The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 354 Demon King
In 1929, the United States entered the Great Depression, with about 50% of home loans defaulting nationwide and the unemployment rate approaching 25%. The financial depression led to the collapse of the real estate industry.

Wealthy people began to flee the city center, and once bustling neighborhoods became sewage-filled, houses were dilapidated, lacked clean water and infrastructure, and housing conditions were extremely poor.

Against this backdrop, housing authorities were established across the United States, and related laws were enacted to improve the living conditions of urban residents in order to eliminate urban slums.

After World War II, the United States experienced another wave of suburbanization. Middle-class white people who used to live in the city center left and moved to safer, cleaner and more convenient suburban satellite cities. The city center began to be occupied by more and more black people, and the slum phenomenon reappeared.

This time, the Housing Administration Bureau took action again, and the state promulgated the Housing Law. Local governments began to borrow money to carry out large-scale renovations of urban communities, building a number of standardized and regulated super-large-scale residential communities for rent or sale to blue-collar workers.

In Columbia, South Carolina, the massive working-class community, Hendry House, was born in this context. When it was built in the 1950s, it had more than 300 apartment buildings and was inhabited entirely by white industrial workers from Columbia.

However, in the 1960s, with the abolition of racial segregation, more and more Black people began to move into the Hendry House, and this once well-planned and well-equipped super-large community inevitably began to decline.

Blue-collar workers followed the wealthy of 1929 and the middle class of 1949 in fleeing the city center, making way for a growing number of Black people.

Crime rates at the Hendry House skyrocketed, living conditions deteriorated, and it began to degenerate into a slum once again.

Xavier McDaniel was born and raised here. He was the eldest child in the family. He was born in 1963, when the Hendry House was already a huge mess of chaos. Violent crime was everywhere, and everyone had to be careful when walking on the street. You had better go in a group, or you would be in danger at any time.

McDaniel learned to be cautious and timid at a young age. After all, his father was not a big gangster, but just a security guard at the University of South Carolina.

He showed his basketball talent in high school, but he never dared to show it off on the basketball court because the basketball court at Olympia High School was just as dangerous as the streets.

Many of the students here have been to the police station or even labor camps. The basketball court is not a place where you can run wild; someone might pull out a knife if you're not careful.

Facing taller opponents, McDaniel learned to turn and fadeaway jumper; he didn't want to drive to the basket and create physical contact, which would only cause him trouble.

In high school, his talent began to emerge. He grew taller and attracted the attention of many NCAA schools, and he went to Wichita State University in Kansas.

His personality began to change in college; he became increasingly tough and arrogant. Before a sophomore game against Tulsa (Paul Plessy's school), McDaniel shaved his head, causing quite a stir.

At that time, it was rare for Black people to shave their heads because it was a symbol of violence and discrimination, but McDaniel did so and has maintained it ever since.

From the moment he shaved his head, McDaniel seemed to have severed ties with and said goodbye to his timid and hesitant self, becoming the most daring player on the court.

No matter where he goes or what opponent he faces, he is fearless and always tries to prove himself. The image of him before the age of 14, when he only dared to take a fadeaway jump shot on the court, is now buried deep within his past.

But at the moment darkness fell, McDaniel felt as if she were 14 years old again, back in the Hendry House of the 1970s.

He remembered the tire swings there, the place where the children played. The older kids were having a great time, while he stood by and watched longingly, afraid to go forward for fear of getting beaten up.

Just like he does on the court, turn around, dodge, jump back, and shoot the ball in, staying far away from those dangerous guys, as long as you get the ball in.

When did this change begin? Was it after his first workout that he became stiff, or after a summer when he realized that no one on the court was as tall as him anymore?
McDaniel couldn't remember. He remembered the Converse shoes his father bought him, which had worn out from being worn for so long that he had to stuff cardboard inside to cover his toes. He remembered being alone in college with no friends, and having to make long-distance calls home to his mother every day. These were all fragile memories.

He realized how vulnerable, timid, weak, and lonely he had once been... Waves of intense pain and dizziness washed over him, and McDaniel gradually regained consciousness.

He could hear someone calling him; it was the team doctor. He struggled to open his eyes, and everything around him became bright and full. The black and white memories of Hendry's house in the darkness quickly faded away.

"Xavier, Xavier? You're awake. Lie down and come look, what number is this? What number is this?"

McDaniel looked at the two fingers waving in front of him and blurted out, "Two."

"Shit, he might have a concussion, he's still dizzy. Don't move Xavier, an ambulance will be here soon to take you to the hospital for a checkup."

"What happened? Why am I... here?" "You and Sonny were arguing, and he suddenly hit you, and you passed out."

"Sonny? Which Sonny?"

"Sonny Gum! Forrest Gum, the devil of Portland. Lie down and don't move, you'll be fine."

McDaniel suffered temporary amnesia due to a severe head injury.

He was then taken to the hospital by ambulance for further examination. On the way to the hospital, McDaniel lay very quietly on the stretcher, without any agitation.

Meanwhile, on the court, Gan Guoyang complained to the referee that McDaniel had broken his eyebrow bone.

"Look, I'm bleeding! He hit my face with his bald head. I make a living with my face. How am I supposed to play basketball after this?"

"Just give me a technical foul, that'll do. I promise I won't hold McDaniel responsible!"

At the time, the referee was communicating with the technical staff about McDaniel's foul and did not see how the two got into conflict.

In the 80s, the NBA did not have video replays, and referees relied entirely on their eyes and instantaneous memory to make decisions.

Because it was Portland's home court, the referee only gave Gan Guoyang a technical foul. SuperSonics coach Bickerstaff complained loudly, but to no avail.

After Calp helped Gan Guoyang stop the bleeding, he returned to the court, but Gan Guoyang left the court five minutes into the fourth quarter.

He discovered that his bleeding wasn't just simple; his delicate brow bone might have been broken, and he needed to go back to the locker room for treatment.

Gan Guoyang established a 12-point lead for the Trail Blazers before leaving the court, but without Gan, the SuperSonics launched a counterattack.

Dale Ellis repeatedly made his three-point shots. This shooter, who only averaged single-digit points per game with the Mavericks, performed exceptionally well in his first game with the SuperSonics, scoring 24 points.

He also hit a three-pointer at a crucial moment, narrowing the gap between the two sides to 1 point.

Ultimately, the Trail Blazers relied on Vandeweghe's shooting and Thompson's crucial defense under the basket to win the game 123-126, a 3-point advantage.

Vandeweghe scored a game-high 36 points, while Gan Guoyang added 31 points and 14 rebounds, giving the Trail Blazers a winning start. However, the game was full of twists and turns, and the victory was not exactly a clean one.

After the match, Gan Guoyang underwent an examination and was indeed diagnosed with a fractured brow bone. The doctor advised him to wear a mask when he plays in the next match.

McDaniel was diagnosed with a mild concussion, but was otherwise unharmed.

After reviewing the game footage, the league imposed an additional $5000 fine on Gan Guoyang, but did not impose a suspension.

Stern had given up hope; it was just a head-to-head collision, not a wrestling match, nothing serious.

Due to a fractured brow bone, Gan Guoyang started wearing a perforated celluloid mask from the second game onwards to protect his fractured face.

After he put on the same Curtis Perry mask, even fewer people dared to mess with him.

He seemed to have truly transformed into a demon king.

(End of this chapter)