The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 426 - 44: The Final Peak

Because of a cold, Gan Guoyang became a married man.

Although nothing seemed to have changed, the team was still the same team, and the League was still the same League.

The sun rose as usual from the east and set in the west, and the person lying by his pillow was still the same.

However, relationships between people are always so subtle; a change in title, a simple promise, and a thin contract can often change a lot.

For Wang Fuxi, she was now rightfully Gan Guoyang’s wife, and everyone called her Mrs. Ah Gan instead of Mrs. Wang or Fosse.

She had gone from girlfriend to the lawfully wedded other half of Gan Guoyang; anything she did or said would represent them both, as they were one.

Of course, not every couple is like this; many are together in name only, each doing their own thing, especially in sports and entertainment circles, where it’s all too common.

Wang Fuxi and Gan Guoyang were different; they had been tightly united before, and after getting married they became even more so. As a supportive wife, Wang Fuxi would spare no effort to protect her and her husband’s reputation and interests.

For Gan Guoyang, he felt a surge of responsibility like never before; he was no longer alone but the pillar of a small family, a large clan—although they didn’t yet plan on having children.

Within the team, the entire Trail Blazers organization congratulated Gan Guoyang on becoming a "real man," with Bill Walton, Larry Weinberg, Jack Ramsay, Adelman, and others patting Gan Guoyang on the shoulder and saying that married men understand better how to shoulder responsibilities.

The only one who was slightly skeptical about Gan Guoyang’s choice was Bobby Beelman. He said Gan Guoyang should have married basketball instead of a woman, but he still congratulated his most proud disciple and gave a valuable gift at the wedding banquet to celebrate the couple’s marriage.

Jordan, Stockton, Barkley, and others all called to congratulate Gan Guoyang.

Stockton complained about why Gan Guoyang got married so suddenly and didn’t consult with him beforehand.

Barkley really wanted to come to Portland for the banquet, but the Bullets’ schedule simply didn’t allow it.

Jordan sarcastically said that Gan Guoyang’s performance would decline after marriage, and to wait for being overtaken on the scoring leaderboard.

Gan Guoyang replied, "Just you wait and see. A married man trying to provide for his family will only perform better on the court!"

Gan Guoyang did indeed get better and better entering 1987.

On January 3rd, the Trail Blazers won at home 129:110, a 19-point victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets.

In his first game after marriage, Gan Guoyang scored 44 points on the defensively weak Nuggets and grabbed 21 rebounds.

During the halftime break, the arena’s DJ announced Gan Guoyang’s marriage, and the whole stadium erupted in applause, congratulating the newlyweds.

However, it is said that after the news went public, a large number of Gan Guoyang’s female fans fell into depression, with a very few even contemplating suicide.

Portland is a place prone to dreary, long-lasting rain, conducive to negative emotions; it’s inevitable that there would be people struggling with depression.

On January 4th, the Trail Blazers played back-to-back home games against the Sacramento Kings, winning 134:107, once again sweeping their opponents.

Gan Guoyang scored another 44 points in the back-to-back challenge, further consolidating his lead in the scoring standings.

Currently, he is averaging 38.5 points per game, which is 0.5 points higher than Jordan, and 8 points more than the third-place Dominique Wilkins.

The third and fourth place simply can’t catch up with the two scoring monsters ahead.

From January 4th to 8th, the Trail Blazers got 5 days of rest, just enough time for Gan Youwei to hold the banquet.

After finishing the banquet on the 8th, Gan Guoyang left Portland with his team to start an Eastern road trip.

On January 10th, they arrived in New York New Jersey to face the New Jersey Nets.

Last season, the Nets were still a playoff team, but as Richardson was banned for life and several key players were plagued with injuries, the team gradually became one of the weaker ones.

During the off-season, they signed Ulrich, giving several draft picks to the Bulls, hoping to fill the void left by Richardson’s absence.

However, Ulrich’s performance was just passable at best, averaging 17 points per game. He wasn’t someone who could completely change the team, and he was also troubled by injuries.

Against the dominant Portland Trail Blazers, they had no resistance at home, losing with a dismal score of 111:129, an 18-point deficit.

Gan Guoyang went 17 for 21 from the field, 18 for 20 from the free-throw line, scoring an impressive 53 points and single-handedly destroying the Nets’ interior.

Buck Williams, who once fiercely grabbed offensive rebounds over Moses Malone, managed only 4 points and 6 rebounds for the entire game.

The Nets’ coach Dave Wohl was very dissatisfied with the starting lineup’s performance, as the Nets fell behind early in the game, and their interior was effortlessly blown open by Gan Guoyang.

This young coach had just taken over in 1985, and in his first year, he did okay, making it to the playoffs, only to be eliminated by the Bucks.

As a player, Dave Wohl was known for his hot temper, and tonight, facing the abysmal defense of the starters, he simply benched all of them early on.

He then put in the bench lineup directly from the third quarter. The sixth man, Leon Wood, played a full 40 minutes, and the substituting Ulrich played for 35 minutes.

Not a single starter played more than 20 minutes, a protest from the coach for the main players’ performances. However, this protest did nothing to boost team morale or strengthen unity, only serving to hasten the head coach’s dismissal. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

In this era, head coaches faced such situations, where players had the upper hand. When the team kept losing, the coach was the first to blame, not the poorly performing players.

That’s because a big reason for players’ bad performances was that they didn’t want to play for that coach, didn’t want to win games for him.

Although Adelman easily secured victory in tonight’s game, he shook hands with Wohl after the game and said, "You’re too impulsive. Benching them doesn’t do much good; it only hurts yourself."

Wohl had once played for the Trail Blazers and had been teammates with Adelman.

Wohl shrugged, saying, "Nowadays, players’ sense of honor and shame seems to be fading. I tried to provoke it, but the result is: it’s gone."

Adelman replied, "Not all players are like that."

Wohl laughed, "Not every team has an Ah Gan. If I had an Ah Gan, I, too, could win games."

Tonight, Gan Guoyang’s 53-point performance completely subdued New Jersey and further expanded his lead in the scoring chart.

A married man appears a bit unstoppable.

After the game against the Nets, the entire Trail Blazers team headed to Boston.

This would be their first time back here since last year’s finals, and everyone carried a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Upon arriving in the locker room, Gan Guoyang told everyone, "Wow, you can still smell the champagne here."

Last year’s championship was the sweetest memory of their careers so far for all Trail Blazers players.

The run-down locker rooms of Boston Garden seemed charming under the enhancement of championship memories.

However, fans at Boston Garden obviously did not welcome this enemy that had defeated them.

On the evening of January 12th, the frenzied Celtics fans showed their powerless rage with all sorts of swear words, banners, and insulting gestures.

Boston fans are indeed very crazy, and they have reasons to be. It wasn’t just because the Trail Blazers ended their championship dream the year before.

In December 1986, right before Christmas, the Boston Celtics officially went public on the New York Stock Exchange, selling 40% of their shares to raise funds.

Before the stocks could hit the market, all 2.6 million shares priced at $18.50 each were pre-sold out, but after going public, the stock price quickly dropped from its opening price to $12.

By Friday’s close, the stock was at $14, meaning the fans who had bought in out of love had lost a fair amount of money, which enabled the old shareholders who got their shares at $1 to reap a heavy profit.

But the fan investors didn’t care. They needed the feeling of ownership. After buying shares in the Celtics, they felt like shareholders of the team; thus, every cheer, applause, and curse seemed to have more meaning.

Back then, there were still physical stock certificates. After buying a share, the Celtics would mail a paper stock certificate to the investor’s home as proof.

This further strengthened the Celtics fans’ sense of ownership and made their cheers in Boston Garden even more frenetic.

The fans were full of hope, believing their star-studded lineup could make a comeback in the 1986-1987 season, winning the ’87 championship, and maybe even one or two more after that.

After all, their core, Larry Bird was 30, Kevin McHale was 29, and Marques Johnson was 30, all in their prime.

Neighbor Jabbar was hopping around at forty, so with Auerbach’s tactics, it wouldn’t be a problem for them to continue their glory for another decade.

However, what the fans who bought Celtics stock at the time didn’t know was that 1986 was the last pinnacle and glory of the Boston Celtics.

Afterward, the Celtics would falter, just like their stock, and it would be a very long time before they could return to the upward path.