The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 617 Far ahead
The arms race in the league's frontcourt, sparked by Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers, continues.

The Phoenix Suns traded Eddie Johnson for Sam Bowie, a move that can be considered a painful decision.

Eddie Johnson has consistently performed exceptionally well for the Suns; he's an excellent shooter with explosive scoring ability.

In a game against the Clippers in 1988, he scored a phenomenal 43 points in the first half, helping his team win in overtime.

Johnson was very popular with Phoenix fans. He was one of the first players in the league to take a lot of three-pointers and was quite accurate.

However, the arrival of Charles Barkley has reduced Eddie Johnson's space for ball-handling and shooting, and his scoring has declined further this season.

1989年他场均可以拿下21分，到1990年下滑到17分，本赛季开季后他只有场均13分的贡献，三分命中率从41%掉落到了28%。

On the bench, with Dan Mali's rapid development, Eddie Johnson has less and less room to play.

The team currently lacks a tall interior player to guard the paint, making trading him for Sam Bowie the best option.

Bowie entered the NBA alongside Forrest Gump and spent six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. His college injuries were better managed in Dallas.

Traveling to Phoenix, with its dry climate and warm sunshine, would be more beneficial for keeping his knees and ankles stable.

For players who engage in high-intensity physical activity, regional climate has a significant impact on their physical health.

The worst thing about Portland is that it's not only cold but also damp for a significant portion of the time.

A damp and cold environment can have adverse effects on a player's joints, muscles, ligaments, and cardiovascular system.

Let alone athletes, even ordinary people will choose to retire in sunny Arizona and Florida when they get older. Otherwise, many people will die from cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, colds, or suffer from rheumatoid arthritis in the winter.

For Sabonis, coming to Portland had its advantages. He quickly established himself as the team's tactical core and won a championship ring with Forrest Gump, a dream for many players.

The downside is that Portland's climate is not very friendly to his fragile body.

Since the start of the new season, Sabonis' performance has been on an upward trajectory. After the Trail Blazers lost to the Bulls and the coaching staff made tactical rotation adjustments, Sabonis has been increasingly valued by Bellman.

在击败菲尼克斯太阳的比赛中，萨博尼斯拿下17分9个篮板4次助攻3次封盖还有1次抢断，以及为队友做了无数次挡拆、掩护、中场接应、手递手传球以及漂亮的一传。

With Mitchell Thompson aging significantly this season, Sabonis' importance will become increasingly apparent, and his playing time will gradually increase.

However, after defeating the Suns, Sabonis felt discomfort in his knee, and the team doctor examined him and found fluid buildup in his knee.

At the age of 26, Sabonis is already a veteran who has suffered multiple major injuries, including repeated Achilles tendon tears, chronic knee pain, and ankle bone spurs, which have been tormenting the Lithuanian giant.

One of the main reasons Sabonis didn't want to come to the NBA was that he was worried his body wouldn't be able to play a full NBA season and that he wouldn't be able to adapt to the intensity of the NBA.

Sabonis's concerns are valid. Last season, Sabonis played a relatively complete season, missing only 12 regular season games and 2 playoff games.

That adds up to 80 matches, while in European clubs, a season typically involves only 30-odd matches, less than half of that.

Sabonis also had heavy national team duties. If he hadn't participated in the 1988 Olympics before his injury was fully healed, his Achilles tendon and knee condition wouldn't have worsened, his explosiveness wouldn't have decreased so significantly, and he wouldn't have been running so unsteadily on the field.

This summer, Sabonis represented the Soviet Union in the World Basketball Championship while injured, which aggravated his knee and ankle injuries, causing him to miss the rookie training camp.

As the team increased his role in the squad this season, Sabonis' playing time increased significantly, and then his body began to show some negative signs.

Since Gan Guoyang arrived in Portland, the Trail Blazers have always placed great importance on the health of their players and have a complete and efficient medical response system.

As soon as Sabonis mentioned that he had discomfort in his knee, the coaching staff and management immediately arranged for him to undergo an examination.

After fluid buildup was detected, the team doctor recommended a rest period, and the coaching staff decided to take the doctor's advice and let Sabonis rest for at least two weeks for observation.

The Trail Blazers are currently on a hot streak, and Sabonis is playing better and better. Of course, he doesn't want to rest. He told Bellman, "I don't think this is a problem. It's just water retention. We can drain it and I can keep playing."

Based on Sabonis' experience with the Soviet national team, a "minor problem" like knee effusion is nothing to worry about. Draining the fluid, bandaging it, and continuing to play is perfectly fine.

Bellman shook his head and said, "No, Arvidas. With the Trail Blazers, someone like you needs to rest until the inflammation in your knee improves. Rest won't cure your leg injury, but it can greatly reduce the chances of it flaring up or worsening."

"But I want to help the team; we're on a good run right now."

"We've been on a good run, and we laid a very good foundation in November. Losing some games in December is acceptable for us. The season is still long, and if you can't play in the playoffs, that would be the biggest loss for us."

Bellman was already familiar with the Trail Blazers' regular season rhythm.

When the season starts in November, we'll make a strong push while we're still energetic. Then, in December, we'll embark on an away trip, so it's okay to relax a bit and lose a few games.

There will be opportunities to gradually adjust, work together, and address player injuries from next year until the All-Star Game.

After the All-Star Game, the roster experimentation ended, everyone was healthy, and in March we began to focus on the playoffs.

The playoffs begin in April, and we'll be making every effort to win the championship.

After hearing what Berman said, Sabonis realized that it made sense; the playoffs were the most important thing.

It's just a pity about his current excellent form, his growing confidence, and his increasingly seamless teamwork with Forrest Gump.

Last season, Sabonis was merely a sidekick and support to Forrest Gump, but this season he is evolving into Forrest Gump's best partner.

Thinking of Forrest Gump, Sabonis asked with some concern, "If I rest, will Forrest Gump's playing time increase again?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Bellman said. "Forrest Gump is nuclear-powered; he'll never get hurt."

"I really envy him. He's so healthy and strong. I can't be as disciplined as him. I'd like to have a drink when I get home tonight. Coach, would you like to join me?"

"No problem, have a drink if you want. Mental relaxation is just as important. Not everyone can be like Forrest Gump. He's not a good role model and hard to emulate."

That evening, Bobby Bellman went to Sabonis's house for drinks.

After deciding to settle in Portland, Sabonis also bought a house in Oswick Lake Hill Park and settled down with his wife.

Berman witnessed Sabonis's astonishing drinking capacity; he drank vodka as if it were water, and a 1.5-liter bottle of vodka was quickly half empty.

With his massive physique, Sabonis must also have powerful liver and kidney function, allowing his body to tolerate large amounts of alcohol.

Sabonis, while drinking, said, "As an athlete, smoking and drinking aren't good; they harm your body. But as an athlete, if you don't drink, it's almost impossible to keep going. It's just... so painful."

Sabonis is a man of few words for most of his time with the team.

He doesn't like being in the media spotlight, and after winning the championship, he received many invitations to participate in television interviews, but Sabonis refused them all.

In the post-match interviews, he didn't say much. He always cited his poor English as an excuse, saying only a few words before leaving in a hurry.

In fact, Divac, who had the worst English at the time, could always talk a lot, while Sabonis' English was better than Divac's.

Sabonis speaks four languages, but he simply doesn't like to express his emotions in public.

Sabonis started playing basketball at the age of 13, joined the Soviet Union's national youth basketball team at 15, and became a professional player at 16.

Life in the national team is monotonous, the training is extremely arduous, and collectivism is paramount; personal enjoyment is out of the question.

While most European and American teenagers skip school, date, or sleep in at age 15, Sabonis has already begun high-intensity, heavy-weight, and long-duration training. He gets up before dawn every day to run in the cold wind, followed by a whole day of relentless, sweat-drenched practice, with his physical fitness and strength training already maxed out from the start.

In fact, this training method is not very good for the physical development of young players, which also creates hidden dangers for future injuries for players like Sabonis who are heavy and tall.

At first, Sabonis wasn't the most dazzling one. He showed talent in the youth team, but he was far from becoming a household name in Europe.

His later achievements were largely due to the Soviet national team's early strength training, which enabled him to quickly develop a stronger physique than ordinary people.

In this respect, he is somewhat similar to Forrest Gump, but Forrest Gump was truly born with superhuman strength. With a little scientific training, he became invincible throughout California and later swept across the entire United States.

Sabonis's approach was somewhat forced and accelerated, and this lifestyle lasted for 10 years, causing Sabonis to experience a great deal of pain.

When injuries struck, only cigarettes and vodka could keep him company and save him; otherwise, he would be left with only loneliness, pain, and fear.

The life of an athlete, spent in closed training for many years, shaped Sabonis's taciturn personality. In fact, he is not cold-hearted; on the contrary, he has a passionate heart, but he doesn't know how to express it.

Only after smoking a cigarette can he relax, and after drinking a few bottles of alcohol can he reveal some of his true feelings.

Behrman also drank some, but his alcohol tolerance was far less than Sabonis's. He was a little dizzy after just two glasses of strong vodka.

"A toast to you, Coach... Coach, Coach! You should look me in the eye, Coach, yes, yes~" Sabonis toasted Bellman, reminding him to make eye contact.

For Slavs, it is considered disrespectful to look the other person in the eye when offering a toast.

Bellman looked up into Sabonis's eyes. His usually honest and peaceful gaze, fueled by alcohol, held a hint of cunning and wildness.

"Thank you, but... this is my last drink. I really can't drink anymore. I have training tomorrow."

"Maybe you should take a break, coach. Not everyone has nuclear power."

"It seems you are quite satisfied with the rest. You said earlier that you wanted to continue competing."

"I'm just used to it, subconsciously... I'm used to fighting with injuries. Now that I can rest a little, I feel great."

As he said this, Sabonis drank another glass of vodka; the 1.5-liter bottle was almost empty.

From the moment he officially joined the Soviet national team, Sabonis almost never missed a single national team match, whether important or not, as long as he was in good health.

Logically speaking, someone like him, who is an absolute core player and has potential injuries, should be used wisely and avoid playing in minor competitions if possible.

However, the national team still forced him to play as many games as he was supposed to, which led to frequent injuries. He was also forced to play when he was still recovering from a serious injury, which left him with a wound that could not be healed.

The main reason is said to be that Sabonis is not Russian, but Lithuanian.

Alexander Gomelsky, the head coach of the Soviet national team, was also the head coach of CSKA Moscow.

CSKA Moscow had long dominated the Soviet professional men's basketball league, but the emergence of Sabonis helped the Lithuanian team Zargis overthrow CSKA Moscow's dominance.

Therefore, Alexander Gomelski had Sabonis play a lot of national team matches to deplete his energy and prevent him from playing his full potential at the club level.

Even so, Sabonis still held Gomelski in high esteem and was proud to be a member of the Soviet national team—until this year.

After the 1990 World Championships, Sabonis was unwilling to play for the Soviet national team anymore because Lithuania was fighting for independence, and Sabonis considered himself Lithuanian.

The conflict of identity had been troubling Sabonis since the summer, and his mood became even more depressed after seeing Divac traded because of the Yugoslav conflict.

Playing basketball was his only way to escape his confusion and physical pain; if he couldn't play, all he had left was nicotine and alcohol.

After finishing a 1.5-liter bottle of vodka, Bellman and Sabonis sat together in the yard smoking and chatting.

Sabonis was curious about Bellman's high school and college experiences and asked him, "Bobby, I heard you won the championship by riding on Forrest Gump's coattails, is that true?"

After drinking, Sabonis became a bit outspoken, directly rubbing salt in Bobby Bellman's wounds.

Berman exhaled a smoke ring and calmly said, "Basketball is about mutual success; there's no such thing as one person riding on the other's coattails. Of course, Sonny's coattails are indeed strong enough; he's a man born for basketball."

Sabonis nodded and said, "He's like a basketball machine. Before I met him, I never envied anyone. I thought I was perfect. Until I met him, he made me feel inferior."

"Such a perfect person should be given more playing time to hone his skills, don't you think?"

"Haha, if that's really the case, I can finally get some rest without any guilt... How about letting me rest until Christmas?"

"That's a great idea. Forrest can cook for us for Christmas. He's a great cook and can make a lot of dishes by himself. You know, he's very strong."

"He's truly versatile, coach. No wonder you're willing to coach him for so long, he's a perfect player."

"Yes, yes..."
-
Sabonis's absence left a void in the Trail Blazers' frontcourt.

However, Berman did not actually increase Gan Guoyang's playing time to fill Sabonis's gap, but instead gave newcomers a chance to play and gain experience.

Antonio Davis, Cliff Robinson, and Mark Bryant shared Sabonis's playing time.

Gan Guoyang's playing time was still strictly controlled by Berman to within 38 minutes, and sometimes even shortened to 37 minutes.

This forces Gan Guoyang to find his rhythm and establish an advantage earlier, otherwise he will leave his opponents with many openings.

Sabonis's absence still caused a significant loss of strength for the Trail Blazers. Coupled with the players entering their first period of fatigue after winning, the Trail Blazers lost several games in a row as Christmas approached in December.

This included a loss to the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, where both teams traded baskets throughout the game, with the Warriors ultimately securing a valuable victory thanks to their hot outside shooting.

On December 11, they lost to the Indiana Pacers at home. The Trail Blazers had a cold streak in this game, with the whole team, including Gan Guoyang, out of form. Reggie Miller's Pacers stole the game 110-108.

On December 13th, the Trail Blazers visited Sacramento, expecting an easy victory, but the Kings' bench players had a breakout performance.

Anthony Karl came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 16 rebounds, while Anthony Bonner added 16 points. The Kings' bench scored 52 points, more than the starters combined.

On the Trail Blazers' side, Bobby Bellman gave a lot of playing time to the second unit's reserves, but by the time the starters wanted to come on and turn the tide, it was too late.

The Trail Blazers lost 101-105 on the road, falling by 4 points and suffering their first losing streak of the season.

By Christmas, the Trail Blazers' record had improved from a commanding 12-1 to 22-5.

They still lead the Western Conference, but there's actually one team in the entire league that has surpassed the Trail Blazers in terms of record.

It wasn't the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons, or the Los Angeles Lakers.

Instead, it's the Boston Celtics.

As of December 23, their record was an astonishing 23 wins and 3 losses.

They are truly far ahead, as if they have returned to their most glorious 80s.

The Trail Blazers will travel to Boston after Christmas to face the Celtics on the road.

Sabonis is about to return from injury and rejoin Forrest Gump to form a twin towers lineup against the Celtics' "white triangle" frontcourt of Divac and Kevin McHale Bird.

(End of this chapter)