The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 149 - 47 I’m already dead

At first, Rambis had no reaction to Gan Guoyang’s words; he just treated them as regular trash talk.

Watching an NBA game on TV seems quiet, civilized, with only the squeaking of sneakers on the court and the pleasant swish of the ball through the net.

But the real NBA arena is as noisy, dirty, and filthy as a market, a mental test for every player on the court.

Rambis had experienced the worst environment Boston Garden had to offer, and although they lost, they fought until Game 7 and nearly won there.

On the court, Rambis often defended against Bird and McHale, the league’s toughest frontcourt players—a dirty label wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

In Game 4 of the Finals, McHale gave Rambis a "clothesline" defense, locking his throat and knocking him to the ground.

Since then, Rambis believed there was nothing he couldn’t endure, resorting to a fight if necessary, fearing no one.

To Rambis, Guoyang’s harmless word games were just boring threats from a child, not worth his attention.

However, on the Lakers’ first offensive play of the second half, Rambis sneaked under the basket to receive a pass from Jabbar, only to have his layup blocked by Gan Guoyang.

A block from behind, Rambis had not expected that at all; he thought he’d created distance and that Guoyang was focused on Jabbar.

This was Guoyang’s third block of the night. Lakers players had somewhat underestimated the 6-foot-10 center’s formidable presence in shot-blocking; he was very strong at it.

Gan Guoyang didn’t throw a long pass to start a fast break after capturing the ball but instead passed to Valentine, and the Trail Blazers began to organize their offense.

Both teams had been running the entire half without much pause—a dizzying display of fast breaks, dunks, steals, interceptions, and chasing blocks.

The fans were enjoying it, but the players were getting a bit weary; it was time to slow down a bit at the start of the third quarter.

Valentine, sensing Guoyang’s intention, delivered a low bounce pass through Johnson’s side, into the paint after crossing half-court.

Guoyang, with his back to Rambis, sealed him off, received the ball, and suddenly turned around; Rambis, sticking close, was then knocked away by a powerful force.

"It wasn’t like this in the first half..." This thought flashed through Rambis’s mind, followed by him sitting down on the floor with a thud.

Looking up, he saw Guoyang dodge Jabbar’s help defense and slam the ball into the basket with one hand.

The referee made no call; there was no foul, and Rambis immediately got up and joined the offense.

The man now guarding Rambis was Vandeweghe, with Mychal Thompson defending Worthy.

Vandeweghe’s defense was practically inexistent, and Rambis easily slipped past him into the paint.

Johnson’s pass sliced into the three-second area like a knife, reaching Rambis’s hands.

Rambis received the ball and shot a layup!

A large hand arrived, pressing down the ball that was about to touch the rim.

Gan Guoyang came from the side and blocked Rambis’s shot.

The ball was again under Guoyang’s control; his fourth block.

Still no fast break, the ball was passed to Valentine, who leisurely crossed half-court.

Grinding his teeth, Rambis continued to tangle with Guoyang, starting from the three-point line.

Gan Guoyang walked forward with his hands held high, Rambis simply couldn’t stop him.

Suddenly, Guoyang grabbed the corner of Rambis’s jersey in a sneaky positioning move.

Valentine passed the ball to Vandeweghe, who then lobbed it to Guoyang.

In the same position, Rambis, pushing forward with his chest, collided with Guoyang’s shoulder as he turned.

The referee blew the whistle, and at the same time, Guoyang tossed the ball towards the hoop, and it swished through the net.

Rambis committed a foul, and Guoyang scored two points with an additional free throw pending.

The Great Western Forum fell silent at the start of the third quarter.

Chick Hearn complained, "Why is Rambis guarding Gan? Where is Karim?"

"You’re already dead."

This phrase suddenly became a bit clearer in Rambis’s mind.

He felt he began to understand the meaning behind it—the two blocks he’d just experienced, were they intentional gaps he’d exposed?

Yes, in the first half when he was anchoring the defense, there were no such offensive opportunities; he covered it tightly.

A trap, was it? And I’ve fallen right into it.

During the free throw, Rambis had several inexplicable thoughts, which made him oblivious to Riley yelling from the sidelines.

The extra free throw was good, Guoyang scored five consecutive points, and the Trail Blazers took the lead.

During the Lakers’ offensive turn, Johnson yelled at Rambis to come and set a screen.

After a simple pick-and-roll, Johnson dribbled into the paint, with Rambis rolling down.

Gan Guoyang was nearby; he let go of Jabbar to defend Johnson.

Without hesitation, he cut off Johnson’s driving lane, and Johnson, in traffic, passed to Rambis.

But Rambis fumbled the catch, and the ball went out of bounds.

"Kirk! What are you thinking! Catch the ball!" Johnson screamed at Rambis.

Rambis apologized, his mind slightly scrambled, and quickly returned to defense.

Gan Guoyang continued to post up Rambis, with Cooper coming into double-team.

It was no use, though; Guoyang, upon receiving the ball, spun inside, towering over Rambis to release his shot.

Jabbar couldn’t get there in time for the help defense, and Guoyang comfortably scored another jump shot, amassing 7 straight points and forcing the Lakers to call a timeout.

Rambis, breathing heavily, returned to the bench with a dejected face, and Riley shouted at him, "What were you just doing out there, why didn’t you hear me?!"

"Sorry, it was too noisy on the court."

"The rest of you need to help Rambis, Karim you have to help on defense, you need to be timely in assisting him!"

"Thompson is also a problem."

"Gan is the biggest problem!"

Riley shouted at everyone, as they were being dominated on both offense and defense by a rookie, devoid of vitality.

After the timeout, the Lakers began to play in front of Gan Guoyang on defense, and it worked in one of the plays.

But in the next play, Gan Guoyang didn’t go to the low post, instead, he received the ball at the high post and, facing Rambis at the free-throw line, he shot from mid-range and scored.

Next, from a similar position but a bit to the left, he shot again from mid-range—missed, rushed into the paint to grab the offensive rebound, and soared for a one-handed dunk.

Jabbar didn’t even react in time, he became like a withered tree in front of Gan Guoyang—a giant that didn’t move, easy to bypass.

Magic Johnson began to attack with the ball himself, using his body to drive into the paint, switched hands for a layup, and stopped the bleeding for his team.

But Gan Guoyang once again had the ball in the low post, backing down Rambis, his turn-around was shockingly fast, Rambis did not react in time, it felt as if he just slipped away instantly.

Jabbar came over to help on defense, and as the two collided mid-air, Jabbar blocked Gan Guoyang’s momentum, but at the cost of a foul and his glasses flying off his face.

Jabbar covered his eyes in pain for a while, Gan Guoyang came over to pat him, showing his apology; it wasn’t intentional.

The referee called the foul on Jabbar, Gan Guoyang stood on the free-throw line, and Riley, finally unable to hold back, subbed out Rambis for Kupchak.

With both free throws made, Gan Guoyang single-handedly outscored the Lakers 13:4 in the third quarter, turning a 5-point deficit into a 4-point lead.

But it wasn’t over, Gan Guoyang knew he was in good form, he had to cherish this great touch and continue to attack.

He began to coordinate with Valentine and Parkson, taking mid-range jump shots.

During games, Gan Guoyang wouldn’t easily resort to a large number of mid-range shots, as it’s not a good habit for a center.

Perhaps you could be very accurate, achieving high shooting percentages on certain nights and scoring a lot of points.

But that would make you less of a threat in the paint, unable to disrupt the opponent’s defensive formation.

Your scoring just amounts to points and doesn’t help the team much, nor does it help your teammates.

So even if his shooting was accurate, Gan Guoyang only used the mid- to long-range shots as a supplement to his offense.

But at times, he would take many shots, when he felt "I can keep making them."

Kupchak replaced Rambis to take the punishment.

He hadn’t even touched Gan Guoyang when, upon receiving a pass from Parkson on the wing, Gan Guoyang scored from mid-range.

Gan Guoyang’s consecutive scoring deeply frustrated the Lakers players, making their shots loose.

Worthy’s pivot jump shot missed, Thompson grabbed the defensive rebound, and Valentine quickly pushed forward.

Gan Guoyang stood at the corner, Valentine passed him the ball, Gan Guoyang used a fake to dodge the magic Johnson who flew by attempting to block him.

Then standing still, he shot from mid-range again, the ball swishing through the net for another two points.

"Damn it! What kind of center is this, damn it!"

Johnson cursed angrily. This guy’s shooting was too accurate.

Why didn’t he shoot in the first half, did he just learn how?

Johnson’s competitive spirit was ignited, he desperately wanted to rally his teammates.

He knew if they continued to allow Gan Guoyang to shoot like this, the team would slip into the abyss.

In the NBA, without early double-teaming or zone defense, a star’s scoring streak becomes magnified.

If a superstar can score consecutively over a period, it can completely turn the tide of the game.

Magic aimed to tear apart the Trail Blazers’ defense, after a switch he went directly to guard Gan Guoyang.

Johnson decided to attack the Trail Blazers’ big gatekeeper, that annoying rookie. Johnson craftily used his body to drive into the paint, attempting to draw a foul from Gan Guoyang.

However, he focused too much on defending Gan Guoyang and overlooked Drexler, who came to help and stole the ball, leading to a counterattack.

The ball was passed to Parkson on the wing, and like guards from the ’60s and ’70s, Parkson caught the ball at the baseline, stopped abruptly, and jump-shot.

The shot did not go in, but Gan Guoyang followed up with a put-back dunk.

He scored all of the Trail Blazers’ points so far in the second half.

Kupchak did everything he could to push and pull Gan Guoyang, yet couldn’t stop this truck from grabbing the rebound and putting the ball in the basket.

"He’s as savage as Moses, but faster than Moses, with stronger bursts and more robust—simply unbelievable," Kupchak later described Gan Guoyang during his rookie season.

The third quarter suddenly entered an unbelievable tempo and atmosphere, with everyone, including the Lakers players, revolving around Gan Guoyang.

Pat Riley thought of various ways to stop Gan Guoyang from scoring, sending Cooper to harass him, asking Johnson to double-team, and telling Jabbar to properly guard.

He even brought back Rambis, who, in one of Gan Guoyang’s drives to the basket, attempted to defend him like a clothes hanger.

As a result, Rambis was sent flying by Gan Guoyang and ended up in a heap of reporters on the baseline.

Instantly, Rambis saw nothing but darkness, with a loud ringing noise in his ears.

It seemed like someone was shouting his name.

"Rambis, Rambis, how are you doing? Rambis."

He gradually discerned the voice calling him; it was the team doctor, checking his pupil response with a flashlight.

He felt as though he was floating, as if on a cloud, and the darkness before his eyes began to dissipate, revealing white and yellow orbs of light.

When he fully regained consciousness, he realized he was in the locker room, surrounded by medical staff who, seeing him awake, asked, "How are you feeling, Rambis? Is there any particular discomfort?"

Rambis was dazed for a moment and then asked, "Am I dead?"

"No, you’re not dead. You just got hit in the chin by Gan’s elbow when you collided, and the referee called a foul on him. His crazy scoring streak has been stopped... He scored 20 points in a row in the third quarter, my God."

Rambis seemed not to take in a word the team doctor said, still in a daze he replied, "No, I’m already dead."

"What nonsense are you talking, if you’re dead then who am I? God? I think you’re out of it, let me check on you, what’s this number..."

"..."

Rambis didn’t respond, he lay back on the massage table, took a deep breath, exhaled long, and muttered, "I’m already dead."