The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 567 Black Nation, Black Team
Time marched forward, 1989 drew to a close, and the 1980s came to an end.

At the Malta Coast Conference in December 1989, U.S. President George W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev issued a statement indicating that the Cold War between their two countries might be coming to an end.

The world seems to have seen hope for peace.

However, at the end of December, the U.S. military launched a military operation codenamed "Operation Just Cause," sending troops to Panama with the aim of overthrowing the rule of dictator Manuel Noriega.

In less than 10 days, 2.7 U.S. Marines, at the cost of 25 lives, easily defeated the Panamanian National Defense Forces, captured Noriega, and extradited him to the United States for trial under U.S. law.

Interestingly, Noriega's rise from a poor boy to the country's dictator was inseparable from the support of the Americans.

He joined the CIA at the age of twenty to steal intelligence for the Americans in order to help the United States control the Panama Canal.

He was sent to a military academy in Peru for training, but was later accused of rape for not paying for prostitution. It was only through the intervention of the US embassy that he was rescued.

After joining the Panamanian National Guard, he followed Torrijos in the successful coup and rose to the center stage of Panamanian politics.

With the help of the CIA, he gradually expanded his power and amassed huge profits through various means, including drug trafficking.

At the time, Central and South America was becoming the largest drug supply base for the United States, and Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar built a vast drug empire through the drug trade.

U.S. drug enforcement officials tried every means to destroy one drug transit point after another, but Pablo found Noriega to cooperate with, turning Panama into a stable drug distribution base.

At the time, the CIA director was George Bush. For Noriega, his informant, for the intelligence network in America's backyard, and for countering Cuba and the Soviet Union, he personally helped Noriega cover up evidence of drug trafficking, which led to the rampant drug trade in Central and South America.

Therefore, a strange situation arose in the 70s and 80s: the FBI and US narcotics officers were fighting desperately on the front lines of the anti-drug campaign against ruthless drug traffickers, while the CIA was constantly undermining them, covering up evidence, and harboring drug traffickers.

As a result, the drug problem in the United States became increasingly serious in the 80s, with drugs infiltrating all aspects of society, and the NBA was a direct victim.

In 1981, Torrijos died in a plane crash. After years of accumulation and purging, Noriega became the Commander-in-Chief of the Panamanian Defense Forces and the de facto ruler of the country.

At this point, Noriega transformed himself from a CIA agent who betrayed national intelligence into a patriot who wanted to regain control of the Panama Canal.

The dogs that Americans own are starting to bite their owners.

During Reagan's eight years in office, he tried to counterbalance Noriega by supporting pro-American presidents, but Noriega thwarted his efforts through various means.

When George W. Bush won the election in 1988, Noriega's good days came to an end.

With the easing of US-Soviet relations and the Soviet Union's withdrawal from America's backyard, the United States no longer needed such a vast intelligence network in Central America, and Noriega's dictatorship was nearing its end.

After the defeat of the National Defense Forces, Noriega sought refuge in the Vatican's embassy in Panama.

According to the terms of the agreement, the US military could not enter the embassy to arrest Noriega, so they surrounded the embassy, ​​opened fire on any vehicles that approached the embassy, ​​and played Van Halen's heavy metal rock music through loudspeakers.

On January 3, 1990, the third day of the 1990s, Noriega announced his surrender.

This former CIA agent was escorted by DEA agents onto a U.S. Air Force plane and taken to Miami for trial.

As the Soviet Union's global influence waned, the Americans began to wield their big stick, revealing their mafia-like evil side.

Also on January 3rd, at 1 PM, the Portland Trail Blazers traveled to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers.

This was their first game of the 1990s, their first game against the Lakers this season, and West's first return to Los Angeles since his "defection" from Portland.

Because the Trail Blazers and Lakers are both in the Pacific Division, they used to meet very early in the regular season, usually in November, and sometimes even twice.

But this year's schedule is strange. The Trail Blazers didn't play against the Los Angeles Lakers for the entire year of 1989 until their first game in January 1990.

Since 1985, the two teams have monopolized the Western Conference championship: the Lakers have won the Western Conference championship twice and the NBA championship once, while the Trail Blazers have won the Western Conference championship three times and the NBA championship three times.

These two teams have truly dominated the West, and judging from the current situation, it is highly likely that they will remain in control this year.

Whether it's the Suns or the Supersonics, they still have a considerable distance to go to catch up with the two Western Conference powerhouses.

Unless something unexpected happens to either of these teams, it will be difficult for other Western Conference teams to challenge their dominance.

Moreover, it seems that the two teams will continue to dominate the Western Conference for a long time to come.

Let's not even talk about the Trail Blazers; Forrest Gump is only 26 years old, and all the key players are under 30.

In the 80s and 90s, medical care was not particularly advanced, and players could generally maintain their peak performance until around 32 years old.

The Trail Blazers have at least six more years of core competitiveness, and Forrest Gump has had no major injuries so far in his career, his physique is like that of a cyborg.

It's hard to say whether he will become the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

For the Lakers, Magic Johnson is only 30 years old this year, which is the prime age for a point guard.

Larry Bird, 33, is practically crippled, while Johnson is in excellent physical condition.

When playing under Pat Riley, Johnson thought he could only play until he was 30, because Riley's training and playing style was very physically demanding.

After Don Nelson took over, he reduced the burden on Johnson. Although Nelson also played fast offense, he did not put as much pressure on the players.

The Lakers built their team entirely around Johnson, creating a fluid roster centered around the point guard.

Since the start of the season, the Lakers have the second-best record, second only to the Trail Blazers, who are closely following behind.

Before the game started that evening, Jerry West was greeted with applause when he appeared at the Great Western Forum.

Lakers fans acknowledge West's contributions, and believe that his departure from Los Angeles is more a matter of Jerry Buss's fault than West's own decision to leave.

West's usually serious face showed a slight change in emotion as he waved to the fans, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Before this game, West hesitated about whether to travel with the team to Los Angeles for the away game; as the team manager, he could have chosen not to come.

After some hesitation and struggle, he returned to the Great Western Forum arena and sat down with team owner Tang Jianguo to watch the game.

Tang Jianguo is always elusive, spending most of his time away from Portland and leaving all matters to Jerry West.

However, if the match is held in a big city like New York or Los Angeles, Tang Jianguo will definitely appear, trying to get on camera and appear in the live television broadcast and post-match reports.

His business has been getting worse lately; his real estate and casino businesses are doing poorly, and the Trail Blazers are his most thriving asset.

He needs to leverage the exposure from the Trail Blazers to maintain his reputation so that banks and conglomerates will be willing to lend him money continuously.

For many celebrities, exposure is life itself; with exposure comes reputation, attention, traffic, and funding.

Celebrities aren't afraid of being criticized, attacked, or involved in controversy; what they fear is being ignored.

With the Western Conference showdown between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers taking place in the new year, how could Tang Jianguo miss this opportunity to ride the wave of popularity?

Before the game started, he pulled Forrest Gump and Magic Johnson together in the player tunnel to shake hands and take photos.

Gan Guoyang naturally had to give his boss face, while Magic Johnson looked reluctant, his smile somewhat forced.

Ever since the Trail Blazers became the Lakers' biggest threat to the championship, the relationship between Magic Johnson and Gan Guoyang has been lukewarm. Johnson is indeed very strong, but Gan Guoyang doesn't quite understand many of his behaviors on and off the court; the two are simply not on the same page.

Those who are close to Gan Guoyang are mostly people with old-fashioned personalities and styles.

For example, Stockton, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Ewing, etc.

Magic Johnson is a tough player on the court, but he also has a lot of the crazy, eccentric traits often associated with Black people.

Isaiah Thomas, who was closest to him, was also like that. He was capricious and acted erratically. You couldn't figure out what he was thinking or what he was going to do.

Perhaps people like them don't think much about anything in their minds and just follow their feelings.

After the 1989 NBA Finals, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas's relationship was on the verge of collapse.

When the new season started, the two reconciled, but whether they were truly back to normal is anyone's guess.

After taking the photo, the two exchanged a few words and then went back to their respective locker rooms.

During the pre-game warm-up, Gan Guoyang and AC Green chatted enthusiastically.

Gan Guoyang and Green had a better relationship.

Green is truly a man of steel; after so many years in the league, he remains chaste.

Not only did he not lose his virginity, he didn't even have a girlfriend.

Green's sister is already married, but the brother is still a virgin.

Gan Guoyang asked Green, "When are you planning to get married? If you don't get married soon, your gun will rust."

"That depends on God's guidance. I hope to win another championship."

"If you stay with the Lakers, I'm afraid you'll never have another chance. Why don't you go back to Portland?"

AC Green simply smiled and did not respond to Gan Guoyang's "temptation".

He is indeed a very determined person. He not only adheres to his own principles and will never break his vows before marriage, but he also founded the "AC-Green Youth Foundation" last year.

The foundation's mission is to organize green and healthy youth camps to promote and encourage premarital abstinence.

It can be said that AC-Green has put his beliefs into practice, bringing them into real life, staying true to himself, and striving to influence others.

The game started on time that evening, and the Trail Blazers' starting lineup had changed significantly compared to last year: Sabonis became the team's starting center.

The Trail Blazers suffered several losses in December, all due to insufficient pressure on their perimeter defense, which allowed opposing guards to unleash their full offensive firepower, ultimately making it impossible to contain them.

Bobby Bellman rejected Jerry West's idea of ​​trading Petrovic for a defensive forward, saying he had a simpler and more effective method: moving Agan to the power forward position.

After starting for two months, Mitchell Thompson had no objection to coming off the bench.

As the Trail Blazers' oldest veteran, Thompson was criticized during his rookie season for being undisciplined and lacking competitiveness.

But when he became a 35-year-old veteran, this personality trait actually became an advantage.

He won't sit in the toilet without taking a dump; he insists on occupying the starting position and refusing to move.

When Bellman spoke to Thompson, he was very skillful. He said, "You didn't give up the starting position to Sabonis, you gave it to Agan, and Agan let Sabonis play center."

Since it was a chance to give the spot to Forrest Gump, Thompson had no objections and happily sat on the bench, ready to step in when necessary as Forrest Gump's first substitute.

The Lakers' starting lineup consists of Kevin Duckworth, A.C. Green, James Worthy, Byron Scott, and Magic Johnson.

The Lakers remain highly competitive. Without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, their interior defense has become more blue-collar and functional.

But their backcourt has become exceptionally strong under the tutelage of Don Nelson.

In addition to veterans Johnson, Scott, and Cooper, the Lakers signed Larry Drew and former prodigy guard Quentin Daly in the summer.

Both of these guards have played for the Los Angeles Clippers and are small players with strong offensive capabilities.

Quentin Daley and Gan Guoyang have a connection, because if it weren't for Quentin Daley, Gan Guoyang would most likely have stayed in San Francisco after graduating from high school and played for the University of San Francisco.

Quentin was originally a talented point guard, star player, and shooting guard selected for the All-American team at the University of San Francisco.

However, in 1982, he was investigated by the police for raping a dormitory assistant. This investigation uncovered a whole host of dark secrets within the University of San Francisco's basketball department, forcing the university to suspend basketball recruitment and games. Gan Guoyang was thus unable to join the University of San Francisco; otherwise, he would have been the University of San Francisco's second Bill Russell. (Volume 1, Chapter 43)

The scandal at the University of San Francisco also led to Karl-Heinz Cop's son, Steve LaVine, transferring to Chapman University. He graduated in 1988 and was unable to enter the professional basketball world, but with the help of his father Cop's connections, he became an assistant coach for the Purdue University basketball team.

Gan Guoyang was unable to join San Francisco, so he went to Gonzaga and became teammates with Stockton, creating an NCAA legend.

It's fair to say that if Quentin Daly hadn't committed the crime of assaulting the dormitory supervisor that night, Gan Guoyang might have taken a completely different path in basketball.

Despite his notorious record, Quentin is undeniably talented, having been selected seventh overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1982 NBA draft.

But when he joined the Bulls to prepare for the games, he faced protests from women's groups.

They held a rally outside Chicago Stadium, calling on fans to boycott the Bulls.

Daly's teammates believe that "Daly may make another mistake and assault women."

However, what truly led Daly astray was not women, but drugs.

The constant flow of cocaine from Panama in Central and South America led Daly to become one of the NBA's corrupt elements.

When Michael Jordan arrived at the Bulls, he saw a group of people openly using cocaine in the locker room, including Daly.

And all of this is actually inextricably linked to the CIA and the United States, which is truly ironic.

Even so, Daly still managed to average 16 points per game. He was a brilliant scorer, an unparalleled catch-and-shoot shooter, and Jordan's number one backup.

In the 88-89 season, he played 25 minutes for the Clippers and still averaged 16 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

The Lakers signed him; their backcourt needed talent. In the summer, Don Nelson forced Daly to quit drugs and helped him keep his weight below 190 pounds—he had once weighed over 200 pounds, and he was only 6 feet 3 inches tall.

Putting aside everything else, Don Nelson was truly exceptional at coaching guards.

Tonight, Gan Guoyang will face a firepower challenge from the Lakers' guards.

Before the game, Bobby Bellman reminded Forrest Gump to control his fouls.

"You'll be on the court for a long time tonight, so watch out for fouls."

Hearing what Berman said, Gan Guoyang knew that at the beginning of 1990, he would once again begin his life as a laborer working illegally for a black team.

(End of this chapter)