The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 272 - 14 Cured

The Trail Blazers really did right by Walton in the beginning. In anticipation of this college basketball superstar, they not only built him a high-spec log cabin to live in and equipped him with a land cruiser for convenient travel, they met all of Walton’s reasonable and unreasonable demands whenever possible.

Things like hiking, biking, and attending Grateful Dead concerts were child’s play. Participating in marches and rallies for political advocacy was just a drop in the bucket.

Because Oregon is full of mountains and virgin forests, and the logging industry is thriving, one day Walton suddenly became very interested in logging and wanted to work as a lumberjack in the mountains.

Logging can be said to be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, with a fairly high accident fatality rate.

You’re a basketball player who should be focusing on your game. Hiking and cycling are fine, but wanting to chop down big trees?

As a result, the Trail Blazers’ owner indulged Walton by finding him a logging job in the mountains east of Eugene during the summer and even assigned someone to follow and protect him.

Walton went to the mountains and couldn’t bear it for long. It was too arduous and too dangerous, nothing like the romantic idyll of being among the mountains and forests he had imagined.

He couldn’t carry on and returned home.

He lost interest in logging, but his curiosity about the forests and mountains remained. So he packed his bag and ventured into the forests of central Oregon, nearly getting drained by mosquitoes.

Even while recuperating during the off-season, he couldn’t sit still. He followed the Grateful Dead to the Egyptian desert to see the Sphinx and explore the Great Pyramids, climbed trees over 50 meters tall in the Philippines to observe the massive Philippine eagle, shot the documentary "American Athletes" for ABC, and incidentally picked up an Emmy Award.

His off-court life was indeed rich and varied. In principle, a team shouldn’t care what a player does off the court, but these high-risk activities clearly impacted Walton’s already fragile body.

Now that Walton has returned to Portland, it’s time for him to focus inward. Reflecting on these past events, Walton knew that the Trail Blazers had indeed been very lenient and caring in the early days, it’s just that things had taken a turn for the worse.

The first training session took place in the spacious and familiar Portland Community College gymnasium. Many of the equipment had been updated, and the Trail Blazers had funded renovations to the locker room, expanding it to include two large stainless steel ice water tubs.

After training, players could soak their legs in flowing ice water to improve blood circulation in their legs and feet, allowing the muscles and tendons to recover better without swelling.

The lighting above the court had become brighter and more comfortable, which allowed the players to keep their eyes in a comfortable state and to concentrate on training and playing.

Training officially began at ten o’clock. Jack Ramsay had devised a detailed training plan for the team, covering everything from physical conditioning to tactical coordination to opposition practice.

The intensity was as high as ever. At the start, they could still talk and laugh a bit on the court, but very soon, they were too breathless to speak.

Whistle after whistle accompanied by Ramsay’s loud roar, the squeaking friction of the floor filled the air, along with the thumping of the basketball on the floor and the whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

Running, continuous running, everyone had almost no chance to breathe or rest. Whether new players or veterans, Ramsay treated everyone the same; all had to engage in high-intensity training.

But the training didn’t last too long. Just as Ramsay sensed everyone nearing their physical limits, he stopped the session, announcing the end of the morning’s training.

Gan Guoyang was just getting into the swing of it. The morning training was over already?

He quickly asked Ramsay, "Dr. Jack, why are you slacking off? It’s not even lunchtime yet."

Ramsay said, "If you feel like training, go ahead by yourself. The rest could use a break."

"Last season at this time we weren’t done yet. We would train for at least another half hour."

"Last season was last season. This season I’m 60 years old. I’m old and I need a rest," replied Ramsay.

After that, Ramsay summarized the day’s training and told everyone to prepare for defensive training the next day before dismissing the team.

"Jack, you don’t really plan to coach until you’re 80, do you? You’re only 60, and you’re already coaching with health preservation in mind? Is it because you’ve been kneeling too much on the sideline and your knees can’t take it? I told you to get knee pads, but you wouldn’t listen," Gan Guoyang ranted at Ramsay, who ignored him and went back to his office to watch videos.

Walton stood by, dumbfounded. He asked Adelman, "Is this how Sonny and Jack always talk to each other?"

Adelman shook his head, "Of course not. I remember last year’s first training camp, they were basically at each other’s throats. Now, just a year later, they’ve found a way to get along."

Curious, Walton asked, "What way is that?"

Adelman sighed without a word, thinking that the way was him, goddammit!

The team training session may have ended, but few players left.

After eating, everyone continued to train individually based on their needs.

Drexler followed Vandeweghe for shooting practice.

Clyde’s shooting form was becoming more and more like Vandeweghe’s, with a slight leg kick during the release and a brief hang time in the air.

His arms tilted towards the right side behind his head. Vandeweghe’s overall motion seemed much smoother, while Drexler looked a lot stiffer.

Mychal Thompson, Kenny-Carl, and others were in the gym doing strength training, a practice that was becoming increasingly common among League players.

Terry Porter silently reviewed the playbook on the sidelines. As a point guard, he needed to familiarize himself with the team’s tactics as quickly as possible.

Although in Ramsay’s system, the frontcourt was crucial, and the backcourt had lighter duties, the pressure on the point guard on the court was never small.

After trading away Valentine, the Trail Blazers only had rookies Porter and Kolter as point guards, and Porter had to take on responsibilities sooner rather than later.

More than half a month ago, at the rookie camp, Porter worked tirelessly on training, studying the playbook, and watching videos, hoping to secure a suitable position on this new team.

The good news was that he had connections with Gan Guoyang. During the Olympic Team selection, when he had chickenpox, it was Gan Guoyang who looked after him, an experience he would never forget.

He never imagined he would become teammates with Gan Guoyang. Playing on the team with Ah Gan during the Olympic selection was the best feeling; he always managed to lead unremarkable players to victory.

At that moment, Gan Guoyang was training nearby: he had a long elastic rope hooked around his waist, while Jerome Kossie and Ken Johnson held the two ends of the rope, trying to hold Gan Guoyang back.

But Gan Guoyang was like a tractor, dragging Kossie and Johnson from one end of the court to the other, then resting a while before continuing, going back and forth as if plowing a field.

This was to train Gan Guoyang’s ability to drive hard while also giving the two young men, Kossie and Johnson, some practice in lower body strength and stamina.

After several back-and-forths, Kossie and Johnson’s hands were numb, whereas Gan Guoyang said he could still train for a while.

Kossie said, "Sonny, you might as well train with a parachute or tire on your back, I can’t hold back anymore. Didn’t you lose weight? Why is it still so hard to pull you?"

Gan Guoyang thought to himself that Kossie actually had a good idea.

"What I reduced is the fat, and my muscles have become even stronger."

Kossie had trained hard over the summer, aiming to impress everyone at training camp.

However, when compared with Gan Guoyang, he was still far behind, their strength wasn’t on the same level.

Two players weren’t participating inthe extra practice: one was Bill Walton, the other was Jones.

Both were veterans, with Walton also plagued by injuries. Rest was extremely important to them.

Walton was soaking his legs in the stainless steel ice-water bucket in the locker room, which bore many scars from injuries.

In order to return to the court, so far his feet, back, and legs had undergone a total of 36 surgeries.

In the future, he may need even more to live a normal life.

Jones, looking at Walton’s feet, shook his head and said, "God, how do you bear it?"

Walton, with a smile, replied, "I don’t know, maybe it’s because of basketball."

Dr. Bruce Ogilvie later came to the locker room and said to the two old guys, "Dr. Jack says you two better not practice this afternoon, afraid you might fall apart. You can do visualization training with me instead."

Ramsay shortened training times mainly to take care of the veterans. Last season, the oldest player on the Trail Blazers was only 30 years old, but this season they not only had two 35-year-old veterans, Thompson was also 31, and Vandeweghe and Parkson both experienced varying degrees of injuries.

Ramsay clearly had high expectations for the new season, hence he was cautious from the outset, making long-term plans and preparations.

Walton introduced Dr. Ogilvie to Jones, as had it been Walton who first suggested visualization training, which helped the entire Trail Blazers team improve their free throw shooting percentage.

"Back then my free throw shooting percentage was only 58%, but after a period of visualization training, it went up to 69%, a huge increase. Even my rebounding improved, as I thought about and simulated in my head the falling points of the ball whenever any player missed a shot, from 11 it went up to 14," he said.

For veterans with rich game experience and bodies that have been rigorously conditioned, visualization training could be even more effective.

"I really have to thank you, Bruce," Walton expressed his gratitude to Ogilvie. Since returning to Portland, gratitude was the word he said the most.

But Walton was somewhat puzzled and asked Ogilvie, "I’ve noticed Jack has changed a lot, the training time is shorter, even the training methods have changed, it’s his first time being so... um, how should I say it?"

"Not like a dictator anymore, right?"

"Yes, that’s right, he’s unusually calm and composed."

Ogilvie laughed and said, "Actually, you’ve changed a lot too. You’ve become quite articulate, and you can say ’thank you’ now."

Due to his stutter, Walton was 28 before he could utter the simplest word: thank you. Up to that point, he had never managed to say it smoothly.

Walton said, "Privately, I’m no different from a normal person, but I still can’t do it if there are too many people around. Luckily, they didn’t make me give a speech at the airport when I came back."

"The people of Portland are willing to understand you, and they love you."

"What’s really going on with Dr. Jack?"

"Him? He’s cured of being crazy."