The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 31 Devil
On Monday, after finishing their daytime classes, the Water Clock students went to the YMCA gymnasium for training as usual.

Coach Bellman, who usually waited for them at the gymnasium early in the morning, was not there.

Gan Guohui frowned and muttered, "Could it be that Mr. Bellman withdrew after all this time?"

At that moment, Berman suddenly appeared. He heard Gan Guohui's words and said, "Fat Hui, you're slandering the coach. Twenty shuttle runs."

"Huh? I was just kidding!"

Thirty.

Gan Guohui dared not say another word and turned to run back.

While everyone was chuckling, they soon noticed that Bellman had brought a stranger with him—a Black man.

He was very tall, with an afro, wearing a brown ripped T-shirt, and his dark face was held high, full of vigilance and hostility.

"Let me introduce you to our newest member, Bickel Franklin, who is 6'4" and plays small forward."

"Hey, I haven't agreed to join the team yet! I'm just here to give it a try."

"That's right, give it a try... Go change your clothes, we'll have a physical test later."

Berman gave Franklin a new team uniform, and Franklin went to the locker room to change and came out.

He looks more like a basketball player now than before.

He then demonstrated excellent physical fitness in the physical test, and dunking was as easy for him as eating and drinking.

In the basic skills test, his dribbling was solid, his shooting form was a bit awkward, but his accuracy was acceptable.

What's most impressive about him is his explosiveness; his start and jump are incredibly fast, like a spring.

The other players on the Water Bell team were amazed.

After he finished the test, Gan Guohui ended his shuttle run, panting heavily, but still alive.

Berman was very satisfied with Franklin's performance, and he thought that Franklin's physical talent and skills gave him a chance to play in the NCAA Division I.

However, he uses a lot of unorthodox techniques, which is clearly a consequence of his street-smart lifestyle and requires proper guidance to correct.

"Alright, let's begin training."

"Bobby, I told you I'm here to give it a try. Bring out that Forrest Gump of yours, you say he's better than me, and I can only be number two?"

Behrman laughed, "You want to fight Forrest Gump one-on-one?"

"Yes."

"That's street basketball. One-on-one is just a small part of basketball. The best one-on-one player isn't necessarily the team's core player. Like Wes Unseld and Hayes, Monroe and Reed. Now the team has exactly 10 players. After practice, let's have a 5v5 and let you two prove who the core player really is, how about it?"

Franklin hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

After persuading Franklin to come for a tryout yesterday, Bellman has been leading Franklin astray step by step.

By then, you'll have the jersey, the money, the school registration, your family all taken care of, and the training all started. I don't believe you'll be able to refuse.

Behrman had a knack for dealing with these troublesome black men; he would use a combination of coaxing, deception, and provocation to lead them by the nose.

"He's much easier to deal with than Gan Guoyang," Berman thought to himself. Gan Guoyang was someone he couldn't handle at all; he couldn't figure out what the kid was thinking.

At this moment, Gan Guoyang remained silent and participated in the team's training as usual.

During training, Franklin kept observing Gan Guoyang and even verbally provoked him.

But Gan Guoyang ignored him completely and silently completed the training.

Berman's training intensity was very high. At first, Franklin could still concentrate, but soon he could only focus on the practice.

After training, Berman organized a scrimmage between teams. He told Franklin, "I've given you all the starting players; the rest of the substitutes are for Agan." Franklin replied indifferently, "I'll win against anyone, as long as I have the ball!"

Just as the match was about to begin, Gan Guoyang suddenly approached Franklin and said, "I know you, I've seen you before."

"What did you say?"

“I saw you. That day near the Church of the Assumption, you were playing ball on the court. The ball slipped from your hand and flew towards me. I tried to pick it up and return it to you, but you yelled at me.”

"What are you talking about? I don't remember... I did play ball near the Church of the Assumption, but when was that?"

"A car came speeding towards me and almost hit me; I was nearly killed."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Gan Guoyang didn't say anything more, he just glanced at him indifferently, the competition was about to begin.

Franklin's mind went blank for a moment as he tried to recall playing ball with others on the court near the Church of the Assumption.

But he played basketball too many times and in too many places each week. Since being expelled from school, he has been making a living by playing basketball on the streets.

He preferred the freedom of the streets to being disciplined at school and on the school team—that's how he justified himself, of course.

He thought he was amazing, the best dunker in San Francisco, only slightly worse than those monsters on the streets of Oakland.

What else can these yellow-skinned, black-haired guys do besides studying?
Franklin tried to compose himself, thinking that he should put a pin on Forrest Gump's head later.

But what if he hits me? Franklin couldn't help but worry about what he meant by those words.
-
Half an hour later, with the sounding of Bellman's whistle, the scrimmage between the two sides came to an end.

There was no scoreboard on the sidelines, and no one kept track of the score, but everyone knew who won and who lost.

Large beads of sweat streamed down Franklin's dark forehead, his jersey was completely soaked, and his injured left leg throbbed with pain.

More than an hour of training, plus more than 20 minutes of non-stop sparring, drained his proud body.

Berman came over and handed him a new jersey, saying, "This is the jersey you're exchanging. Remember to change out of the one you're wearing and wash it when you get back. If you find it too much trouble, you can leave it in the locker room; the school's laundry service will help you."

Franklin, panting heavily, looked up at Bellman and then at Gan Guoyang, who was already doing extra practice on the sidelines.

After today's scrimmage, only Gan Guoyang was still training extra; even Xu Xun couldn't keep up.

How many points did I get?

"I don't have the statistics, but I'm sure you lost."

"I've been training for too long, and I'm completely exhausted."

"Everyone has been training, and we train like this every day."

"..."

Seeing Franklin remain silent, Bellman urged, "Basketball is a team sport. Only within a team can an individual truly shine. We're heading to Oakland the week after next to face Fremont High School, and that will decide our fate. We need a forward like you. Don't you dream of dunking at the Fremont Tigers Arena?"

"People on the streets of San Francisco hate Oakland."

"That's right, this is an opportunity, in Oakland. Besides, that guy will be your teammate, protecting you in the three-second zone."

Both men looked at Gan Guoyang, who seemed tireless, shooting basket after basket, his tall figure inspiring awe.

“He scared me. Before the jump ball, he said he knew me, and to be honest, I was a little intimidated. I’m not someone who gets scared easily.”

When faced with the friendly Behrman, Franklin opened up and spoke from the heart.

"That's normal, that guy is a devil. But he's usually a decent person, just don't make him your enemy."

Franklin then received the clean jersey from Bellman and officially became a member of the Beiqiao Shuizhong team.

(End of this chapter)