The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 210 - 97 Pride

Due to his outstanding performance in December and his excellent play last week, Gan Guoyang received the Rookie of the Month for December and the Player of the Week for the league.

The Rookie of the Month award for November went to Michael Jordan, while the Player of the Month for December was Larry Bird.

This was Gan Guoyang’s second time winning Player of the Week, and his performances against the Rockets and the Lakers were particularly impressive.

After consecutively defeating Jabbar and Moses Malone, the two most popular and strongest centers in the league, Gan Guoyang’s All-Star votes surged past Malone’s, making him the center with the most votes.

Among all the players at all positions, he ranked second in voting, trailing only behind the superstar Magic Johnson.

His "Rock the baby" dunk against the 76ers undoubtedly scored him extra points, who wouldn’t want to see such a spectacular show at the All-Star Game?

The flight from Portland to Boston was quite long, and after waking up, Gan Guoyang put on his headphones, listening to music while flipping through the latest magazines and newspapers provided on the plane.

In January, Ronald Reagan officially took the oath of office for the presidency, starting his second term with Vice President George Bush, marking the second half of the 1980s.

Experts were optimistic about America’s economy, which underwent a complete recovery in 1984, and the predicted GDP growth rate of over 7% was anticipated to set a record high since the 1960s.

Gan Guoyang, who had been in America for four years, had personally experienced the rapid development of American society, from major employment to clothing and small commodities, everything was changing.

In 1981, when he watched a game at the Oakland Arena in San Francisco, the venue was so desolate and dilapidated it seemed like it had been through World War II.

In 1985, he played in the Memorial Coliseum and other sports venues across America, and the NBA had made significant improvements in on-site setup, with brighter lights, brand-new floors, more standardized pre-game procedures, and white towels featuring the NBA logo uniformly equipped on the bench.

The NBA reached agreements with new sponsors such as Gatorade, Spalding, and American Airlines: Gatorade would provide functional beverages to NBA teams, Spalding replaced Wilson as the new basketball brand supplier, and American Airlines would try to provide VIP seats to all NBA players to ensure their rest.

What the NBA needed to do was provide close-ups of the Gatorade drinks on the bench during TV broadcasts, zoom in on the players during free throws so fans could see what basketballs they were using, and of course, advertise these product companies during timeouts.

Teams would open up their arena naming rights for sale to big companies like American Airlines, and names like "Memorial Coliseum," "XX Celebrity Stadium," "XX City Sports Center" would all become history.

America had a unique landscape, but Gan Guoyang also read in the newspapers that since 1982, a severe famine caused by drought plagued East Africa, reaching its peak in 1984, with tens of millions starving and facing the threat of death.

During Christmas of 1984, a group of British pop stars recorded a song titled "Do They Know It’s Christmas" to raise funds for the famine in Africa and provide relief to the victims.

In America, a group of pop stars spearheaded by Michael Jackson also prepared a charity song, urging people to care about the African disaster across the Atlantic Ocean and to contribute their share; this song is called "We are the World."

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, China, a land historically ravaged by hunger, a group of agricultural technicians spent more than 20 years researching high-yield hybrid rice. Over thirty years, they developed water conservancy, chemicals, and machinery, and one quarter of the world’s population began to attain food and warmth.

The world is changing faster and faster, but there are also things that stand immovable like ancient stones, untouched by the wind and rain.

For example, the terrible basketball court facilities in Boston, as well as the pervasive air of arrogance throughout the city.

Gan Guoyang arrived in Boston with his team and was settled in the Hyatt Regency Cambridge by bus. Like most buildings in Boston, the rooms here were narrow, the windows were small, and it was not very comfortable to stay in.

The next morning he got up as usual and asked the hotel staff how to get to the Boston Garden Arena for his warm-up training.

The White front desk clerk looked up at Gan Guoyang, then lowered his head without saying a word and continued with his work.

After Gan Guoyang asked two more times, the guy simply stopped lifting his head at all. In a fury, Gan Guoyang grabbed him by the collar with one hand, pulled him out, and directly hoisted him over the counter.

The hotel security didn’t dare to approach, and the clerk turned pale with fright. He finally said to Gan Guoyang, "The Boston Garden Arena doesn’t allow basketball players to have pre-game warm-ups. You can only go there to play the game." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Gan Guoyang asked, "Is it just the visiting teams that are not allowed, or is it everyone?"

The clerk answered, "It’s everyone. The Boston Bruins own the place during the day."

Gan Guoyang then let go of his collar and said, "Thank you. In the future, when someone asks you a question, you should answer properly and be polite."

Gan Guoyang got a taste of the arrogance of Bostonians and also gave them a small taste of his ’politeness.’

The Hyatt Hotel obviously hosts NBA teams year-round, and the Boston Garden not allowing daytime warm-up training for basketball teams has always been an old rule. It was Gan Guoyang’s first visit, he didn’t know, and no one told him. The clerk took advantage of the newcomer, not expecting to meet his match.

Although Gan Guoyang was somewhat of a celebrity in America, touted as a guarantee for basketball TV ratings, in Boston it didn’t matter if you were a basketball celebrity or a world champion—the arrogance was as ubiquitous as sunlight.

Even the home team Boston Celtics only received fervent support and respect from the fans during the game and the moment of winning the championship.

Off the court? During the ten years of the Celtics’ eight consecutive championships, the attendance at the Garden was only around fifty percent. With over 14,000 seats, the average attendance per game was just over 7,000.

Bill Russell, the absolute core of the team, was a hero on the court, but off it, he couldn’t dine in upscale restaurants, stay in hotels not designated for Black people, and had intruders defecate on his bed at home.

Entering the 80s, things got somewhat better with the arrival of Larry Bird. However, the Celtics were unable to have daytime warm-up practices at the Boston Garden during the regular season, just like the visiting teams.

Because the arena was reserved for the Boston Bruins of the NHL, the Celtics could only warm up in the old, dilapidated Boston Garden during the playoffs, preparing for the evening’s game in the morning or at noon, after the Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

When the NBA was first established, it was because a group of hockey team owners thought it was a waste to leave the arena empty during the off-season, figuring it would be better to organize some basketball games to sell tickets and make money rather than having the property and maintenance costs go to waste.

So the NBA was born, and the Celtics were one of the original teams. Their owner, Brown, was also the owner of the Bruins, so inherently, the Celtics were at a disadvantage, and no amount of championships would change that.

The Celtics and visiting teams were allowed to share the facilities of the Hellenic College of the Holy Cross in Brookline, whose gymnasium was open in the morning and at noon, giving each team an hour to warm up.

Gan Guoyang went for a run around the hotel and then joined his teammates on the bus arranged by the hotel to head to the school.

According to the original plan, they were supposed to arrive at ten in the morning, practice for an hour until eleven, and then turn the gym over to the Celtics for training.

But when they set out at nine-thirty, the driver took them on a half-hour detour and still did not arrive, so Ramsay shouted at the driver, "Do you think I haven’t played in Boston before? Stop taking detours and get us to the gym!"

Finally, the driver arrived at the training venue at around ten-thirty, after nearly an hour of detours, leaving the team with only half an hour to warm up.

Ramsay was furious, "Bostonians love to play these damn tricks, and this is just the regular season..."

Adelman said, "Thankfully we only come here once a season."

Gan Guoyang said, "What if we come back here in June?"

Ramsay replied, "That’s when you’ll experience a real warm welcome... Damn it, why is this door locked and nobody’s opening it!"

When they arrived at the gym, they found the door tightly locked and had to waste another ten minutes waiting for school staff to come and unlock it.

By this point, Gan Guoyang was already fuming, so Kenny-Carl patted his shoulder and signaled for him to keep cool, mentioning that this was a basic Boston maneuver.

"When I played for the Knight, every trip to Boston was a headache, but you get used to it."

The gymnasium had NBA standard courts and three-point lines with few stands but had a stage for drama performances.

There were six hoops in the court, two with tempered glass backboards on the sides and four with wooden backboards, which reminded Gan Guoyang of some high school playgrounds back in China.

The side baskets with wooden backboards looked a bit crooked, and Kenny-Carl speculated they were probably bent by Robert Parish’s dunks.

The Trail Blazers only had 20 minutes left for their practice to stretch, warm up, and then Ramsay held a brief meeting to point out some key strategies for tonight’s game.

But before 11 o’clock, with the clock showing 10:57, the gym’s door was suddenly banged open, and the Celtics players arrived on the court.

Without even going to the changing room to change clothes, they started shooting basketballs towards the hoop, while the Trail Blazers were still on the court.

Ramsay yelled, "We’re still in a meeting, can you keep the ball in your hands!"

Bird replied, "It’s almost 11, this is our court now, we can’t allow you to stay here and figure out how to beat us."

Tall Kevin McHale, wearing his uniform, walked onto the court and said to the Trail Blazers, "Stop studying, it’s no use, just go back and rest."

Just then, An Ji threw a long shot that didn’t hit, and the ball caromed off, nearly hitting Ramsay and falling in front of Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang could no longer contain his anger. He grabbed the ball with one hand, took two steps which combined three, dashed underneath the basket, jumped with both feet, his body charged with power like a bow, and then slammed the basketball viciously into the hoop!

The sound of shattering startled everyone, as Gan Guoyang smashed the tempered glass backboard into a million pieces, with glass fragments falling like snowflakes all around, many of which landed on his head and in his hair.

After landing, he casually dusted himself off, shook his head, glanced at the clock, and said, "Time’s up, warm-up’s finished, let’s go."

The sound of the glass breaking echoed through the gym, and after the clatter of the falling shards subsided, the gym was as quiet as a morgue.

It was only when Bird spoke that the silence was broken, "You broke the backboard, how are we supposed to practice?"

Gan Guoyang replied, "Didn’t I leave you five more? Isn’t that enough for one per starter?"

An Ji retorted, "You’ll have to pay for that."

Gan Guoyang took a tactical marker from Ramsay, fetched a basketball, and signed his own name on it.

He suddenly threw the ball at An Ji, who nearly got hit. Ducking down, it brushed past his scalp, leaving him sweating cold sweat.

Gan Guoyang said, "A signature basketball from Ah Gan, valued at one thousand US dollars. Hurry up and pick it up; that should be enough to buy two basket frames."

After that, he led the Trail Blazers out of the gym without looking back.