The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 339 - 74: Celestial Immortal Descending from the Heavens

Chapter 339: Chapter 74: Celestial Immortal Descending from the Heavens

"Hakeem Olajuwon is a hybrid of a barbarian and a ballerina, a center so agile, so strong that he can effortlessly defeat you or crudely and savagely kill you."

Defending champions? Since Bill Russell retired in 1969, no defending champion has succeeded, it’s been a full 17 years, and the once rulers could not last two years.

Magic Johnson, "In terms of raw athletic ability, Akeem is the best I’ve ever seen."

Morris Lucas, "A bigger Moses Malone has been reborn in Houston."

Mickey Kupchak, "I can compare him to Alvin Robertson, which says something, because Robertson is a guard. I’ve never seen someone so strong, so agile, so ruthless, and also seven feet tall."

Actually, Olajuwon’s height is more like 6 feet 11 inches, but no one’s going to measure him with a ruler during a game.

The exact height isn’t the point, the key is that the Lakers, with a superior average height, are at a huge disadvantage in rebounds (the rebound comparison for the first four games was 186:145).

Despite the Lakers having many excellent big men, head coach Pat Riley would rather deploy his versatile defensive octopus—the 6-foot-7 Michael Cooper—to guard Olajuwon.

After the Rockets’ 105-95 big win on Sunday, when someone suggested this idea, Cooper nearly leaped off the bench in the locker room, saying, "Man, I really want to guard him. I’m not saying I could certainly stop him, but I know our way of defending against him is wrong. You can’t body him up because he’ll sense your position and use his footsteps to move away from you, he’s very flexible. You have to act after he gets the ball."

Moses Malone, who was recuperating at home for the season, also had the same theory from training one-on-one with Olajuwon at the University of Houston in the summer.

Olajuwon himself said he couldn’t describe how to defend against himself, but he knew if the Lakers assigned a guard to guard him, he would make the necessary changes.

SI: "How does Morris Lucas deal with you, Akeem?"

Olajuwon: "He really emphasizes physical contact, trying to push me out of the three-second area."

SI: "What about Jabbar?"

Olajuwon: "He also wants to push me out, he’s very strong."

SI: "Kupchak?"

Olajuwon: "Full of confrontation."

Olajuwon’s answers are all the same, as if the opponents are all doing the same thing.

But perhaps he doesn’t need to do any in-depth analysis; his instinct and excellent physique can accomplish everything that needs to be done.

This is not to say he’s dumb, in fact, quite the opposite.

"Do you know Akeem speaks six languages?"

Magic was asked this question before last Sunday’s game.

Johnson smiled and said, "He only needs to say one phrase, ’Give me the ball’."

————Issue #1 of May 1986, ’Big Rocket, Big Blast’, by Jack McCollum in Sports Illustrated, excerpt.

On the evening of May 8th, in the Trail Blazers’ video room, the entire team and coaching staff sat in front of the television, awaiting the start of the game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The day before, the Trail Blazers had just defeated the Nuggets team 112:105 in Denver, eliminating the opponents with an easy 4:0 sweep for the second year in a row and advancing to the Western Conference finals.

Tonight’s game would determine their Western Conference finals opponent, with the Rockets leading 3:1, and the Lakers on the verge of elimination.

Gan Guoyang didn’t know where he got a latest edition of Sports Illustrated, which had a commentary on the Lakers and Rockets series. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The article heaped praise on Olajuwon for pushing the defending champion Lakers to the brink of elimination once again after 1981.

During the 80s, only the Rockets could do it, relying on Malone last time and this time on the ’Little Moses’ Olajuwon.

Gan Guoyang was clearly dissatisfied with the adulation in the article, frowning and sniping as he read:

"What a load of bull, blown up to the skies! They haven’t even eliminated the Lakers yet."

"Akeem knows six languages? I know eight languages, and I bet all he knows are African dialects."

"Kupchak is just farting around, ’I’ve never seen someone so strong, so agile, so ruthless, and also seven feet tall’... Okay, so I’m not seven feet tall, but it’s written down there, Olajuwon isn’t either, he’s probably just 6 feet 11, in fact, he’s just one centimeter taller than me, I’m 209 cm, he’s 210!"

"Magic’s gone crazy too. Got hit silly maybe, just give the ball to Olajuwon? Because you guys can’t defend him at all!"

After ranting, Gan Guoyang snapped the magazine shut and tossed it aside, losing interest in the other articles.

Clyde Drexler, sitting beside him, picked up the magazine and opened the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition nestled inside, thoroughly enjoying himself as he read.

While reading, Drexler said, "Sonny, are you jealous of Akeem? He’s about to crush the Lakers, that’s really impressive."

Gan Guoyang retorted, "Nonsense, why would I be jealous of him? I just think the Lakers are too lousy! I was actually looking forward to avenging ourselves against the Lakers in the Western finals. Los Angeles definitely couldn’t have beaten us this year. Who knew, they’re about to be eliminated by the Rockets in the semifinals, a bunch of good-for-nothings."

Gan Guoyang was indeed upset. Eliminated by the Lakers last year, this year he was thinking of taking revenge on them in the Western Conference Finals.

"Who would have thought that the Lakers were about to crash out in the semifinals," Gan Guoyang sighed, "Had I known, I would have let the Lakers take the top spot in the Western Conference, we could have been third, entered the semifinals, taken out the Rockets, and then defeated the Lakers in the finals!"

Drexler, eyes still glued to the swimsuit issue, said, "Sonny, that’s a dangerous thought. Picking opponents in the playoffs is common, but no one actively makes their schedule harder like you suggest. What if we can’t beat Houston..."

Gan Guoyang snatched the swimsuit issue out of Drexler’s hands and glared at him, "There’s no such ’what if,’ Clyde. What, you still have Houston on your mind?"

Drexler gave an embarrassed smile, "I was just kidding, Sonny. Houston gave up on me; I wouldn’t think about them. Bill Fitch said picking McGrady was absolutely correct, so what else should I think about? I hope to go to Houston to prove myself, to beat them and enter the finals."

Gan Guoyang handed back the swimsuit issue to Drexler, saying, "That’s the right attitude."

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"The Rockets have called another timeout with 1 second left in the game, tied at 112. The last possession, overtime or the end of the series, it all comes down to this one second. This is torture for all Lakers fans; they never expected the Lakers to be in this predicament, trailing 1:3, with game five hanging by a thread. The Lakers have given it their all this game but still seem unable to topple the Rockets... Alright, the timeout is over now, let’s see if there’s going to be a miracle in this last second..."

In the Trail Blazers’ video room, everyone was as tense as the Lakers fans on scene in Los Angeles, eyes glued to the TV screen.

The Lakers versus Rockets game had come down to the final moments. Trailing by three, Robert Reid missed a three-pointer for the Rockets, but they grabbed the offensive rebound and set up another attack. Reid took the pass at the same spot, fired off a three-pointer, and tied the score.

In the Lakers’ last possession, Byron Scott missed a two-point jumper, and the Rockets grabbed the defensive rebound and called timeout. They had one last chance, but only one second left on the clock.

Several timeouts were called back and forth around this one second, as both coaches engaged in a battle of wits. The Rockets set up their offensive play, the Lakers tried to counter, then the Rockets called another timeout to disrupt the Lakers’ arrangement.

The Lakers were on the edge of a cliff, and the Rockets did not want to give the defending champions any chance to catch their breath. If you’re going to hit them, you have to hit them hard and make sure they stay down, not allowing any comebacks.

Both teams had pushed to their limits from the start of the game. In the first quarter, the Lakers unleashed an onslaught of offense. With 14 seconds left in the quarter, Magic Johnson hooked in a shot, made a successful steal, but his behind-the-back layup was disrupted by Sampson and did not go in. Sampson grabbed the rebound.

However, Cooper then made a successful steal, and with one second left made a three-point shot that set the arena ablaze. Sadly, the referee ruled the basket invalid.

Despite that, the Lakers’ morale was sky-high, and both the team and the atmosphere of the arena had reached a climax.

But the Rockets’ streak of three consecutive victories had given them enough confidence to cope with the Lakers’ tidal wave of offense and the daunting atmosphere of their home court.

Olajuwon and Sampson ruled the paint, particularly Olajuwon, who had a god-like series of scores in the third quarter.

Jabbar, Kupchak, and Morris Lucas could not stop the two giants from wreaking havoc inside, especially Lucas who had a disappointing performance in the critical third quarter, making only 2 of 6 shots for 4 points.

Thus frustrated, Lucas lost his temper in the fourth quarter by committing a flagrant foul on Sampson, yanking him down hard.

If it hadn’t been for Olajuwon holding onto Sampson, a brawl might have erupted.

But, just after holding back Sampson, Olajuwon threw a punch at Kupchak two minutes later.

The head referee had to embrace him deeply to prevent the fight from escalating further.

Olajuwon was ejected from the game and could only sit on the bench to watch the remainder of the match.

Without their core player, the Rockets withstood the Lakers’ furious offense and got the chance for the last second possession.

With only one second left, to make a successful shot, the ball could only touch the player’s hands briefly before needing to be released; any hesitation, and it would be too late.

"The Rockets inbound, the final second... Sampson... he scores! He scores! It’s over, everything is over!"

The television commentator couldn’t believe his eyes as McGrady threw the ball out, and Ralph Sampson jumped and caught the ball at the corner.

Without even turning around, he tossed the ball backward toward the hoop. The ball bounced twice on the rim before dropping through the net.

It didn’t look like a shot but more like a second touch in volleyball; except there was no final spike, the ball flew directly to its intended destination, burying the Lakers in their graves.

Michael Cooper collapsed on the floor in agony. He had given it his all that game, scoring 15 points and making the only three-pointer for his team.

Perhaps he was thinking that if that buzzer-beater three-pointer had counted, maybe the Lakers would have won the game.

But basketball has no room for ifs. To everyone’s amazement, the Rockets, depending on Sampson’s seemingly miraculous buzzer-beater, eliminated the defending champions and moved on to the conference finals.

It was quiet for a while in the Trail Blazers’ video room. No one had expected the Rockets to defeat the Lakers with such a dramatic buzzer-beater.

All season, the Trail Blazers had trained and strategized specifically for the Lakers, yet now their opponent was the Houston Rockets.

Everyone didn’t know what to say for a moment or how to describe their feelings. They weren’t afraid of the Rockets but felt that not being able to take down the Lakers left something lacking in this year’s playoff journey.

Gan Guoyang stood up, turned off the TV, and left the video room, calling out as he departed, "There’s nobody, nobody who understands how to deal with the Twin Towers better than I do! Nobody!"