The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 402 The Final Impact
Although the 80s was a period of rising individualism and heroism in the NBA, it was only a rise.

Most players grow up in a team-oriented basketball environment. From middle school to college, they receive basketball education that prioritizes the team and winning. How much data someone gets is not particularly important.

Moreover, although NBA salaries were high at that time, they were not outrageously high, and the commercial and economic interests behind the players were not large enough to affect multiple parties.

Whether Drexler scores 16 or 20 points won't affect his salary from the Trail Blazers. Moreover, he signed with Avia and has an endorsement deal, so he won't mind if Gan Guoyang gets more ball possession.

Vandeweghe, Thompson, Porter, and others are all satisfied with their current salaries and on-court performance, and they sincerely admire Gan Guoyang.

Mitchell Thompson aptly pointed out, "Rather than saying Sonny's isolation plays took up the ball from others, it's more accurate to say that Sonny used his isolation plays to solve the difficult problems, leaving some good opportunities for his teammates. If he wanted to, he could have scored more points like Chamberlain, but he didn't; 38 points is just his normal level."

Therefore, Jack Ramsey's worries were unnecessary.

When the children born in the late 70s and 80s grew up, they fell in love with basketball by watching the games of players like Gan Guoyang, Jordan, and Johnson. They were immersed in the heroic basketball atmosphere created by Stern from a young age, which provided a more fertile ground for the birth of so-called "data cancer" players.

The NBA's growing influence, players' increasingly large contracts, and the growing commercial interests involved have become the breeding ground for this "data cancer."

Of course, the NBA ecosystem at that time was completely different from that of the 80s.

The scoring title battle between Gan Guoyang and Jordan during the 86-87 regular season became a landmark event.

After the All-Star Game, Gan Guoyang and Jordan continued their scoring spree, pushing the battle to a climax.

40 points was no longer enough to satisfy the appetites of fans and the media. When the New York Times published its post-game report on the two players, it used phrases such as "Jordan only scored 35 points" and "Forrest Gump only scored 36 points" to describe their performances.

On February 26, the Chicago Bulls hosted the New Jersey Nets, and Jordan scored 58 points, helping his team secure the victory.

On February 27th, the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Golden State Warriors. Gan Guoyang scored 54 points against Joe Barry Carroll – Gan Guoyang only needed three quarters to get this score, making the fourth quarter garbage time.

On March 4th, the Chicago Bulls visited the Detroit Pistons at the Silver Top Center. Michael Jordan scored 57 points in regulation time and 4 points in overtime, for a total of 61 points, helping the Bulls narrowly defeat the Detroit Pistons by 1 point, making Dantley's 32 points and Thomas's 31 points a futile effort.

His 61 points set a new regular season scoring record for Jordan, surpassing the previous record of 58 points, which was broken in just one week.

At the same time, the 61 points also broke Tripka's scoring record of 56 points set at the Silver Top Center.

After this game, Jordan's average points per game surpassed Gan Guoyang's, climbing to the top of the scoring list.

After the game, Jordan called Gan Guoyang to report the good news—Wang Fuxi answered the phone and said that Gan Guoyang had gone out for a run and didn't know when he would be back.

Jordan was speechless. "So you're not unplugging the phone line now, and you're just not home, huh?"

On March 8th, the Portland Trail Blazers faced the Houston Rockets on the road. At the Summit Arena, Gan Guoyang scored 57 points against Hakeem Olajuwon.

Ralph Sampson's knee problems just won't stop, and he didn't play again tonight. After losing three key players, the Rockets have lost the dominance they had last season.

Hakeem Olajuwon was in poor form, scoring only 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Throughout the game, Bill Fitch seemed to be sulking, insisting that Olajuwon guard Gan Guoyang one-on-one.

Hakeem Olajuwon was brought to a mental breakdown by Gan Guoyang's performance. In the fourth quarter, he slammed the ball to the floor, sending it flying towards the stands, and was called for a technical foul by the referee.

He didn't understand, since the two teams had fought to the death in the Western Conference Finals last season, and the Rockets were just one step away from eliminating the Trail Blazers.

He was full of ambition before the new season started, and worked hard on his footwork and strength during the summer. But as the season was about to end, the gap between the two of them had widened.

Feeling down after losing the game, Hakeem Olajuwon went to Drexler for drinks to cheer himself up. They went to a bar near the Summit Arena, where Olajuwon drank a lot.

Hakeem Olajuwon was born into a strict Muslim family in Nigeria, but after arriving in the United States, he fully embraced secular life, drinking, eating meat, and chasing women, just like any other ordinary person.

Drexler tried to comfort him, but thinking of Gan Guoyang's outstanding performance in the team, he knew he couldn't comfort the proud Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon was drunk, very drunk, and unconscious. Drexler tried to take Olajuwon home, but he couldn't budge the tall, strong man at all.

Drexler could only call for help, but it was very late, and after calling all his friends in Houston, none of them could come.

Left with no other option, Drexler dialed the hotel number, connecting to Gan Guoyang's room, and asked the strongman to come and help.

The hotel was very close to the bar, and Gan Guoyang arrived ten minutes later. He shook his head when he saw Olajuwon's drunken state and said, "You're in this state and you're still drinking?"

Then Gan Guoyang easily lifted Olajuwon up and put him in a taxi.

Anyone who has ever carried a person who is completely drunk knows how heavy they are—they're as heavy as a dead pig.

Hakeem Olajuwon weighs 250 pounds, which two strong men probably couldn't lift, but Gan Guoyang easily got him out of the bar.

The taxi moved forward in the night, with Drexler in the front and Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang in the back.

The car stopped at a red light at an intersection. Hakeem Olajuwon, half-drunk and half-awake, was jolted awake by the wind outside the window. Looking out, he saw a mosque in the night. Olajuwon was surprised. He had been in Houston for many years and knew there was a mosque, but he had never been there. He wasn't interested in the religious rituals.

So at that moment, he thought he was back in Nigeria, back in Lagos, where his family would take him to the temple every week, where his life was peaceful and quiet, unlike the hustle and bustle of the NBA.

Just as Olajuwon was still confused, the car started, and Olajuwon realized he was in the car. He turned to look at the other side and saw Gan Guoyang staring at him: "You're awake?"

“Shit… How is it you? Am I dreaming? I… Fuck…” Hakeem Olajuwon felt a headache coming on.

When Olajuwon woke up, Drexler, who was in the front row, explained the situation to him. Olajuwon slowly remembered that he had drunk a lot at the bar and was drunk.

Unexpectedly, it was Forrest Gump who came over and carried him to the car. It was really embarrassing. He was outscored by 57 points at home and then got drunk and made a fool of himself. Hakeem Olajuwon wanted to jump out of the car.

When they arrived at Olajuwon's house, he was already able to get out of the car and walk on his own. Drexler took Olajuwon home, and then went back to the hotel with Gan Guoyang. They left by plane early the next morning.

After sobering up, Olajuwon went to find the mosque, only to discover that it was near the Summit Stadium, just a few blocks away, a ten-minute walk away.

Olajuwon was convinced that there was some kind of divine guidance, especially after seeing the mosque and then seeing Agan.

At the time, he had not yet decided whether he wanted to become a Muslim who strictly adhered to the doctrines; the allure of America's glamorous world remained strong.

However, a seed was planted in his heart, and he began to search for his spiritual way out.

Two days later, Gan Guoyang scored 44 points at the Great Western Forum, while Jordan scored 41 points at the Boston Garden, and the battle for the scoring title between the two sides had become fierce.

What they had in common in this match was that both of them lost.

On March 12, the Chicago Bulls played the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, and Jordan scored 49 points.

On March 13, the Portland Trail Blazers played against the Seattle SuperSonics on the road, and Gan Guoyang scored 50 points.

This is his third 50-point game of the season, and he's getting hotter and hotter.

Their scoring spree began to dominate NBA news coverage.

Fans turn on the TV every day just to see how many points Jordan and Gan Guoyang have scored.

On March 21, the Trail Blazers hosted the San Antonio Spurs. Gan Guoyang scored 59 points against Gilmore with his turnaround jump shot, hook shot, and fast break counterattack.

After the game, Gilmore even considered retiring. He said that for the first time, he felt that he didn't understand defense at all and didn't know how to defend.

Gan Guoyang has regained the top spot on the scoring leaderboard.

On March 24, the Chicago Bulls played against the Philadelphia 76ers at home. Jordan showed no mercy to the soon-to-retire Dr. J, Irving, and scored 56 points at home!
They have once again taken the lead on the scoring leaderboard, surpassing Gan Guoyang.

American media gradually realized that this could be an unprecedented scoring showdown, with the two making history together.

A similar scoring title race took place in 1977-1978 between David Thompson and George Gervin.

In the final game of the regular season, Gervin scored 33 points in a single quarter and 63 points in total to win the scoring title.

However, Gervin's average points per game that year were only 27.2, far from being comparable to Jordan or Gan Guoyang.

Apart from his legendary 33-point quarter in his final game, Gervin's second-highest single-game score of the season was only 42 points.

Jordan and Gan Guoyang have already engaged in a thrilling high-scoring battle. 40 points are simply not impressive; only 50 or 60 points can bring a little shock.

Magazines, television, and newspapers are reporting on them more and more, and these two guys never disappoint in creating buzz.

As the season drew to a close and April arrived, Jordan made his move. Despite his average points per game falling behind Gan Guoyang's, he scored 53 points in Game 79 against the Indiana Pacers, 50 points in Game 80 against the Milwaukee Bucks, and 61 points in Game 81 against the Atlanta Hawks!
Gan Guoyang had entered a period of stable scoring in March and April, maintaining a steady pace of "10 points per quarter, 40 points per game" and keeping his average score around 37 points per game.

As a result, Jordan's outburst pushed his average score to 38 points per game again, sparking a Jordan craze across the United States. In particular, his 61-point performance against the Hawks, despite losing the game, was a heroic display of shooting 22-for-38 from the field and 17-for-21 from the free-throw line, marking his third consecutive game with 50 points and making headlines across the country.

Jordan's incredible scoring run brought the "Jan vs. Jordan" scoring duel to a climax.

Coincidentally, the Portland Trail Blazers' last regular season opponent is also the Atlanta Hawks.

On April 18, the entire Trail Blazers team traveled to Atlanta to prepare for the end of their regular season.

Gan Guoyang is determined to make a final push for the top scorer title.

(End of this chapter)