The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 288 - 28: Running Until the Sun Turns Yellow

Chapter 288: Chapter 28: Running Until the Sun Turns Yellow

After dinner, Wang Fuxi and her friends returned to school. This was her last semester at university, and she had to spend time working on her graduation project.

When leaving, her friend grabbed Wang Fuxi and asked, "Fosse, what do you think they’re going to do later? The nightlife of NBA players is quite rich. Are you sure you’re okay with that?"

Wang Fuxi knew what her friend meant and laughed, "I trust Ah Gan, he ate a lot today, he’s definitely eager to go back for a run tonight, he wouldn’t mess around."

"He really is a... man beyond description."

"He is an amazing man, I love him very much, but sometimes I really admire him, and even feel a bit sorry for him..."

"Then you might as well give him the chance to cheat once a year."

"No! His charm is too strong, once he has a chance, I don’t know how many flies will swarm over."

The topic of women’s conversations always revolves around men, and men’s topics often revolve around women too.

On the way to send Ewing back to the hotel, Gan Guoyang, after finishing their talk about basketball, started discussing women.

Ewing liked girls with darker skin, but not too dark; Wang Fuxi’s complexion was too pale for him.

Like most black basketball players, he preferred women with explosive figures, big breasts, and big buttocks.

"Latin American girls must be your favorite."

"Oh, that’s right... but they’re not easy to come by up north."

In places like New York and Portland during the ’80s, there was a relative scarcity of Latino people.

In Florida, the Southern region, and some states near Mexico, there were more.

Gan Guoyang safely dropped off Ewing at his hotel, and Ewing asked if Gan Guoyang wanted to come up and play for a while, maybe some poker or something.

Gan Guoyang said he needed to go back to training; he had eaten a bit too much that evening.

"Damn, are you made of iron or something, still training? Sometimes I really admire you, Ah Gan."

Overtraining is actually not good for the body, but Gan Guoyang had no problem, he could handle it.

The two said goodbye, and Ewing returned to his room. Although he was a rookie, Ewing had the privilege of staying in a single room.

Just as he finished his bath and was feeling bored, someone knocked on the door. Ewing opened it to see a tall Latin girl with chestnut curly hair, a lovely face, and a curvy figure standing at the door.

She looked at Ewing with surprise in her eyes, glanced at the room number to confirm, and there was no mistake, it was the right room. She asked, "Mr. Patrick?"

"Yes, it’s me. Who are you?" Ewing asked, his gaze lingering on the girl from top to bottom, unable to shift away.

The girl was not intimidated by Ewing’s aggressive face and gaze. Instead, she flipped her hair and pushed out her chest.

"I’ve come to add some excitement to your night~ The money has already been paid. May I come in?" The girl’s voice was very seductive. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Ewing instantly understood, grinned, showed his big white teeth, opened the door, and let the girl in.

It looked like Ah Gan really was a friend beyond reproach, but as for tomorrow’s game... well, what game? Hadn’t Ah Gan said to just burn incense?

-----------------

After sorting everything out, Gan Guoyang drove home. Once home, he took a quick shower, changed clothes, and went out, prepared to go to the Portland Community College gym to play basketball for a while.

He had eaten quite a bit accompanying Ewing that evening; he needed to exercise to digest it.

For professional basketball players for whom basketball has become a job, playing basketball outside of games and training sessions is difficult for many to accept.

After all, once a hobby becomes a job, it is hard for it to still be a hobby, and many players prefer to do something else in their spare time.

Gan Guoyang was different; he just wanted to play basketball. He always wanted to try different moves on the court; he found it interesting.

Portland Community College is six or seven kilometers from Lake Mountain Park, about a 10-minute drive, so going there to play basketball was quite convenient.

Tonight, Gan Guoyang decided to run there. He wanted to digest his food and warm up at the same time, so he could start playing as soon as he reached the gym.

On his way, Gan Guoyang passed by Kolter’s house, which he had recently moved into after leaving his rookie apartment, buying a second-hand bungalow near Lake Mountain Park to settle down.

Gan Guoyang noticed someone standing suspiciously at Kolter’s doorstep. He didn’t know if Kolter was home. Could this be a thief?

Gan Guoyang stopped in his tracks and hid behind a tree to observe. He didn’t dare to approach carelessly. What if the person was armed and shot him?

No matter how strong his body was, it couldn’t withstand a hail of bullets. It was a minor issue if something got stolen, but losing his life might not grant him a third chance.

Turns out this person wasn’t a thief. After surreptitiously looking around, he knocked on Kolter’s door. Apparently, someone was home at Kolter’s.

But Kolter didn’t let the person in. The two exchanged something at the door, and after a while, the person left, and Kolter closed the door.

After waiting behind the tree for a while and making sure the person had completely left, Gan Guoyang ran to Kolter’s door and knocked.

Muttering something under his breath, Kolter’s expression changed upon opening the door and seeing it was Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang stared hard at Kolter and got straight to the point, "Steve, are you doing drugs?"

Kolter was taken aback by Gan Guoyang’s sudden appearance and the abrupt question. He stuttered for a long time, neither admitting nor denying it.

Seeing his reaction, Gan Guoyang thought to himself that he hadn’t guessed wrong; this guy was indeed buying some bad stuff.

"Who was that just now, and what did he give you? You better tell the truth, or I’ll report this to the team. Speak up, Steve."

Gan Guoyang’s voice was as cold as a chill, and Kolter hung his head low, saying, "It’s... it was Qu Maduo. That person just sold me Qu Maduo."

With that, Kolter took out a blister pack of pills from his pocket—Qu Maduo painkillers.

While not cocaine or any of the other well-known drugs, it was a prescription medication.

However, this sedative painkiller had become an addictive drug that many athletes took.

It had potent analgesic effects, allowing athletes to escape the pain of injuries and intense training, and so many athletes used it.

Gradually, some people developed an addiction and became dependent on this kind of medication.

Athletes often engage in high-stress, high-intensity competitive sports. These drugs could enhance focus and "spiritual power" during games.

But once the drugs wore off, the physical and psychological void could break a person down, necessitating more drugs to fill the gap, leading to complete control by the substance until collapse.

Gan Guoyang was aware of this medication. Since the League’s drug policy was introduced in 1983, Qu Maduo had been one of the banned substances—its dangers were as great as those of cocaine.

"No wonder you’ve been performing so poorly lately, 0 points, 1 point, 0 points, 2 points. You’ve been on drugs," he remarked.

Kolter, who had shown brilliance in the last season’s playoffs, was now playing horribly in the regular season.

Terry Porter had surpassed him, becoming Ramsay’s first choice as the backup point guard, and Kolter’s time on the court was dwindling.

"I had no choice, Ah Gan. The training and regular season have left me too exhausted, too tired. I’m not like you with an iron body. Look at you, able to run and play basketball so late at night. I can’t keep up. I need these drugs, otherwise I’ll hurt, I won’t be able to play well~"

Kolter’s explanation seemed understandable—he wanted to survive in the NBA, to get a contract, he had to perform exceptionally well.

To overcome the fatigue and pain of training and games, he had no choice but to do drugs to keep himself spirited and play better.

Gan Guoyang looked at Kolter, thinking no wonder this kid has a lifeless look in his eyes. A sudden burst in the playoffs, so he was on drugs.

"The performance given by these drugs won’t last. Look at how you’ve been playing lately; it’s terrible! You need to kick this habit immediately, or I’ll make sure you leave the Trail Blazers. I don’t want any drug addicts on our team."

Kolter hung his head, rubbed his eyes, and then he cried.

Gan Guoyang softened his tone, "Tomorrow morning I’ll take you for a run, you need a regular and healthy lifestyle. You’ve utterly wasted this summer. Come on, get it together, we are from the same draft year."

Kolter threw all the Qu Maduo pills he was holding into the sewer.

The next morning, Kolter and Gan Guoyang ran shoulder to shoulder along the banks of the Willamette River, with the babbling waters on one side and Portland’s vast railway lines on the other, as train after train roared by in the warm red glow of the morning light.

"Sonny! How long are we going to run?"

"Keep running until the sun turns yellow!"