The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1630 - 5: The Great Bombing

The flames of war began to burn in March 1999.

The series of ethnic conflicts that stretched across the Balkan Peninsula since the early 1990s erupted with apocalyptic ferocity at the end of the 20th century.

After a series of diplomatic, military, and political conflicts, mediations and renewed conflicts, the issue could not be resolved peacefully. NATO bypassed the United Nations and launched large-scale airstrikes on Kosovo on March 23.

The Kosovo War broke out.

Led by the US Army, the powerful NATO air force conducted non-stop, high-intensity bombings on the Yugoslavia, including military and various important civilian facilities. A modern country was bombed into a state of semi-paralysis within a short time.

There were massive casualties, cities were razed to the ground, and devastation was everywhere.

Unlike the Gulf War in 1991 when All-America rallied together and considered the US Army’s actions as righteous, this airstrike provoked some controversy and opposition.

Overall, American society still supported the war.

A significant characteristic of American society is its strong Puritan imprint.

A notable feature of Puritans is their self-conceived mission to spread God’s morality and maintain global justice.

Hence, after winning the Cold War, America’s role as the world police, engaged in wars everywhere to maintain order, had both economic and military power support, but mainly it was due to this cultural gene – the innate urge to meddle.

By May, the bombing had reached its third stage, and NATO had expanded its attack range by including a large number of civilian facilities as targets.

Railways, highways, TV stations, power plants, hospitals, and others were bombed on a large scale, plunging cities into paralysis.

The expanded bombing range also led to more civilians being attacked, with many ordinary people killed and injured in the bombings.

The events of May 7 did not attract much attention among the multitude of bombing tragedies and flashed briefly in news reports, appearing in a corner of the newspapers.

Although the incident was quite atrocious, since there were no casualties and both parties intended to downplay its impact, it didn’t stir a huge uproar.

There were small-scale sporadic protests in the country, and some newspaper editorials condemned the bombings, but all parties remained silent apart from that.

However, it was said that undercurrents surged behind the incident, embassies were strangely gratified, and key personnel returned home, while America was conducting a secret investigation into the matter.

In the midst of the playoffs, the Trail Blazers unexpectedly lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the third game, with Gan Guoyang performing poorly, possibly his worst playoff performance of his professional career.

This thrilled San Antonio fans, as they seemed to see signs of Ah Gan’s decline.

This is the Sun King — when was the last time he scored less than 20 points in a game? Was it back in the ’80s?

On May 8, the Trail Blazers stayed in San Antonio for training, preparing for the fourth game.

During the media open session in training, a curious reporter brought up the May 7 event and asked Gan Guoyang how he viewed the matter.

Larry Bird had early on advised Gan Guoyang to avoid engaging in discussions about such events, suggesting silence or evasiveness as the best response.

But Guoyang was not planning to stay silent.

"The bombings are brutal. Fortunately, our people were unharmed, which is a stroke of luck amidst adversity. But many unfortunate civilians died in the explosions, losing their lives and families. I don’t know much about politics or military matters, and I don’t understand why wars happen, so I can’t comment. But I think, at this moment, Americans are safe and peaceful, able to sit in an arena and enjoy splendid games. Instead of asking me these questions, you might as well ask Divac. I believe he has more to say, and you should listen to his voice more."

Divac indeed had more to say than Gan Guoyang because his family and friends were surviving with difficulty against the threat of death.

With bombings ongoing for two months, Divac’s hometown, Prijepolje, had been attacked 10 times, and his cousin, a bus driver, lost a leg in the bombing.

His best friend has been out of contact for more than ten days and quite possibly perished in the bombardment.

A bomb struck a bridge near Divac’s home, with the explosion shattering the window glass and furniture in his parents’ house.

In less than two months, Divac lost 20 pounds and looked gaunt like a sick patient, rather than a robust center.

This season, the Sacramento Kings were competitively poised in the playoffs, acquiring Chris Weber alongside Divac to match the Trail Blazers’ inside line, arguably a low-budget version of "Gan Guoyang + Sabonis."

Yet in the first round of the playoffs, they regretfully lost to the Utah Jazz team.

Divac’s chain of low-post missed attacks at crucial moments cost the team an entire season’s efforts.

But Divac had already tried his best. His severe weight loss made it hard for him to concentrate during the last moments of games.

He even questioned whether he should stay in America, knowing this country was attacking his homeland.

Numerous Americans sent Divac malicious emails and messages, accusing him of supporting ethnic cleansing.

However, Divac never actually did anything like that, and his previous act of removing the Croatian flag continues to penalize him to this day.

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