic family in the Bahamas. Porter's parents divorced when he was 12, but he always followed the rules, taking out loans to go to college and working part-time while playing basketball to pay off the loans. He spent the rest of his time in the library with his girlfriend, studying together.

Drexler's situation is more complicated; theoretically, he had three fathers.

His mother had a fiancé before giving birth to him; he was a policeman. He was shot and killed while on duty after giving birth.

Later, Drexler's father married his mother, and they lived in New Orleans and had three children, Drexler being the third.

After their divorce, the mother took her four children to Houston, married her current husband, Drexler's stepfather, and had three more children.

So the Drexler family had seven children, with Drexler being the fourth in the family, but they lived a very good life and were middle class.

Both parents had stable jobs, and the neighbors in the community were police officers, firefighters, doctors, and teachers. The environment in which I grew up was peaceful and tranquil.

This group of people are all excellent at playing ball, but if you ask them to fight, they don't even know how to start.

So, Gan Guoyang took on all the fights for the team by himself, saying, "If you guys can't fight, I'll fight for you."

Of course, not all people born into privilege are well-behaved. Bill Laimbeer, for example, became so rich that he became shameless and lived a life of debauchery.

Gan Guoyang seems to have a normal family upbringing, but no one knows that he is the king of the orphanage, specializing in dealing with all kinds of orphans.

In the locker room, the only one who didn't give Gan Guoyang a friendly look was Jack Ramsey, who criticized Gan Guoyang: "Why did you let Thomas go?"

Gan Guoyang explained, "Stellum was clinging to my legs."

"Then you should kick him and smash his head in."

"..."

"Jack, do you have a grudge against the referee?"

"Of course, every coach wants to kick the referee in the head."

Indeed, disputes between coaches and referees are always a common theme on the sidelines.

Earl Stroom has consistently referred to Jack Ramsey as a "master of stand-up comedy who communicates with referees," the irony of which is self-evident.

Over more than a decade and hundreds of matches, the two must have had many frictions and conflicts, which led Ramsey to really want his star pupil to kick him.

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang remained rational. Although the NBA officials were shocked by the recurrence of such on-court violence, an investigation revealed that it was not a serious matter.

The scene was big enough, the consequences weren't serious, and the fans enjoyed watching and criticizing it, adding a lot of buzz to this year's star-less NBA.

The fact that both Jordan and Ewing were out for the season had already given Stern, who was keen on commercial promotion, a real headache. Forrest Gump stepped in at the right time to quench his thirst. Although it was negative news, bad news is still news.

As long as the NBA doesn't appear on legal programs and instead focuses on sports news and entertainment, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

The key was that Gan Guoyang played beautifully, not that the black players were just messing around randomly.

He used his excellent wrestling skills to take down several NBA big men, making Americans, who had always been enthusiastic about boxing and looked down on wrestling and other ground fighting techniques, start to pay attention to this practical fighting technique.

According to statistics, after this match, the number of people registering for wrestling, judo and other combat sports clubs across the United States increased significantly, and some mixed martial arts competitions extended invitations to Gan Guoyang to participate in the competition or to endorse the competition.

Gan Guoyang could not possibly agree. His main profession was basketball, and wrestling was just a hobby. However, he did like this wonderful sport more and more, which combined flexibility, explosiveness, strength, skill and fighting spirit. Training in footwork and techniques such as duck walk and diving tackle greatly helped improve his overall physical fitness.

The biggest advantage is that wrestling teaches you to concentrate your power, allowing you to focus most of your body's strength. It also helps you understand and master your body structure and balance points, which is very beneficial for you to exert force in the paint.

As for his invincible fighting prowess on the field, it was merely a side effect of intimidation. Gan Guoyang didn't want to fight either, because every fight caused trouble and worried his family and friends. That evening, Wang Fuxi called to inquire about Gan Guoyang's situation. She had heard the news report on the radio at home and was very worried, asking, "Why did you get into another fight? I heard you hit Lambiel's nose. Does your hand hurt? Don't hit people randomly; you're so strong, you could easily break your hand!"

Wang Fuxi's concerns were not unfounded. Human hand bones and wrists are indeed very fragile, and if the force is not applied correctly when punching, it is easy to break one's bones.

Like when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar first joined the Lakers and faced his former team, the Bucks, he punched rookie Kent Benson in the face in response to his provocation, resulting in a broken hand for himself.

Gan Guoyang took his girlfriend's concerns to heart and said, "I know, next time I'll just throw him."

"Well, it's better to fall, as long as you don't hurt your head."

The two chatted on the phone for a while, and the next day when they arrived in New York, Fleischer came directly to Gan Guoyang's door to give him a heads-up.

"I can't protect you this time. The league will definitely suspend you, at least three games."

"I told you, don't act rashly, don't act rashly. You are the king, and the king cannot act rashly."

"What can we do if we don't take action? Just shrug?"

"Shrugs might not be a bad choice."

Fleischer gave the same old advice, which made a lot of sense, and Gan Guoyang listened to it. However, he didn't regret it; the suspension and fine were no big deal.

When playing against any team, you must maintain your momentum and not let your opponent gain the upper hand, especially when playing away.

After this game, no one at the Silver Top Center dared to be unafraid of Forrest Gump, giving the Trail Blazers a psychological advantage when playing away games in the future.

"By the way, my brother is in New York, right? How is he doing?"

“He just arrived, so I had Mark stay with him to help him get used to things, and then he ran around doing some basic tasks. You take good care of your brother, which is great; it's only right for a man to take care of his family after he has achieved something.”

"I'm just giving him a chance; it's mainly up to him."

"Do you want to meet him?"

"Oh no, let him focus on what he needs to do."

As Fleischer said, the league did not go easy on Gan Guoyang this time. Given that Gan Guoyang assaulted several Pistons players at the Silver Top Center, Stern issued a $5000 fine and suspended him for three games.

The Trail Blazers are going to play the Knicks, and if Ewing is still playing, the matchup between the two teams would be quite interesting.

Since Ewing is out for the season, there's not much excitement in Gan Guoyang playing alone, so he's suspended as a warning to others.

Even without Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers still easily defeated the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Gan Guoyang took advantage of his break from suspension to visit Bernard King in New York, who was undergoing rehabilitation training. King was already able to practice shuttle runs.

However, he ran slower than his 40-year-old trainer. He dared not exert himself, and every run was a huge test of his mental strength.

For such a severe leg injury, psychological rehabilitation is just as important as physical rehabilitation; otherwise, the person will never be able to play basketball again.

"According to my trainer and doctor's plan, it will take me another year before I can return to competition. A year...that's until 1987, that's a long time!"

Bernard King has a very strong will and a very firm determination to return to the court.

However, when he returns, the NBA and New York may no longer be his domain.

Gan Guoyang encouraged his old friend, saying that he would definitely be able to return to the NBA court as a champion.

After losing to the Nets on March 2nd, the Trail Blazers ended their road trip and returned to Portland.

Gan Guoyang's suspension led to their loss to the visiting Houston Rockets, and this time it was the return of Hakeem Olajuwon who wreaked havoc on the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers suffered their first losing streak of the season, but they still hold the top spot in the Western Conference.

On March 7th, Gan Guoyang made his comeback, just in time to face the visiting Washington Bullets.

Before Barkley arrived, he called Gan Guoyang and said he wanted to eat the hamburgers Gan Guoyang made.

He then asked Gan Guoyang if he could cook African food. After receiving a negative answer, Barkley muttered, "This guy calls himself a chef? He can't even cook African food."

(End of this chapter)