The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 496 Rumors
In the era of the best-of-five format in the first round, the first round of matches always ended very quickly.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 3-1 in the first round.

Patrick Ewing made the playoffs for the first time in his career.

He averages 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game, with a field goal percentage of 49%.

His performance was only mediocre, and the continuous injuries hindered Ewing's development.

Moreover, Bob Knight's assessment during the Olympic training camp was correct: Ewing lacked imagination and creativity on offense.

In the NCAA, he could win the championship purely through defense, but in the NBA, Bill Russell's approach no longer works.

Moreover, Ewing doesn't possess Russell's outstanding passing ability—in Russell's best season, he averaged 5.3 assists per game, and his blocks and defensive rebounds were always the engine of the team's fast break.

The Celtics' opponent in the semifinals is the Chicago Bulls, who have once again defeated the Hawks.

Jordan scored 50 and 55 points in the first two games of the series, and averaged 45 points per game throughout the series, showcasing his powerful scoring ability to the entire league with his terrifying playoff performance.

And he was just playing around in the regular season; the playoffs were his real stage.

His desire to surpass Forrest Gump grew stronger and stronger.

Another matchup in the East is between the Washington Bullets and the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons defeated the Cavaliers 3-1, easily taking down the Bucks. The two slow, aggressive teams will begin a brutal semifinal battle.

In the Western Conference, the Lakers swept the Spurs 3-0, and their opponent in the semifinals will be the Utah Jazz, who defeated the Nuggets.

The Nuggets had a good regular season, winning 54 games.

However, regular season victories don't translate to playoff success; the Jazz were the better team.

The combination of Karl Malone and John Stockton has become even stronger.

Karl Malone, in particular, is averaging 27.7 points per game this season, making him one of the best interior scorers in the league.

Stockton also secured his position as the team's starting point guard with an average of 13.8 assists per game, and won the league's assist title.

The 84 draft class, with Stockton's assists and steals, Jordan's scoring, Agan's rebounds, Olajuwon's blocks, and Barkley's weight, will dominate the league's statistical rankings for a long time to come.

The Dallas Mavericks exacted revenge, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics 3-1 in the first round to advance to the semifinals and avenge their upset loss to the seventh seed last year.

That's how the NBA is; this year you beat me, tomorrow I beat you.

Players are often driven by their emotions, leading them to perform at an extraordinary level.

Last year, Dale Ellis, fueled by hatred, destroyed the Mavericks with his shots.

He not only defeated the Mavericks, but also ruined the entire season of the second-best team in the West.

He also indirectly caused Dick Motta's dismissal, making it arguably the perfect revenge.

If there's anything imperfect about it, it's that the NBA will have to do it again in its second year.

Basketball is not war, not murder; the Avengers cannot truly kill their opponents.

The rules of the game gave everyone a chance to make a comeback and start over.

For Dale Ellis, his burning desire for revenge had vanished when he faced the Mavericks again.

Instead, he faced the Mavericks' rising anger and the deafening shouts from the Dallas arena.

His performance has declined significantly compared to last season.

Under the Mavericks' tight defense, he could only score 19.7 points per game.

He hasn't scored more than 30 points in any of the four games, as he's been shut down by the Mavericks' defense.

With high spirits, the Mavericks won the series in four games and advanced smoothly to the semifinals.

They met the Trail Blazers again in the playoffs, just like in 1985.

Having tasted the satisfaction of revenge, the Dallas team wants another chance for revenge in Portland.
-
May 10th, the day of the Western Conference semifinals between the Trail Blazers and the Mavericks.

Gan Guoyang got up early as usual, but instead of going for a run, he warmed up by cycling in his home gym before heading to the basketball court in the garden to practice shooting for a while.

After an hour of warming up, Gan Guoyang made himself breakfast to fill his stomach and also prepared a portion for Wang Fuxi.

After Wang Fuxi got up, he came downstairs and was somewhat surprised that Gan Guoyang was still at home instead of going to training.

"The sun must have risen in the west today, and you didn't even go to training?"

"Jack canceled today's shooting practice day and told everyone to rest at home. I'll go practice at home by myself later."

"Because of those rumors?"

"Yes, because of rumors."

According to NBA rules, playoff practices must be open to reporters.

For two hours in the morning, reporters will be constantly snapping photos around the sidelines, and the players will also be giving interviews.

Ramsey canceled today's training session because of two recent rumors circulating in the media that the players would inevitably be harassed.

The first piece of news is that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling wants to poach Clyde Drexler and Gan Guoyang with big contracts during the offseason.

If that doesn't work, he'll at least try to acquire one; he's willing to trade all his player assets or draft picks. After a disastrous season, the Clippers desperately need a superstar to help the team regain its former glory and generate revenue from ticket sales.

Sterling may not have a great eye for basketball, but he has a very keen eye for making money.

He had his eye on Gan Guoyang as soon as he joined the league, secretly handing him his business card, hoping to lure Gan Guoyang to Los Angeles, knowing that Gan Guoyang had a strong ability to sell tickets.

Gan Guoyang knew about Sterling's mess through Bill Walton and had absolutely no interest in going to the Clippers.

The Clippers have squandered so many star players over the years; Sterling is arguably the worst owner in the league.

After this news broke, Gan Guoyang was asked about this by reporters, and he stated unequivocally: "I will never play for Donald Sterling, and I will never go to the Los Angeles Clippers."

Gan Guoyang's statement reassured Portland fans.

Drexler's remarks, however, seemed somewhat ambiguous.

He said, "Right now, I'm only thinking about the championship. Our goal is to win and win the title. As for summer contracts, that's something for the summer and has nothing to do with me right now. I don't want to be distracted."

This evasive answer left much to the imagination; Drexler seemed to have something on his mind for the summer.

Sterling's actions during the playoffs forced two of the Trail Blazers' star players to come out and clarify, affecting the team's atmosphere.

Seeing no hope of getting to Portland, Sterling then went on to mess with the Bulls and Jordan.

He offered Krause any player and draft pick he wanted, as long as he could get Jordan.

Klaus actually considered this seemingly absurd transaction request.

Because Krause believed that as long as Jordan was there, it seemed that all the glory of victory belonged to him, and no one cared about the management.

In fact, Krause has done a lot of work in the past two seasons, building a very good roster that is young and has potential.

However, Klaus's idea only flashed through his mind for a moment before his boss, Reinsdorf, rejected Sterling, as he didn't want to be scorned by the entire city of Chicago.

Sterling, that troublemaker, stirred things up behind the scenes during the playoffs, but it was just a minor disturbance.

The real big news for Portlanders is that someone has revealed owner Larry Weinberger is in talks to sell the team.

This rumor was not published in the newspapers, but many people were spreading it privately, and it is unknown where it was leaked from.

Overnight, the rumor spread throughout Portland, and everyone knew about it.

The team was thrown into a panic, which is why Ramsey canceled training to prevent media interviews from affecting the players' mentality, since they had a game that night.

Moreover, Larry Weinberg's failure to immediately refute the rumors made them seem even more credible.

"Forrest Gump, is Weinberger really going to sell the team? It's a championship team, why would he sell it?"

Wang Fuxi also heard this news and asked Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang sighed and said, "The more we sell now, the more valuable the team becomes. You can't win a championship every year, and now is the peak."

"Mr. Weinberg is a nice guy; he comes to watch every game."

“He’s a good person, but… business is business. If he really wants to sell the team, there’s nothing we can do.”

Will it affect the playoffs?

"Yes, there's a lot of anxiety in the team right now. Actually, the team has been unstable all season, you can feel it, right?"

Wang Fuxi nodded and said, "I can sense that you're not as happy as you were two years ago; you seem a bit irritable."

"Playing basketball is still fun, but the team has more and more bad things going on. Many people have left, and it's like the ship is about to sink. Now, even the captain wants to abandon the ship."

Wang Fuxi rarely saw Gan Guoyang sighing negatively, but he was indeed very tired this season.

Wang Fuxi held Gan Guoyang's hand and said, "Honey, I know you're not someone who gets discouraged easily. Your goal is still the championship. I think that since the rumors are affecting the team, we should do our best to eliminate this influence, instead of just watching it get worse."

"Canceling training may reduce noise interference, but it will also deepen doubts. Regarding the previous rumors that the Clippers wanted to sign you, your response was very good and firm, which reassured everyone."

"It's the same now. We need to find a way to contact Mr. Weinberg. Whether we sell or not, we need to make it clear and give everyone an answer. Once we have an answer, everyone will feel at ease. Regardless of whether we sell or not, we still need to play the game. And if we win the championship, we can sell it for an even higher price, right?"

Wang Fuxi's words enlightened Gan Guoyang; what she said did make sense.

The best way to deal with rumors is to confront them directly and respond to them.

Instead of waiting for rumors to spread, we should take the initiative to verify them. Whether they're for sale or not, we'll still win the championship.

So Gan Guoyang got up, ready to call Larry Weinberger to find out the situation and ask him to give a clear explanation to the reporters and the media.

"Thank you, wife. You're right. We need to face the problem head-on."

"We made a promise back then that no matter what complicated the situation we encountered, I would stand with you and help you solve the problem."

"Hey, wait a minute, don't go! I have something to tell you, it's also a rumor~"

"What? You're also the subject of rumors? Where do you want to be traded to?"

"It's not that I want to be traded anywhere, it's just... it's just that a free agent wants to sign with us."

"Am I going to have a concubine?"

"I'm fucking pregnant! Can't you understand human language?!"

(End of this chapter)