The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 391 - 11 Thrilling

The Trail Blazers’ players, coaches, and management converged on Washington D.C. at the end of August to visit the White House as NBA champions and were received by Ronald Reagan.

This was Gan Guoyang’s second visit to the White House since 1984 and his second meeting with Reagan. During the meeting, Gan Guoyang said to Reagan, "I hope to see you again next year."

Reagan burst into laughter, expressing his great appreciation for Guoyang’s confidence and looking forward to seeing him and the Portland Trail Blazers again next year at the White House.

As they left the White House, Buckwalter said to Guoyang, "Now that’s great, even the President knows you’ve puffed up your chest and said we’re going to defend the championship. The pressure on the guys this year is huge."

Guoyang replied, "What, if I don’t say it, you guys don’t want to win the championship? It’s good to put some pressure on you, so you won’t slack off every day."

Buckwalter made a case for the management, saying, "How have we done nothing? You won’t let us. I wanted to trade Cheche, but you said you wanted to keep him."

Guoyang responded, "Who do you want to trade for? Who can replace Bill? Without a substitute for Bill, trading away Cheche would only break down our frontcourt firepower. Cheche might not have played well in the playoffs, but he is important during the regular season. Do you expect me to shoulder all the scoring pressure, or are you planning to promote Kossie or Clyde, whose shooting can be iffy?"

Guoyang had a point, and Buckwalter could only nod in agreement. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Since winning the championship, Guoyang’s influence within the team had increased even further.

Now, the team sought Guoyang’s opinion on trades, signings, and drafts.

Gan Guoyang was particularly opinionated and full of ideas, unlike Jordan.

Jordan had disputes with Krause over selection issues at the Bulls, often because Jordan’s criteria for choosing players were very simple: 1. from North Carolina, 2. someone who got along well with me.

Jerry Krause had a very strong personality, and he would not compromise with Jordan for these two reasons, so their relationship deteriorated.

Gan Guoyang was different; he always analyzed rationally, presenting his reasons from multiple perspectives, and those reasons were often very compelling.

Buckwalter, coming from a scouting background, didn’t have Yin Man’s methods or such a broad network, and he approached things in a straightforward manner.

If Guoyang’s rationale made sense to him, he’d listen; if it didn’t... he still took it seriously into consideration.

"If we’re not going to move Cheche, then should we consider trading Curry and Hornacek? They are rookies with similar skill sets, it’s uncertain when they’ll realize their full potential. How about trading for Wayne Cooper to bring him back? He’s very familiar with Ramsay’s system."

Buckwalter threw out a tempting idea, to exchange the inexperienced rookies with no immediate fighting power and not-so-obvious talent for a seasoned, ready-to-play big man.

Wayne Cooper was involved in the trade for Vandeweghe and sent to the Nuggets, where he had performed well for two consecutive years in Denver.

Gan Guoyang looked at Buckwalter as if he were a simpleton, saying, "You’re willing to trade, but would the Nuggets be happy with that? Are you going to add more to the deal just to bring back someone we previously traded away? Are you missing a few screws? Besides, Cooper has made a name for himself with the Nuggets; he is their starting center. Why should he come to play as a substitute here? He’s similar to Thompson in function, and since we already have such a good power forward like Thompson, why would we need another one? What are you thinking?"

Buckwalter replied, "It was just an example. It could be someone else, as long as it’s a big man with immediate fight and can be of help for next season."

"Can’t you be a bit more patient and properly develop these two guards? I’ve played with Curry, he’s a really good player. If it weren’t for Bob Knight’s bias, he should have gone to the Los Angeles Olympics," Guoyang said.

"And what about Hornacek? He’s a connection case; now that he’s in the NBA, what difference does it make where he plays ball?" Buckwalter asked.

"I appreciate Hornacek," Guoyang said.

"Why?" Buckwalter inquired.

"His name sounds good!" Guoyang quipped.

The two discussed much along the way, but Guoyang would not agree with Buckwalter’s idea to trade away the two young guards for a big man. He said he had the patience to wait for them to grow, just as he had waited for Terry Porter. Guoyang wasn’t interested in trading draft picks and rookies for immediate fight to compete for the championship.

"I’m still a rookie myself. Why don’t you trade me away?" Guoyang challenged Buckwalter with a penetrating question.

Buckwalter had nothing to say, thinking to himself that Guoyang was hardly a rookie; he was everyone’s boss.

And so, with Guoyang’s insistence, both Dell Curry and Jeff-Hornacek stayed with the Trail Blazers, getting ready to join the team’s rookie training camp in September.

Having decided against a trade, Buckwalter had less work to do, switching his focus from the players to the coaches.

After returning to Portland, his first task was to interview for the position of defensive assistant coach, Bobby Berman, who had been Guoyang’s mentor previously.

When Guoyang first arrived in America, his mind was still filled with impressions of the country from magazines like "Yilin" and "Reader’s Digest," which he read during his youth.

He had thought of this place as a fair, just society, where everyone was impartial and equality was non-negotiable.

It didn’t take him long to realize that America was thoroughly a relationship-driven society, especially evident in the basketball world.

It should be known that basketball, as a competitive sport, demands a basic level of true capability to take to the court and measure up to the opposition.