The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 354 - 89 Most Valuable Player

Gan Guoyang received a call from Larry Flesher at five in the morning on the 28th, informing him that he had won the 1986 Regular Season MVP.

On the phone, Flesher was very excited. He said that Ah Gan had made history, and his name would surely be engraved on the monument of North American professional sports history as an important page.

The reason Flesher called so early was that he knew Gan Guoyang would be up early for a run; if he’d waited any later, Guoyang wouldn’t be at home.

"I appreciate you getting up so early to call me. Why don’t you go back to sleep for a bit?" said Gan Guoyang, his voice calm.

"Sleep a bit... I’m sleepy my ass! Can’t you be a little happier? You’re the MVP! The first in the NBA, the first foreign MVP of the four major leagues, and the first Asian MVP. Do you know how amazing that is?"

"Not bad, but I’m not the first Asian president. Are you coming to tonight’s game? If you’re not, I won’t save a ticket for you, and they are extremely tight."

"Oh no, I won’t be going. I’ll consider going to Portland when you guys reach the Finals. I’m very busy recently, extremely busy."

"How’s my little brother in New York? Thanks for looking after him."

"He’s much better than when he started, you can tell from his mental state. He’s sharp-minded, works very hard, and plays a good game of squash."

Larry Flesher liked to play squash, and one of Gan Guohui’s main tasks in New York was to play squash with Flesher. It seemed he was doing a good job. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"That’s good to hear; you’ve been a real help."

The two chatted for a while longer on the phone, and Flesher began to understand why Gan Guoyang wasn’t that excited.

Because the result of Game 7 hadn’t come out yet. If they lost the Game 7, this MVP would not be an honor but rather seem like a piece of irony.

So after hanging up the phone, although Guoyang felt somewhat excited, he was quickly overtaken by a slight tension and anxiety before the game.

Before long, Quentin Stephenson came over to join Gan Guoyang for a run. He said, "Ah Gan, there are so many gifts at the door that they could fill up a truck. What should we do?"

"Contact the local welfare house and donate it to them. I can’t use many of the things. Keeping them here would be a waste," said Gan Guoyang.

"Maybe we should remind the kind citizens not to send these things anymore. It’s not very safe."

Every day, Quentin would come to Guoyang’s doorstep early in the morning to find a pile of gifts from the neighbors. During playoffs, there were particularly many: food, drinks, and all sorts of utilities. Quentin was mainly concerned that if this continued, it might attract thieves.

"The security in Lake Mountain Park is still very good, but you have a point. I’ll put up a sign at the door to remind everybody. Alright, let’s go," said Guoyang.

By noon, after training was over, Gan Guoyang specially found John White, the team’s public relations manager and ticket manager, to discuss two things. One was his hope that White could explain to the media to ask fans not to leave gifts at his doorstep anymore—it was too wasteful.

The second was to find out from White about the status of tickets for the Finals.

Although Game 7 hadn’t yet been played, and the Trail Blazers were not a guaranteed victory, tickets had to be reserved in advance.

Because Gan Guoyang was a player on the court, if it looked like they were about to win, he wouldn’t be able to leave the court to find John White to reserve tickets.

White had a very good relationship with Guoyang because no matter what happened, Guoyang would always communicate with White first and always maintain open communication.

White appreciated this. Gan Guoyang hadn’t been without incidents these two seasons, getting into several major fights. But the Trail Blazers always handled the public opinion well thanks to Guoyang’s knack for communication and his good collaboration with the PR staff.

In this, he was much better than Walton. Back when Walton was with the Trail Blazers, he caused much more trouble than Guoyang, and White didn’t even know Walton’s home phone number.

Every time there was an incident, like when Walton publicly criticized the Federal Government or attacked the President of the United States, making shocking comments, White felt his head was about to explode.

He couldn’t find Walton, couldn’t contact him, and couldn’t coordinate public relations efforts with him. Walton was always with his unlucky friend Jack Scott, holding press conferences on his own, leaving the Trail Blazers in a difficult position.

This season, with Walton’s return, John White was actually unhappy; the experience from ten years ago was still a nightmare.

But fortunately, Guoyang did a great job, making White’s job much easier. And since Walton had no capital to cause trouble upon his return, White didn’t need to worry too much.

"No problem, Ah Gan. I’ve already reserved a quota of 20 tickets for you, in very good front row locations. However, you guys absolutely have to win tonight’s game."

"Don’t worry, I will. 20 tickets seem a bit too many; I won’t need that much. Give some to others," Gan Guoyang responded.

"No, no, no, everyone else has their own, these are yours, I’ve already divided them up. I gave them to you so you can give them away yourself, if you ask me to redistribute them, it would put me in a difficult position."

White had a point, and Guoyang thanked him, calculating in his mind just how many friends of his would come to watch the game if they made it to the finals.

"Oh right! Sonny, when I give you the tickets, I’ll find you in private, you mustn’t tell anyone you have 20 tickets. Even though you’re the boss, it would still cause some dissatisfaction among the others, and they wouldn’t bother you about it, but they would come to me."

"Alright, I got it, I won’t make things difficult for you, you know, I never make things difficult for my own people."

That afternoon, they warmed up at the Memorial Coliseum, where Guoyang, Vandeweghe, Parkson, and others played a game of HORSE, shooting three-pointers. Guoyang made eight shots in a row, winning $20 from each of them.

Before the game, Guoyang turned down all interviews from the reporters. By this time, the news of his winning the 1986 regular season MVP had spread all over America, and reporters swarmed around him like flies drawn to the scent of manure.

Only the reporter from The Oregonian, Steve Kelly, was allowed to enter the locker room and have a chat with Guoyang. Guoyang told Alges, "Winning this game will give meaning to the MVP award; otherwise, it’ll just be a military medal for Olajuwon and Sampson, and I’ll be mounted like a deer’s head in Olajuwon’s hall of honor."

By the evening, as the seventh game was about to begin, the Memorial Coliseum and the Paramount Theatre were packed early on. There was still a concert at the Paramount Theatre tonight, but most of the audience had bought tickets to gather and listen to the live broadcast of the game.

Many of Portland’s celebrities were present tonight, including the mayor, governor, congressmen, entrepreneurs, and singers, but the most eye-catching was Gan Guoyang’s father, Gan Youwei.

This chef, who knew very little about basketball, was specially invited by the Trail Blazers from San Francisco without informing Guoyang, so he was stunned to see his father sitting courtside.

"Holy shit, Dad, how did you get here?"

"Your team brought me here."

"What? Kidnapping! If we don’t win, are they going to tear up your ticket?"

"Possibly; you’d better perform well tonight!"

The arrival of his father injected even more energy into Guoyang, but as the game drew closer, his heart became increasingly calm.

During the entrance ceremony, when Ralph Sampson made his appearance, the entire crowd booed, which was because he had punched Terry Porter in the previous game.

Aside from the booing, there were no other excessive acts from the fans, not even any mocking banners, as Portland fans are generally considered to be of higher caliber.

If the fans had been from Boston or Detroit, the situation might have been a different story, especially those arrogant White people from Boston, who are in a league of their own when it comes to ridiculing and insulting players.

When Gan Guoyang made his entrance, the crowd gave the warmest applause and cheers. Tonight, he would continue to start alongside Bill Walton, with Terry Porter as the starting point guard – a lineup proven to be effective.

The Rockets players seemed to be in a normal state of mind, as if they hadn’t fully recovered from the overwhelming defeat in the sixth game. They knew that was their best chance to reach the finals.

Some opportunities, once missed, never come back.

Before the game, David Stern conducted the regular season MVP award ceremony for Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang received the Maurice Podoloff Trophy from Stern and raised it high in front of tens of thousands of fans.

No matter how calm he was before the game, at that moment, Guoyang was still overwhelmed with excitement. In only his second season, he had achieved what many NBA players could never hope to achieve.

"Congratulations, Ah Gan, you are the first foreign player in NBA history to be the most valuable player, and I am proud of you."

"I’m proud of you too; you are a great commissioner, and under your leadership, the NBA is getting better and better."

Gan Guoyang’s compliment made Stern very pleased, and his smile didn’t seem forced.

"And you’re lucky to have a player like me. The NBA’s market is only going to grow."

The second remark from Guoyang made Stern’s smile freeze for a second, thinking this kid is quite full of himself.

But Stern was genuinely pleased with the rookies of ’84. It was time for a generational shift in the NBA, for new stars to take the baton.

Sitting courtside, the ’84 top pick Hakeem Olajuwon watched as Gan Guoyang lifted the MVP trophy, with a mix of emotions. Throughout this series, the gap between them had been widening.

Tonight was his last chance for redemption, with only two options before him: win the game to condemn Ah Gan to hell or enter hell himself.