The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 371 Faith
Magic Johnson had a chance to turn the game around.

But on the final defensive play, Drexler did an excellent job, closely guarding Johnson and blocking his shooting space.

When Johnson attempted to cut through the middle and finish the game with a hook shot, Gan Guoyang's help defense prevented his hook shot from hitting.

Then, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's putback attempt was disrupted by Thompson, and Jerome Cahill drove to the basket, boxed out Worthy, grabbed the rebound, and secured the victory for his team.

The first game of the season between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers ended with a 122-121 score, with the Trail Blazers staging a dramatic comeback victory.

Gan Guoyang scored 46 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists tonight, including a crucial three-point assist.

Lakers players walked off the court dejectedly with their heads down, while Trail Blazers players went up to give Gan Guoyang a high-five. Fans at the Great Western Forum gradually left; it was another terrible night.

Los Angeles residents have increasingly complex feelings towards Gan Guoyang. They wouldn't say they hate him; he plays a really good game, and it's just basketball, so it's not a matter of hatred or resentment.

Calling it love wouldn't be right either, since they're rivals after all. Time and again, they've hurt the Lakers and their fans at the Great Western Forum, making people grit their teeth in frustration. It's almost to the point where "losers dare not cry at night."

In short, Gan Guoyang played one classic game after another in the Great Western Forum, winning one honor after another, making Los Angeles fans both respect and fear him, just like they did with Michael Jordan at Madison Square Garden in New York.

At the post-game press conference, Gan Guoyang praised Curry, saying, "Dell Curry's three-pointer was very important. I believed he could make it, so I passed it to him. We practice long-range shooting every day after training. He's a very talented shooter, and he seized the opportunity to help us win the game."

Curry also had his first post-game interview in his career. In the locker room, he was pulled aside by reporters and said, "I've been preparing for this shot for a long time. It feels great, fantastic. I hope this is a good start and that there will be many more shots like this in the future."

This victory was undoubtedly important for the Trail Blazers, proving that their style of play could compete with the powerful Lakers.

Of course, this game was a very close win. The Lakers had the advantage from start to finish, but they failed to capitalize on the final stages and were defeated by Gan Guoyang's individual heroism.

Riley tried to control his emotions at the press conference, but his complaints about the "one against four" tactic were palpable: "I think the Lakers are playing the best basketball in history. Our basketball is both entertaining and competitive. We have superstars, but we play very as a team, very evenly. Our tactics and willpower have always been underestimated. Now the league is heading in a worrying direction, promoting individualism and extreme heroism, like Hollywood movies in theaters, where more and more heroes overshadow the real world and the real people."

Riley's words weren't entirely sour grapes; the world was indeed changing dramatically as the mid-to-late 80s approached.

The aftershocks of the various movements of the 60s and 70s have now completely dissipated, and the rapid economic development has made the material and entertainment lives of ordinary people increasingly rich and colorful.

Individualism is gaining popularity, and the younger generation likes celebrities, heroes, and fresh, vibrant, and eye-catching elements.

Disco became popular, and curly hair, sequins, jeans, miniskirts, Avia sneakers, and Nike Air Jordans frequently appeared in lively television commercials.

As a former trendsetter, Pat Riley now seems to have become the face of conservatism overnight—his slicked-back hair and impeccably clean Armani are becoming synonymous with old-fashioned and stubborn.

Showtime, once criticized for being flashy but impractical, has surprisingly become a representative of team basketball, because that number 11 and the number 23 in the East were just too much.

Of course, Riley's complaints will not change the trend of world development. In fact, individual heroism was far from reaching its peak in the 80s; this was just the beginning.

With Gan Guoyang scoring 46 points against the Lakers, his average points per game have surpassed Michael Jordan's, propelling him to the top of the scoring charts, albeit by only 0.1 points.

Jordan then scored 43 points in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 23, while Gan Guoyang only scored 35 points in a game against the Suns. As a result, Jordan overtook Gan Guoyang and returned to the top of the scoring list.

The battle for the scoring title between the two intensified, but Gan Guoyang made it clear in an interview with Steve Kelly of The Oregonian: "I don't want to win the scoring title. I score a lot of points just to win the game, not for the sake of scoring."

Gan Guoyang was simply expressing his feelings, but once his words are spread, they will inevitably be processed during the process, especially the words of celebrities. Adding embellishments or even distorting the original meaning is a common practice. Otherwise, how would those writers make a living?

So a regular interview report in The Oregonian becomes, when reprinted in other newspapers, :
"Forrest Gump wasn't interested in being the scoring champion; the scoring champion doesn't bring victory." That's relatively unbiased. Who says the scoring champion can't bring victory? Gan Guoyang was the scoring champion last year.

"Compared to being the scoring champion, Forrest Gump wanted victory and a championship more than some people who just wanted to score for the sake of scoring." This is where they start adding fuel to the fire, insisting on bringing up "some people," when Gan Guoyang's words were not directed at anyone in the first place.

"Forrest Gump said, 'The scoring title is yours, but the victory and the championship are mine.'" This is pure fabrication, and it implies that Forrest Gump was targeting Michael Jordan.

Subsequently, the more his words were reposted and spread, the more his original meaning was distorted. Many years later, a story circulated among fans: Forrest Gump mocked Michael Jordan in the 1987 season, saying that Jordan sacrificed victory for the scoring title, but still couldn't beat Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang's response has remained consistent: "Michael is my best friend, I would never say such a thing."

Then another twist to the story: Forrest Gump and Jordan were once best friends, but after the mockery, they weren't anymore...

In fact, they have always been good friends. Even though the competition for the scoring title was so fierce and the media was making a huge fuss, neither Jordan nor Gan Guoyang ever publicly attacked the other. Of course, the media fabricated stories that made them bitter enemies, ready to fight to the death.

Behind this is Nike and Avia pulling strings, because they don't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create competition, to use each other to boost their own brands.

As Christmas 1986 approached, the atmosphere grew increasingly intense, with the Christmas Day game set to take place between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls.

In the old days, Christmas Day games wouldn't feature East vs. West teams because transportation wasn't as developed. For away teams, traveling to distant cities to play during the holidays and not being able to reunite with their families was quite painful.

Therefore, Christmas Day matches are usually played between teams from cities that are relatively close to each other, or at least teams from the same half of the bracket.

For example, when the Boston Celtics play against the New York Knicks, Celtics players can drive to New York, play the game, and then drive home for the holidays without having to stay overnight in another city.

Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are even more convenient, as they play the same game at home or away. Several California teams are well-suited for Christmas Day games.

The Lakers and Celtics are the biggest rivals in the league, so arranging a Christmas game between them would be the most effective.

However, the two cities are located in the northeast and southwest corners of the country, respectively, more than 4800 kilometers apart, requiring a flight of more than seven hours.

I definitely couldn't leave the night after the match; I'd have to stay in another city for another night, and then fly home the next day, which would take almost the entire day. The whole holiday would be ruined.

Therefore, such a popular matchup never appeared on the Christmas Day stage in the 80s, a decision disagreed with both the players and the management.

Of course, as a businessman, David Stern undoubtedly hopes that the Christmas Day games will feature the most watched teams.

Therefore, when scheduling the games before the season, Stern defied all opposition and insisted on arranging a Christmas Day game between the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Although both the Bulls and Trail Blazers management expressed their protests, Nike and Avia, as league sponsors, worked hard behind the scenes to promote this high-profile matchup.

After discussions, communication, and having American Airlines arrange special flights for the visiting team, this unprecedented Christmas game between the East and West, which would not happen for a long time, appeared on the schedule.

After it was decided that the Bulls and Trail Blazers would play a Christmas Day game, the two teams stopped protesting and began arguing about whether the game should be held in Chicago or Portland.

Portland won this battle easily because Avia and Nike are both headquartered there, and Chicago simply couldn't compete.

With Christmas approaching, Nike and Avia have both begun to promote the highly anticipated scoring title showdown.

Portland's downtown area was plastered with advertisements from two companies: Gan Guoyang and Jordan's sneakers. These ads appeared extensively on television, bombarding the visual senses of ordinary people.

In modern society, television is the new religious gospel, the pastor preaching the god of consumerism in the world, and advertising is the Bible in the pastor's hands, repeatedly inputting concepts and symbols into people's minds, making them willing to spend their time, money and sincere love for it.

Collectively referred to as faith.

However, in this new religion, one Jesus is black, and the other Jesus is yellow.

The two Jesuses will meet on Christmas Day to see who is the true strongest idol.

I saw the comments early this morning; Walton has passed away. Many interior players die young due to their height and the intense physical demands of sports, mostly from heart-related causes. Chamberlain, Moses Malone, and Thurmond all died young. The average lifespan of basketball players is generally low; after all, most of them truly burn their lives for their sport. Walton's athletic career was legendary, but also filled with hardship and suffering. The repeated surgeries he underwent are something most people couldn't endure. He had a fragile body, but an iron will—this is what's most moving about these distant sports figures. I hope he can continue fighting in my novel, writing a different kind of brilliance in another timeline. I think this is the greatest significance of the novel. His faith lives on.

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(End of this chapter)