The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 114 - 19 Applying Pressure
After the game against Providence, Gan Guoyang followed the U.S. Olympic Team to Minnesota.
For the members of the U.S. Olympic Team, being around Gan Guoyang was tough—they had been beaten by a buzzer-beating steal and humiliated; how could they not feel bad?
However, as a qualified sparring partner, Gan Guoyang was very dedicated. After the game, he seriously summarized some of the issues currently faced by the Olympic Team.
For example, Alford, as a shooting guard, needed to reduce ball-handling, shoot more, dribble less, and play to his shooting strengths.
Ewing faced challenges in defense. At NCAA, he was used to crouching in the three-second zone, but FIBA games featured more outside shooting, wider courts, and faster ball movement.
Therefore, Ewing had to extend his coverage more, demonstrate his help-defense threat, and not just squat under the basket, where he couldn’t play his role effectively.
The team also needed to maintain a fast pace, as speed was the greatest advantage of the U.S. Olympic Team. It was essential to capitalize on that, to play against unsettled defenses, and to execute fast breaks.
In talking about Jordan, Gan Guoyang patted his shoulder and said, "You played great, Mike. Just keep improving your shooting. Anyway, you don’t have to worry too much since the Chinese team won’t have me at the Olympics."
Jordan was a hundred kinds of frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. He lost, and Gan Guoyang was the only player who could exert such tremendous pressure on him in the game—of course, it went both ways.
At night, the two played cards together in the hotel, and Jordan won over a hundred US dollars from Gan Guoyang. However, for Gan Guoyang’s current endorsement fees, this was just a drop in the ocean.
The two men were different in this regard. Gan Guoyang only cared about winning in basketball; everything else was trivial to him. Playing cards was just a pastime; participation mattered more than winning or losing.
But Jordan took winning and losing very seriously in everything he did—big as in basketball games or small as in card games and bets. Even after arriving in Minnesota, he even wanted to one-up Gan Guoyang by staying in a room above him at the hotel.
Gan Guoyang only had one comment about Jordan’s abnormal desire to win: boring and childish.
Upon reaching Minnesota, on July 1, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, the U.S. Olympic Team began their second match against the NBA All-Star Team.
This time, the NBA All-Star lineup was a lot more impressive than in the last match, headlined by Magic Johnson and featuring Isiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre, Kevin McHale, Randy Breuer, Chris Engler, Trent Tucker, Dan Roundfield, among others.
For Gan Guoyang, the biggest benefit of playing these games was the early exposure to some of the league’s finest players.
Whether as opponents or teammates, after facing off or collaborating with them, Gan Guoyang realized that NBA players were just like that, and he had no problem playing in the NBA.
From high school to college and then to the NBA, Gan Guoyang gradually understood that his talent, coupled with his hard work, was enough to surpass most players, and he could get even stronger.
But tonight, Gan Guoyang was stopped by someone—not by any player on the Olympic Team or by Bob Knight’s defensive system, but by the All-Star Team’s coach Lou Holtz.
The coach, who seemed slightly foolish, appeared to have dementia when it came to player rotation.
In the third minute of the first half, Lou Holtz let Gan Guoyang play, but after he scored on two fast breaks in three minutes, Holtz took him out and didn’t let him back on the court for the rest of the half.
Gan Guoyang patiently waited for the second half and communicated with Lou Holtz during the break, saying that if he played, the team would definitely win.
Holtz just smiled and said, "Winning isn’t our ultimate goal," and then only allowed Gan Guoyang five minutes of playtime in the second half.
After that, Gan Guoyang sat on the bench until the end of the game, while the NBA All-Stars lost to the U.S. Olympic Team by a close margin of 93:96, just three points.
If Gan Guoyang had played more in the game, the All-Stars would have had a much better chance of defeating the Olympic Team, especially with such a strong lineup.
Both Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas really wanted to win and gave it their all during the game. After the game ended, Johnson complained to Lou Holtz about why Gan wasn’t played more.
"Gan and I coordinated well. Passing to him felt comfortable, and his defense was good. He knew the weak points of the Olympic Team and should have played more," Johnson said.
In the few minutes that Gan Guoyang was on the court, he frequently made quick advances, receiving passes from Magic Johnson and directly attacking the basket with the speed and precision of lightning.
Although they never trained together, Gan Guoyang and Johnson were in perfect sync. With a look or a gesture, they immediately understood each other.
One ran with the ball while the other bolted forward. With a guiding move, the ball was passed straight to the three-second zone, and Gan Guoyang firmly caught it and attacked the rim.
One of the plays was particularly spectacular: Magic dished out a bounce pass, and Gan Guoyang caught it with his left hand and dunked it without dribbling.
The entire stadium erupted with excitement and cheers. Magic, thrilled, gave Gan Guoyang an emphatic high-five. After that play, Holtz took Gan Guoyang out and he didn’t return to the game.
Holtz knew he was at fault, so after the game, he specifically told Gan Guoyang, "You played really well, but we need to even out the playing time since this is an exhibition game."
Gan Guoyang was quite calm and asked Holtz, "Did Bob tell you to reduce my playing time? It’s fine, I don’t mind." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Gan Guoyang didn’t mind, but Magic Johnson did. He didn’t think it was fair for Gan. He admired Gan’s keen offensive instincts on the court.
That night, he even knocked on Gan’s door, asking if he wanted to go out with a couple of girls, mentioning that the girls in Minnesota had particularly white skin and were especially warm.
Gan Guoyang tactfully declined Johnson’s kindness; he had long heard that the charmer known as Magic Johnson would find his locker room mailbox stuffed with girls’ phone numbers after a game.
Johnson would casually grab a handful, share some with his teammates, and then choose one or two to call, asking them to wait for him at the hotel, followed by a night of romance.
In this way, Johnson still managed to contribute high-quality performances every night, and one had to admit his physical fitness was truly exceptional.
But Gan Guoyang really wanted to caution Johnson to take it easy. He remembered Raymond, who had died three years earlier, around the time HIV appeared in San Francisco and then rapidly spread across America.
If Johnson kept playing so recklessly, he would eventually get hit by it one day, but Gan Guoyang didn’t know how to warn him, feeling like nothing he said would be quite right.
Fortunately, at that moment the phone in the room rang, and Gan Guoyang excused himself to answer it, allowing Johnson to leave to seek his pleasures elsewhere.
The call was from Fleisher, who hadn’t come to Minnesota with the players but had instead gone to Portland to discuss Gan Guoyang’s contract.
Fleisher brought two pieces of news: first, after repeated negotiations, the Blazers were willing to improve their medical team, deploying more comprehensive medical resources to ensure player health.
Second, regarding the four-million-dollar rookie contract proposed by Gan Guoyang, the Blazers couldn’t accept it, hoping Gan Guoyang would reconsider.
"They said they can offer you a five-year deal worth three million, with a first-year salary of five hundred thousand. What do you think of this offer?"
From the team’s perspective, a five-year three million contract was quite a concession; a rookie salary of five hundred thousand was quite high.
Last year’s rookie, Drexler, had an annual salary of just one hundred seventy thousand US dollars, far less than what the Blazers were offering Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang asked, "They say they’ll improve the medical team to ensure player health. How can they guarantee that? Are there any specific measures or promises? I hope they can make a public pledge by placing an ad or holding a press conference. I want to see their genuine commitment to change. As for the contract, Larry, do you think I should hold out, or simply take the easy way down the slope?"
Fleisher said, "Based on your performance in Providence, I think you could hold out a bit longer. Damn Lou Holtz, he actually didn’t let you play tonight! It must be Knight’s doing!"
"I know, that guy hates losing. Anyway, my goal is to improve myself, I don’t care about winning or losing."
"Next match we go to Iowa, your home court, they damn well must let you play! I’ll call Nielsen, he won’t be influenced by Knight. As for the medical team, I’m with you, Gan; they must show enough sincerity, and I think the Blazers are definitely feeling the pressure."
The Blazers indeed felt the pressure; if they didn’t make improvements in medical care, hot prospects wouldn’t want to join them.
The Blazers had seen two of their number one picks bust, apart from Bill Walton, there was the 1972 number one pick LaRue Martin.
The 6-foot-11 center faded from the League after four years with the Blazers, saying on his departure that his body couldn’t handle it, indicating an issue with the Blazers’ medical team.
After the fallout with Walton, many draftees were unwilling to try out in Portland. Using the 1978 number one pick, they hoped to convince Bird to end his college career early to play in Portland.
But Bird said, "Let me be, doctors say my spine has a congenital defect."
Clearly, he distrusted the Blazers’ medical staff, so Portland missed out on this Indiana talent, who was then snatched up by the Celtics.
Later, they wanted to draft Mychal Thompson, who flatly refused the Blazers’ tryouts multiple times, openly expressing his distrust of the Blazers’ medical team.
Finally, the Trail Blazers made a forceful move at the draft, selecting Thompson who had no choice but to report to the team as he couldn’t twist their arm.
Now Gan Guoyang was expressing the same trust issues, but he was different; he wasn’t an arm, he was the Chinese star currently sought after by the whole of America.
Stu-Inman believed that if Gan Guoyang now said he didn’t want to play for the Trail Blazers, the rest of the League’s twenty-plus teams would immediately flood his office with calls seeking a trade.
The problem was, having experienced the training camp, Stu-Inman only wanted Gan Guoyang, even if Houston offered Olajuwon in exchange, he wasn’t interested.
Having felt the heat of this rising sun up close, he made concessions during negotiations with Fleisher.
But Fleisher wasn’t satisfied, and during the second negotiation on July 3rd, he continued to press the Trail Blazers.
Fleisher mentioned that teams like the Golden State Warriors, the Celtics, and the New York Knicks had contacted him, hoping to trade for Gan Guoyang.
Inman knew the clout of Fleisher. The two sides haggled all day long, and finally, the Blazers agreed to offer Gan Guoyang a four-year, four-million-dollar contract.
However, for the sake of the salary cap, they hoped to lower the first-year salary to six hundred thousand, with the contract total increasing later but the overall four-million-dollar sum remaining unchanged.
Fleisher was pleased with this proposal and said that Gan Guoyang would definitely accept this contract.
But when it came to the medical team issue, Inman felt he had to consult owner Weinberg, as it was a matter affecting the Blazers’ reputation.
Fleisher smiled and said, "This is exactly your chance, Trail Blazers, to restore your reputation by proving with actions that you care about player health. Stu, I can provide you with a plan."
Stu-Inman, looking at the cunning glint behind Fleisher’s glasses, knew he was at a disadvantage but had no alternative.
Fleisher was a major figure that gave NBA owners and managers headaches, and to offend him was to offend the Players Union and all NBA players.
To get Gan Guoyang, Stu-Inman had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear it, saying, "All right, Larry, let’s hear what you have to say. If it’s acceptable, we’ll certainly do it."
