The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 454 The New Coach

Gan Guoyang and Wang Fuxi had long planned a wedding.

The couple originally hoped to have a simple, intimate small wedding, inviting only their closest relatives and friends for a small celebration.

However, both Gan Youwei's and Wang Zhengmin's families disagreed, insisting on a grand ceremony in Chinatowns in San Francisco and Los Angeles, so that the entire Chinese-speaking world would know that their basketball hero was getting married.

Gan Youwei and Wang Zhengmin's idea received support from their relatives and friends, as well as many well-known Chinese business associations and foundations. The entire Chinatown of San Francisco began preparing for Gan Guoyang's wedding in June.

Gan Guoyang had no choice but to agree to his stubborn father's ideas on some matters.

So, when the three of them went back to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors and offer incense, they asked the master to calculate an auspicious date for their wedding, which was chosen on a certain day in August.

On this day, the entire Chinatown of San Francisco was like a festival. Gan Guoyang was not hosting a wedding banquet in a restaurant, but rather, all the restaurants in the Chinatown set up banquets on both sides of the road, and each restaurant prepared its signature dishes.

Besides the guests invited by the host, anyone passing by who is willing can find a table to sit down and have a bite to eat.

Dragon and lion dances, floats and firecrackers—it was just like celebrating the Lunar New Year, with various performances and activities continuing from dawn until the city lights came on.

Many people ate from morning till night at the wedding banquet, but never saw the bride and groom.

The wedding ceremony officially began in the evening. Wang Fuxi was carried in a sedan chair by eight bearers and circled around Chinatown. After arriving at the Grand Hotel and completing the wedding ceremony with Gan Guoyang, the two were carried in a "parade" through Chinatown to receive people's sincere blessings.

The grand Chinese wedding was broadcast live on local San Francisco television, and almost all the prominent Chinese Americans attended the ceremony.

The wedding was filled with Chinese elements and elaborate Chinese etiquette, which amazed the Americans and exhausted Gan Guoyang and Wang Fuxi.

However, it is no easy thing for the two of them to receive so many blessings for their union, especially those from strangers, which kept their hearts filled with beautiful and sweet emotions, and they felt the kindness of the world.

Three days later, the two held a second event in Los Angeles.

This wedding banquet wasn't as grand as the one in San Francisco, where the entire Chinatown came.

However, people from both the legal and illegal circles in the Los Angeles area came to offer their congratulations.

In particular, the large, dark mass of gang members, reportedly from Taiwan and other places, startled Gan Guoyang.

What's going on? Is a gangster's daughter getting married?

Wang Fuxi comforted Gan Guoyang: "He's just my dad's friend. Just treat me well, and nothing will happen."

In short, the couple's wedding in Los Angeles lasted all day, was a grand affair, and caused a sensation in the city.

The two wedding banquets were exhausting, but Gan Guoyang, being in excellent health, had no problem managing to pull through. However, Wang Fuxi was finding it difficult to continue.

They rushed back to Portland overnight, and after sleeping all day to recover their strength, Gan Guoyang said upon waking up, "This is the only time; I will never get married again."

"You want to get married again? Dream on."

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "Marriage is a good thing, but once is enough. Unlike a championship, once you win it, you want to win it a second time, a third time, and keep winning."

"All you can think about right now is the championship, the championship! You're mine today!"

"Not today. I've missed several days of training. I need to get ready to train right away."

Just a second ago, Wang Fuxi was still acting coquettishly with Gan Guoyang, but after Gan Guoyang said that, Wang Fuxi had no objection.

I got up, washed up, prepared breakfast for Gan Guoyang, and started preparing lunch, a nutritious snack, and dinner.

Gan Guoyang wants to gain weight. Training is one aspect, but diet is the most important. His goal is to increase his weight to 260 pounds or more.

This will give him greater strength in the paint, enabling him to compete against increasingly stronger bodies and more intense battles in the paint in the NBA.

Furthermore, the NBA introduced a new rule this summer that will prohibit isolated isolation plays, also known as the illegal offensive rule.

The rules will no longer allow only one player to be on the strong side with the ball; having only one player receive the ball and spreading out to the four sides will become a thing of the past.

This means the Trail Blazers' offense needs to make major adjustments, and the once-comfortable low-post isolation plays will be a thing of the past.

Without his easy and efficient one-on-one plays as a safety net, Gan Guoyang will inevitably face numerous double-teams, and even triple-teams, in every game. If he goes even deeper into the paint, being surrounded by four or even five players will become commonplace, given the monster's formidable power.

This illegal offensive rule was established specifically to target Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers, as well as the Bulls and Michael Jordan.

This prevents them from engaging in unrestrained one-on-one battles, allowing basketball to return to a more team-oriented tactical approach.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang must further increase his weight and physical strength to prepare for the new season.

For Gan Guoyang, the wedding was like a holiday, after which he threw himself into rigorous and systematic training.

As usual, he also participated in Newell's "big-man" training camp to further improve his tactical skills.

He knows that in the new season, he needs to build more connections with his teammates.

The Trail Blazers haven't made many changes to their roster; they are still a very young team overall.

Drexler, Kossie, Hornacek, and Dell Curry are all in their developmental stages.

Even their MVP, Gan Guoyang, is still developing. If they maintain this lineup, they are strong contenders for the championship.

Meanwhile, other teams are going to great lengths to challenge the Trail Blazers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are naturally the first to be affected.

The 1987 season was an extremely disappointing year for the Lakers.

They were initially full of confidence and performed exceptionally well.

Based on their record, performance, and determination, they would have been champions in any other year.

But they faced the Trail Blazers and Forrest Gump, and those two home losses directly cost the Lakers control of the series.

Throughout the summer, Bass and West pressured the league to change the rules and ban isolated one-on-one plays.

Gan Guoyang's individual ability destroyed the near-perfect Los Angeles Lakers team of 1987.

With Riley gone, the system he built has fallen apart, and the Lakers need to find a new leader.

Buss originally wanted West to return to the coaching position, but West refused, knowing he was not suited to be a head coach.

After looking around, Jerry West chose a special candidate: Don Nelson.

As soon as West suggested this candidate, the rest of the Lakers management immediately disagreed.

Nelson used to be a Celtics player, and in the 1969 Finals, his crucial shot cost the Lakers the championship.

However, Jerry West believed that Nelson was an experienced and charismatic coach, and that his tactical thinking was a good fit for the Lakers' team configuration.

Don Nelson really wants to play the "run and gun" offense, and the Lakers are undoubtedly the best fit for that.

As for the past Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry, even Jerry West, the victim, doesn't care, so what else can anyone say?
Besides, Bill Sharman, the coach who led the Lakers to the championship in 1972, was a veteran Celtics player and a Celtics legend.

Don Nelson had many tough battles with the Celtics during his time coaching the Bucks, so his playing background is not an issue.

Sports are not political battles; everyone is fighting for their own cause. You can change your clothes and play for a different team. What's past is past.

After West's persuasion and his personal meeting with Don Nelson, Nelson, just like 10 years ago, discussed with his family whether he should become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

This time, they made the decision at a McDonald's. Nelson called Jerry West, and he accepted the challenge.

“I don’t want to see the Portland Trail Blazers win three consecutive championships,” Nelson stated his reasoning.

“That’s what I think too. Let’s work together, Don,” West said.

So the Lakers got their new coach, a Celtics player who was also a Lakers player.

(End of this chapter)