The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 44 Utter Nonsense
There are always rumors circulating in the media about what happened between Gan and me at Thurmond's place on Christmas Day 1981. I want to say that's all nonsense!

—Excerpt from Chamberlain's autobiography, *A View of Above*, published in 1992.

After drinking his lemonade, Thurmond came out of the kitchen with a large plate of fragrant roasted meat.

When he learned that Chamberlain was joking with Gan Guoyang about lemonade, he shook his head and said, "Wilt loves lemonade. He used to drink a gallon of lemonade in the locker room to stay hydrated. This guy doesn't actually like alcohol."

Chamberlain said, "I'm a disciplined athlete, how could I possibly like such a dangerous thing as alcohol?"

"Try my secret-recipe barbecue. The recipe was passed down from my grandmother to my mother, and then from my mother to me. It's an Ohio tradition."

This large platter of grilled meat includes pork ribs, beef, and chicken, with a unique aroma that makes your mouth water just by smelling it.

Gan Guoyang was curious: the restaurant had clearly closed down, so why was Thurmond still making barbecue there?

Thurmond explained that his The Beginning did indeed close, but the newly opened bar was run by his cousin Bob.

Today is Christmas, and he invited his family, neighbors, and friends to a bar to celebrate and see if his family's secret barbecue recipe would be popular.

After receiving unanimous praise, Thurmond said with satisfaction, "Perhaps I should open a barbecue restaurant someday. There don't seem to be any good barbecue places around here, do they?"

Everyone agreed, and Thurmond really kept this in mind, intending to put it into practice in the future.

Chamberlain ate at least half of the large plate of roast meat by himself. He didn't care at all about his image as a legendary football star. He laughed heartily in front of his friends and ordinary people, told some nonsensical jokes, and liked to make fun of Thurmond's big bald head.

Thurmond wasn't angry. He was Chamberlain's protégé when they were with the San Francisco Warriors, and they became good friends thanks to Chamberlain's care. Later, they went on to pursue different paths as players.

One is glamorous and dazzling, the other is unassuming and unassuming; one continues to wield influence in the world of fame and fortune even after retirement, while the other returns to the community and becomes a neighborhood old man with some spare money.

Gan Guoyang silently ate his barbecue, watching Chamberlain, the basketball legend, act like a child, while Thurmond was like an older brother, silent and tolerant. He understood that Chamberlain was still stuck in the mindset of the chosen one when he first entered the league, while Thurmond had already experienced the vicissitudes of life and become a mature man.

If he remembered correctly, although Chamberlain had countless women around him, he never married and had no children. His Martian-like genes were not passed down—as for whether he had any illegitimate children, no one knew.

After having barbecue and dinner, everyone started looking for fun. Some played cards, some played darts, and some mixed drinks.

Chamberlain suddenly took off his suit jacket, revealing his muscular physique, and said to Gan Guoyang, "Hey kid, Thurmond said you're incredibly strong. Come on, let's arm wrestle!"

Gan Guoyang was stunned. This Chamberlain is acting on a whim. You're almost 50 years old. How can you have the nerve to arm wrestle with a high school student?

Look at this guy's arms, they're almost as thick as Gan Guoyang's thighs.

Thurmond stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Wilt, you should act like an elder."

Chamberlain replied, "I've had enough of being a star outside, I've had enough of being Wilt Chamberlain, and I just want to have some fun here with you. To be honest, I don't really like this kid."

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to meet this rising star of Chinese descent in San Francisco. You said you'd seen him in the newspapers at least three times. Why do you dislike him now? Did he steal your thunder?"

"No, the more I look at him, the more he reminds me of Bill. Seriously, his aura gives me a bit of PTSD. Come on, young man, I'm just playing around with you. I won't go all out."

Chamberlain brought over a small round wooden table, stretched his body, and was determined to have a showdown with Gan Guoyang today.

The Bill he was referring to was naturally Bill Russell. Gan Guoyang's calm and restrained demeanor, and even his height, reminded Chamberlain of this nightmare in his basketball career.

Gan Guoyang was not intimidated. He took off his coat, revealing his lean and powerful body. He looked much thinner than Chamberlain and seemed to have no chance of winning.

However, arm wrestling requires both strength and skill, as well as the clever use of the points of force exertion.

Chamberlain was full of confidence, but he didn't know that Gan Guoyang had subdued many troublemakers in the orphanage by arm wrestling.

Now he possesses this unique body, comparable to that of a cyborg, and after deciding to pursue a career in basketball, Gan Guoyang has been working on refining it every day.

"Just playing around, huh? You can't put your full strength into it?"

"Of course, have some fun, but remember to give it your all."

Chamberlain was very confident in his strength; he was indeed a man of extraordinary strength.

He can lift an average adult very easily, as easily as picking up a balloon.

Although he is 45 years old, at this age, physical fitness and explosiveness have declined significantly, but strength is at its peak.

The two sat down, elbows on the table, hands clasped together.

Others who were playing cards, darts, or drinking stopped what they were doing and gathered around to watch this astonishing arm-wrestling competition.

It's a pity that there were no cell phones back then, and no one brought a video camera, otherwise someone would definitely have filmed it, making it a valuable historical record.

Chamberlain's hands were large and thick; his fingers, though not long, were very strong, a testament to his power.

Gan Guoyang also had large hands, long fingers, and strong palms. The two began to compete the moment they shook hands.

"You have big hands, kid. Not bad. Keep it up, or I'll crush your bones."

Chamberlain increased the pressure on his hand, but Gan Guoyang remained unfazed, his attention highly focused.

As the referee, Thurmond released his grip and shouted "start," and the moment he did, Gan Guoyang's entire body strength began to twist from the soles of his feet, through his thighs, waist, and back, and finally, like a lever, was transmitted to his arms.

This sudden burst of power was like a tiger descending a mountain. Although Chamberlain had prepared and increased the force in his hands, he was too confident in his own strength and did not expect the kid opposite him to be so powerful.

Thurmond neither lied nor exaggerated.

For the first time in his life, Chamberlain felt his arms were so weak; the muscles contracted in one direction, but his arms bent in the other.

Gan Guoyang practically slammed Chamberlain's arm down onto the table, leaving only a centimeter between Chamberlain's dark, calloused hand and the tablecloth. But Chamberlain, true to his name, held on. Despite the reversed joints, he used his immense muscle strength to stop the slide.

At this moment, his face was contorted with rage, like someone who had just had hemorrhoids removed and was going to the toilet for the first time. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly to maintain the last shred of dignity.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Chamberlain kept shouting; the unfavorable situation had come too quickly, and he couldn't believe he was about to lose.

Gan Guoyang also pursed his lips tightly, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

The initial burst of energy has passed; now it's a test of endurance, willpower, and weight.

Everyone around held their breath, expecting Chamberlain to teach the kid a lesson and win easily.

Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang quickly cornered Chamberlain. In his current joint lock state, he could at best not lose, but to win, unless he had professional wrist strength skills, it would be difficult to turn the tide.

Chamberlain could only grit his teeth and hold on, hoping to exhaust Gan Guoyang's stamina and eventually turn the tide, or at least achieve a draw.

Both of them exerted all their strength, using their right hands to grip the legs of the small round table tightly with their left hands.

This table is an old, cobbled-together wooden table; it's hardly strong enough to withstand the rough handling of two burly men over two meters tall.

Under the immense force of the tearing, it actually cracked into several pieces with a "snap".

In that instant, Gan Guoyang twisted his wrist and pressed down with his body weight, causing Chamberlain's hand to touch the tablecloth.

But the tablecloth lost its support because the table legs collapsed, and the tabletop was broken into three pieces by the two men, torn to pieces.

"I won!" Gan Guoyang shouted, clenching his fist.

"No! The table is broken, that doesn't count! I already let go that time. You cheated, you started by applying force first, I wasn't prepared at all."

Chamberlain waved his hands repeatedly, refusing to acknowledge that Gan Guoyang had won the match, and demanded a rematch on a sturdier table.

Thurmond declared the match invalid, saying, "My cousin's bar doesn't have that many tables for you to vandalize. It's Christmas, shouldn't we be more peaceful?"

Gan Guoyang said he didn't care, but Chamberlain was furious and insisted on a rematch.

He said he was ready this time and would kill Gan Guoyang in 0.1 seconds.

After Thurmond's repeated persuasion and Chamberlain lifting Gan Guoyang up to demonstrate his strength, the old man's emotions finally calmed down.

Before parting, Chamberlain warned Gan Guoyang: "Kid, you didn't beat me in an arm wrestling match today. If you go around telling everyone you beat me, I'll organize a nationally televised arm wrestling competition to prove to the whole of America that you're lying!"

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "If you lose again on the live broadcast across the United States, wouldn't that be solid proof?"

However, Gan Guoyang also knew that he had indeed taken a shortcut, catching the enemy off guard and striking first.

Who told Chamberlain to be so careless and underestimate himself?

Anyone who looks down on him will pay the price.

"Okay, I won't tell you. But can I ask you a basketball question? How do you deal with a team with two strong inside players, or two towers? Both of them are very tall or strong, and they gang up on you in the paint. How do you solve that problem?"

The loss to Washington High School was like a thorn in Gan Guoyang's side; he desperately needed some experience.

When Chamberlain saw Gan Guoyang seeking his advice, he generously shared his experience:

"Wow, you've come to the right person. I've faced countless double-teams and tight defenses in my life. If you're surrounded by two strong inside players, let me tell you the best approach: focus on one of them and attack him relentlessly, on both offense and defense."

"Focus on one and beat them to death?"

"That's right. You know Walter Bellamy, right?"

"do not know."

"No wonder you don't even know Thurmond. These young guys these days... He was the number one pick in '61, averaging 31 points per game in his rookie season, a center, unstoppable. I was a junior then, and his team was facing us for the first time. He introduced himself to me, 'I'm Walter Bellamy.' I thought, 'Where did this silly kid come from?' So I told him, 'Hi, Walter, you won't make a single shot in the first half.' Then I blocked all nine of his shot attempts in the first half. After the second half started, I finally told him, 'Okay, now you can shoot.' I remember he scored 14 points that game. From then on, he was terrified of me. Okay, here's the important part." Later. In 1965, he went to the New York Knicks. The Knicks had a center named Willis Reed, who was a formidable player. The Knicks wanted to use a twin-tower lineup to counter me; they were both incredibly talented. But once I was on the court, I focused on Bellamy. No matter how they double-teamed me, no matter how Reed contested my game, I just focused on Bellamy, focused on defending him, and ignored the other one. And guess what happened? Bellamy completely collapsed, and Reed didn't perform well either. It wasn't until later, when the Knicks traded away Bellamy, leaving that short guy Reed to carry the paint alone, and acquired Dave DeBuscher, that the Knicks started to have trouble.”

Gan Guoyang listened attentively and understood Chamberlain's meaning.

It's actually a form of psychological warfare. It's like a group fight: no matter how many people are attacking you, you just focus on the leader.

If you try to punch everyone, you might end up hurting no one. But if you focus on one person and beat them to death, you could destroy the morale of the entire opposing team.

Gan Guoyang understood this principle, but he didn't expect to apply it to the game. It seems that there is still room for improvement in his ability to control his opponent's psychology.

"That's psychological, but what about tactical and technical aspects?"

"There's not much to say about tactics; just follow your coach's instructions. If a coach doesn't even know how to deal with a double-tower defense in the paint, he might as well quit. Remember, at a certain point, mentality and willpower determine everything."

"Then why are you reneging on your promise?"

"I'm warning you! I didn't cheat, I didn't lose!"

Chamberlain had a less than pleasant Christmas in 1981, and he never returned to San Francisco for Christmas.

Gan's dominance over the Twin Towers is thanks to my guidance.

—————Excerpt from Chamberlain's autobiography, "A View of Above," published in 1992, Part 3.

(End of this chapter)