The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 296 - 36: Three Heights

Gan Guoyang’s words in the interview carried an obvious intent to sow discord, but it was true that Riley had become increasingly arrogant and domineering.

NBA players are not strategists; they are mostly straightforward and simple-minded, reacting to things in the most direct manner.

In the interview, Gan Guoyang deliberately praised Riley while mentioning Jabbar but disregarded Johnson’s actions, leading Johnson to believe that his position on the Lakers was being challenged.

As a result, the day after the game between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers, Johnson led a revolt against Riley, corralling the core players of the Lakers to confront Riley in the training facility’s video room for a meeting.

Johnson demanded that Riley revamp the team rotation, excluding Morris Lucas from the primary rotation, and reduce Jabbar’s number of shots; the team should focus on fast breaks rather than having Jabbar shoot as many as 17 times per game, which was two more than last season.

Riley was furious when faced with Johnson’s rebellion, but he had no room to resist because he knew Johnson was Jerry Buss’s favorite, and if anyone had to leave the Lakers team, it would only be Johnson who remained.

In the end, Riley could only agree to some of Johnson’s terms, acknowledging the need to elevate Johnson’s role as the tactical core of the team and to cut back on Jabbar’s shots.

However, on the issue of Morris Lucas, Riley stated that it wasn’t his decision to make, since signing Lucas was Jerry West’s idea.

"We want McAdoo, not Lucas!" Johnson expressed the Lakers players’ sentiments, reminiscing McAdoo’s humor and selfless contribution on the court.

Lucas wasn’t selfish; he had played well with the Trail Blazers and the Suns. The problem was that he wasn’t a good fit with the Lakers, just like two people who get along poorly—not through any fault of their own but purely because they have incompatible personalities. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

When Bob McAdoo was traded to the Celtics, he didn’t want to play for them. He and Auerbach mutually despised each other, and Auerbach nearly resigned over the trade.

Later, after McAdoo played 20 games, he was traded for a 1980 draft pick, which led the Celtics to secure the first overall pick and the formation of their iconic frontcourt trio.

McAdoo thrived when he joined the Lakers—liking it there, and being liked by the players and fans. But when he grew old, West still coldly cut him from the team.

After repeatedly explaining that he couldn’t decide the roster, Johnson could only temporarily compromise on the issue of Lucas and McAdoo but made it clear, "I won’t pass the ball to Lucas during the games. Put him on when I’m off the court. I don’t want to play with him. He reeks too much of Portland."

Riley sarcastically asked, "What does Portland smell like to you, the scent of defeat?"

Johnson retorted angrily, "We only lost one regular-season game. We took the Western Conference finals!"

Riley said, "Yeah, just one regular-season game, and you corner me in a room and threaten me?"

"It’s not just about losing the game; everyone feels you’ve changed. Isn’t that right?"

Riley did not answer. He had not expected such a situation so soon into the new season. Defending the title was proving extremely difficult, and it all started with Ah Gan.

"Are you all afraid of Ah Gan?" Riley suddenly asked.

Johnson, Cooper, Scott, and the others looked at each other.

"We’re not afraid of anyone. I think the person who’s really afraid of Ah Gan is you. Out of fear, you become angry; hence all this preparation, making us alienate and oppose him. It’s fear driving this, but if we play according to last season’s ’Ah Gan Rules,’ we wouldn’t have any problem. They’ve just added a Walton that’s all!"

Riley sank into silence. The two sides communicated a great deal afterward, and eventually, Johnson and Riley reconciled. They shook hands and hugged, agreeing to proceed with the season and focus on defending their title as their only goal.

However, when Riley walked out of the video room, he knew there was an irreconcilable rift between himself and the players. There was also the imaginary scene from the TV where Ah Gan looked at him and said, "You’re already dead," haunting Riley for a long time.

He watched that interview many times over; Ah Gan never said such a thing, nor did he look at him, but the shadow lingered.

Afterward, Riley and Rambis received counseling from a psychologist—not just anyone but Riley’s wife, Chris Riley.

She said that Riley and Rambis were too tense and under too much pressure; they had let their imagination about Ah Gan run wild. The real him was not so terrifying; they had fallen into their own maze.

Compared to the Lakers’ internal conflicts and disarray, this season’s Trail Blazers were much simpler and purer, united as players, in good health, and without major conflicts.

After easily defeating the Lakers, the whole team was brimming with confidence and then returned home to defeat the visiting Utah Jazz Team.

Karl Malone’s court performance had slightly improved, with fewer mistakes, less wrestling, and no longer staggering or hesitating.

But he was still completely outclassed by Gan Guoyang, and this time Layden didn’t have Malone guard Guoyang, as that would have been like giving away points.

The Jazz fought hard for three quarters and went into the fourth quarter tied, but then they were swept away by the Trail Blazers’ towering lineup in one smooth flow.

The Trail Blazers’ towering trio became increasingly adept at working together, complementing each other so well, they displayed near-perfect coordination in their set offense.

Walton + Thompson recreated the former interior duo of Walton + Lucas, and the most critical player, Gan Guoyang, created limitless possibilities for their combination.

Then the Trail Blazers continued on a winning streak at home against the Nets and the Clippers, and on November 23rd and 24th, in back-to-back games, they took down the strong teams, the Rockets and the Lakers!

On November 23rd against the Rockets, Jack Ramsay started Bill Walton and moved Gan Guoyang to power forward, giving the Trail Blazers an early advantage from the first quarter.

Ramsay decisively deployed the towering lineup when needed, and with the towering trio on the court, Guoyang’s play became flexible and varied, while defensively, he locked down Reed and McGrady, leaving Olajuwon and Sampson bewildered on defense.

The Trail Blazers maintained their pressure on the Rockets throughout the game, with Guoyang scoring 21 points, grabbing 22 rebounds, blocking 7 shots, and making 2 of 3 three-pointers, while Mychal Thompson erupted to score 30 points, taking down the Rockets with ease.

Worth mentioning is Terry Porter, who came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting, as the young rookie quickly got on the right track.

On the 24th, in a back-to-back against the Lakers, the Lakers seemed to have recovered from a major defeat. Before the game started, Johnson hugged Guoyang to greet him, and Jabbar proactively shook hands and embraced Guoyang.

Byron Scott, taking Cooper’s place as a starter, came over to Guoyang during warmups to say that Rambis didn’t mean any harm last time, and that he just had a momentary issue with his emotions.

Guoyang smiled, "Physical contact is normal in a game; we’re all professionals, how could we mind these things. But he’s not playing today, is he okay?"

Tonight, Rambis was absent from the team’s roster; taking his place as a starter was Larry Spriggs, as Rambis did not even accompany the team to Portland.

Scott said Rambis cried a great deal in the locker room that day and that he’s back to normal now, but he always seems a bit dazed.

With that, Guoyang felt a bit guilty; indeed, he had been somewhat excessive in targeting Rambis during the game against the Lakers, sometimes being overly rough.

Rambis was a stubborn guy, too; if only he were as agile and adaptable as Scott, he wouldn’t fall into a dead end of self-doubt, breaking down mentally.

Guoyang believed that to be successful, one must never doubt oneself, no matter the difficulties faced, even if zombies besiege you at death’s door, you should smoke a cigarette with panache.

In this respect, both Rambis and Riley were too stubborn; Guoyang could feel the stiffness in Riley’s handshake and smile.

"The season has just started, how will you get through the next few years, you fool?" Guoyang muttered in his mind.

The competition between the two teams was as intense as ever, and like the Rockets, the Lakers were at a loss to counter the towering trio.

When Ramsay deployed the towering trio in the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ offense and defense were utterly suppressed, and the Trail Blazers quickly secured the victory with a 15:6 run.

116:121, after securing this win, the Trail Blazers achieved an incredible 10-game winning streak! With a record of 14 wins and 1 loss, they occupied the top spot in the league.

From that moment on, everyone knew that the Portland Trail Blazers had officially entered the contender ranks for the championship title—it could very well be their season.