The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 38 Gold

I met Forrest Gump at a warm-up game before the 1981-1982 season home opener. He was a high school student then, and in October he was the hottest basketball figure in San Francisco. That game was Warriors vs. Jazz, and only about 7000 spectators showed up; the ticket sales were dismal.

Thurmond brought Forrest to the stadium, saying he had some questions he wanted to ask. At that moment, several of us wanted to teach this guy a lesson. You know, suppressing rising stars is a tradition on the field; we've all been taught that lesson before.

Al assigned Larry and me to answer his questions. We exchanged a knowing glance and understood each other; we were going to teach him a lesson.

Then…it's hard for me to describe the specifics, but anyway, starting that season, Larry Smith's performance never reached the level of his rookie season. I think he was probably discouraged, haha.

—Excerpt from Bernard King’s autobiography, Game Face, published in 2017.

Gan Guoyang followed Bernard King and Larry Smith to the court. While warming up, the two joked with Gan Guoyang.

Bernard King is a small forward who was just traded to the Warriors last season. He is a talented young man who is plagued by alcoholism and various troubles, and is the team's second-leading scorer.

Larry Smith was the 24th overall pick in the second round of the 1980 draft. He was a strong power forward who stood 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm) and had amazing rebounding ability under the basket. In his rookie season, he averaged 12 rebounds per game, including 5.3 offensive rebounds. Moses Malone, who was known as the king of offensive rebounds, only had 5.9 offensive rebounds in the 81 season.

"Dude, you said you want to learn about the turnaround jump shot. But I don't know what your current level is. Why don't you play against Larry and shoot one? I'll watch and then I can give you some pointers."

After warming up, Bernard King passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, asking him to contest against Larry Smith in the low post.

"Come on, I'll be gentle, I won't go overboard, just throw one."

Larry Smith stood casually on the flank and waved to Gan Guoyang. Gan Guoyang threw the ball back to Jin and came to the low post, backing down Smith.

Smith is 23 years old, a graduate of Alken State University, weighs 220 pounds, and is a stocky and strong short center.

His offensive rebounding performance in his rookie season demonstrates that Larry Smith possesses a formidable physical strength.

Hailing from Mississippi in the South, he was physically imposing and looked like a country farmer. His playing style was as unassuming and tough as his appearance.

Smith didn't pay much attention to Gan Guoyang, who looked thin and was only slightly taller than him.

However, the moment their bodies made contact, Larry Smith felt as if a steel plate had been pressed down on him.

Gan Guoyang was firmly planted in the rib area, his foot deeply embedded. Once he received the ball, he could turn around and immediately lay up the basket to attack the rim.

Jin passed the ball over, and Gan Guoyang didn't attack the basket directly. Instead, he moved his feet, took a step to the side, and chose to shoot a turnaround jump shot.

Larry Smith was under a lot of pressure, and when Gan Guoyang turned to shoot, he didn't even have time to jump and block.

The ball easily fell into the basket, scoring two points. Gan Guoyang picked up the ball, tossed it to Jin, and said, "That's it, a very simple turnaround shot. But I feel that in a high-intensity game, I would have a hard time executing it; it seems a bit slow."

Bernard King glanced at Larry Smith, wondering why he hadn't moved. He had promised to teach this kid a lesson.

Jin said, "That's right, your steps are too clumsy and too slow... Uh, try again. This time, when you turn around, don't step outwards, try stepping inwards."

"Inwards?"

"Yes, many people like to take a step back when turning to shoot, trying to create distance from the defender. This is wrong; it will only make you more vulnerable to being blocked and interfered with, unless you manage to shake off his balance. Normally, you should move inward, box out the defender, don't dodge, make physical contact with the defender, create space, and then turn. Remember, the space to turn is created by creating space, not by dodging. Try it again."

In the same position, Gan Guoyang once again had his back to Larry Smith. This time, Smith put in a lot of effort to block Gan Guoyang from behind and then interfere with his receiving the ball.

Gan Guoyang sensed that Larry Smith's resistance was increasing, so he used the positioning techniques he had learned from Thurmond to engage in repeated battles with Larry Smith in the rib area.

The two men's arms were tangled together, but Gan Guoyang was still able to reach out with his right hand to call for the ball, while his core remained firmly planted, engaging in a contest with Larry Smith.

Gan Guoyang has been doing strength training recently. He mainly trains his lower body and core, does some arm training, but doesn't train his chest muscles because he thinks they're useless.

Because of his physique, his strength increased faster than the average person's. Behrman sometimes even wondered if this kid was really a cyborg, as rumored. Although Larry Smith was strong, he wasn't as tall as Gan Guoyang, and his weight advantage wasn't significant either. Gan Guoyang's skills were inherited from Thurmond, and he excelled in hand-to-hand combat, showing no fear whatsoever.

"Pass the ball, pass the ball!" Gan Guoyang reminded Bernard King to pass the ball to him.

Jin then realized what was happening and threw the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang received the ball, and following Jin's instructions, he dribbled, moved his foot inside, and pushed Larry Smith aside!
Smith staggered back two steps, and Gan Guoyang jumped and shot from close range, scoring two points.

After scoring, Gan Guoyang asked Bernard King, "How was that shot? Was there anything wrong with it?"

Bernard King was a little stunned. He licked his lips and said, "Not bad, just a bit slow. And the force you used when you bumped into me was too much; it could easily have been an offensive foul. Let me demonstrate for you."

Bernard King had Gan Guoyang observe from the sidelines, then stood in front of Larry Smith with the ball in his hand and whispered, "What the hell are you doing? Playing with this kid?"

Larry Smith said, "Bullshit, I was playing seriously on defense, and I still couldn't beat him!"

"Are you kidding me?"

“I’m not kidding, this guy’s as hard as Moses Malone.”

Bernard King was still not convinced, so he demonstrated his turnaround jump shot.

His footwork was fast, his movements were small, he turned around to confront his opponent, then quickly jumped and shot, hitting the target.

Gan Guoyang watched his shooting motion. It was a straight-armed expert shot, a choice made by a forward to defend against a block in the paint.

His footwork is indeed very fast and agile, giving the defender very little time to react, and that confrontation is the essence of his style.

Bernard King said to Gan Guoyang, "Kid, you come and defend me for a bit, and get a feel for it."

Jin wanted to see if Gan Guoyang was as tough as Larry had said.

"You know how to defend in the low post, right? Give it your all, I'll be quick."

Bernard King reminded Gan Guoyang, then dribbled, accelerated, broke through, stayed close, and turned to engage in contact!
A set of continuous movements may seem simple, but it contains many details.

Starting position, foot landing position, how to determine the pivot foot, turning speed, and when to jump after contact.

Each factor determines whether an attack will succeed. Behind every seemingly effortless goal on the field lies countless hours of hard work and sweat.

Kim is confident in his shooting and has found a new life in the Bay Area after overcoming the shadows of alcoholism and sexual assault.

Those bad years are fading away from him. He was considered rude and unruly by the Nets, but he became mild-mannered after coming to Golden State.

He started interacting with reporters and would go to the community welfare center to play ball with the children; everything was getting better.

He believes he will make more and more shots and become a true superstar in the league.

With a "smack," Jin's ball was blocked before he could even get a shot off, and was directly caught in his hand and blocked.

Compared to Larry Smith, my situation wasn't much better. He blocked one of my turnaround shot demonstrations, a solid block. Honestly, I couldn't even remember the last time I'd been blocked like that—just a head-on collision, the ball still in my hands, and he blocked it.

Although I was a bit careless at the time, because it was a demonstration and I wasn't that fast, it really surprised me. There are two defenders I least wanted to face in my career: one is George Johnson, my teammate on the Warriors, who knew a lot of details; the other is Gan, he's too smart.

—Excerpt from Bernard King’s autobiography, Game Face, published in 2017.

(End of this chapter)