The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 295 - 35: The Devil

Although an 18-point deficit is significant, the Lakers have faced such a disadvantage before. If they could unite, they could entirely catch up in the third quarter on their home court.

But the problem lay precisely in that unity. Tonight’s atmosphere among the Lakers was rife with arguments and despair, and they lost control from the very beginning— all because Jabbar had been completely dominated by Gan Guoyang.

In the locker room, Jabbar kept a stern face. The footage of the first quarter had already been edited by Riley’s assistant and was playing in the locker room.

After the Lakers’ disastrous defeat to the Celtics in the first game of the finals, Riley had done the same thing. Jabbar, ashamed and then emboldened, had excelled in the subsequent games and won the FMVP.

However, using the same tactic didn’t guarantee the same effect, especially now that it was the regular season, and the season had just begun. Jabbar wasn’t fully in the zone yet.

In Jabbar’s view, Riley’s method seemed less like motivation and more like humiliation. He remained silent throughout, offering no response to Riley’s attempt at inspiration.

To the Lakers players, Riley had changed. When he first took over from Westhead, he was an enthusiastic, low-key, friendly coach who was good at communicating with players.

He was obedient to Magic; he showed immense respect for Jabbar; he approached other players with humility. Everyone acknowledged him and considered him a good coach.

Four years had passed since then. They had won two championships and made it to the finals every year, but Riley’s temper and ambition grew along with the honors.

He used to sit with reporters, share beer and fried chicken, open his heart, and talk about his basketball philosophy and tactical strategy, letting the editors go out and promote the Lakers.

In turn, this promotion would reach the players’ ears, helping them understand Riley’s basketball philosophy—a very effective teaching method.

Now, he was like a wary dictator, demanding all players be vigilant during interviews, treating everyone near the locker room who was not a player or coach as a suspicious intruder.

This was his kingdom, not something just anyone could pry into. Now, he charged $10,000 for a motivational speech, and suit companies approached him for endorsements.

He refused to participate in the Coach of the Month selection because the award was sponsored by a certain brand of slacks. To accept the award meant wearing and being photographed in that brand, which he disliked.

He became increasingly harsh and impatient with the players, demanding strict adherence to his plans and rotations, and began to question their loyalty to him.

Indeed, he needed the players’ loyalty. Once he felt you were not loyal enough or didn’t support his tactical approach, he would bench you.

The reason Morris Lucas still got to play was because he was Jerry West’s pick during the summer. Riley didn’t want to tarnish West’s fame for recognizing talent.

This showed that Riley still had some self-awareness and clarity. Thus, he wouldn’t lose his temper with Magic Johnson, but he was no longer Johnson’s sidekick, rejecting some of Johnson’s suggestions during games.

In short, the fifteen-minute halftime break changed nothing for the Lakers except to make things worse.

When the players returned to the court, when Jabbar faced Gan Guoyang again, he smelled a strange fragrance coming from Guoyang.

"You smell nice?"

"You noticed? I drank some tea during the break, brought from China. If you’d like some, I can save you a bit after the game."

"No, thank you."

Jabbar declined Gan Guoyang’s offer, but having exchanged these few words, he felt much more relaxed.

He suddenly realized that Riley shouldn’t harbor such intense animosity against Ah Gan. The rule of Ah Gan was clear—do not provoke Ah Gan.

But Riley had become arrogant, electing to ignore his own principles, opting for confrontation and manipulation instead. And it was Rambis who ended up hurt.

Jabbar felt sympathy for Rambis; he knew he was an oddball—a stubborn white forward. Rambis didn’t collapse because he was weak; on the contrary, it was because he was too competitive.

He couldn’t accept being knocked down by Ah Gan time and again. In their duels, Rambis received no positive feedback and no support from Riley. He was like cannon fodder, suffering both physically and mentally.

Jabbar still remembered how, after the finals in 1984, a defeated Rambis had hidden in a corner, resembling a fragile and pitiful cat.

He was nearly the same now. The arrival of Lucas had shaken his position, and his efforts went unnoticed by Riley.

Moreover, he had to face Ah Gan’s assaults and anger time after time. Jabbar himself felt some despair, let alone Rambis.

When the third quarter started, the Lakers’ offense revolved around Jabbar, and they began a set offense against the Trail Blazers.

This was clearly a mistake. The Trail Blazers’ set defense was much sturdier than last year, and Guoyang was no longer the sole shield.

Jabbar scored some shots, but he couldn’t rally the team. The Trail Blazers stuck with man-to-man defense and didn’t double-team Jabbar.

On the other hand, during the Trail Blazers’ offense, Riley instructed Cooper and Worthy to double-team Guoyang, but he passed the ball out quickly, and the Trail Blazers’ ball movement was very fast.

Ramsay was a master of frontcourt offense, highly skilled at using high-low post interactions to create space, break down the opponent’s double teams, and create shooting opportunities for his teammates.

Walton, Thompson, and Guoyang—a combination of any two could support a set offense.

If all three played together, the Lakers were completely lost on how to deal with Ah Gan.

Worthy struggled when facing Ah Gan, but of course, he did his best and managed to score over Gan Guoyang’s head.

Walton’s defense against Jabbar was, as always, solid; he had extensive experience and knew how to deal with his senior.

And Thompson was the player Pat Riley most wanted to acquire, the dream power forward with all the necessary skills, but unfortunately, he was with the Trail Blazers.

The Lakers’ only advantage was Magic Johnson, so by the end of the third quarter and throughout the fourth, it all came down to Johnson going one-on-one with Drexler.

This was the last situation the Lakers wanted to see, with Johnson unable to ignite his teammates’ offense and having to take charge himself, especially since his offense had many flaws back in 1986.

Drexler let him shoot, let him shoot however he wanted, and in several defensive plays, the Trail Blazers already showed signs of a zone defense. Riley shouted "Illegal defense!" from the sidelines, but the referees turned a deaf ear, it was difficult for them to make the call.

And aren’t you Lakers using it too? Otherwise, how could Jabbar always squat in the three-second zone without moving?

The Trail Blazers, like a cat playing with a mouse, maintained a lead of more than 15 points throughout the game.

Every time the Lakers tried to rely on their defense to gain momentum, Gan Guoyang would make a basket to suppress the Lakers.

With the game reaching the middle of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers were leading 118:100, still ahead by 18 points.

The Lakers had little hope left; Gan Guoyang had scored 41 points, and the Lakers couldn’t find a solid defensive strategy, and they dared not play rough.

Jack-Nicholson from the sidelines shook his head and couldn’t bear to watch as Gan Guoyang used various offensive tactics to torment the 38-year-old veteran.

However, Riley had no intention of giving up; he continued to keep Jabbar on the court to battle Gan Guoyang, who said, "Karim, you should take a rest, this isn’t Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. We have also been beaten by you with a big score; it’s not a big deal. Has Riley lost his mind?"

Jabbar also thought Riley had lost his mind. He called a timeout and then subbed himself out.

Back on the bench, Jabbar questioned Riley about why he had to remain on the court and suffer humiliation when there was no hope left in the game.

And Riley said, "I just wanted to spur you on, like you said during the Finals, that you need to be worthy of this game!"

Jabbar had indeed said this during the Finals, and then he exploded, helping his team win the championship.

Jabbar squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth, "You know that was the Finals."

"You have to treat every game as if it were the Finals!" Riley retorted.

"You’re beyond reason," Jabbar said.

Jabbar threw down the towel he was holding, and there was dead silence on the Lakers bench.

The game was without suspense, and in the end, with Gan Guoyang’s performance of 43 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 blocks, the Trail Blazers easily defeated the Lakers 128:110 on their home court, claiming the top spot in the Western Conference.

This game made the Los Angeles media start to wonder whether the Lakers could get past the Trail Blazers this year. They played terribly.

Riley refused all interviews and locked himself in the video room to carefully study the Trail Blazers’ offense and Gan Guoyang’s performance tonight.

He worked until dawn, and Josie Rosenfield, the Lakers’ director of media relations who had worked overtime with Riley, brought him a cup of coffee in the morning and said, "Pat, you should take a look at this morning’s news."

"What happened; it’s just that we suffered a terrible loss to the Trail Blazers, just a regular-season game, it really doesn’t matter that much, everyone will be fine after a good night’s sleep. What kind of loss haven’t we experienced?"

"It’s not about the game; it’s about you."

"About me? What about me?"

"An interview with Ah Gan, it was played last night on CBS Live, and now it’s in the news, you might want to take a look."

So, Riley found the recording of last night’s CBS broadcast and watched the player interview inserted in the middle of it, and he heard the complimentary words Gan Guoyang had said.

Those words wouldn’t normally mean much, but given the current situation of the Lakers, the tense atmosphere in the team, and Riley’s strained relationship with his players, those words were like pouring fuel on the fire.

For a moment, as Riley watched the image of Ah Gan being interviewed by Barry on TV, he felt as if he saw Ah Gan blink at him and say, "Pat, you’re already dead."

Riley grabbed a chair and with a crash, smashed the monitor in front of him. Rosenfield jumped in shock and exclaimed, "What’s wrong, Pat! My God, what are you doing?"

Riley collapsed into his chair and said, "I...I got a bit dizzy, seemed to have some... hallucinations."

"You’re working too hard; you need to get some rest, you can’t keep doing this all night," Rosenfield advised earnestly. As the head of the media department and Riley’s half assistant, Rosenfield had often been burdened by Riley’s workaholic tendencies.

Rosenfield was secretly pleased to see Riley like this; it was rare to see Riley tormented by someone else, as it was usually him who did the tormenting.

This Ah Gan, truly a devil.