The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 127 - 29: Challenge with Jordan

[Jerome Kossie experienced a thrilling training camp in October 1984, as well as preseason games that helped him secure his footing.]

Jim Paxson missed the training camp due to contract issues, Drexler was moved to the starting position, and Kossie became the main substitute, earning significant playing time alongside Kolter.]

The first day of training camp’s intra-squad game undoubtedly enhanced his and Kolter’s role and status in Coach Ramsay’s eyes, as the Rookie Team, under Ah Gan’s leadership, surprisingly defeated the main team. From that day on, the Trail Blazers’ intra-squad games became rare, or they could play, but not with Ah Gan.]

Adelman said in his work "long hot winter" that this was for the sake of team unity and harmony, as Ah Gan leading the substitute rookies to always beat the main team was too demoralizing.]

But according to Drexler, they would still secretly organize scrimmages, with the principal players desperately improving themselves to avoid being humiliated by Gan in the scrimmages—Drexler, since being humiliated in the first scrimmage, never arrived late to training camp again.]

In the preseason, the Trail Blazers performed quite well, winning all their games, and their debut at Memorial Coliseum quickly won the hearts of Portland fans. Gan swept away the slight bad impression of the summer with his effortless performance in the preseason.]

However, Gan’s stats were average, as he gave many scoring and rebounding opportunities to Kossie, Kolter, and Scheffler, who needed those chances to showcase themselves to secure an NBA contract.]

Drexler posted very comprehensive stats; his shooting was still poor, but his rebounding and assists were notable.]

Kossie came off the bench in an exhibition game against the Clippers, scoring 19 points with 8 rebounds and 2 steals, and collected 20 points and 9 rebounds in the game against the Utah Jazz.]

Mychal Thompson called Jerome Kossie a "young version of Bernard King," which Gan strongly disagreed with—he and King were good friends.]

Compared to the preseason stats and performance, the relationships between Gan and Bill Walton, and between Gan and Stockton, were more concerning after the two games.]

Walton declared himself Gan’s number one fan after the games, saying Gan’s performance on the court had always been his ideal. They both behaved very friendly before and after the games, with Walton taking Gan Guoyang to his favorite Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles.]

And Stockton was Gan’s college classmate, with the two sharing a very close relationship, and the post-game dinner saw the addition of Jerome Kossie, who was also good friends with Stockton. They met during the summer league in Chicago and exchanged contact information, building a fine friendship.]

The appearance of Stockton further strengthened the relationship between Gan and Kossie; thus, some believed that the Trail Blazers keeping Kossie was related to Gan, but this notion negated Kossie’s efforts and stellar performance, and Gan himself did not agree.]

Midway through the preseason, Jim Paxson finally signed a long-term deal with the Trail Blazers, returning to the team smoothly. However, his absence from training camp resulted in Drexler’s rapidly rising status within the team, suggesting he might replace him.] 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Moreover, Drexler, who rarely did so, started staying after practice for shooting drills, with Vandeweghe accompanying him, and the two became very good friends.]

The off-court relationship between Drexler and Gan had always been average, because of the relationship with Olajuwon and the Houston Cougars and their different attitudes and pursuits in life, but their on-court chemistry was growing.]

Dr. Jack Ramsay continued to try to transform Gan during the preseason, but he always struggled to find a breakthrough, until he finally agreed with Dr. Ogilvie’s suggestion to conduct a psychological test, and Dr. Ogilvie diagnosed him with bipolar disorder, recommending treatment.]

Ramsay refused psychological therapy, saying his bipolar disorder stemmed from basketball, so naturally, it had to be treated with basketball. Later, he gradually gave up on transforming Gan and became increasingly calm.]

Years later, he said, "Gan cured my illness. With his calm and steady mood, and impeccable performance on the court, he slowly healed me."]

In the latter part of the preseason, in late October, the night before the team decided on the cut list, Kossie, along with Gan, Kolter, Thompson, Scheffler, and the team’s sports psychology expert Dr. Ogilvie, had dinner and then returned to his motel room.]

Around 10:30 p.m., Gan and Dr. Ogilvie knocked on his door, saying, "You’ve been kept!"

"Get lost, don’t tease me!" Kossie, under immense pressure from the possibility of being cut, didn’t believe it.]

"At first, I thought they were joking, especially with Gan grinning on the side. That guy has tricked me, a country boy, several times. He’s a good guy, but I didn’t trust him," Kossie later said. "After hearing Dr. Ogilvie confirm the news, I was so excited. I was going to be a part of the team. I couldn’t sleep at all, my adrenaline was too high. I called everyone I knew, kept watching TV, and then was dragged out by Gan to play ball. After he thrashed me, I finally cooled down and went back to sleep."]

————Extract from Jerome Kossie’s biography "Jerome Kersey—Overcoming The Odds," by Kerry Eggers, published in 2021.]

One evening after the end of the preseason, Gan Guoyang returned to his home in Lake Oswego after training and waved goodbye to Jerome Kossie.]