The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 175 - 68 Please Don’t Kill Them

Before flying to Salt Lake City, Gan Guoyang made a call to Stockton.

The two almost talked on the phone every week, especially during the preseason.

Stockton, practically after every day’s training, called Gan Guoyang to share his worries, he was afraid of being cut.

Gan Guoyang reminded Stockton more than once, "You’re the 16th pick of the first round, not the 16th of the tenth round, the Jazz wouldn’t have selected you so high only to cut you afterward."

Besides, you were the core guard of the NCAA champions, you should carry some of that champion’s confidence, and not let those country bumpkins in Salt Lake City look down on you.

However, a person’s nature is hard to change, and it has nothing to do with whether you’ve won a championship or not. Stockton was a person who worried daily, and even two years of friendship with Gan Guoyang hadn’t changed that about him.

It wasn’t until the Jazz announced their roster for the new season, which included Stockton’s name, that he finally heaved a sigh of relief.

After the Trail Blazers’ plane landed in Salt Lake City, the players took a bus to the hotel, and this was Gan Guoyang’s second visit to Salt Lake City.

The last time was with the entire Gonzaga team for the national championship, but late at night, they couldn’t find a place to eat and ended up having their meal in a movie theater while watching a film.

Back then, Stockton said he didn’t want to come to this godforsaken place again, but ended up being picked by the Jazz and might have to stay here for a decade or even twenty years.

Once settled in the hotel, Gan Guoyang called Stockton and, after about fifteen minutes, Stockton picked up Gan Guoyang from the hotel in his Toyota Corolla.

The two hadn’t seen each other for a long time and hugged each other with irrepressible smiles on their faces, Gan Guoyang sized up Stockton, saying, "John, you’ve bulked up."

Stockton replied, "Gan, you’re even stronger, you’ve gained at least 20 pounds since college, right?"

"Not at all, just over 10 pounds, which is enough to take on the wimps in the NBA."

"Now I’m one of those NBA wimps..."

The two got into the car, and since the Corolla was a compact car, Gan Guoyang had to slide the front seat all the way back and lower the backrest to squeeze in.

Gan Guoyang was practically lying on the seat, and when he looked up, he saw the ceiling of the car instead of the windshield, feeling like a stroke patient.

"John, if I were driving your car, I’d have to cut a sunroof and stick my head out! And how come the ceiling is so dirty, did you buy it used?"

"No, it wasn’t me who bought it, it was given by a sponsor."

"Given? They gave you a used Toyota?"

"Yes, Vagstad Company, a Toyota dealer in Salt Lake City, is a sponsor of the Jazz, so they gave me a used car, it’s really great."

Stockton felt genuinely happy that someone gave him a car, but when he learned a dealer in Portland had given Gan Guoyang a Porsche, he erupted in laughter.

"I think it’s very fair, you’re a Porsche and I’m a Toyota Corolla, a perfect match."

The two were good friends; Stockton wasn’t jealous that Gan Guoyang received a Porsche from a dealer, nor did Gan Guoyang despise Stockton for driving a Toyota Corolla, but it was the Jazz and the dealer’s disrespect of Stockton that angered him.

When they arrived at their destination, Gan Guoyang got out and glanced at the somewhat decrepit Corolla, then suddenly asked, "John, why doesn’t this car have a license plate?"

Stockton came over, scratched his head and said, "Uh... seems like... I don’t remember. Anyway, they gave me the car, and I just drove it without registering it."

"No license plate? Then... about insurance?"

"Insurance? I didn’t buy any."

"..."

Gan Guoyang hadn’t expected the usually meticulous Stockton to be so negligent and reminded him to get his license plate sorted out and buy insurance.

Gan Guoyang’s hotel was located downtown, near the Salt Palace Arena, while Stockton’s home was in the southern part of Salt Lake City, in the Midvale District.

It was a one-bedroom apartment, and damn, it was a basement.

"Fuck, John, you actually live in a basement? Are you... a mouse or something?"

Gan Guoyang was shocked to see where Stockton lived, thinking the guy was being excessively frugal.

"I’m fine living here by myself for now, I don’t know how long I’ll stay with the Jazz, the rent is only 125 US dollars a month. It’s close to the practice facility and is already the cheapest studio apartment around here."

"You should bring Nala to Salt Lake City, her dad would definitely buy you guys a big house here."

"Oh no, forget about it, I want Nala to come here, but only if I can make a good living first, so I can have some confidence."

Gan Guoyang, like Stockton’s family, checked every part of the narrow apartment, which was furnished very simply.

A bed, sheets from Gonzaga University, some kitchenware, a pot and a frying pan, a few bowls, one plate, and some simple cutlery.

There was no beer in the fridge, only cereal, milk, biscuits from the nearby discount food store, and some hot sauce to go with meals.

In the freezer, Gan Guoyang saw the familiar lasagna that seemed to be made by Stockton’s mother; he asked, "Did your mom make this?"

"Yes, I brought it from Spokane, divided it into many portions, and froze it in the fridge. If I want to eat it, I just heat it up."

A phone was installed on the wall near the bed. Stockton said that he could make 50 local calls each month, mainly for contacting teammates and coaches.

If he needed to make a long-distance call, he would go outside to a public phone booth to call home, his girlfriend, and also Gan Guoyang. However, he recently cut down on such calls because they were too expensive.

After staying in the apartment for a short while, Gan Guoyang started to feel cold. Utah is located on a plateau, and winters are quite chilly, especially now in December.

"Don’t you have heating here, John?"

"I do, but my neighbors in the two rooms next door always turn on their heat in the winter, and I find it warm enough when they do. I don’t have to use mine, saves money."

"Xie Te, I never noticed you were this stingy back in Spokane! Turn on the heat, doesn’t the Jazz pay you a salary? Or are they docking your pay? I’ll help you get your wages."

"No, no, it’s fine... since you’re here, I’ll turn it on for you."

Stockton turned on the heat, and in no time the small apartment warmed up, much more comfortable now.

Gan Guoyang knew even when they were in school that Stockton was a meticulous and frugal person.

However, Stockton was two grades above Gan Guoyang, and they didn’t live together normally, so Guoyang wasn’t aware that John would be so economical.

Stockton’s salary was not low; it was much higher than that of an average salaried family, but he saved all his money, saying he wanted to buy a house later.

Stockton also shared many of his money-saving strategies, like how everyone could get reimbursed for first-class plane tickets when they flew to away games, but if you chose to fly economy, you could keep the difference.

Stockton, being of average size, didn’t need the extra space offered by first-class seating, so he always flew economy. This way, he got some cash back from each trip, which added up to quite a sum over time.

In this regard, Stockton and Jerome Kossie presented a stark contrast.

Kossie had already spent his future earnings to buy a car before his salary even arrived.

Whereas Stockton had been working for two months and was already saving up to buy a house.

"Do your parents know you’re scrimping and saving like this even though you’re playing in the NBA?"

"They do, my dad used to say money is tight like tree bark, and he thinks that is a very good quality."

Gan Guoyang finally understood where Stockton’s thriftiness came from; it was a result of his parents’ example, and he was quite content with it.

The two of them talked a lot about life but not much about basketball, as they were avoiding the fact that they would become opponents on the court the next day.

But the topic was inevitable, and Gan Guoyang eventually said, "John, we have a game tomorrow, as opponents, what do you think?"

Stockton was silent for a moment, then said, "Just play normally, if I get on the court, I will do my best to beat you, I know some of your weaknesses."

Gan Guoyang nodded and said, "Yeah, that’s the right attitude, I feel the same. But you should try to get more time on the floor."

Stockton said, "My playing time has been increasing lately, last game against Denver, I played 38 minutes."

"Yeah, you’re getting 38 minutes of playing time, and you still live in an apartment like this."

"Gan, that’s a different matter."

"By the way, John, is anyone on your team bullying you? I’ll teach them a lesson during the game tomorrow."

"No, no, no, Gan, no one is, everyone is really nice to me, very friendly. Especially Bailey, he takes good care of me."

"Bailey? Thurl Bailey?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Yes, Bailey, and also Yi Dun! They both get along with me quite well."

"I know Yi Dun, he’s a good guy, and scary big."

"Yes, they are good people, so just play normally tomorrow, but please don’t kill them."