The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 109 - 16 The Introverted Hong Duo
After gaining Gan Guoyang’s approval, Tim Hanni drafted a contract overnight, which, after being reviewed by Fleisher, was signed in the hotel room.
The contract spanned five years, with an endorsement fee of two hundred thousand US dollars per year, totaling one million US dollars. The contract spelled out the rights and obligations of both parties, as well as various details.
Feeling Avia’s sincerity, Gan Guoyang didn’t fuss too much over some of the details; however, when it came to the design of the sneakers, Gan Guoyang had some of his own opinions.
He hoped that the Skyscraper series would continue indefinitely, always ensuring that designs were fresh and cutting-edge and that most basketball enthusiasts could wear them.
"Basketball is a popular sport, and it should be accessible for ordinary people to wear while playing. I hope that one day, kids and youths can be seen playing in my sneakers on the streets."
Gan Guoyang shared his vision; he didn’t want Avia to be just a niche high-end brand, but to have a greater impact.
Tim Hanni agreed with Gan Guoyang’s sentiments, "Our development and future expectations are, in fact, pinned on you."
Hanni’s voice trembled while he said this, and he felt like he was dreaming after Gan Guoyang signed the contract.
As the company’s sales director, the signing bonus of one million dollars was spent in one fell swoop.
This meant that Avia couldn’t sign any new endorsement stars this year; they had to place all their hopes on Gan Guoyang.
If Gan Guoyang got injured or turned out to be a dud and performed poorly in the NBA, that one million dollars would be wasted.
Thinking that Gan Guoyang was a Chinese player and that no Asian had ever been successful in American professional sports, Tim Hanni’s liver quivered with fear.
After everything was done, he felt some regret, wondering why he had impulsively agreed at the time. It seemed as if he had been bewitched.
Clearly, Tim Hanni was overawed by the boundless confidence emanating from Gan Guoyang and by Fleisher’s words.
It was as if he had been brainwashed by a pyramid scheme, firmly taking Gan Guoyang’s side, and only after signing the contract did he feel apprehensive.
But it was too late. The contract had been signed, and the first check had already been handed out.
All he could do was pray for a splendid performance by Gan Guoyang in tomorrow’s game wearing Avia sneakers and that in the future, he would become a superstar.
On June 30th, at the Providence Civic Center, Fleisher invited Tim Hanni to join him in the VIP section of the arena, to drink coffee while watching the game.
The Civic Center was undoubtedly packed, as the contest between the hopeful young stars and NBA players was full of highlights.
Tim Hanni was extremely nervous, even more so than the players on the court. He asked Fleisher when Gan Guoyang would enter the game.
Fleisher said, "That’s up to Havlicek, but I think he probably won’t start."
At this moment, Havlicek, the coach of the All-Star Team and a Celtics legend, was worrying about how to manage Gan Guoyang’s playing time.
After retiring, Havlicek hadn’t focused much on basketball, as he had invested in the Wendy’s fast-food chain and had become one of the early shareholders. Wendy’s had since prospered into a super restaurant chain surpassed only by McDonald’s and Burger King.
This business success allowed Havlicek not to worry about money anymore. He no longer needed to play basketball or be involved in basketball-related work and could enjoy a comfortable retirement as a corporate representative.
His current favorite sport was fishing.
His participation as a coach in this match was purely out of respect for Knight and Fleisher, herding ducks onto a perch as it were, simply using his experience to keep the players in regular rotation.
Before the game, when conversing with Bob Knight, Havlicek even mentioned he planned to use a 2-3 zone defense against Team USA’s offense.
But as soon as the game started, Havlicek realized that these NBA players couldn’t organize an effective zone defense—they hadn’t practiced together, so how could they play zone?
Team USA’s offense was still slicing through like a hot knife through butter, easily penetrating the NBA All-Star Team’s defense.
Although the All-Star Team players were individually strong and experienced, Team USA was more unified, had a more evenly distributed scoring, and better cooperation.
After ten minutes of the first half, the All-Star Team quickly succumbed to isolation plays, with players like Terry Cummings, Bagley, and John Garrity taking it upon themselves to score whenever they got the ball.
On the defensive end, the All-Star Team’s zone defense fell apart, shifting to a familiar man-to-man defense, each person fending for themselves, relying on individual ability to handle their own matchups.
This disorganized approach to the game allowed Team USA to rapidly widen the scoring gap; within ten minutes, they were already lagging by ten points.
Team USA had an even performance, with every player who came on the court scoring. Chris Mullin performed the best, with only 6 points.
After being rebuked by Knight, Jordan decided to play more selflessly. The starting player scored only 2 points but made consecutive assists to his teammates.
The All-Star Team’s defense couldn’t contain Jordan; his penetration easily tore apart their defense, creating opportunities for his teammates.
On the defensive end, Team USA used a tight zone defense to firmly control the situation, making the stars accustomed to the NBA’s man-to-man defense uncomfortable.
Moreover, tonight’s NBA All-Stars simply weren’t heavyweight enough, and gradually, the All-Star Team’s deficit grew more considerable.
In the VIP room, Tim Hanni, watching Gan Guoyang sit on the bench without playing, anxiously asked, "When will Gan get to play? How come the NBA All-Star Team can’t beat those young guys?"
"They’re not your average young players. I’ve spoken to Hong Duo about it; he’ll have an idea."
At the end of the first half, Gan Guoyang didn’t get any playtime, and the NBA All-Star Team was behind by more than 15 points, with a score of 51:66 against Team USA.
Although it was just a warm-up game, and the NBA All-Star Team was put together on short notice, losing by so much at halftime was still embarrassing.
In the locker room, nobody was talking. Havlicek, who was quite introverted, didn’t know how to boost everyone’s morale.
After all, it was not like the days when he played basketball; as a Celtic, he could lead by example with endless running on the court.
At this moment, he thought of Gan Guoyang and remembered Fleisher’s instructions to give Gan Guoyang some playing time before the game, so he stepped forward and said, "Hey, Gan, you’ve trained with Team USA for a long time, you should know how to deal with them. Go out and play for a while in the second half."
Gan Guoyang thought to himself, has the old man finally remembered me?
"If you had let me play earlier in the first half, we wouldn’t have played like crap."
Gan Guoyang was blunt, and the other players immediately looked at him.
"I’m just telling the truth. Being behind by 15 points, we indeed played like crap. There was no cooperation, defense was a mess, everyone was fighting their own battles."
"It’s not your place to criticize how we play basketball. Who do you think you are?"
The one speaking was Rick Mahorn, a power forward for the Washington Bullets. After Charles Barkley went to Washington, his place as the Capital’s top big man was threatened.
"First try to stop Ewing’s offense," said Gan Guoyang without mincing words, making Mahorn so furious he nearly rushed over to settle the score.
Havlicek hurriedly tried to calm everyone with his clumsy words, but he didn’t know what to say.
At this moment, he deeply regretted agreeing to be a coach at Knight’s request. It was a pointless endeavor.
He and Knight were college classmates, played together at Ohio State University for four years, and won the NCAA championship in 1960.
Although they were good friends, their personalities were completely different. Havlicek was quiet and reserved, rarely speaking.
Bob Knight, on the other hand, was careless and unrefined—he would eat peanuts during a movie, throw the shells everywhere, and then suddenly shout out Havlicek’s name at a critical moment of the film, leaving Havlicek feeling embarrassed. Knight found this very amusing. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
It’s no wonder Havlicek couldn’t refuse Knight’s invitation; it was in his nature.
The halftime break quickly passed, and Gan Guoyang didn’t wait for Havlicek’s orders. Instead, he declared, "I’m starting the second half. As for who else you want to play, that’s up to you. We’ll catch up with the score soon."
Havlicek sighed, nodded in agreement, and thought to himself that the youth of today were becoming bolder, daring to give such orders to their elders.
But Knight had said that this Chinese kid was fearless in the training camp, not even afraid of Knight himself, and was the leader of a large group of people.
If someone was not afraid of Bob Knight, what else could you do?
The second half began, and Gan Guoyang took center stage. He replaced Darryl Dawkins and partnered with Rick Mahorn in the paint.
He wore a white jersey and the latest pair of Avia830 sneakers. As a complement, Gan Guoyang deliberately wore crew socks to showcase the new shoes.
Despite being a center, Gan Guoyang had a great physique—slender, strong, and sculptural, breaking many Americans’ stereotypes of Asian people.
Before the second half even began, his shoes had already caught the attention of fans and court-side photographers, who snapped away at Gan Guoyang.
Seeing Gan Guoyang take the court, members of Team USA felt a sudden thump in their hearts, especially the starting center for the second half, Jon Koncak.
Koncak, a white center, had proven in NCAA competition that he would have a tough time against Gan Guoyang.
He wasn’t afraid of Dawkins or Mahorn, but he knew how Gan Guoyang played, and Koncak was getting nervous.
However, after Gan Guoyang entered the game in the second half, the first thing he did was not to take the ball and attack but to rebuild the NBA All-Star Team’s defense.
With zone defense impossible to establish, Gan Guoyang anchored the three-second area, actively helping others with help defense and cover defense.
He didn’t hold back because his teammates were NBA veterans. Instead, he boldly directed and actively doubled up on Mullin, Alford, and Koncak.
Gan Guoyang was quick on his feet and had a large defense coverage. His help defense was active, his backcourt rebounds were excellent, and he was familiar with Team USA’s offensive patterns. He forced their teamwork into deadlock several times, leaving them no choice but to make forced shots.
This caused Team USA’s offensive efficiency to plummet in the second half. After missing three consecutive attacks, they gave the NBA All-Star Team a chance to counter.
In counterattacks, the individual skills of the All-Star players shone through. They played fast and with simple coordination—no problem for them.
The NBA All-Star Team unleashed a minor offensive surge of 11:4, halting Team USA, and Knight began to roar from the sidelines.
In just a few minutes, Gan Guoyang contributed 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 assist, and had a defensive impact that stats couldn’t capture.
After Knight’s shouting, he gestured towards the bench, preparing to send Jordan onto the court; Jordan had not started the second half.
Havlicek was amazed by Gan Guoyang’s defensive influence and said during a timeout, "Gan, I really should have put you in earlier."
Gan Guoyang, only slightly sweating, told Havlicek, "You’re much better than Bob. You admit your mistakes and change, but he would never think he’s wrong."
Hearing this, Havlicek felt pleased inside, thinking that if he left the game to Gan Guoyang in the second half, they probably wouldn’t lose too badly, and he wouldn’t be ridiculed by Knight at dinner.
