The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 222 - 108: Strategic Deception

The slam dunk contest failure had not left Jordan feeling despondent, he thought he had performed well and dunked very satisfyingly.

Losing didn’t matter—there was always next year, and he believed he would definitely be able to win the slam dunk contest championship.

In comparison to Jordan, Drexler had a more miserable time; he was eliminated in the first round and didn’t even make it to the finals.

Before participating, he was full of confidence, as his jumping ability was even stronger than Jordan’s, but he ended the competition with the lowest score among the five participants.

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, did you have too much fun last night with Magic, playing yourself into a back injury?

Seeing you unable to hang in the air on the court, how could you still dunk with beautiful moves to score high points?

Off the court, Drexler and Magic Johnson got along very well, both being rather playful and fond of having a good time.

Birds of a feather flock together—it’s one thing to coordinate on the court, but off the court, character and socializing are quite another matter.

On the day of the All-Star Weekend, the 10th, Gan Guoyang got up early in the morning, dressed quietly, and as usual, went out for a run, warmed up in the gym, and shot baskets for an hour on the court.

In his bones, he loved playing basketball, was passionate about sports; all the desires he couldn’t fulfill due to illness in the past had now burst forth, representing his understanding and longing for vitality.

That’s why he was different from those players who played for their jobs, money, fame, or women.

In the restaurant, he ran into Pat Riley, who was having breakfast. Riley was surprised to find Gan Guoyang not bleary-eyed but looking as if he had been exercising for quite a while.

As the coach of the Western All-Stars, Riley took the initiative to greet Gan Guoyang and asked if he had woken up early to train.

Gan Guoyang replied, "Yeah, I’ve been training for three hours already."

"You go all out even for an All-Star game?"

"I’m just used to it. Don’t you also have your hair nicely combed early in the morning?"

Although it was breakfast time, Riley’s head was already slick with brilliantine, his hair perfectly neat without a strand out of place.

Riley smiled and the two dined together, sitting down to have a good chat.

This was the first private conversation between them, and they got along surprisingly well. Gan Guoyang discovered that Riley was well-spoken and knowledgeable about history, movies, and literature.

And Riley also uncommonly found that Gan Guoyang could actually contribute to certain topics, knowing that most NBA players actually lacked education—they went to college just to play basketball and really didn’t learn much.

In the Lakers, only Jabbar could discuss some deeper topics with Riley, but Jabbar’s beliefs and attitude towards life were not something that Riley particularly admired; in plain terms, they were not on the same wavelength.

But Gan Guoyang was different; he was able to engage in in-depth discussions with Riley on some historical and literary topics and also provided some unique perspectives, making the conversation quite rewarding for Riley.

Gan Guoyang explained: "This comes from my cultural background. Chinese people view history from a different angle than Americans, and our faith in history is also different."

Gan Guoyang and Riley talked a lot about China, especially about the historical development of China and the Chinese people’s spiritual outlook throughout history, which was very different from what Westerners perceived.

"To you Americans, Chinese people all seem to have pigtails, sallow faces, hunched bodies, small eyes, and pointed mouths, resembling monkeys; like mice, we are only capable of doing low-level work all day long. Or else, we are the cruel villains like Fu Manchu. In fact, for most of our history, we have been confident, full, and open-minded, we admire martial prowess while also seeking the ultimate spiritual liberation—just like myself."

After listening to Gan Guoyang’s account, Riley laughed and said, "Your presence has indeed changed many people’s impressions of China, an amazing fellow. By the way, are you going to continue training later?"

"Of course, I have two hours of strength training in the morning and in the afternoon... um, tactical preparation."

"Tactical preparation?"

"Yes, I have a game tonight; I need to get ready. Even if it’s just the All-Star game, good habits should not be broken."

"Really, would it be okay for me to see how you train?"

"Of course, you are my coach, after all."

So, Riley followed Gan Guoyang to the gym in the morning and witnessed firsthand the astonishing strength Guoyang had on the bench press.

Riley watched Guoyang’s entire training session and was quite shocked; he finally understood where Guoyang’s exceptional combat ability came from.

According to the original plan, Guoyang was supposed to have shooting practice in the afternoon, but instead he took an hour to pick up a book to read, Hermann Hesse’s "Siddhartha".

"Siddhartha" reimagines the story of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, portraying the turbulent life of one man.

The book had a tremendous influence in America, during the ’60s in American colleges, it was almost a must-read for everyone.

Riley had read "Siddhartha" when he was a young man studying at the University of Kentucky.

He still remembered reading the book with many classmates and then sitting under a tree seeking enlightenment, just like Siddhartha.

"Siddhartha" had a profound impact on American youth during the ’60s, and it was from then that the belief in "doing it yourself" began to take root in young people’s minds. Hesse’s book played a significant role in the pursuit of personal independence and spiritual freedom.

He hadn’t expected Guoyang to be reading such literature, knowing that very few NBA players read books, and Jabbar, who loved to read, was even criticized for being antisocial—for how could you appear cultured if others didn’t read and you did?

Guoyang asked Riley, "Coach, have you read this book? Do you have any impressions of it?"

Riley nodded and said, "Of course, it was almost a bible for everyone during our youth. I still remember the lines, ’One should obey only the voice within oneself, never submit to any external force, and wait for the moment of enlightenment to come; that is the good and necessary deed, and everything else is meaningless.’ I think it’s a book that one must read during the growth process."

Guoyang didn’t say anything but continued to read in silence; he became even more of a mystery in Riley’s eyes.

In his mind, however, Guoyang was thinking, "I’ve read this book how many times in college—I know you post-40s like it. Do you think I’ve become very profound? Just wait, I’ll throw something even deeper at you so you can’t see through me!"

"Coach, I heard that you seem to have come up with something called ’the Ah Gan Principle’ to target me?" Guoyang suddenly closed the book and asked Riley.

Riley, still immersed in the memories of seeking enlightenment in college with his classmates, was caught off guard by Guoyang’s question.

"What? What principle?"

"The Ah Gan Principle."

"The Ah Gan Principle? I’ve never even heard of it. You’re a great athlete, Ah Gan, but I don’t think you’re so strong that Congress needs to pass a law to limit you. You’re not a nuclear weapon."

Riley joked, and the two of them laughed it off. Guoyang said he was going to take notes.

Closing the book, Guoyang began preparing for the evening’s game, jotting down the characteristics of the star players and the strategies to counter them.

All of this was accumulated from previous pre-game preparation, some guided by the coaches, some devised by Guoyang himself.

Guoyang racked his brains to write these things down, pretending to be seriously preparing for each game.

As he wrote, he hand-drew a table with various labels and numbers on it, things like PER, TS, OWS, DWS.

These were things Guoyang had seen on forums when he was a fan, but he couldn’t possibly know exactly how to calculate them; he was just pretending.

Riley, witnessing Guoyang writing all these things, was shocked for a third time. Pointing at the numbers, he asked, "Ah Gan, what are these?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Guoyang smiled mysteriously, "These are my secret basketball skills, I can’t tell you."

Riley couldn’t inquire further, but his anxiety grew, thinking that this guy was indeed like a nuclear weapon; he had to be stopped before he completed his research and detonated it, otherwise the Western Conference would really be wiped out by him.

But what could be done to suppress his growth?

For the next few days, Riley was bound to have sleepless nights.

The Ah Gan Principle had to be reinforced!