The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 194 - 85: Friends_2
But later, Gan Guoyang regretted it. First, he regretted going there. Second, he regretted boasting that Portland had no Chinese restaurants better than him at cooking Chinese food. Third, he regretted not only making the boast but also stubbornly trying to prove it by cooking for a bunch of animals.
All the groceries in his fridge meant for a week were wiped out in one go, he recited every recipe in his mind, and he worked himself to exhaustion frying, sautéing, deep-frying, and stir-frying, without getting a bite to eat himself, ending up sitting on the balcony lonely, admiring the snow.
Moreover, he highly suspected that Olajuwon, that blockhead, was the one who punched him in the chaos, but sadly, he had no evidence, and Olajuwon flatly denied it.
When Olajuwon first arrived in America, he had no interest in the native African dishes of Nigeria, preferring American fast food and Oriental cuisine, once devouring 100 chicken nuggets in one go.
Later, he developed a taste for seafood, especially oysters—perhaps because they’re good for his yang. Olajuwon was renowned at school as a playboy, with Drexler envious of his swift girlfriend switching, which couldn’t compare to Olajuwon’s pace (Sampson, whether it was in food consumption or in the speed of changing girlfriends, was no match for Olajuwon).
Afterward, Olajuwon began to take an interest in Chinese cuisine, and after experiencing Gan Guoyang’s Christmas culinary extravaganza, he was completely won over by Chinese food, becoming a loyal fan of it.
Because Olajuwon kept praising Gan Guoyang’s cooking, Gan felt awkward about pressing too hard about the punch, and ultimately the incident was left unresolved, becoming one of the interesting puzzles of the NBA.
The Christmas showdown between the Trail Blazers and the Rockets concluded amidst chaos, with the game having a good start, but the Twin Towers being too young and Olajuwon being too aggressive led to an early collapse, which became quite the joke.
The NBA officials noticed a strange phenomenon: wherever Ah Gan was, trouble seemed to follow; he was an unstable factor.
Fortunately, this Christmas showdown was overshadowed by more eye-catching news: Bernard King, forward for the New York Knicks, scored 60 points against the New Jersey Nets, surpassing the 1957 record of Richie Guerin, setting the highest scoring record in Knicks’ history.
All-America basketball media was rocked, and the King of New York was crowned on Christmas Day.
Gan Guoyang was happy for his good friend and half-mentor King, achieving such a high accomplishment in New York, and called him the next day to congratulate him.
King was thrilled too; having left the Warriors in frustration in 1983, he had finally found his footing in his hometown of New York, reaching the pinnacle of his career.
The two chatted for a long time on the phone, talking about life in the NBA and exchanging a lot of technical stuff. King, after watching Gan’s games, said that he had nothing left to teach Gan.
"You should ask Vandeweghe about the Kiki-Step," Bernard King joked; where would you see a center learning a step-back move?
Gan Guoyang, however, seriously responded that what King said made sense and that it was the direction for further developing his skills.
Last time the Trail Blazers played New York, King couldn’t play because of an injury, and the two teams were scheduled for a game in February of next year.
Both were looking forward to it.
Apart from King, Gan Guoyang also phoned Jordan.
The two had consciously avoided contacting each other since their earth-shattering showdown.
Because getting in touch with each other before their rivalrous feelings had subsided could potentially damage their friendship.
Enough time had passed now, and it was Christmas, so Jordan, after seeing Olajuwon and Sampson fighting, couldn’t resist calling Gan Guoyang to ask what exactly happened.
The two bulls**ted on the phone about everything. Recently, Jordan’s performance had been increasingly outstanding, leading up to a few days before Christmas when the Chicago Bulls played against the Eastern champions, the Boston Celtics, at home.
Jordan scored 32 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, gave 8 assists, and made 3 blocks, leading the Bulls to an 85:110 victory over the defending champions at the Chicago Stadium, with Larry Bird only scoring 10 points on 4 of 13 shooting.
The Bulls ended their six-game losing streak against the Celtics, having not won a single game against them last season.
"You should’ve seen Bird’s sour face. Everyone says he’s so amazing, but I’m not scared of him at all; he always plays terribly against me."
Indeed, Bird had underperformed in his games against the Bulls this season, with Jordan-leading Bulls’ athletic wing players giving him a lot of trouble.
Scoring only 14 points in the last game and 10 points in this one, Bird is extremely versatile and incredibly smart, but he has his weaknesses, with his athletic ability always plaguing him.
Gan Guoyang then said that Magic Johnson’s terrible shooting was probably on the same level as Drexler’s and that with a little pressure, his turnovers would skyrocket.
"If he put as much effort into practicing his shooting as he does into chasing women, I guess I wouldn’t have many thoughts about beating the Lakers anytime soon."
The two of them went back and forth, criticizing the league’s two hottest superstars to the point where their flaws were glaring, presenting a grandiose attitude that suggested they were the only heroes in the world.
However, the two’s banter soon turned into a competition over All-Star voting.
In mid-December, the NBA started the All-Star voting process to determine the Eastern and Western Conference lineups for this year’s Indiana All-Star game.
Since the 1974-1975 season, fans could vote for the starting All-Stars for both Eastern and Western conferences, while the remaining seven All-Star reserves are picked by the All-Star Team coaches.
Being voted into the All-Star starting lineup means a player is doubly recognized for both talent and popularity; they are first-class stars in the league.
Jordan bet that Gan Guoyang would definitely not make the All-Star starting lineup because he would surely not get more votes than Jabbar.
There’s only one center position in the starting lineup, but there are two guard positions, giving Jordan an advantage.
And centers are generally considered less popular than guards, a natural disadvantage.
The two are neck and neck in sneaker sales at the moment, but if their records were reversed, AJ would undoubtedly surpass Avia.
Of course, Nike despises Avia and Gan Guoyang intensely. If it weren’t for Avia suddenly signing Ah Gan and quickly launching skyscraper, immediately stocking and selling it, Nike would not have had to rush the release of Air Jordan, which would subsequently be labeled as a cheap imitation or knockoff of Avia.
According to their original plan, Nike intended to spend half a season on promotion and groundwork, building up Jordan’s persona to maximize anticipation for AJ.
Then the climax of the campaign would be at the 1985 All-Star game, where Jordan would compete in the dunk contest wearing the AJ, truly showcasing the "Air Jordan."
Only then would Air Jordan officially hit the shelves, with a marketing tension built to the max, surely achieving great sales.
But with Avia striking first, AJ hurried to follow. Despite good sales later on, it all relied on Jordan’s popularity and playing style, and the label of being a copycat and knockoff was likely to stick forever.
The two were bound to clash at the All-Star game.
Voting has just started, with updates on the data coming periodically.
Gan Guoyang did indeed trail behind Jabbar, but he didn’t believe that centers were inherently less popular than guards when it came to votes.
After all, the current lead was Moses Malone; if he could be first, Guoyang felt he could, too.
"Watch out, Michael. I’ll definitely get the Western All-Star starting spot, and we’ll see each other on the court," Guoyang declared.
"See you on the court, Sonny. I’m looking forward to it."
