The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 831 No Need for Rest

[1.2000. Thursday, August 21, 8.]

2. (10:30 AM)
3. Mr. Bretteau: Can you see me and hear me?
4. Sonny Gan: I can, thank you for reminding me, sir.

5. Mr. Breto: Could you please tell me your full name, both in English and Chinese?

6. Sonny Gump: Yes, my full English name is Sonny Bruce Gump, and my Chinese name is Gan Guoyang.

7. Mr. Bretteau: Thank you, we are very grateful for your witness statement provided to the investigation team. In fact, this is your eighth time being questioned by the investigation team. The reference number for the witness statement is INQ000331845, dated December 11, 1999. Is this statement entirely true?
8. Sonny Gan: Yes, absolutely true.

9. Mr. Bretteau: Thank you. You have already provided the relevant testimony to the investigation committee, but if possible, I would like to briefly reintroduce you.

10. Q: You are currently a player for the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA, is that right?
11. Answer: Yes.

12. Question: You hold a controlling stake in Carl-Gan Construction Company in the Portland area and are the chairman of the board, is that right?

13. Answer: Yes.

14. Question: You hold a controlling stake in Knight Gan Soul-Hospices and are the chairman of the board, is that correct?
15. Answer: Yes.

16. Question: Are you the chairman of Skyscraper Basketball Sports Goods Company?
17. Answer: Yes.

18. Question: Since July 1996, you have been the president of the Professional Basketball Players Association (PBA) and were also the president of the association, is that right?
19. Answer: Yes.

20. Q: Thank you very much. As you know, we are investigating a leak of U.S. national secrets and espionage, and we suspect you played a significant role in it, possibly even a key part of the leak, meaning we suspect you of espionage. I would like to ask you, do you admit to such allegations?

21. Answer: No, I deny it.

22. Question: Okay, in January 1998, President Clinton publicly admitted on television to having a relationship with intern Lewinsky. Did you disclose to him beforehand that Attorney Starr possessed key evidence of the president's sexual harassment?

23. Answer: No, I didn't.

24.问：太平洋时间1999年5月6日，下午14：36分，你在哪里，在做什么？
25. Answer: This afternoon, I was practicing at Willamette University's training facility, preparing for the playoffs.

26.问：太平洋时间1999年5月7日，晚上8点45分，你在哪里，在做什么？
27. Answer: That night, I was playing. It was the first round of the playoffs, and my opponent was the Seattle SuperSonics.

28. Question: On May 6, 1999, did you call the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia?

29. Answer: No.

30.问：1999年5月5日-5月8日，在贝尔格莱德进行的篮球邀请赛，是否为你主办？
31. Answer: It was organized by Avia Company, in my name, but I was unaware of it. Afterwards, I filed a lawsuit against them for the use of my image.

32.问：在1999年4月1日至1999年5月8日之间，比尔-克林顿是否有向你提供过任何军事行动的信息？或者，相关的暗示。

33. Answer: No.

34. Q: Okay, thank you very much. Next, we will conduct a detailed inquiry to confirm the details. Please be prepared and you can take a short break.

35. Answer: Thank you, I'm ready. I don't need rest, I never need it.

—Excerpt from the transcript of the eighth hearing in New York, August 21, 2000.

It was almost February 1998, and the Trail Blazers were still undefeated.

The Trail Blazers' winning streak has brought tremendous attention to the NBA. There are a huge number of sports fans in the United States, and the sports industry is an exceptionally large market.

Although the NBA has become popular all over the world in recent years, it has gradually become one of the most influential professional leagues in the United States and the world.

However, the NBA often falls behind in competition with the NFL and baseball.

The NFL is more in line with American aesthetic tastes, while baseball has a much longer history and deeper cultural roots in the United States.

While the NBA appears to be expanding its territory around the world, this is actually a necessary "indirect" strategy for the NBA.

Because of its relatively short history and late establishment, it couldn't compete with other professional leagues in its home country, so it focused on outward development. Once it has gained enough power, it will eventually return to vie for the domestic throne.

For the NBA, the lucrative US sports market still has enormous potential to be tapped.

The Trail Blazers' winning streak is a complete breakthrough for the NBA, and its impact is beyond imagination.

As the victories continue, more and more people are joining the ranks of those following the Trail Blazers' schedule.

Just like the people running alongside Forrest Gump in the movie, if you just run around casually, no one will notice you.

But if you keep running and running, at first people will follow you, and then more and more people will follow you until you stop. Eventually, people won't know why they're following you, but they'll just keep following you until you stop.

The Trail Blazers are like Forrest Gump on the run. When they went on a 20-game winning streak, even sports fans who don't watch the NBA started to pay attention.

Even though Gan Guoyang is so famous and accomplished in the United States, there are still some who "slip through the net" and don't know about or watch basketball games.

Moreover, many new children grow up every year. No matter how great the achievements of past basketball stars were, they are just history in their eyes. They are more concerned about the present.

During the 20-game winning streak: "Oh, that guy named Forrest Gump, my dad always says he's the greatest basketball player. I don't know what's so great about him, but they've got a 20-game winning streak, so I'll keep an eye on him."

Whether you just pay attention or don't actually watch NBA games, you might forget about it in a few days.

One day, I turned on the TV and saw the sports news broadcasting NBA news: the Trail Blazers had achieved a 30-game winning streak!

When they were on a 30-game winning streak: "My God, 30 games? They haven't lost a game yet? The last time I heard they had a 20-game winning streak was more than half a month ago. Look at the news, look at how the Trail Blazers and Forrest Gump play."

At this point, fans who didn't watch NBA games before started actively following related news and turning on NBC's pay channel to buy Trail Blazers game tickets.

The viewership of games involving the Trail Blazers began to skyrocket, and the Blazers' fluid offense and Gan Guoyang's outstanding individual ability were captivating. Many people who had never watched the NBA before were immediately drawn in and became loyal fans of the Blazers and Gan Guoyang.

After a 30-game winning streak, it could end at any time, perhaps with a 31, 32, or 33-game winning streak. Once it ends, a significant number of "enthusiasts" will stop and leave.

Their wish had been fulfilled by seeing the Trail Blazers lose.

It's not that I'm hoping the Trail Blazers will lose, but rather that the race has ended, and so has the following.

This is the mindset of most people when following an event: once I've finished eating this juicy gossip, I'm leaving to find the next source of entertainment.

Only a few people will become fans, follow the parties involved in the incident, and become fans of the team or player.

But the Trail Blazers' run wasn't over. They defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, the record holders for a 33-game winning streak, at home, extending their winning streak to 34 games.

When they were on a 34-game winning streak: "My God, no one can stop the Trail Blazers! 34 games in a row, every win after that is a new record! But I think it's coming soon, they are very tired, they struggled against the Lakers, and the winning streak could be ended at any time."

The sports fan who didn't watch the NBA much before has started paying attention to the NBA games and researching other NBA teams through the Trail Blazers.

He embarked on his journey to becoming a die-hard NBA fan. Meanwhile, people who weren't sports fans at all joined in.

The 34-game winning streak not only set a new NBA record, but also the longest winning streak in North American professional sports history.

Everyone's talking about the Trail Blazers' winning streak, and if you're not a sports fan, you'll feel out of place if you don't join in.

Therefore, even those who are not sports fans have started to pay attention to the Trail Blazers and the NBA.

Some of them said, "Oh! I know! Forrest Gump! That Chinese guy, I heard about him in high school, he's really amazing. Every time he appears, I know something big is going to happen, he's a good friend of MJ. Can you tell me about his achievements? I don't know much about them now... Wow, seven championships? My God, seven... I think I should go watch his matches."

The winning streak continues, and the number of followers continues to grow.

35 consecutive wins, 36, 37, 38... heading towards 41.

At this point, the winning streak was undergoing a qualitative change, and 41 was a threshold for this qualitative change.

An NBA season consists of 82 regular season games, so 41 is half of the season.

Anyone familiar with professional sports, especially the NBA, knows that with such intense, high-level competition, how can you not have lost a game halfway through?

This isn't university; there are two matches a week, and many of the opponents are weaklings.

On January 20, the Trail Blazers played against the Detroit Pistons on the road.

The Pistons strengthened their offense after acquiring Jerry Stackhouse.

But the Pistons had no way to deal with the Trail Blazers' overwhelming momentum.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Pistons 113-101 on the road, extending their winning streak to 39 games.

In a post-game interview, Grant Hill said, "My deepest feeling about coming to the NBA is that I have to learn to accept defeat. Before entering the NBA, we were all elite college basketball teams. For three or four years in a row, we had very few losses. The memories of losing games throughout our college career are very vivid. But when you enter the NBA, you quickly have to learn to accept defeat and deal with the emotions of losing. Many people, including me, have lost more games in one month than in the previous four years. That's the NBA."

"But... my God, look at this team across from me, almost three months and they're still undefeated? Is this still the NBA I know? Before the game, we all swore we'd beat the Trail Blazers tonight. After the game, we were all thinking, who the hell can beat the Trail Blazers? Who is it?"

Hill spoke for many NBA players.

When the Trail Blazers got to this point, some teams had already lost the will to fight.

The so-called "surrender at the first sign of trouble" means that losing isn't shameful, and winning is pointless anyway; it's all about luck.

Following closely on January 21st, the Trail Blazers will play the Bucks on the road in a back-to-back game, which presents an opportunity for the Bucks.

Before the game started, Bucks power forward Vin Baker missed the game due to heart problems, leaving the Bucks without a center (later it was revealed that Vin Baker's heart problems were caused by drug use and he almost died in the ambulance).

The Bucks, who didn't have much of a will to resist to begin with, collapsed quickly after holding on for a while at the start against an invincible team.

The number one draft pick, Big Dog Robinson, is an extremely talented forward who received the most expensive rookie contract in NBA history: 10 years and $6800 million.

From the perspective of the time, this 10-year contract with an annual salary of $680 million was very attractive.

It was a longer contract and a higher average salary than that of Scottie Pippen, an All-Star player at the time, who had already won a championship with the Bulls.

In the 1994-1995 season, Pippen's annual salary was $225 million, more than $100 million less than the previous year, because that idiot signed a contract with decreasing pay.

But Pippen is one of the best small forwards in the league, while Glenn Robinson has greater potential but hasn't lived up to it.

His performance on the court in recent years has not improved significantly compared to his rookie season. He averaged just over 20 points per game in his rookie season, and he still averages just over 20 points per game now.

Because the three-point line was lengthened again, the number of three-point attempts dropped significantly, while assists, rebounds, and other statistics remained around 3 to 5 per game, with little change.

The signing of the super long contract made him lose his motivation to fight. In Milwaukee, a small town, he had no intention of leading the team to rise, since no one really cared about the Bucks anyway.

Having amassed a fortune, he began indulging in a life of debauchery, with women, alcohol, and drugs becoming his entire life off the field.

He not only indulged in these activities himself, but also dragged his underlings into them. It was Wen Baker who was dragged into the trap of alcohol and illicit drugs by him.

The only person on the team who explicitly refused to go out, drink alcohol, or use drugs was Ray Allen, the young man who joined the team in 1996.

In this game, Glenn Robinson was completely outmatched by Gan Guoyang, and the Trail Blazers increasingly had Gan Guoyang play the small forward position.

Robinson is also a small forward, and when the two of them faced off against Big Dog, he was completely outmatched. Their physical abilities were simply not on the same level.

Glenn Robinson's physique was certainly good for the NBA, but far from top-tier. His speed and strength were average when he entered the league, but his skills were excellent.

But after four years with the Bucks, his strength didn't improve much. He didn't have enough muscle in his arms, his body wasn't thick enough, and his legs were too thin and lacked power.

Without a stronger physical foundation, Robinson has been relying on his old skills, especially his pull-up jump shot.

However, the pull-up jump shot is useless against a tall small forward like Forrest Gump.

When the Bucks' offense and defense gradually collapsed under the Trail Blazers' pressure, the home team needed Glenn Robinson to step up and turn the tide with one-on-one baskets.

However, Gan Guoyang defended Glenn Robinson one-on-one, giving him two big blocks, a steal, and a missed shot.

Robinson missed four consecutive shots, and the Bucks completely collapsed, allowing the Trail Blazers to extend their lead to more than 15 points.

At this point, it was young player Ray Allen who stepped up, using drives, three-pointers, and free throws to help the Bucks stabilize the situation.

But Ray Allen's strength is still limited. He can help the team at certain stages, but he is not capable enough to carry the team and turn the tide for the entire game.

When the second unit transitioned into halftime, the Trail Blazers' dominance intensified, and the team stormed through the Bucks in the first half, ultimately securing the victory.

They have achieved an unprecedented 40-game winning streak, and they are just one game away from achieving a perfect record of "unbeaten in half a season".

At this point, the entire nation's attention to the Trail Blazers had reached its peak, and nobody cared about the president's private matters anymore.

What's so special about the President of the United States having a secretary do some light sex for him? At least he told the truth!

The Trail Blazers' incredible 40-game winning streak has become the biggest performance art experiment in American sports.

The New York Times even published an article asking, "When will the Trail Blazers finally stop?"

After the game against the Bucks, a reporter interviewed Gan Guoyang and asked him, "Sonny, do you think you and the team need to stop and rest? Winning non-stop must be tiring, right?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Losing a game still makes me tired. And I don't need to rest, I never do."

The Trail Blazers immediately set off for their next city, Indianapolis, the venue for their 41st game of the season.

(End of this chapter)