The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 118 - 21 Give Me Some Face

Knight had a reason for not wanting Gan Guoyang to play in the fourth game; the match was in Knight’s home turf of Indiana, at the brand-new Hoosier Dome.

This game marked the opening of the new arena, and on the day of the match, a record-breaking crowd of 67,596 spectators filled the stadium, setting a new American record for a basketball game audience.

The NBA All-Star Team’s lineup for this game was the most luxurious yet, featuring Indiana’s superstar, the 1984 MVP and champion Larry Bird, as well as the other two members of the Celtics’ Iron Trio, McHale and Parrish. Mark Aguirre and Isiah Thomas returned to the court, joined by Mike Woodson, Jim Paxson, and the team’s coach was the legendary Oscar Robertson.

In the days leading up to the match, the team held a charity dinner in Indiana, raising $150,000 for the Olympics.

The pre-game ceremony was exceptionally grand, with more than 60,000 spectators in attendance, flags waving high, and a choir on-site to sing the American national anthem.

During the televised broadcast, President Ronald Reagan offered his blessings, expressing his hope for the American men’s basketball team to excel at the Los Angeles Olympics.

Under Reagan’s leadership, America in the 1980s took great pride in national honor, emphasizing a spirit of unity and dedication, and held high importance for major competitions like the Olympics.

Knight almost heroically accepted the cheering and applause from the entire stadium, following behind the players as he entered the court, waving to soak in the adulation.

In such a setting, how could Knight possibly allow Gan Guoyang, a foreigner, to disrupt the outcome he desired for the game.

Oscar Robertson, the coach of the NBA team, was a close friend and brother-in-arms of Fleisher.

Fleisher knew how important this game was to Knight, so he decided not to let Gan Guoyang go up and "make a mess."

During the match, Gan Guoyang sat next to Oscar Robertson, propping his chin to watch the game while Robertson allowed Gan to give some pointers from the sidelines.

Of course, he knew how to play against the American national team, but whether the NBA stars listened or not was a separate matter.

The Celtics brought almost their entire core lineup, the frontcourt Iron Trio plus Buckner, with Isiah Thomas joining as well.

After about ten minutes into the first half, the American Olympic national team had the NBA All-Stars reeling.

Ewing blocked Parrish’s shot face-to-face, and Jordan single-handedly broke through Bird and McHale’s double defense.

Without tactics and strategies, even teams comprised of big-name stars could not stand against well-trained opponents.

All the more so for the American national team, which was full of young players with near-NBA star abilities, brimming with fighting spirit and outperforming the All-Stars.

Bird had the ball stolen by Irving Robertson, then Jordan dunked on Robert Reid in a fast break, sending the crowd into a frenzy—Jordan was like a panther, showing fans the dawn of a new era.

And another beacon of the new era cheered his teammates on from the sidelines:

"Larry, you’re too slow! That defense, it’s like walking across the street!"

"Kevin, you need to defend farther out, staying in the three-second zone is a dead end!"

"Pick up the pace, we need to speed up; don’t try to drag it out, Thomas, you can’t slow down the tempo, get moving!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Gan Guoyang, not yet officially in the League, was thus barking orders at his renowned seniors, completely disregarding their feelings.

When Bird took a break on the sidelines, he marched up to Gan and blurted out, "Kid, you shout nonsense at me one more time, and I’ll stuff this towel in your mouth!"

While saying this, Bird gestured with the sweat towel in his hand; he had had enough.

If it were opponents trash-talking him on the court, Bird wouldn’t worry—he’d just hit them back twice as hard.

Fuck, now he’s a teammate sitting on the sidelines, and he can’t even fight back; this feeling is really uncomfortable.

"I’m just giving you guys some advice, I’ve won two games already, and it looks like you’re going to lose this one."

"The outcome of this kind of game isn’t important, have the guts to go win games in the NBA, I’m fucking waiting for you, rookie."

Bird was so annoyed he could only sit on the bench and talk tough.

They weren’t quite used to the FIBA rules, and since there was no practice before the game, they just played it like an All-Star game.

Bird enjoyed himself on the court, dribbling, passing, shooting, playing with ease and looking unpretentious, not as flashy or stunning as Jordan.

But every move, effortlessly at will, was simple yet effective, and his passes were stealthy, with a strong lethality.

That year was Bird’s peak, where he earned every possible accolade in a season; he was the king of the league.

As he sat on the bench for a while, King Bird suddenly nudged Gan Guoyang and said, "Rookie, aren’t you the assistant coach? Don’t you know the Olympic Team? Why the fuck aren’t you saying anything? Come on, give some pointers, what should be done in this situation!"

By then, the All-Star Team was already behind by ten points and seemed certain to lose, unable to find a turning point.

Gan Guoyang said, "The best solution is to put me in the game."

Bird stared at Gan Guoyang for a few seconds and said, "I finally understand how fucking annoying a person like me can be, fuck."

There was no saving the All-Star Team now; Gan Guoyang going in wouldn’t make much difference as the Olympic Team’s coordination, cooperation, and fighting spirit continued to strengthen with each warm-up game.

In the face of such a high-spirited determination to win witnessed by so many spectators, the All-Star Team truly lacked the conviction to turn the game around.

In the end, the American national team easily defeated the NBA All-Star Team with a score of 97 to 82, a 15-point margin, securing a crucial victory.

Bird scored 14 points, Jordan 12, and although the American national team centered around Jordan, they were fundamentally a team-oriented squad.

After securing this victory, Gan Guoyang didn’t play in subsequent games, as Knight and he both knew there was no need anymore.

Gan Guoyang still followed the team to Milwaukee, Phoenix, all the way to the last stop, San Diego.

The Olympic Team unsurprisingly secured victories in all subsequent games, winning by large margins, with no suspense.

Along the way, Guoyang got to know more NBA stars, like English, Larry Nance, Quentin-Daly, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon, Vandeweghe, and a host of prime NBA players, becoming acquainted—a precious experience for a newcomer like Gan Guoyang.

No summer league could provide such a training effect, and there wouldn’t be such an opportunity again.

What Guoyang admired most was still his agent Fleisher’s networking resources; he managed to arrange so many NBA stars for the eight games.

After the last game in San Diego, it was time for Gan Guoyang to part ways with the Olympic Team; Guoyang was heading back to Portland to sign a contract, while the Olympic Team would go directly to Los Angeles to prepare for the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympics.

At parting, several months of camaraderie left everyone slightly sentimental; these vibrant young men were the future main force of the NBA.

Gan said to everyone, "By the way, your first opponent in the Olympics is China, my homeland. I know they definitely can’t beat you without me. Please go easy on them, spare me some face, don’t win by too much, and don’t make the game too ugly."

The Olympic Men’s Basketball schedule was already out, and the first opponent for the American team was indeed the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team.

Gan Guoyang wanted everyone to do him a favor, but after he spoke, he realized their gazes were somewhat fierce—why did they look a bit ferocious?

Suddenly feeling uneasy, Gan Guoyang grabbed his bag and made a run for it, heading to Portland.

[After getting to know Gan, I decided to tone down my personality a bit in the future, because it really can be quite annoying. (Ultimately, I didn’t succeed.)]

————Excerpt from Larry Bird’s autobiography "Drive: the story of my life" published in 1989.