The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1445 - 48: The Great Player (Part 3)
This is all making the Raptors dream of soaring high like the Trail Blazers did after acquiring Ah Gan, and the Raptors’ general manager is none other than the former Pistons star, the "Smiling Assassin" Isiah Thomas, who was almost elbowed to death by Ah Gan in the Finals.
No one understands the power of Ah Gan better than Thomas, and he hopes for Camby’s growth, even if he could reach seventy to eighty percent of Ah Gan’s level.
But time and time again, facts have proven that there might be a backup for Michael Jordan, but there will never be a second Ah Gan.
Camby, like many "Ah Gan II," can only mimic in form but cannot capture the essence, let alone replicate his performance and dominance.
Putting other things aside, a month into the season, Camby began to miss games due to injuries; the two are not even on the same level in terms of physical endurance.
His impact on the court cannot be compared with the new star Gan Guoyang—a fact is that, to date, among all NBA centers, only Olajuwon during his MVP season might have surpassed Ah Gan’s rookie year, with few others even coming close to Gan Guoyang’s rookie season.
Of course, Camby, as the second overall pick, has its strengths. After an uncomfortable start to the season, by February and March, his performance became increasingly outstanding.
He consistently scored high points in games and excelled in rebounds and blocks, holding up the Raptors’ Three Second Zone.
As a result, the Raptors’ record did not plummet; they couldn’t make the playoffs, but they weren’t a team anyone could bully.
Just as Camby’s performance improved and his rank in the Rookie of the Year race climbed, he encountered the same problem Chris Weber faced.
In March 1997, Camby was investigated for receiving 28,000 US Dollars from two sports agents during his college years, causing his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, to be stripped of its 1996 NCAA Final Four honor and face further investigation, possibly losing future tournament eligibility and recruitment privileges.
Such incidents happening repeatedly have become commonplace to fans; they hardly care if stars secretly take money from agents.
As for the University of Massachusetts being stripped of its records, it no longer concerns Camby, now a Raptors player.
The problem, however, is that in the course of these investigations, more details emerged, causing a devastating blow to Camby’s image and reputation.
The two agents depicted Camby as a greedy, lustful, brainless athlete who frequently begged them for money to indulge himself.
Camby defended himself to the police, saying it was the agents who offered money and gave gifts to his family, visiting during holidays with good wishes; now they turn around to call him greedy?
In such "dog-eat-dog" mutual vilification, the more famous party often suffers more harm; who truly cares about the integrity of a sports agent?
But as a representative figure among the 1996 rookies, Camby’s words and actions are subject to strict scrutiny by fans and the public.
Additionally, during his defense, Camby had to admit to some inappropriate behavior, such as in December 1995, when he was still a college student, he and a friend, along with another UMass basketball player, had relations with a woman brought by an agent in the dormitory, engaging in a foursome.
The woman was a tenant at agent Spears’ apartment, and her reward for being brought to the school and engaging with the three students was a reduction of 250 US Dollars in rent.
Such pimping occurred several times, and Camby’s public image quickly collapsed, facing criticism and pressure from all sides in Toronto.
On the game day of the 10th, Camby attempted to reignite his prowess against the Trail Blazers, outshining Ah Gan to gain a reprieve from public scrutiny. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
As a rookie, if you could outplay Ah Gan in a game, people wouldn’t care about your misconduct; even if you strung up Stern in New York, fans would back you.
Unfortunately, Gan Guoyang had no intention of giving the young player a chance to showcase himself and release pressure; he just wanted to add insult to injury and teach the young man a lesson.
The first three quarters of the game were quite intense; the home team Raptors fought with all their strength, both sides alternating leads, scoring quickly.
In the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang suddenly exerted strength, leading the team to a 14:2 run, crushing the Raptors with playoff-level offense and defense.
99:89, with a 10-point advantage, the Trail Blazers carried away a win from Toronto, and Camby’s performance of 5 points and 4 rebounds throughout the game left him burying his head in despair on the bench.
Just graduated from college and entering the NBA, Camby realized the world of professional teams is far from the simplicity of college; everything is so complicated.
In college, he mostly only needed to focus on the court, playing good basketball; nothing else would be an issue.
Arriving in the NBA, he found out that on-court problems are only part of it, while off-court troubles can leave you in disarray; past promises, friendliness, and intimacy can vanish overnight, transforming into daggers aimed at you.
Every foolish thing done in youth will come back to haunt you in the future in some way.
However, what Camby did not expect was that, at the post-game press conference, Gan Guoyang, who effortlessly scored 35 points, when asked by reporters about various recent issues with young players, not only did he refrain from the critical stance of many experienced players, but he instead stepped forward to encourage young players to discipline themselves and harshly criticized the NCAA’s double-standard policy.
