The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 193 - 85 Friends

[When I was young, Ralph and I had some disagreements. Back then, we were both too sensitive and too immature, caring too much about what the outside world said. Some journalists didn’t give athletes the respect they deserved; they were not truly concerned with understanding us but were instead creating conflicts and topics to attract readers’ attention. In fact, Ralph worked very hard and diligently, and many of the evaluations about him later on were unfair, as were those about me.]

[Of course, the 1984 Christmas Day fistfight will inevitably be mentioned. It’s an indelible stain, but in truth, we reconciled quickly after that incident. Following that game, we actually grew closer, showing more consideration and understanding for each other. We shared our thoughts and feelings, strengthening our relationship. Afterwards, we achieved a series of consecutive wins and our performance continuously improved.]

[It’s unbelievable to say, but Ah Gan played a part in this. After that day’s game, a snowstorm hit Portland, preventing us from flying back to Houston. Drexler invited Ralph and me to his apartment to spend Christmas together, along with Vandeweghe, Jerome Kossie, and Ah Gan. We single men, all unmarried, gathered together. To be honest, the atmosphere was somewhat odd, given that we had just had a major battle on the court, and I hated Ah Gan. He had deeply hurt me in both the NCAA championship and that Christmas Day fight.]

[When discussing what to eat that evening, Clyde said he wanted Chinese food, and I agreed—I had recently become quite enamored with Chinese cuisine. But we didn’t know of any good Chinese restaurants, so we all turned to look at Ah Gan. Ah Gan claimed that no Chinese restaurant in Portland knew how to cook Chinese food better than he did. We were curious to taste Ah Gan’s cooking, and, to our surprise, he braved the snow to drive home, bringing back a load of ingredients, seasonings, and cookware, and he cooked for two hours at Clyde’s place.]

[He cooked while we ate, making one dish after another as we dug in. Our appetites were massive, especially Ralph’s—his was astonishing. Despite his lean frame, he ate more than I did. Then Ah Gan kept making Chinese dishes we had never seen or tasted, dishes that looked beautiful, smelled wonderful, and were quite unique. In all honesty, I found the flavors strange at first, but I was hungry, and the more I ate, the more I thought it was simply fantastic. Each dish was quickly devoured as soon as it was served. He also cooked a lot of rice and made Yangzhou fried rice for us. Overall, it was a Christmas Eve that left our appetites thoroughly satisfied.]

[Oh, by the way, Ah Gan later asked us, "Who the fuck punched me when I was breaking up the fight tonight?" Ralph and I both shook our heads, indicating we didn’t know. I told Ah Gan that it must have been an accidental bump in the scuffle and that he shouldn’t be too sensitive. Ah Gan didn’t believe it, and later, when he got tired of cooking and didn’t want to deal with us anymore, he sat on the balcony alone, watching the snow. I think he must have felt quite downcast, regretting why he bothered to cook for us gluttons. Thinking about it this way, the disappointment of losing the game seemed much less heavy, and Ralph and I talked a lot while we ate, making up quickly.]

[————Excerpt from Hakeem Olajuwon’s autobiography "Living The Dream," published in 1996.]

[The internal conflict between the Twin Towers led to a complete breakdown of the Rockets in the third quarter; Bill Fitch gave up struggling and benched Olajuwon and Sampson for the rest of the game.]

[It’s common for teammates to have conflicts, but it’s rare to see them fighting each other on the court during a significant game.]

[The League office was on tenterhooks before the game, worried that Gan Guoyang of the Trail Blazers and Olajuwon of the Rockets would fight.]

[In the end, those two rivals didn’t fight, but the Houston Twin Towers ended up fighting each other.]

[Fitch felt ashamed of the reckless actions of the two players, turning away at courtside, not wanting to deal with these immature brats.]

[He also had no mind to direct the game anymore, just wishing it would end early so he could return to Houston for Christmas.] 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

[With the core in-fighting and the coach giving up, the Houston team lost its will to resist, and the point difference gradually increased to 20.]

[Portland’s fans had a happy and thrilling Christmas battle. Their team won, the opponents fought each other, and it was a fun show to watch.]

[The score was set at 93:114, with the Trail Blazers clinching a 21-point home victory over the Rockets, successfully securing the win in the Christmas Day game.]

[Gan Guoyang played only three quarters, scoring 25 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and blocking 3 shots, but the discord between the Twin Towers limited his further performance.]

[Because of the heavy snow, the Rockets were forced to stay in Portland; Fitch went alone to a bar to drown his sorrows in alcohol while the others waited in the hotel, bored.]

[Drexler invited Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, Gan Guoyang, Vandeweghe, and Kossie to spend Christmas at his apartment, not far from Memorial Coliseum.]

[That night, Drexler didn’t show much in the first three quarters, but once he came on in the fourth, he dazzled with fast breaks, slam dunks, and showy finger roll layups.]

[Gan Guoyang initially didn’t want to go; he wanted to stay back at the Coliseum for some additional practice, especially since Wang Fuxi wouldn’t be home that night, and he had nothing else to do.]

[But he couldn’t resist Drexler’s enthusiasm, and since Vandeweghe and Kossie were going too, Gan Guoyang didn’t feel uncomfortable about joining Olajuwon and Sampson.]

[On and off the court, Gan Guoyang always kept things clear. On the court, the opponent was the enemy, to be defeated at all costs; off the court, he didn’t mind using some tricks, but he also didn’t mind making friends, though it was normal not to become friends.]

[Gan Guoyang did not have Seven-foot Man Syndrome; he was just an orphan with a father.]