The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 628 Gloves
As February 1991 approached, the All-Star Game drew ever closer.

Larry Bird aggravated his back injury in late January against the New York Knicks and will miss two weeks of games.

The Celtics lost several games in a row, while the Trail Blazers maintained a stable record.

Instead of achieving long winning streaks like last season, they kept turning back, winning four or five games only to lose one.

Injuries were the main reason; veteran Mitchell Thompson played intermittently and was almost sidelined from the rotation during the regular season.

Mark Bryant, Antonio Davis, and Pinkney frequently played time, increasing the Trail Blazers' instability in the paint.

Sabonis's fragile knees and ankles have prompted Berman to take extra care to protect him, and his risk of injury is increasing as his playing load grows heavier.

Reggie Lewis was plagued by back pain and had to ice his back during the game, but doctors found nothing seriously wrong after examination, suggesting it was probably just muscle tension.

Whenever the pain gets too bad, the coaching staff will give Lewis a day off to rest and recuperate on his back.

With Clive Robinson's rapid development, Jerome Cahill's prime, and Mike Sanders' reliability, the Trail Blazers' frontcourt issues have been properly resolved.

Correspondingly, the Trail Blazers' backcourt faced significantly more pressure, with Dell Curry's playing time increasing dramatically. He, along with Petrovic and Porter, anchored the team's backcourt.

It's fair to say that Jerry West paid a heavy price in the offseason by trading Hornacek and Divac for Reggie Lewis, weakening the Trail Blazers' previously formidable frontcourt and backcourt, all in an effort to fill the gaps on the wing and specifically counter Michael Jordan.

Whether Reggie Lewis can truly achieve the expected results remains to be seen until the end of the season.

So far, apart from Agan and Terry Porter, most of the other key rotation players on the Trail Blazers have experienced injuries to varying degrees.

The Trail Blazers have a deep bench, so if any injury occurs, even the slightest sign, the player is immediately put to rest, and no one is allowed to play while injured.

However, Gan Guoyang seems to be an exception.

Once, after training, he said his legs hurt a bit and asked if he could rest for a while.

Both Bellman and Adelman expressed disbelief, and even without making Gan Guoyang undergo any examinations, they allowed him to participate in the evening's competition.

As it turned out, Bellman and Adelman's judgment was correct; Gan Guoyang was not injured at all.

He said his leg pain was just because he wanted to rest for a day and spend time at home with his wife and children, but unfortunately, he was found out.

Because Bellman knew that getting Forrest Gump injured was harder than getting Barkley to stop eating donuts.

With the All-Star Game approaching, everyone is in a relaxed mood, and the Trail Blazers' schedule is also relatively easy.

They finished a long away trip in December and January and started a relatively comfortable home run in February.

On February 2nd, the Trail Blazers will host the Seattle SuperSonics.

After finishing his training session in the morning, Gan Guoyang called the hotel where the SuperSonics were staying and asked for Gary Payton.

About 15 minutes later, Gan Guoyang had Quentin Stephenson drive them to a Greek restaurant in the city center, where Gan Guoyang treated Payton to a meal.

The two were old acquaintances, so old that Gan Guoyang had known this big-mouthed man since 1981 when he was competing at Beiqiao Middle School, before Payton had even started high school.

When the Waterbells went to Fremont High School for an away game, Payton and his dad were cheering for the Tigers from the sidelines and even trash-talked Gan Guoyang.

As a result, Gan Guoyang's retort almost brought tears to Peyton's eyes; that was the first time Peyton had suffered "humiliation" from Gan Guoyang.

Payton didn't go to Fremont High School, even though he had many friends there. Fremont was too chaotic, and shortly before he enrolled, a young man was stabbed to death in a fight on Fremont's sports field.

Payton's parents didn't want their son to study and play basketball in such an environment, so Payton went to Sky High School—that year, Gan Guoyang had already won the California championship and was going to Gonzaga University.

Before Payton joined, Sky High School had never won a championship in the Oakland Conference of the California League, let alone made it to the state championship.

One reason was that the Fremont High School team was too fierce, and everyone was worried that they wouldn't be able to leave the stadium after beating the Tigers—but Gan Guoyang's Waterbell team did just that; they are a miracle in San Francisco.

Payton played for Sky High for four years, battling against Fremont High for four years, exchanging countless trash words and getting into countless fights.

In his senior year of high school, Payton hit a game-winning shot in the Oakland Conference Championship game against Fremont, helping Sky High School defeat the Fremont Tigers and leading the team to their second consecutive Oakland Conference Championship—although they lost to their opponents in the Northern California Championship and failed to qualify for the California Finals.

That year was 1986, and Gan Guoyang had already led the Portland Trail Blazers to defeat the Boston Celtics and win the NBA championship.

For Payton, Forrest Gump, who was born in San Francisco, was like a monument guiding him, and he followed in Gump's footsteps to keep moving forward on the court.

However, off the court and in the classroom, Payton's performance was terrible. He was not academically inclined and often misbehaved at school.

Because of his poor grades, he was unlikely to receive an invitation from an NCAA school. When the schools came to scout him, they found that he was like a vagrant, liked to wear diamond earrings, chew gum, and always had letters, dollar signs, and other symbols shaved into his hair. He always had a crooked mouth and looked very arrogant.

But Payton’s performance on the field was impeccable, and many schools expressed interest in him, but hesitated because of his off-field behavior.

St. John's University promised him a scholarship, but broke their promise and gave the scholarship to another player instead.

Afterwards, Payton received invitations from prestigious universities such as North Carolina and Stanford, but ultimately he chose Oregon State University.

Oregon State Beavers coach Ralph Miller personally called Payton to recruit him, saying, "Forrest recommended you to me. He said this Oakland kid plays well."

Payton never expected that Gan Guoyang would recommend himself to Ralph Miller.

Oregon State University is located in Portland. In 1984, Gonzaga came to Portland to play in the Far West Classic and defeated the Oregon State Beavers in the final.

Gan Guoyang was virtually unbeatable at the university level in the Northwest region, leaving a huge shadow over schools in Oregon and Washington states during his single season.

Gonzaga University ended their legendary season with an undefeated record, winning the NCAA championship. After Forrest Gump left, these teams could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Oregon State Beavers are the most popular basketball team in the Portland area besides the Trail Blazers. Gan Guoyang knows their coach and learns by chance that they are interested in recruiting an Oakland student named Payton, but are hesitant because of his grades and character.

Upon seeing Payton's information, Gan Guoyang immediately recognized him and enthusiastically recommended this "fellow countryman" to Ralph Miller.

At that time, Gan Guoyang had just led the Trail Blazers to win the NBA championship and was enjoying unparalleled prestige in the Oregon area, so the players he recommended were naturally excellent.

The reason he didn't recommend Payton to his alma mater, Gonzaga, is because Gonzaga is a Catholic school, and a player like Payton would definitely not be able to adapt or meet the school's requirements.

Moreover, Bobby Bellman was still coaching Gonzaga at that time, and Gan Guoyang couldn't imagine how much Gary Payton's vocabulary would expand after four years of exchanging profanities under Bellman's tutelage. So Gary Payton came to Oregon, to Portland, to Forrest Gump's basketball kingdom, to study, play, and watch basketball under the nose of this Oregon basketball emperor.

As the two grew closer, Gan Guoyang would often get one of the 20-plus tickets he received from the ticket center for every game at the Memorial Stadium from Gary Payton.

Just as Forrest Gump dominated the NBA, Payton similarly dominated the basketball court at Oregon State University. He quickly grew into the team's core player, becoming a point guard who excelled on both offense and defense.

His defense, in particular, became extremely aggressive under the careful tutelage of Ralph Miller, and coupled with his incessant trash talk during games, Payton became one of the most lethal guards in the Pacific 10 leagues.

In the 1986-1987 season, Gary Payton, then a freshman, won the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award. That same year, Payton successfully defended his NBA championship title, winning the regular season MVP and securing his second consecutive championship.

In the 1987-1988 season, Gary Payton, then a sophomore, was selected to the All-American team, the All-Pacific Major League Baseball Team, and the All-American Journalists Association Division 10 Team. That year, Forrest Gump led the Trail Blazers to a three-peat, winning the championship and taking home all the honors he could.

By his junior year, Gary Payton was the team's undisputed core player, leading in points (21.8), assists (8.1), steals (3), and playing time (38 minutes). As a point guard, he ranked second in rebounds and blocks, making him undeniably an all-around player.

Despite having a relatively unsuccessful season in his career, Forrest Gump still made it to the Western Conference Finals, while Oregon State continued to be eliminated in the first round of the national championships.

1989-1990赛季，佩顿在海狸队的最后一年，他成为了太平洋10大联盟当之无愧的全明星，成为太平洋10大1971年以来又一个单场得分超过40分的后卫。

That year, he scored 39 points against the University of Tennessee, and 48 points against Loyola-La Marlimont University (a high-scoring offensive team coached by Paul Westhead), scoring 30 points and 13 assists to defeat Stanford University.

In short, he delivered an outstanding performance that year, attracting nationwide attention. He was named the College Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated, and NBA teams extended offers to him. The Seattle SuperSonics wanted to use their second overall pick to acquire him.

And in that year, Forrest Gump redeemed himself, winning his fourth championship ring, achieving the feat of four championships in six years, and becoming a true basketball icon of Portland.

It's fair to say that Payton had a brilliant four years on the college court, but he always lived in the shadow of Forrest Gump. The Oregon Beavers were just an appetizer; the Trail Blazers were the main course.

What Payton least expected was that he was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics.

Seattle and Portland have always been bitter rivals, and now Payton has essentially been relegated to a rival city.

This frustrated Payton, at which point Forrest told him, "What's done is done. It's the same no matter where you play. Just give it your all. Seattle is a great city, and the SuperSonics are a great team."

Payton felt at ease.

However, things were not peaceful within the SuperSonics team. During training camp, a scandal broke out involving a fight between two big shots, McDaniel and Ellis, and the atmosphere within the team was in a complete mess.

Previously successful head coach Bickerstaff was dismissed due to his inability to take the team further, and the management brought in KC Jones, the championship-winning coach from the Boston Celtics, in hopes of turning things around.

However, the Celtics' green-trained coaches often struggle to adapt to other teams; Bill Russell was one such example, and KC Jones is no exception.

KC Jones still plays the more traditional basketball system of the 70s and 80s. For KC Jones, an important responsibility of a guard is to make outside shots.

This is precisely Payton's biggest weakness: as a point guard, he is not a good shooter.

Furthermore, in KC Jones' view, the various skills he possesses—dribbling, one-on-one defense, attacking the basket, steals, and blocks—are not the primary tasks of a point guard.

Furthermore, Jones dislikes Payton's street-style playing style, his strange dribbling rhythm, his penchant for flashy moves, and his constant one-on-one battles with opponents on the court.

KC Jones believes these are redundant and can be omitted, like the earring on Payton's ear. What good is it for playing basketball besides looking cool?

To blind the opponent?

Therefore, Payton didn't get many playing opportunities in his rookie season, and the SuperSonics' record fluctuated.

At the start of the season, they quickly traded McDaniel and acquired Glen Rice from the Miami Heat.

Then, before the All-Star Game, they traded away Dale Ellis and acquired Ricky Pierce from the Bucks—a rather significant trade.

However, this is not good news for Payton, because Ricky Pierce plays as a guard, and Payton will undoubtedly have to be Pierce's backup.

Then the SuperSonics traded draft picks to the Clippers to acquire big man Benoit Benjamin, completing what looked like a very competitive roster.

It must be said that the management of Supersonics has a strong ability to rebuild, but each rebuild seems to be somewhat hasty, rising quickly and collapsing just as quickly.

In the restaurant, Payton complained to Gan Guoyang about KC Jones, saying, "Let me tell you, my poor performance is the coach's problem, not mine! I can't adapt to his old-fashioned coaching style. He wants me to dribble like those old guards, charging around with one hand, bent over like two old women with heavy breasts that can't be lifted, and then like an old glass sponge constantly sticking out my ass to give to the defender... Shit, I'm supposed to be a spot-up shooter? Did I come to Seattle to be a spot-up shooter? I'm the second pick!"

Facing Forrest Gump, Payton was completely uninhibited, eating and talking non-stop, showing no regard for his opponent tonight.

Gan Guoyang knew that Payton was just like that—outspoken, fearless, and even dared to challenge Michael Jordan during the preseason.

To this, he could only tell Payton: "One day you will meet the right coach for you. Until then, you really need to work on your shooting and put in the effort. There's a long road ahead."

Payton ate his food, shaking his head, and said, "You already have four championships... I swear, if I'm still a substitute next season, I'll request a trade!"

"Trade? Where to? To Portland? We don't need a guard who can't shoot threes."

"Is shooting really that important?"

"It's important. Shooting is everything. Keep practicing, Gary. I don't think KC's time in Seattle will last much longer. I'll help you out tonight."

Gan Guoyang has always been a helpful person, especially to his friends.

That night, Gan Guoyang went all out against the Seattle SuperSonics, scoring 48 points over Benjamin.

Just two points away from 50, Gan Guoyang gave up on reaching 50 after the flower-themed match.

He has not scored 50 points this season, this will be the first time in his career.

Similarly, Michael Jordan has not scored 50 points this season either; both of them have toned down their scoring.

After the match, Payton and Gan Guoyang bumped fists and Payton said, "You were too ruthless. You went a bit too far, didn't you? KC looked like he'd been humiliated by three big men."

"Gary, you'll face a similar situation in the future. Don't get too excited. Just keep practicing your shooting."

Payton's face darkened, and he nodded, knowing that Forrest Gump wasn't joking.

(End of this chapter)