The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 715 A stronger opponent

The summer of 1992 drew to a close with the end of the Olympic Games.

On August 9th, a grand closing ceremony was held in the stadium, and the Olympic flame, which had burned for two weeks, was slowly extinguished.

The quadrennial sporting event has come to a temporary end, and for many athletes, it is an unforgettable memory.

This Olympics has been hailed as possibly the most successful Olympics in history. It was the first Olympics after the end of the Cold War and the first since 1972 to be free from political boycotts.

Numerous high-level and exciting competitions were presented to sports fans around the world, with athletes representing various countries and all of humanity once again striving for the goals of higher, faster, and stronger.

Many new world records were set, and many sports stars either rose to prominence or shone brightly. With the widespread use of live television broadcasts, their influence spread throughout the world.

The Olympics also showcased Spain and the city of Barcelona, ​​highlighting the bullfighters' abundant passion and vibrant national culture.

Standing at the hotel window, Gan Guoyang watched the fireworks and the cheering crowds outside, marveling at how lively the Spanish were, able to drink, revel, and have fun day and night.

This trip to Barcelona was like a dream for Gan Guoyang. The feeling of fighting for his country was completely different, especially when he saw the national flag being raised on the field. At that moment, he felt that all the effort was worthwhile.

On the field and training ground, Gan Guoyang has boundless energy, but off the field, he is often listless and not very interested in eating, drinking and having fun. Especially as he gets older and has a wife and children, he has even less desire to have fun.

He was like a tiger in the jungle, not a monkey. Except when he was hunting, he was full of energy and fierceness. Most of the time, he would close his eyes and just want to find a place to lie down, cool off, and sleep.

Basketball has given him enough ups and downs, joy and excitement; the rest of the time is for rest and preparation, and for spending time with his family.

So Gan Guoyang didn't attend the closing ceremony this time, but stayed at the hotel with his family and those damn friends from the Dream Team.

"Honey, Barkley has called four times already, asking you to go play cards. Are you really not going?" Wang Fuxi asked Gan Guoyang.

"I won't go! Do you think I don't know what he's thinking?"

Barkley and Jordan had previously looked for him in his room, while Gan Guoyang was having dinner with reporters outside.

After returning to his room, Barkley's phone kept ringing.

Wang Fuxi smiled and said, "Everyone's leaving tomorrow, so don't bother arguing with them. You've beaten them so many times, losing once is nothing. Everyone knows you've already done your best."

Gan Guoyang sighed; they had ultimately lost the Olympic final.

There was nothing that could be done; the difference in strength was too great, and even if Gan Guoyang performed perfectly, he was still powerless to turn the tide.

This is one of the charms of basketball—it's a sport that tightly integrates teamwork and individual skill.

Individuals can be heroes, but the team is equally crucial. The balance and tension between the two is one of the enduring charms of basketball.

Although they lost the game, the process was still thrilling and unforgettable.

On the top shelf of Gan Guoyang's suitcase was this hard-earned silver medal.

My son, Gan Wenshan, can play with the FMVP trophy at home as much as he wants, but I would never dare let him play with this silver medal.

The Stocktons next door were playing with their gold medal, spinning it around, when it flew into the cabinet, leaving a deep dent.

Although Stockton said, "This dent represents my best memories of the Olympics, and I will always think of Barcelona whenever I see it," he later wrapped up the gold medal carefully and hid it away, never letting his children touch it again.

Gan Guoyang certainly wouldn't let Gan Wenshan ruin the silver medal. He had plenty of championships, from high school to college to the NBA, all of them were gold cups and gold medals. This silver medal was truly too precious.

With that thought in mind, Gan Guoyang's last bit of obsession with the championship vanished. He decided to go to Barkley's room to play cards. Tomorrow, everyone would be taking a plane to leave Spain and return to the United States to prepare for the 1992-1993 season.

As a result, Gan Guoyang knocked on Barkley's door and entered his room, only to find Jordan, Johnson, Ewing, and several other guys there—each of them wearing a gold medal around their neck.

“Welcome to the Gold Medal House, Sonny,” Barkley said to Gan Guoyang with a big laugh.

“Fuck you, Charles.”

For the Dream Team, the final match was not as easy as the previous matches, as they were forced to bring out their best lineup and form by the weak Chinese team.

But in the end, they won, won honorably, defeated Forrest Gump at his peak, and won the gold medal they had dreamed of, or rather, the gold medal they had to win.

Before coming to Barcelona, ​​Bobby Bellman said, "There's an island in Spain called Menorca, which has the highest suicide rate in the world. If we don't win the Olympic gold medal this time, please come there to find my body."

Berman ultimately united this super team, and he is the coach who understands Gan Guoyang best in the world. He successfully defeated his most prized disciple, which will be the proudest thing in his coaching career.

Bellman went to the closing ceremony with the US team, while most of the remaining stars didn't want to cause trouble and preferred to stay in the hotel with Forrest Gump.

This is the scene that all the stars have been dreaming of.

However, the arrogant and domineering Barkley lost $10,000 to Gan Guoyang in a poker game that night.

Because he didn't have enough cash, he ended up having to give Gan Guoyang an IOU.

On the night of farewell, the following day, August 10th, the Olympic Games officially ended, and the athletes had already left Barcelona in batches.

Gan Guoyang bid farewell to the Chinese team. The leaders tried hard to persuade him to stay and wanted him to return to Beijing to attend the celebration banquet, but Gan Guoyang politely declined.

He no longer wanted to spend any more time on social activities, especially since his elderly parents, children, and wife were all exhausted and in dire need of resting at home.

Gan Guoyang himself also needs to take some time to adjust and prepare for the 1992-1993 season. The situation in the new season will definitely be very tough.

Before leaving, Gan Guoyang had been trying to find Sabonis, who hadn't shown up at the awards ceremony on the 8th.

When the Lithuanian team received the bronze medal, the giant was nowhere to be seen among the team members, which made people worry about him.

Did this guy go a little overboard celebrating in his dorm?

A few days later, news came from Barcelona that Sabonis had been found in the women's dormitory in the Olympic Village.

It's unclear what happened to this handsome, tall Lithuanian giant in the past two days.

Everything about the Olympics gradually calmed down, and the summer of 1992 was coming to an end.

After returning to Portland, Gan Guoyang continued his busy life.

Gan Guoyang's commercial activities have become more frequent, and the Chinese red Olympic-themed sneakers designed and released by Avia have become a highlight of sports products this summer.

These red and yellow sneakers didn't sell very well in North America, but they were incredibly popular in China, where they were later dubbed the "92 Flag Edition" and fetched very high prices.

In Oregon, it's considered an honor to have Gan Guoyang attend any basketball-related social event; having more friends means having more face to give.

During the election season, Bill Clinton, a close friend of Gan Guoyang, campaigned in Oregon, and Gan's appearance greatly boosted Clinton's popularity.

On July 16, Clinton was officially nominated as the presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention, competing against George W. Bush.

Gan Guoyang knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Clinton would become the new president of the United States, officially ushering in the prosperous 90s in America.

He had no interest in taking sides, after all, he was a foreigner.

But having a president as a friend might reduce some obstacles on the NBA court.

A four-peat is Gan Guoyang's only goal.

In his spare time, Gan Guoyang would go to the funeral home he had invested in to hold funerals for people who died young.

His funeral company, which he co-founded with Calvin Knight, has grown so large that it's practically a sprawling operation on the West Coast.

Funerals bring sadness, but they also make people more clear-headed and rational. When facing death, people inevitably think about the meaning of life.

His visits often overwhelmed the families of the deceased, alleviating their grief to some extent. Each time, Gan Guoyang would comfort them, saying, "I believe they will find a new life in another world, where they will be happy and joyful, and will always remember you."

He was so sincere that Gan Guoyang's funeral procession gradually became the hallmark of their funeral company, making them much more famous than other funeral businesses.

It is said that a fanatic tried to find solace in Gan Guoyang by killing his own child, and since then, Gan Guoyang has rarely attended funerals in person.

Time flew by and it was already the end of August. Slowly escaping the busy activities after the Olympics, Gan Guoyang decided to leave Portland and go to Los Angeles to find a place to train properly.

He will develop a completely new personal skills training plan for the new season to cope with the new league environment and situation, as well as his new playing style.

He hired a physical trainer and technical coach to supervise him and assembled a dedicated team to further refine his technique.

The valuable experience of the 1992 Olympic final allowed Gan Guoyang to see more possibilities in this competition, and he still had room for improvement.

Yes, it's room for improvement, not room for progress. In terms of pure ability, it's really difficult for Gan Guoyang to improve.

But he can improve. In terms of playing style and technical details, he wants to be more flexible, more outside, and more versatile.

The goal is to replicate the playing style from the 1992 Finals and the Olympics in the regular season and establish a new system around him.

Gan Guoyang was excited about this possibility, as it would be a completely new season experience and a different way of playing the game.

He became so engrossed in his work that he grew increasingly indifferent to everything else. Spending his days with his wife and children and making a phone call to his father were his most important leisure activities.

Therefore, when that blockbuster trade happened in Miami, Gan Guoyang was probably the last person in the entire NBA to know about it, because he didn't read any NBA-related news reports at all.

On August 31st, the last day of August, Gan Guoyang finished his training session in the afternoon and, as usual, practiced three-pointers in the gym to maintain his shooting touch.

Many star athletes like to train together as a team, where they can supervise each other and improve together.

In the past, Gan Guoyang would also organize training camps with his friends or participate in Newell's BIG-MAN training camp.

This year, however, Gan Guoyang has been training alone in secret, without teaming up with anyone, fully enjoying his solo running experience.

At this moment, he was shooting three-pointers one after another, intentionally speeding up his release to adapt to more difficult shooting conditions.

"Sonny!"

A familiar voice echoed in the stadium, causing Gan Guoyang to stop what he was doing.

"Jerry!"

It was team manager Jerry West; somehow he found the training facility.

West hugged Gan Guoyang. West had returned to Los Angeles since the Chinese team began their Olympic journey.

He then focused on recruiting and trading for the new season in Los Angeles—Los Angeles has the most free agents and the richest intelligence network in the West.

This summer has been tough for West, as the three-time champions are under immense pressure to renew their contracts, having already exceeded the salary cap.

Domantas Sabonis, Jerome Kossie, and Clive Robinson will all face contract renewal issues. They all have Bird rights, but if they sign them all for a hefty sum, the team's expenses will be enormous.

Owner Tang Jianguo verbally said he would "fully support the team in winning four consecutive championships," but in reality, he was asking West to control expenses, as West had been using the money earned by the Trail Blazers to subsidize other businesses.

For example, casinos, real estate, hotels, airlines, etc. A three-peat is enough for him to brag about for half his life, but whether he can win a four-peat doesn't seem to be that important.

After all, going from 0 to 1 feels completely different from going from 3 to 4.

The management team, represented by West, was equally exhausted. The journey to the three-peat was glorious and honorable, but it was also exhausting.

What West couldn't do with the Los Angeles Lakers, he accomplished with the Trail Blazers.

In the 1992 NBA Finals, when the Trail Blazers went to Chicago for Game 6, West did not travel with the team but instead stayed home and slept.

He has a big heart on the court, but he can't handle the pressure off the court. After the game, he doesn't even dare to watch TV.

Finally, Buckwalt called him to tell him that the Trail Blazers had won and that he was getting ready to go back to Portland to celebrate. Only then did he perk up, get out of bed, change his clothes, and head out.

And then what? He felt like he had lost his purpose. Find a veteran replacement for Forrest Gump? There were candidates, but no money or space.

The draft? West handed it all over to Buckwalt; he didn't have the energy to pick out rookies one by one, he was too old.

His interest, however, lies with the young players on the Chinese national team, such as Hu Weidong, although Hu Weidong will not be able to participate in the draft until next year.

Part of the reason for doing so was business considerations; the pioneers wanted to completely dominate the huge potential East Asian market.

In short, the Trail Blazers, from top to bottom, couldn't stay focused. Their players remained united and motivated, but some objective factors were hard to change.

West came to see Gan Guoyang to tell him some things and have a chat with him to see what the team leader was really thinking.

"Sonny, you've heard about that deal, haven't you?"

"A deal? What deal? You're not going to send me away, are you?" Gan Guoyang was clearly clueless.

West wants the Portlanders to trade the Trail Blazers and bring in another team, but they won't trade you.

"The Miami Heat acquired Hakeem Olajuwon in a trade, and the trade was submitted to the league office for approval this morning."

Gan Guoyang was taken aback. Rumors about trading Hakeem Olajuwon had been circulating since the middle to late part of the season, and now it had finally come true.

Hakim has finally left Houston and is going to reunite with Drexler.

Gan Guoyang made a three-pointer and said, "Great, really great!"

“We have a stronger opponent now, you know. Riley has been thinking about getting revenge on you and the Trail Blazers. It’s been so many years, I know him, he’s a very persistent person.”

"I know, but won't that give us even more motivation for the new season?"

Gan Guoyang made another three-pointer, which he easily scored again.

"But the situation isn't very good. I couldn't keep the entire championship team. Cliff Robinson was snatched up by another team, who offered him a higher salary."

"Who?"

"Hmph~ Guess."

"The Heat again?"

“That’s right, Pat really did move a lot of things from Portland.”

Cliff Robinson's two-year rookie contract has expired, and the Trail Blazers are unable to offer him a large contract.

The Miami Heat poached this future star with a four-year, $9 million contract, averaging over $2 million per month.

This is Riley's second time "picking up scraps" from Portland, following his earlier acquisition of Anthony Mason.

Gan Guoyang was speechless at Riley's behavior and asked West, "By the way, who were the rookies we drafted this year? Are they any good?"

"Buckwalt's pick, PJ Brown, should be a decent big man, your backup."

"Sounds good, but be careful not to let Riley poach you again."

(End of this chapter)