The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 501 Safe Haven

Before the start of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, the NBA announced the winners of this year's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

迈克尔-乔丹包揽了这两个重量级的奖项，他在常规赛场均能拿到35分5.5个篮板6次助攻3.2次抢断和1.6次封盖。

As a guard, his steals and blocks were at an extremely high level, which won him the favor of the judges.

Jordan attended the award ceremony and was interviewed by the host.

Judging from Jordan's expression, he wasn't particularly excited.

Despite winning two crucial individual awards, the team's elimination in the semifinals and inability to advance further left Jordan feeling frustrated.

What frustrated Jordan even more was that not only did Forrest Gump reach the conference finals for the fourth consecutive year, but even Charles Barkley made it to the conference finals.

Of his close friends in the NBA, only Ewing was worse than Jordan, suffering a first-round exit, while Forrest Gump and Barkley might even have reached the NBA Finals.

He had cut off all contact with everyone recently, and it wasn't until the league announced the major individual awards that he recovered somewhat.

In addition to his stagnation on the court, Jordan also encountered troubles off the court.

Shortly after being eliminated from the playoffs, Jordan's girlfriend Juanita told him that she was pregnant.

Jordan immediately relayed the news to his parents, who were very unhappy about it.

They believe Juanita deliberately orchestrated this to trap her son and force Jordan into marriage.

Unlike Gan Youwei, Jordan's parents did not want him to get married so early; he had more options.

At the same time, Jordan partnered with Nike to open several small chain supermarkets owned by the Jordan family, named "Flight 23 by Jordan".

The stores are operated by Jordan's father, James Jordan. Nike did this not to make money, but to give Jordan's family something to do, so that they appear to be self-reliant instead of just taking their son's money.

The store was opened in Charlotte, and besides James Jordan, Jordan's siblings all owned shares and held positions in the store.

Although Jordan has not won a championship or even reached the conference finals in recent years, his commercial influence is indeed astonishing.

Among current NBA players, only Gan Guoyang can rival him, and that's assuming Gan Guoyang has two championships.

Jordan's playing style, his individualistic heroism, as well as his skin color and nationality, gave him a natural advantage.

But Jordan's rise to fame had a side effect: it caused his siblings to encounter setbacks in their work.

To put it bluntly, as Jordan's family, they don't want to do bad jobs, and they can't do good jobs either.

They were supported by Jordan, while their parents had to maintain a facade at home, making everyone think that it wasn't Michael who was subsidizing their household expenses, but that they were actually doing something.

But in reality, apart from Ronnie Jordan, the whole family was supported by Jordan.

For Jordan, this family situation was tragic. He was supporting everyone, but the others had to pretend to support themselves out of a pitiful sense of pride.

That's human nature. A little kindness is appreciated, but too much can breed resentment. When you do too much for your family, to the point that they feel they can never repay you, they will turn around and hate you in order to alleviate their moral burden.

Fligh 23 Jordan held a grand opening ceremony in Charlotte, and Jordan's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards brought his fame to a new peak across the United States.

However, the opening of the new store exacerbated the family conflicts, especially between James Jordan and his mother, Dolores.

On the day of the store opening ceremony, many media outlets came to the scene to report on it. As a result, James Jordan and Delores got into a physical altercation in the office because of some conflict.

Jordan was caught in the middle of his parents' conflict, trying to reconcile their differences—he loved both his mother and father equally.

On the other hand, he had to stand up and maintain a smile in front of the public to cover up these contradictions and prevent the public from knowing about them.

And Jordan will soon discover that his father is not only a scumbag who raped his daughter, but also utterly useless in business.

He couldn't even run a small retail store properly. All he did was drink, have affairs, and even default on payments to suppliers, which damaged the reputation of Nike and Flight 23 Jordan.

Even back when Jordan was in school, James Jordan faced legal trouble and lost his job for taking kickbacks and embezzling public funds.

All of this caused the relationship between James Jordan and Delores to deteriorate further, and the conflict escalated.

Jordan increasingly felt that his family was no longer his safe haven, but rather a source of trouble that left him exhausted.

So after the 1987-1988 season, besides training, Jordan spent a lot of time playing golf and gambling to seek thrills and escape the troubles that bothered him. Furthermore, watching Gan Guoyang and Barkley advance further and further in the playoffs, this frustration and pressure led him further and further down the path of gambling…
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Gan Guoyang watched the entire MVP award ceremony on television while he was at home preparing for the Western Conference Finals.

Trail Blazers fans were very dissatisfied with the result, believing that Forrest Gump deserved the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards more.

The reason for not giving the MVP to Gan Guoyang is that Gan has already won two consecutive MVP awards, and the Trail Blazers did not achieve a breakthrough success this year, so the judges did not want to choose Gan Guoyang again.

As for the best defensive player, Gan Guoyang's defense is better, but he is too consistent and lacks surprises.

Gan Guoyang didn't care. His only goal this year was the championship. He had already won the All-Star MVP award, so he would leave the MVP and Best Defensive Player awards to Jordan.

Unlike Jordan, who was mired in family troubles, Gan Guoyang had a simple and carefree life off the court.

His family structure is very simple: a father, a wife, and an unborn child.

Having no siblings by blood also reduces a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Like Nike, Avia wants to help Gan Youwei open a chain of restaurants to deeply connect with him.

However, Gan Youwei was not interested in doing business and repeatedly opposed appearing in public, saying he didn't want to cause trouble for his son.

Gan Youwei embodies the noble virtues of traditional Chinese parents, always putting his child first and never considering his own gains or losses.

Moreover, Gan Youwei is already very satisfied with Gan Guoyang's current achievements and economic conditions, and he has no further interest in fame and fortune.

He just wants a grandson or granddaughter.

Before the Western Conference Finals began, Gan Guoyang told Gan Youwei that his wife was pregnant.

Gan Youwei remained very calm on the phone, simply saying, "Tell Fuxi to take good care of herself."

But that very evening, Gan Youwei called and said he wanted to go to Portland to take a look.

Gan Guoyang said no need, there are people here to take care of things, and there's nothing he can do even if he comes.

Gan Youwei thought it made sense and hung up the phone dejectedly.

After that, Gan Youwei, who rarely called me before, started calling me almost every day.

Nothing much, just a greeting and a chat. Gan Guoyang could tell his father was very happy.

On May 23, Gan Guoyang said goodbye to his wife and headed to Los Angeles to begin his Western Conference Finals journey.

After the plane landed, Gan Guoyang received a message on his pager: a familiar number was calling.

After arriving at the hotel, Gan Guoyang returned a call from his room to Jordan.

"Hey Michael, your phone is finally fixed, right? How did the league notify you that you won the MVP? By carrier pigeon?"

"That's enough, Sonny, stop it. I know you called me, and you even called George just to mock me."

"I'm not fucking trying to mock you, I'm trying to care about you and comfort you!"

"Buschette, okay, I'm being serious now. How about we train together this summer?"

"Sorry, I haven't started thinking about summer training yet."

"I'm just suggesting that we make an appointment."

"Michael, are you in a bad mood?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"What are you talking about? I won MVP and Most Valuable Player, why should I be upset? The Bulls are still improving, and I'm only in my fourth season. Not everyone is like you, Sonny."

Jordan tried his best to hide it, but Forrest could sense Jordan's strange emotions. They were too familiar with each other and had talked on the phone too many times.

"Okay, let's train together this summer, and I'll teach you how to win a championship."

(End of this chapter)