The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 302 - 42: Wronged Oneself

Gan Guoyang was a man of his word, saying he would score 50 points, and he scored 50 points.

However, the Chicago Bulls, finding themselves behind, refused to surrender and even mounted a resistance.

Not wanting to lose too badly on their home court, George Gervin led the team in a fourth-quarter comeback.

Gan Guoyang had no choice but to clamp down, attacking the low post continuously in the fourth quarter and drawing fouls from the opposition.

With unstoppable free throws, Gan Guoyang raised his score to 60 points.

He scored 20 out of 33 two-point shots, 2 out of 3 three-point shots, and 14 out of 15 free throws, reaching 60 points with 3 minutes left in the game.

At that point, the Bulls finally gave up the fight, subbed out their main players, and Coach Ramsay also took Gan Guoyang off the court.

When Gan Guoyang came off the court, all the Trail Blazers players stood up to high-five him, and an excited Walton even gave Gan Guoyang a bear hug.

"Incredible, just incredible! How could you score 60 points!" Walton’s tone and expression were as exaggerated as ever, he was always brimming with emotion.

Gan Guoyang shrugged and said, "It’s nothing. I’ve scored 60 points in the playoffs before, this was just a regular-season game."

Yes, Gan Guoyang had scored 60 points in the playoffs as a rookie. What was so special about doing it in a regular-season game?

But Walton still pretended to interview him, holding a drink bottle as a microphone, asking Gan Guoyang how he scored 60 points in one game.

Bill Walton’s career-high in the regular season was only 36 points. He was an outright team player whose body couldn’t support shooting as much as Gan Guoyang in one game.

Gan Guoyang said nonchalantly, "Score 15 points in one quarter, make a mid-range shot, two turnaround jumpers, two hooks, make three free throws, throw in a three-pointer, and that’s enough. I make so many shots in a day’s practice, this is nothing."

Walton clapped quietly, thinking to himself that this kid, when it came to showing off, probably couldn’t be matched by many in the entire history of the NBA, let alone Portland.

Walton knew that Gan Guoyang’s strong physique wasn’t the only reason he could score 60 points in a single game; it was also a matter of stamina.

Firing off thirty-plus shots in a game and enduring ten fouls from the opponent, constantly going to the free-throw line, and hitting his shots accurately despite huge energy consumption was no small feat.

Walton thought that if he played like that, he could at most last a quarter and a half before he wouldn’t be able to continue playing.

And Gan Guoyang had to play defense as well, his body must have a nuclear power supply.

Sitting aside, Coach Ramsay heard Gan Guoyang’s comments and said, "If you don’t feel tired, I’ll send you back to score a few more points."

Gan Guoyang replied, "Do you have a grudge against the Bulls or Albeck? Must I go back to break the record?"

Ramsay replied, "My relationship with Albeck is okay, he would understand me and how terrible it is to work with Chamberlain. I just wanted to train you a bit, to prepare for the next game."

The next game for the Trail Blazers was a trip to Milwaukee to face the Bucks, and it seemed Ramsay was still harping on the loss to the Bucks on the 31st.

Gan Guoyang laughed and said, "What’s the matter, can’t find a good way to beat the Bucks, deciding to give the ball to the team’s best player? That’s the best way."

Ramsay rolled his eyes but didn’t argue, not sure whether Gan Guoyang hit the nail on the head or if he just adhered to his principle of not discussing basketball tactics with Gan Guoyang.

The final score was 129:113, with the Trail Blazers winning by 16 points over the Bulls, who put up a tough fight, and George Gervin scored 31 points.

Now 33 years old and tormented by drugs, Gervin even thought about suicide twice. It’s all his own doing, but fortunately, he still has basketball to keep him going.

Being traded to the Bulls wasn’t a good choice or destination for him because Jordan didn’t like Gervin, primarily due to last year’s All-Star game freeze-out incident.

It was rumored that Isiah Thomas and Gervin had conspired to freeze out Jordan, and although Thomas and Gervin have clarified, once rumors spread widely they often become accepted as fact.

However, Jordan’s injury made Krause’s trade seem very prescient, as Gervin exhausted his last energy at the shooting guard position.

At the end of the game, Gervin and Gan Guoyang shook hands. The former player who once scored 33 points in a single quarter praised Gan Guoyang’s scoring ability, saying sincerely, "You’re the strongest scoring center I’ve ever seen, you’re relaxed on offense but tight on defense; that’s great, absolutely great."

As a fellow high scorer, Gervin could sense Gan Guoyang’s scoring talent, that easy-going feeling of freedom is something many ordinary scorers can’t achieve. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

What’s even more valuable is that Gan Guoyang can be relaxed on offense and then switch to intense aggression on defense, a truly unique ability to adjust and transition.

"Between me and Michael, who do you think has a more potent offense?" Gan Guoyang quietly asked Gervin.

Gervin grinned and laughed. Since coming to the Bulls, Jordan hadn’t paid much attention to him. The two never had a formal, deep conversation, but on-court one-on-ones were inevitable.

"He jumps high, and I’m good at shooting. It was the old Iceman who faced him, not the real Iceman. Of course, he has unlimited energy, just like you. Both of you have bright futures."

Gervin didn’t explicitly say whether Ah Gan or Jordan was better, because no matter what he said, he would offend someone. Jordan can be rather petty sometimes, and since Ah Gan and Jordan are good friends, Gervin’s days with the Bulls would have been even tougher if Guoyang accidentally let something slip during a chat between the two.

Gan Guoyang didn’t inquire further, and the two hugged goodbye. This would be Gervin’s last season in the NBA, as he had decided to retire after this one—the Iceman would finally melt away.

To the surprise of many, even though the game lost its suspense towards the end, the fans in the arena did not leave early. Instead, most of them watched until the game concluded.

As Gan Guoyang was leaving the court through the player’s tunnel, the fans erupted in hearty applause, impressed by his spectacular performance that evening.

Some fans at courtside shouted at him, "Sonny! Come to the Bulls and team up with Michael!"

Gan Guoyang smiled and replied, "How about Michael comes to Portland instead? I’ll give up the center spot for him and come off the bench!"

Although "Joe vs. Gan" was a draw for the crowd, the two teams were in different conferences, Eastern and Western, so they wouldn’t meet unless they both made it to the finals.

In the short term, the Bulls weren’t likely to make it to the finals, so there wasn’t much animosity between the teams. The stories from the 1977 playoffs had long since faded, and the fans were naturally friendly toward Gan Guoyang.

However, Jordan was quite displeased when he heard about this. He was the most popular basketball superstar in Chicago, and it seemed the moment he was out due to injury, the fans were making eyes at Ah Gan, even suggesting Gan came to Chicago?

...Well, it did sound tempting, but Jordan knew that Ah Gan would never do that, just as Jordan would never go to Portland.

Off the court, they were good brothers and friends, but on the court, they were definitely opponents, real opponents.

In January 1986, Jordan’s desire to return to the game grew even more intense.

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"Sonny Gan scored 60 points again at the Chicago Stadium! 20 out of 33 shots, a sixty percent two-point shooting percentage, and he even made two three-pointers! How many more surprises does this magical center from China have in store that we haven’t discovered yet? In the next game, they will head to Milwaukee. They just lost to the Bucks on New Year’s Eve, and now they have a chance for revenge. Let’s look forward to it. Next, we’ll catch up with the MLB situation..."

Right after the game between the Trail Blazers and the Bulls ended that same evening, the players boarded the bus, heading straight for Milwaukee to prepare for tomorrow’s game—a painful back-to-back away game.

The driver had the radio on, and the local station was broadcasting the news; the news of Gan Guoyang’s 60 points quickly spread across America through the airwaves, once again making the front-page headlines of the Sporting News.

But at this time, the man of the hour, Mr. 60 Points, was curled up asleep on the bench, as snow started to fall outside again. Every winter, the Trail Blazers always had to travel to the Great Lakes Region for away games.

Because the cities are relatively close to each other, like Milwaukee is only 90 miles from Chicago, they traveled between cities by bus.

Last season, they got stuck in a heavy snowfall on the way from Detroit to Cleveland and had to sleep in the bus, warming themselves with the hotel’s log-burning heater overnight.

Luckily, the snow tonight wasn’t heavy, and Milwaukee was close to Chicago, so the bus took just over an hour to arrive at the destination hotel without any delays on the road.

Everyone staggered, half-asleep, to check into their rooms, ready to rest properly, but just as they had settled down to sleep, the fire alarm on their floor went off!

Gan Guoyang and his teammates, barely dressed, hurried out of their rooms—better to be blocked by heavy snow than burned alive in a fire!

Turned out the group, half-naked, ran down the emergency stairs to the lobby only to discover there was no emergency; the hotel manager came to apologize, saying it was a false alarm.

A false alarm, but only on the players’ floor. There were complaints all around as everyone, yawning, returned to their rooms to sleep—only for the alarm to ring again an hour later.

The players weren’t as hurried this time; no one ran out, and again, it was a false alarm. But after being woken up, it was hard to fall back asleep.

Ramsay went to complain to the hotel management, who kept apologizing to Ramsay, saying they could waive the room charges.

The room charges were waived, but the players’ sleep couldn’t be reclaimed. This was a back-to-back on the road, after all.

Ramsay cursed internally, wondering when Milwaukee had learned such rotten tricks from the Celtics!

[The year has reached 1986. We continue to forge ahead. On January 2nd, in a game against the Chicago Bulls, Ah Gan scored 60 points, as effortless for him as drinking water. Dr. Jack was right—I can never play like Ah Gan. His stamina is boundless, from the first quarter to the fourth, it’s all the same to him.

The night the game ended, we went to Milwaukee, and on the 3rd, we had a back-to-back away game against the Bucks. At the hotel, we were harassed by Celtic-style fire alarms, and no one had a good night’s sleep. Ramsay simply cancelled the afternoon’s practice, and after everyone woke up groggy, we headed straight to the MECCA arena to play.

We were exhausted. We lost to the Bucks on the last day of ’85, and it hurt us greatly, particularly because we had a big lead at halftime and then got turned around. There were even rumors that this was Stu-Inman’s revenge against the Trail Blazers after he left Portland.

Later, I had contact with Yin Man, and he just laughed it off, saying that it would be impossible. But who really knows?

Anyway, things were not looking great for us. Then, in the locker room, Ah Gan comforted everyone, saying, "Don’t worry, we’re going to win this one. I’ll just suck it up and score another fifty or sixty points."

Another fifty or sixty points—as if he could really suck it up.]

————2016 publication, Bill Walton’s autobiography "Back from the Dead", excerpt.