The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 409 Love
Rivers said, "I'm telling you, at the end of the day, the teammates you crave are people who love the game, people who can play basketball..."

Does he mean that some team members don't love basketball?

Rivers seemed amused by my naiveté, that I actually thought professional basketball players loved the game.

Rivers continued, "There are as many types of people in the world as there are types of players in the NBA. Basketball is like any other profession; some people do a job just for the paycheck. They work hard, make more money, and gain some prestige, even if the job itself isn't particularly appealing to them."

"Some people do a job because their life has guided them to do it, either by following in their father's footsteps or because everyone around them is doing it and they have no other choice. There are also a small number of people who are driven to do this job by something inside them. They love this job so much that they can't do anything else."

“In the NBA, all these types of people exist, but the last type is the rarest, yet often achieves the greatest success.”

"Most players come to the NBA just to work. They play hard, give it their all, strive for victory, and take the game seriously. But their minds aren't on basketball. They're not satisfied with exciting games, they're not overly excited by victories, and they're not overly frustrated by defeats. Don't get me wrong, these players aren't unprofessional or lazy. They work very hard, just like corporate employees, to earn a good salary. But often, they get bored, just like corporate employees."

Boring? I mean, is battling for rebounds with Alonzo Mourning boring? Is trying to score against David Robinson's defense boring? Or is blocking Dan Mali's shots boring?

Rivers laughed and said, "Okay, I assure you, nobody's going to be so bored as to go and fight Mourning for a rebound. If you want to take a rebound from him, you'd better care about it more than anything else in the world."

"But I want to say that a lot of people are tired of basketball, some of them even hate basketball, especially those Black kids who have been brought to the basketball court by their parents since sixth grade, with no choice but to become basketball players. Nobody asks them if they want to play basketball, maybe they want to play the piano. They go to play, and then they find out they're popular, the teachers like them, they get high marks, they get into college, they get scholarships, and teams are willing to pay them millions of dollars, as long as they're willing to play that stupid game."

“They followed the instructions and did everything exactly as planned, but they don’t like basketball as much as they did in sixth grade. They hate basketball and are afraid to hear the thumping of the ball every morning when they wake up. You can’t blame them.”

Rivers shook his head, as if trying to banish some unpleasant thoughts from his mind, and continued, "But some people fall in love with basketball like they're in love with someone for life. They never get tired of it, they want to keep playing, they dedicate themselves to the sport. When they put on their uniforms, it's like the first time they're playing, and every game is like that. For them, it's the most familiar and comfortable thing in the world."

“Once the game starts, they don’t care about the length of the game. You can tie him to a parking lot, lock him in a car, chain him up, and then halfway through the first quarter, they’ll drag the car onto the court and yell, ‘I’m open, pass me the ball!’ They’ve spent their whole lives wanting to play with the best players in the world, and they’ve done it, and they play every day.”

Listening to Rivers' description, I was captivated. I thought such a person must be the luckiest person in the world. Who is such a representative figure?
Rivers laughed again, thinking I had asked a stupid question. He mentioned two names, one of which was Michael Jordan.

He mentioned Jordan more than once, clearly showing that he respected Jordan but didn't particularly admire him; he neither idolized nor hated him.

Jordan was a great player, but so what? Because Rivers was also a basketball player, he had his own competitive spirit, he wasn't a fan and didn't blindly idolize him, and he and Jordan actually faced off on the court.

However, when another name was mentioned, Rivers's eyes were noticeably different; they were filled with respect and amazement, and a long silence followed.

The other one is Forrest Gump.

He finally said, "Forrest Gump stands in a place very, very far away from us. He seems to come from the future, running to this time and space to tell us that basketball can actually be played like this. He played better than any of us, and he loved basketball more than anyone else. Michael was sometimes scary, but we overcame that fear. Forrest Gump was also scary at times, but one day, we suddenly realized that there was nothing to be afraid of. Losing to him was nothing, it was normal, and playing against him was very interesting. He made many players feel the joy of professional competition, which is simply incredible."

I asked another stupid question, asking which day I felt it, when I should have known that 'one day' doesn't refer to a specific day.

But Rivers answered me seriously: "April 19, 1987."

—Excerpt from "Those who love the Game," published in 1993 by Doug Rivers and Bruce Brooks.

Doc Rivers dribbled the ball across half-court and began orchestrating the Hawks' offense.

Despite Forrest Gump's amazing performance, the Hawks did not collapse; at least their offense remained organized and methodical.

Rivers is not a top talent in the league, but he has a strong competitive spirit and doesn't want to be a stepping stone.

With Gan Guoyang going to the bench for a rest, the Hawks slowly closed the gap to 5 points.

The other Trail Blazers players were clearly out of form, as Gan Guoyang took a lot of shots and didn't get many opportunities to get going.

Rivers directed his teammates' movements, focusing his attention on the Trail Blazers' defensive formation and his teammates' positioning.

Wilkins had a chance to receive the ball and attack on the wing, but he was being guarded by Jerome Kersey instead of Vandeweghe, and Rivers wanted to find a more reliable option.

He lobbed the ball to the inside, and this move was very effective tonight. Rollins used his wingspan to receive the ball and then made a pass, scoring the goal and narrowing the gap to 3 points!

A good pass, and Rivers started to hear the fans shouting and cheering, but he soon realized something was wrong. What were the Hawks fans shouting?
"We want Gump! We want Gump!"

It's unclear who started it, but the tens of thousands of home fans collectively chanted for one of the away team's players to come on.

Rivers was a little confused. He looked towards the Trail Blazers' bench and saw Gan Guoyang take off his jacket and stand up from the bench.

The cheers grew louder, and applause even broke out in the arena when Ramsey called a short timeout to bring Gan Guoyang back on the court.

Rivers felt a chill run down his spine. Gan Guoyang had already scored 67 points. He really needed to get 70 points, even higher than Jordan's 61 points.

But Rivers didn't feel scared or humiliated at all. Instead, he was looking forward to seeing how Forrest would continue to score.

Footwork under the basket, jump shots, three-pointers, step-back moves, or some other unorthodox techniques? Forrest Gump seemed to be putting on a show, playing a friendly match between Portland and Atlanta with everyone.

In reality, Rivers knew that it wasn't a friendly match at all. It was only as the game progressed that the Hawks realized it was a friendly match and decided to pretend it was to save face.

It's rare for an away player's appearance to elicit such a huge cheer. Gan Guoyang replaced Mitchell Thompson with 7 minutes left in the game.

The Hawks continued their hard defense, and Rivers tried to double-team Gan Guoyang, but he received the ball, turned around, and then took a KIKI-step step-back and launched a mid-range jumper from the baseline.

The ball swished through the net; the feel was simply amazing. His exceptional stamina ensured that his offensive instincts didn't falter at all, and that step-back was incredibly smooth.

Rivers asked himself: What can you do with this ball besides watching it?

Compared to Gan Guoyang, Wilkins' pull-up jump shot looked like an underdeveloped chimpanzee throwing a medicine ball. It missed, Gan Guoyang grabbed the rebound, dribbled up the court himself, and Rivers didn't try to steal the ball; he knew it was impossible.

Willis was at a loss for how to defend, but the stubborn Wilkins went over to try to steal the ball. Gan Guoyang chose to back down Wilkins and then slowly push towards the three-point line.

How could Wilkins possibly compare to Gan Guoyang in terms of strength? With no one coming to help defend, Gan Guoyang turned around, then executed another kiki-step, and fired a mid-range shot from the baseline, which went in again!

The entire stadium erupted in madness. 71 points! Gan Guoyang scored 71 points!
CBS's Tom Heinsohn exclaimed, "Forrest Gump has scored 71 points! That means he's now the season's scoring champion! There are still 6 minutes left in the game, plenty of time, will he score even more?"

After that play, Wilkins was helpless. He shook his head with a smile, wondering how he could defend against that.
When a player of that height and strength plays a spin move and step-back mid-range game with you, all I can say is that he knows how to conserve his energy!

Rivers scored on a fast break, but his layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang, and he won't let him go again in the fourth quarter.

Porter dribbled the ball, Gan Guoyang dropped to the low post, and the fans in the arena started to stand up and applaud. Porter then passed the ball to him.

He caught the ball, double-teamed, turned and leaned forward to shoot with his heel, his left arm pinning Willis down, and the shot went in!
A roar of cheers erupted, making one wonder whose home ground it really was. 73 points.

Wilkins hit a mid-range shot, and the arena fell silent for a moment; Wilkins was speechless.

Gan Guoyang then missed a mid-range shot, and there was another sigh of disappointment from the crowd. However, Gan Guoyang immediately stole the ball and scored a layup, drawing a foul.

Both free throws made, 75 points!
Many fans started jumping and bouncing excitedly in their seats.

At this point, Fratello stopped calling a timeout. He didn't want to ruin the performance or become a spoiler in the eyes of the Atlanta fans.

It's really ridiculous to think about it.

Gan Guoyang is not only scoring, but also starting to put in more effort on defense.

Willis's layup attempt after receiving the ball was interfered with and missed.

Walton grabbed the rebound, Gan Guoyang made a fast break, and Willis stuck close to him—he still had to put on a show.

Gan Guoyang faked a move outward, then suddenly turned and cut inside. Walton connected with him, and Gan Guoyang dunked the ball on an alley-oop!

With 77 points, the entire stadium erupted in cheers, while Gan Guoyang finally felt a bit of soreness in his arm, realizing that his long-range shots would be difficult to make.

Sure enough, after a mid-range attempt that missed, both players continued to miss their shots, prompting Ramsey to call a timeout so that Gan Guoyang could rest.

At this moment, Ramsey was very considerate and asked Gan Guoyang, "Are you tired?"

"A little."

"Be patient."

After the timeout, there were 3 minutes left in the game.

At this moment, the number kept appearing in Gan Guoyang's mind, the number that appeared in his dream.

Instead of taking another long-range shot, he received the ball and drove straight to the basket, drawing a foul from Willis and sending him to the free-throw line.

Gan Guoyang made both free throws, scoring 79 points!
The Trail Blazers have extended their lead to 13 points, and the Hawks are losing their will to fight.

Doc Rivers' layup missed, and Walton grabbed the rebound.

This may be a historic shot; no one in NBA history, except for Wilt Chamberlain, has ever scored more than 80 points.

The entire stadium stood up. The Hawks couldn't double-team Gan Guoyang in advance, otherwise they would have surrounded him with three players.

Regardless, we still have to go all out. Gan Guoyang and Drexler's pick-and-roll combination still resulted in the ball being passed to Gan Guoyang who was cutting to the basket.

As soon as Gan Guoyang received the ball, four Hawks players surrounded him in the paint!
In this situation, Trail Blazers players have open spaces under the basket, in the corners, and at 45-degree angles.

But at this moment, no one wanted Gan Guoyang to pass the ball; everyone wanted him to shoot.

He moved and feinted repeatedly, pushing his opponents aside to gain some space to jump.

He stepped up and launched a quick fadeaway jumper, but before he could even aim at the basket, the ball was gone.

With three hands blocking his way, Gan Guoyang could barely see the basket, and at the same time, he had to worry about being blocked by the hands behind him.

But he still took the shot. He was confident that his tireless practice, day and night, stemmed from his love for basketball.

Meanwhile, on the distant Apennine Peninsula, a Black child watched the entire match that shocked him.

As he threw the final shot, he had a feeling it would go in, it definitely would.

The ball swished through the net, a clean and crisp basket.

Gan Guoyang scored 81 points, setting a new NBA scoring record.

(End of this chapter)