The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1517 - 13: Invincible Loneliness

But Gan Guoyang still didn’t relax his defense against Fan Huo’en, maintaining intense one-on-one confrontation throughout, primarily focusing on companionship.

Halfway through the third quarter, Bird called a timeout. He couldn’t bear to watch any longer, and said to Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, aren’t you being too harsh? Young men should be given a chance."

Gan Guoyang said, "I gave him a chance, I even let him shoot threes from the outside, but he just can’t make them. What can I do if he’s useless with the opportunity I gave him?"

Bird said, "You forced him into a corner, resorting to forced shots. How is that an opportunity?"

"If he can’t even hit forced shots, that’s his problem. You’re probably thinking about yourself, Larry, otherwise why sympathize with the rookie?"

Bird indeed sympathized with Fan Huo’en, recalling his own embarrassing zero-point quarter when Gan Guoyang defended him.

After becoming a coach, Bird wasn’t as sharp-tongued and strict as he was during his player days; his mindset had shifted somewhat.

As a player, one focused only on the game, the competition, and the court performance, hoping teammates would excel and opponents would falter.

As a coach, one stood higher and saw broader, often considering the game and players from a holistic perspective.

"Leave some room for others, so you can meet again in the future. Sonny, offending too many people and leaving too many shadows may not be a good thing. Everyone gets old." Bird reminded Gan Guoyang.

"Larry, are you done studying tactics and started dabbling in human relations?"

"I’m just giving you a heads up, I’ve heard you want to play until you’re fifty."

"I will surely leave the court before I’m humiliated. Right now, I just want to teach the youngsters about the difficulties of the road to success."

After speaking, Gan Guoyang continued to participate in the game.

Bird couldn’t help but grumble internally, "Damn it, you’re just satisfying your own twisted desires and pleasures, you damned guy. I shouldn’t have let Sabonis return."

In Bird’s view, Sabonis’ return greatly liberated Gan Guoyang in both offense and defense, allowing him to indulge on his own path seemingly unabated.

The outcome of the subsequent game wasn’t in doubt, and after repeatedly missing shots, Fan Huo’en lost the courage to score against Ah Gan.

During the entire latter half of the third quarter and the fourth quarter, Fan Huo’en didn’t attempt another shot, eventually being replaced by the coach, with his score remaining zero.

points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers—this was the second overall NBA draft pick’s debut performance data.

However, no one considered Fan Huo’en a bust, because everyone knew he was facing Ah Gan in the match.

In his following second game of the career, Fan Huo’en scored 16 points, followed by 21 points, 23 points, 30 points, and 26 points, fully demonstrating his offensive talent.

Only when facing Ah Gan did he score zero, and that zero left an indelible shadow on his entire career.

Many years after retiring, Fan Huo’en said, "This is the most memorable game for me, it reminds me to this day that I have many shortcomings."

Gan Guoyang’s stats for this game were also average, with 18 points, 15 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 4 assists, along with numerous successful one-on-one defenses.

This guy already doesn’t care about his own stats to make sure the opposing players have a rough day, as the team wins by a large margin every game, he’s insanely torturing opponents.

The current Trail Blazers are like the Bulls of 1996, the difference is that the Bulls achieved defensive perfection, Jordan executed team offense fluidly, leading them to overpower opponents.

Trail Blazers are the opposite, achieving perfection in offense, Gan Guoyang ensures strong defense and participates normally in offense, making the team unstoppable and undefeated.

After beating the Nets, the Trail Blazers also consecutively defeated the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards, easily winning each game without suspense, achieving four consecutive wins on their Eastern journey.

At this point, the Trail Blazers winning streak has reached 19 games, and people began to notice they were setting historical records.

On December 11, 1997, the Trail Blazers hosted the Denver Nuggets, winning by a score of 141:109, extending their winning streak to 20 games with a 32-point advantage for the home team.

Fans at the scene displayed banners celebrating their 20-game winning streak, the Trail Blazers had created NBA’s best history start and each further win extended this record.

On December 13, facing the Los Angeles Lakers at home in a battle between the season’s top offensive teams.

After replacing coach Del Harris, the Lakers exhibited impressive offensive basketball, and O’Neal experienced his best career start.

However, against the mighty Trail Blazers, the Lakers only resisted for three quarters before collapsing in the fourth, taken down by a sweep from the Trail Blazers.

115:104, still an 11-point advantage for the victory, a win belonging to the team, the Trail Blazers continued their sprint.

Then on December 15th and 16th, the Trail Blazers defeated the Kings and Hawks on the road, raising their winning streak to 23 games.

At this point, not only the NBA, but the entire American sports world began to focus on the Portland Trail Blazers, wondering when their victory run would end?

With one win after another, opponents simply couldn’t find a way to beat this team whose offense was as sharp as a scythe, leaving devastation in its wake.

The Trail Blazers’ series of victories even somewhat eased the negative impact resulted from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Since July 1997, financial collapse triggered by exchange rate fluctuations quickly spread from Thailand to Southeast Asia and even to countries across Asia.

The financial markets in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong were affected, with currencies heavily depreciating, wealth plundered, causing a heavy blow to the economy of the entire Asian region.

Not until December 1997 did conditions slightly ease in various places, yet larger crises were brewing.

The people’s assets shrunk, numerous workers lost employment, and the socio-economic and public safety conditions were worsening.

Meanwhile, far across the ocean, Gan Guoyang led the Trail Blazers to continuous victories, becoming a spiritual sustenance for many ordinary people to endure the crisis.

In 1997, Gan Guoyang was not only a basketball idol for China but also the most influential world-class king throughout Asia.

After an unsuccessful 1996-1997 season, at the start of the 1997-1998 season, Gan Guoyang and the team erupted with astonishing energy.

Due to the economic crisis, television stations in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines had to prematurely terminate broadcast agreements of many world-class sports events.

Including Premier League, Bundesliga, F1, and some local matches such as motorcycle rally grand prix were canceled.

Only NBA broadcasts continued as usual, as NBA’s broadcast fees were cheap in these places, still in the promotional stage.

Watching NBA became the top choice for many in their leisure time, and the Trail Blazers and Gan Guoyang’s winning streak became the central topic everyone paid attention to.

The more difficult the times, the more people needed victory for motivation or to numb themselves to endure present hardships.

In December leading up to Christmas, the Trail Blazers’ victories were a seamless string of wins.

America, or even Worldwide, had more people paying attention to their record.

wins in a row, 24 wins, 25 wins, steadily progressing towards 30 consecutive wins!

Before the Christmas showdown, the Trail Blazers defeated the Dallas Mavericks at home with a score of 115:108, achieving a stunning 26 consecutive wins!

And on December 25th, the Christmas showdown day, the Trail Blazers were to travel to Chicago to confront their destined rivals, the Chicago Bulls.

This battle was watched by the world, with the undefeated Trail Blazers facing the Bulls: could the Bulls end the Trail Blazers’ winning streak and hand them a defeat?

People were filled with anticipation for the result, and it was foreseeable that this game’s viewership ratings would set records.

Amidst the heavy snowfall in Illinois, the Trail Blazers arrived late to Chicago.

At the airport, Gan Guoyang was surrounded by countless reporters, one asking, "Can the Trail Blazers continue their winning streak, are you afraid of failure?"

Gan Guoyang shook his head and replied, "I loathe failure, but I’m not afraid. We will strive to win, but also accept the result. You know, what basketball taught me most importantly is accepting failure."

Many people (frauds) who teach others about success, how to achieve victory in life, to attain happiness and fulfillment.

Only competitive sports are extremely realistic, as from the first second you’re involved, you must start learning to accept failure; this is its greatest significance.

[Even the best basketball player in the world can only hit half of the shots, so what reason do you have to fear failure? Try your best, friend.]

——Ah Gan, May 6, 2025.