The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 365 A Different Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

In the 1986-1987 season, Pat Riley finally decided that it was time for the Lakers to reduce Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's role as the offensive focal point.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 40 years old and entering his 18th season in the league. He is older than some of the coaches and assistant coaches in the league.

He is now a very good center, but no longer great. He is a bit slow, appears somewhat weak when running, and his stamina is gradually becoming a problem.

He was once tormented by dynamic big men like Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Forrest Gump; now, Jack Hickma and Mike Gominsky can do whatever they want to him.

Riley wanted to limit Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's playing time, and they acquired Duckworth in the summer trade, which was a very good deal. Abdul-Jabbar now has a quality and young backup—the older players who were younger than him and were his backups didn't outlast him.

The Lakers have finally found a 7-foot, promising rookie who has reduced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's playing time.

Magic Johnson became the primary playmaker on the court, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was merely an aging supporting player.

—Excerpt from Jeff Pearlman's 2013 book, *Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s*.

Biographers' words are often not entirely credible, especially books describing distant times. Given that a significant portion of readers are unfamiliar with the situation at the time, this gives writers who are not professional basketball players the space and opportunity to embellish their stories or even make things up.

Jeff Perlman's biography of the rise and fall of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 80s is quite excellent, but his description of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1986-1987 season is clearly biased.

If Gan Guoyang were to come across this book many years later and read this passage, he would surely curse "Buschet" under his breath—Sikma and Gominsky could not do whatever they wanted, and no one could either.

In the 1986-1987 season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did indeed relinquish his position as the team's leader, and Magic Johnson officially became the Lakers' number one core player.

The success in 1985 gave Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a brief offensive resurgence in the 86 season, before they were utterly crushed by the Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals.

This season, Magic Johnson had the strongest start of his career, and his performance improved as December progressed.

Apart from the Milwaukee Bucks (again, the Bucks) who made him suffer with their strong backcourt, no other team could stop his magic show.

His biggest change is his rise on offense. In half-court sets, he no longer needs to look for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar first, but instead chooses to shoot himself more often.

His spot-up shooting has improved significantly. When facing guards who are shorter than him, his sudden mid-range shots are unpredictable and difficult to defend against.

At the same time, his unique rhythm of breakthroughs combined with hook shots and low layups often makes him difficult for opponents to defend, not to mention his consistently sharp passing.

When a player combines shooting, driving, and passing well, his impact on the offensive end becomes enormous, and the difficulty of defending him increases exponentially.

In comparison, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's hair looks even thinner, and he's almost bald. He's no longer the team's primary offensive option, or even the secondary one.

He transformed from a ferocious lion who could destroy opponents' interior defense in his youth into an old man who occasionally shows his prowess with a hook shot.

His scoring has not been as consistent as before. When he is in good form and has a chance, he can score 20 points. When he doesn't have many chances and his form is average, he can only score around 10 points.

Therefore, people believe that he has really gotten old, started to decline, and is no longer as important as he used to be.

But on the evening of December 18th, when Gan Guoyang stood near the center circle preparing for the jump ball, he knew that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would definitely be more difficult to deal with than last year.

Because this guy looks much bigger, his body has become more muscular than before.

His arms became thicker, the muscle lines were not as defined as before, his shoulders became rounder, and his thighs became thicker and more muscular.

Gan Guoyang, who spends a lot of time in the gym, knew that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's physique clearly showed that he had gained weight over the summer, and quite a lot of it.

Judging from his shoulders, thighs, and arms, at a height of 7 feet 2 inches, he must have gained at least 15 pounds.

Based on his understanding of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he knew that Abdul-Jabbar couldn't have gained weight simply by eating; he must have worked out in the gym and developed a stronger physique.

This message alerted Gan Guoyang. He was not a layman media professional who only looked at data; he fought on the court every day and had a good grasp of every change his opponents made.

Previously, watching game videos and statistics wasn't clear enough. Now, seeing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's estimated 265-pound physique in person, Gan Guoyang understands that the Lakers will definitely be a huge problem this year.

Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers' coaching staff had long analyzed that the Lakers' biggest reliance, or rather their foundation, on the defensive end was that very few people could dominate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one-on-one in the paint, even though Abdul-Jabbar was already very old.

His defensive prowess in the low post was overshadowed by his exceptional offensive capabilities. In the 80s, when inside offense was crucial, it was nearly impossible to beat the Lakers if your center couldn't pose a significant threat to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Rockets, Celtics, and 76ers were able to defeat the Lakers because of their superior inside scoring ability, and sometimes it wasn't just one person, but two people, or a combination of players.

Although Gan Guoyang did manage to beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it was during the regular season, not the playoffs. The playoffs are a completely different story, and in 1985 they couldn't defeat the Lakers.

Last season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was overwhelmed on the defensive end by the Rockets' twin towers, losing too many defensive rebounds and struggling to keep up in the low post, resulting in a 1-4 defeat for the Lakers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers coaching staff learned their lesson. Riley understood that the 40-year-old Abdul-Jabbar couldn't be allowed to run around with the Showtime team on offense anymore.

At this point, the most important thing is to preserve Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's role on the defensive end and further highlight his value on that end. Since the start of the new season, Abdul-Jabbar's rebounding has even slightly improved compared to last season, even though his playing time is shorter.

Before the jump ball, Gan Guoyang reached out and pinched Jabbar's arm. Jabbar quickly shook him off and said, "What are you doing? Why are you touching me like that?"

Gan Guoyang smiled and said, "Nice muscles, been spending time at the gym all summer?"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, "You're not the only one who spends time in the gym; we all get strong."

Indeed, league players are getting stronger, and the long, narrow interior players of the past are becoming increasingly rare.

Gan Guoyang contributed to this trend to some extent. Standing at 6 feet 10 inches tall, he dominated the paint, relying on his unparalleled strength.

Without strength and weight as a foundation, many inside players can't even make Gan Guoyang break a sweat when defending him. What's the point of defending him then?

The referee stopped the two from chatting, tossed the ball into the air, and the game began.

Gan Guoyang was the first to touch the ball, and the Trail Blazers launched their first attack.

The Great Western Forum arena is extremely familiar to Gan Guoyang.

Every time he plays here, he always delivers an amazing performance, leaving a lasting impression on Los Angeles fans.

Riley stood on the sidelines chewing gum, feeling uneasy. It was his first time facing the Trail Blazers this season, and at home no less—it was unbelievable.

He would rather play the Trail Blazers at Portland Memorial Stadium, where the Lakers always perform better and Gan Guoyang won't be able to pull off any fancy moves.

In the morning, the Great Western Forum was closed to Gan Guoyang as usual, and he was not allowed to come to the stadium to warm up too early.

Riley didn't make any crazy remarks to provoke Gan Guoyang before the game, but he also forbade AC Green from going to Gan Guoyang's place for dinner.

He feared that Green might expose some of the Lakers' internal issues and problems this season, such as the conflict between Johnson and Worthy.

Of course, Gan Guoyang probably already knew that the trade that almost went through during the draft nearly ruined Worthy and Johnson's relationship.

Worthy wasn't watching the draft at the time; instead, he was in a hotel in North Carolina preparing for a school event when he received a call from friends saying that the commentators at the draft were discussing his trade with Aguirre, and that he was going to Dallas. The person behind it all was Aguirre's good friend, Johnson.

Worthy was shocked and heartbroken. Just then, a Los Angeles reporter called him to ask about the trade. Worthy vented to the reporter, saying that he would go to Dallas, make the Lakers pay, and that he would beat Aguirre, etc.

The trade was eventually called off, but not because Magic Johnson had a change of heart; it was because Jerry West threatened to resign.

When the two met again at training camp in October, the atmosphere was awkward. Johnson admitted that he did not veto the deal, but he also did not push for it.

Worthy didn't say much. He knew the Lakers were Magic Johnson's team, and the Lakers wouldn't allow anyone to smear or oppose their star player—Maurice Lucas was one such example; he was marginalized and then kicked out.

The two were never friends off the court. They were a perfect team on the court, but completely different people off the court.

The iParty at Johnson Castle rarely invites Worthy, so Worthy has to go to strip clubs to find big-breasted women to play with.

This is similar to the relationship between Bird and McHale of the Celtics: good teammates on the court, but each doing their own thing off the court.

But Bird never considered trading McHale away.

Riley was very worried that this rift would be exploited by Gan Guoyang, so he strictly forbade the players to have much contact with Gan Guoyang and forbade them to play together.

With this concern in mind, Riley watched as Gan Guoyang took his first singles shot against Jabbar in the low post at the start of the match.

Tonight, Riley didn't use a power forward as cannon fodder to single out Gan Guoyang. This approach has long been proven to be self-deception and ruined Rambis.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar showed no fear or annoyance. Before the game, he volunteered to defend Forrest Gump and said he would keep his shooting percentage below 50%.

On the left low post, the space was completely open, with only Gan Guoyang and Thompson on the strong side. Thompson passed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, turned smoothly, made a hook shot feint, took a step up and down, had no chance, turned back again, and hit a hook shot with his right hand!
With a complex set of footwork under the basket, it became very difficult for Gan Guoyang to push past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar using only strength.

Although the ball went in, Gan Guoyang knew in his heart that the one-on-one singles match tonight would be much, much more difficult.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is indeed stronger than before. You can feel it when he's boxing out under the basket. The first contact at the start of the game basically set the tone for the two big men in the paint.

This is destined to be a tough match.

(End of this chapter)