The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 661 Anti-Gan Alliance
In 1991, after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs, my wife, children, and I returned to Spokane to enjoy the summer.

We had a good season and performed well in the playoffs, but we still couldn't overcome the Los Angeles Lakers.

Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time, and the difference between me and him is not just about height.

I'm not ready to go into the offseason yet, because if I get past the Lakers, I'll be able to face Forrest Gump in the semifinals.

Unfortunately, I broke my promise again, which makes me very sad. I feel that my basketball career is still a very, very long way from being perfect.

But in the end, I accepted the reality of being eliminated early and decided to adjust my training plan during the off-season, making some adjustments to my body and skills to recover from this defeat.

Coach Sloan made me realize that at this stage of my career, recovery is more important than daily training.

After all, not everyone is Forrest Gump. His training regimen remained consistent for over a decade, like a machine that gets smoother with use.

The 1991 season belonged to him and the Portland Trail Blazers once again. I watched all the games and witnessed them win their fifth championship in Portland.

In July, Forrest and I returned to Spokane to participate in the annual 'Gangoyang Day' celebration held locally.

The citizens erected a new statue in his honor, and although it didn't look quite like him, Forrest Gump accepted it with a smile and attended the unveiling ceremony.

The last time I played with Forrest Gump in the Spokane Summer Basketball League, it was a sensation in the area, and Forrest is now a true basketball superhero.

However, after this league ended, Sloan called me and told me not to play these kinds of amateur games in the summer anymore, to avoid getting injured.

I also ended my softball career, retiring from Jack and Dan's softball team to focus entirely on basketball training and physical rehabilitation.

Forrest Gump was a very busy man. After the Summer League ended, he left in a hurry to attend countless business and social events.

I admire Forrest Gump's achievements on the field and his amazing skills, but I don't envy his life.

I spend most of my free time in the summer by the lake with Nada and the children.

I'm not a sun-loving person; I prefer to spend my free time on various physical tasks—chopping wood, splitting wood, and stacking wood.

If the weather permits, I'll go water skiing; when it's windy, I'll go mountain biking, running, or try windsurfing.

The children quickly learned these sports from me, and they all have good athletic talent.

In order to maintain my basic basketball skills, I would lift weights and shoot hoops at pine cones and trash cans.

There were no fancy machines or equipment, just some very simple activities to keep me feeling alert.

Explore, play games, engage in creative activities, such as tracking wild animals in the forest or telling bedtime horror stories around a campfire.

These carefree times created wonderful family memories. Besides werewolves and Bigfoot, the kids' favorite stories were Forrest Gump's college adventures.

The eldest son, Houston, had posters of Forrest Gump all over his room, each one bearing Forrest Gump's autograph.

He later said that his love for Forrest Gump stemmed from those captivating legendary stories; the guy truly was a legend.

After the children fall asleep, Nada and I would sit by the campfire, chatting and watching the stars and the aurora borealis engulf the day.

When we're not by the lake, we stay at home or at my parents' house. At that time, I was still decorating my house little by little. I didn't want to spend too much money at once. I would slowly look for cheap and suitable furniture and materials and bring them home.

On an ordinary day, I was thinking of buying some decent sofa cushions and tablecloths at a secondhand market when the phone rang.

It rang several times in a row, but I didn't intend to answer. I don't like people calling me; every phone call always means trouble.

The phone kept ringing, seemingly determined not to let me off the hook, so I had no choice but to answer it.

“John, this is Rod Thorne from the NBA office.”

Good heavens, Thorne, this is bad. Every time he calls, it's to tell me about the fine.

A few years ago, I called his office to discuss my first technical foul.

I told him, “Yes, I did swear at the referee, but I just used it as an adverb.”

He laughed; it was the first time he had ever heard such a statement.

If he had met Forrest Gump earlier, he would have heard about him much sooner.

Forrest Gump always says that when he swears, it's an interjection or adverb that only expresses emotion and doesn't mean he's insulting.

The good news is that Thorne agreed with my explanation and waived my fine.

This saved my life; I didn't want to be fined.

After that, I became very careful and stopped using adverbs casually.

This time, Thorne didn't come to impose a fine, but brought good news.

"Congratulations, John, you have been selected as a member of the U.S. national team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics."

I was so excited I didn't know what to say for a moment. After a pause, I heard, "Are you interested?"

I could only stammer, "Are you...are you serious?"

"Otherwise, would I have made this call just to joke with you?"

I never imagined I would actually be selected for the Olympic team.

During the regular season, Forrest told me that since I was on the Olympic team roster, he would definitely find a way to get me into the Olympics.

I didn't take it seriously. I thought, no matter how powerful you are, what way could you possibly get me to participate in the Olympics?
With Johnson and Isaiah Thomas on the team, I really can't find a reason for me to be selected.

But the call was real, and I really was selected. I immediately told Nada and the kids, and everyone was overjoyed.

When I was dropped from the Olympic team in 1984, I thought my Olympic dream was shattered and would never be realized again. I was going to enter the NBA.

I never expected the Olympics to be open to the NBA, and I got this opportunity. After repeatedly confirming that it was true, I tried to calm myself down.

I spoke with Larry and Coach Sloan on the phone to get their approval, and they were equally happy and supportive of my participation in the Olympics.

I could almost see the smiles on their faces through the phone line.

Then I told my family and friends, and honestly, I was shocked by my own reaction.

I was surprisingly unsettled, even though I appeared perfectly calm on the surface, like a duck that was paddling frantically underwater.

The profound significance of being selected for the Olympic team came to mind; my once shattered dream had been realized again, and I would once again shoulder a heavy responsibility.

At that moment, I thought of Forrest Gump, and I immediately jumped up to call him. I had to have a good talk with him.

I called his mobile phone, and he said he was in Miami, sunbathing on the beach with Coach Bellman.

"I already knew, John! Congratulations, and congratulations to Bobby! He's become the head coach of the 1992 Olympic team!"

"Thank me, praise me! Especially Bobby, I took him to a height he didn't deserve!" I heard Bobby swearing on the phone; it seemed he was indeed there.

Absolutely perfect, Mr. Bellman is going to be my coach again.

But even more perfect was that Forrest Gump would also participate in the 1992 Olympics.

He was still our opponent, and everyone was very excited about it during the later training camp.

However, prior to this, during the 1991-1992 season, Forrest Gump remained a major headache for everyone.

—Excerpt from John Stockton's 2012 autobiography, Assisted.

In October 1991, the Portland Trail Blazers' preseason training camp kicked off at Willamette University's gymnasium.

Gan Guoyang participated in the team's rookie training camp as usual, and described it as "the worst class I've ever coached."

Just like in 1988, this time it's not a joke; as the defending champions, the Portland Trail Blazers simply couldn't find any good rookies in the draft.

In this draft, the Trail Blazers didn't have a first-round pick, only a second-round pick number 54, which was practically useless. Jerry West looked around extensively, both domestically and internationally, but couldn't find a single overlooked potential pick.

Jerry West's more important job is not to develop young players through the draft, but to address the Trail Blazers' biggest offseason problem ever since Gan Guoyang entered the league: finding a suitable backup for Gan.

After winning the championship in 1991, veteran Mitchell Thompson officially retired, leaving with five rings to go home and take care of his son.

With Thompson gone, the Trail Blazers' already fragile bench in the paint suddenly became empty, with no one able to fill the gap for the time being.

Antonio Davis, Pinckney, and Bryant are all standard power forwards, and the Trail Blazers need a backup center to complement Agam and Sabonis.

West had his eye on Moses Malone, but the former superstar was unwilling to come to the Trail Blazers to play second fiddle to Forrest Gump; he had no shortage of championships.

In July, he left the Hawks and signed with the Bucks, continuing his nomadic journey in the league.

West then contacted former superstar Ralph Sampson, but after some investigation, he was convinced that the big man was no longer fit to play in the NBA.

This outstanding general manager, who once consistently provided the Los Angeles Lakers with quality centers, now faces a dilemma: quality centers, whether young or veteran, have become highly sought after by all teams, and with the improvement of the salary cap system, it has become increasingly difficult to sign quality centers at low prices.

One important reason for this is the existence of Forrest Gump, which led to teams stockpiling interior players, naturally driving up the price of good interior players.

Throughout the offseason, West failed to find a suitable backup, which made him very anxious before training camp began.

He even began to regret trading away Divac; if Divac had stayed, they wouldn't have had to worry about this problem at all.

While acquiring Reggie Lewis certainly helped them counter Jordan, would the Trail Blazers have lost to the Bulls without Lewis?

In the Finals, Jordan remained the highest scorer in the series, while Lewis made contributions, though not particularly noticeable.

When training camp actually started, Gan Guoyang noticed that West was anxious about the backup center position. He comforted West, saying, "It's okay, Jerry. Davis and Pinckney are both excellent. Actually, we have Sabonis and me in the paint, which is enough. You should focus more on the perimeter."

West looked at Gan Guoyang. A summer had passed, and apart from his skin tone becoming a little darker, he hadn't changed much.

He was still so strong, so full of energy, as hard and confident as steel.

His fifth championship and defeat of Jordan made him the hottest sports figure in the United States this summer.

Countless endorsements, numerous commercial activities, and countless social engagements came crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

West was worried that when he saw Forrest Gump at the training camp, he would see a dejected look on him.

Fortunately, no, and in fact, his darker skin made him look even more fierce and powerful.

"Sonny, you know what? I've heard there's an 'Anti-Gan League' coming up in the NBA."

"What? An anti-Gan alliance? No, I've never heard of it. Who started it? Michael? We haven't spoken to each other this summer."

"It's a group of star players who seem to have formed a training club, training together, studying you, and then trying to beat you."

During this offseason, Gan Guoyang has mostly been acting alone.

Aside from spending a few days back in Spokane and Stockton, he simply couldn't find the time to train or play with the other stars for even a few days.

I'm so busy, constantly on the go, even busier than playing sports. Just from July to October, I gave at least 80 speeches.

It's similar to the NBA regular season; Americans really love giving speeches and listening to others give speeches.

Gan Guoyang is not keen on giving speeches, but he was asked to do so by others and received enthusiastic invitations from some schools and organizations, which made it difficult for him to refuse.

Gan Guoyang joked that if he practiced his public speaking skills a little more, he could run for president in the United States soon.

Despite his busy schedule, Gan Guoyang still managed to dedicate a significant amount of time to training and recovery.

Most of the training time was spent in Miami, under the guidance of veteran coach Jack Ramsey.

He gained even more weight, reaching a career-high 270 pounds, with the aim of further enhancing his low-post power.

Given the increasingly intense competition in the paint, gaining weight is definitely not an option.

His training process is kept secret and not made public, so naturally he doesn't know how others train this year.

"As far as I know, they include Jordan, Ewing, Barkley, Drexler, Pippen..."

"Wait, wait, wait! This 'Anti-Gansu Alliance' you're talking about, you wouldn't happen to be the US Olympic national team, would you?"

West shrugged and said, "You can ask Bobby; he knows best."

After training, Gan Guoyang found Bellman and asked him if he knew about an organization called the "Anti-Gan Alliance".

Berman nodded and said, "That's true, but... but that was for the Olympics."

"Bobby, you traitor! Did you tell everyone else all the information about me?"

"Please, Sonny, what secrets are left between teams and players these days? The entire league has been studying you for a long time now. Aren't you afraid?"

Berman's words make sense. Gan Guoyang said, "There's really nothing wrong with studying and training together. As long as they don't band together and play on the same team, they won't amount to much."

"Sonny, are you really going to participate in the 1992 Olympics?"

"Of course, I've already contacted the Chinese national team this summer, and I definitely want to participate."

Bellman nodded and said, "Then good luck, Sonny."

The first anti-Gansu alliance was formed in the summer of 1991.

The good news is, it's not during an NBA regular season game.

The bad news is, they are terrifyingly strong.

(End of this chapter)