The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 427 - 45: Incorrigible

[December 1986, stocks became the gift in the Christmas stocking, allowing many loyal Celtics fans to taste what it was like to be in charge.]

[However, the cost was the near quarter-shrinkage of stock assets within a week, along with a series of defeats for the Celtics at the end of December.]

[But Celtics fans were still very happy; they believed that Bird, Parrish, McHale, DJ, and Ainge were still at their peak.]

[There was a feeling that the Celtics would redeem themselves in 1987, reclaim the championship, and continue to dominate the league for years to come, just as they did in the 1960s.]

[And this time, unlike the 1960s, they had money, lots of money.]

[But injuries quickly took their toll on the team, with Marques Johnson hanging up his boots after just ten games of the new season due to a neck injury.]

[Another veteran, Scott Wedman, injured his heel and only played six games, leaving the Celtics’ previously solid front line somewhat stretched.]

[Later, Kevin McHale was also injured, fracturing his navicular bone in his foot, but he insisted on playing, which affected his good form.]

[Here, it’s inevitable to mention the No. 2 draft pick in 1986, which was originally compensation the Celtics received from the Henderson trade, a classic "Auerbach-style robbery".]

[However, it was sent to the Clippers in the Marques Johnson trade, which troubled Auerbach greatly, as he could have used that pick to draft Bias.]

[The death of Bias was shocking and did not make Auerbach feel any better about missing out on the No. 2 pick, as such a talented player’s death was a huge loss to anyone, a tremendous loss to the league.]

[Auerbach didn’t think the Celtics dodged a bullet; instead, he felt lost, confused, and bewildered by the current situation, wondering what on earth was happening to the world.]

[Auerbach was perplexed by the wealthy tycoon-style owners, the agents negotiating on behalf of players, the increasingly independent and uncoachable players, the exaggerated long-term contracts, the omnipresent Players Union, the salary cap, the addition of a referee to the game, the three-point shot, over-reliance on video coaching, dizzying marketing, and the explosion in numbers from the original three-member Celtics office to 25 people, and so on.]

[The defeat in the 1986 Finals seemed like an omen, as the seemingly flawless Celtics still fell to the youthful, seemingly problematic Portland Trail Blazers.]

[At that moment, Auerbach might have sensed something; he began to keep a distance from the team, remaining neutral on various team affairs rather than the past autocratic control, which was completely out of character for him.]

[Clearly, with the great collapse of 1986, a part of Auerbach’s soul was taken away, never to return, marking a painful defeat.]

[By 1987, Marques Johnson’s 15-month-old son accidently drowned in the swimming pool at their Los Angeles home, a tragedy that completely devastated Johnson and rendered him unable to commit fully to competing for championships.]

[He ended his career, foreshadowing a series of misfortunes for the Celtics.]

———— Published in 1994, "Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story" by Dan Shaughnessy, excerpt.]

[The Trail Blazers are facing a depleted Celtics squad tonight, with Marques Johnson absent since November due to a neck injury.]

[Without their star sixth man, the Celtics immediately struggled with rotation, especially as veteran Wedman was also injured, adding considerable pressure on Bird and McHale.]

[On the bench, they only had players like Jerry Sichting and Fred Roberts, who could only contribute a few points, pitiful assists, and rebounds.]

[For various reasons, the Celtics still had the highest proportion of White players in the league.]

[In their current core rotation, there are only two Black players, with the remaining five being White, which is unique in an NBA that is becoming increasingly Black and fast.]

[This meant that the Celtics were increasingly unable to keep up in terms of physicality and speed; all they could rely on were skill, teamwork, and a strong fighting spirit.]

[And, squeezing out the last bit of potential from their core players.]

[At 29, Kevin McHale had the best performance of his career in the regular season, with his scoring average and shooting percentage peaking.]

[Especially impressive was his shooting percentage; averaging 27 points per game, he shot an incredible 60%, a truly outlandish rate.]

[How outlandish? It matched that of Gan Guoyang.]

[Though Guoyang averaged over ten more points per game.]

[This season, there were only three players averaging over 20 points per game with a shooting percentage above 59%.]

[One was Gan Guoyang, one was Kevin McHale, and one was Charles Barkley.]

[If you narrow the scoring range to 25 points, Barkley would be excluded, and naturally, above 30 points, it’s just Ah Gan.]

[Gan Guoyang’s high shooting percentage came from his unstoppable post play; like Barkley, once he received the ball with his back to the goal, there was little the defender could do.]

[Both of them possessed a strength one to two levels higher than players in the same position; as long as they muscled inside with the ball, the defender was helpless.]

[Kevin McHale was different, relying more on skill, his long arms, and excellent finishing ability.]

Larry Bird, at age 30, raised his average points per game from 25 last season to 29 this season.

Losing the championship and MVP made Bird endure a summer of arduous training.

Yet, most of his time was spent battling his chronic back pain.

Because he did not receive proper treatment, and this guy was still doing heavy lifting at home, his back problems worsened.

When Bird stepped onto the court and saw Gan Guoyang energetically warming up, he said enviously, "I heard you got married, looks like you’ve got a strong back, otherwise you wouldn’t dare to get hitched."

Gan Guoyang, aware of Bird’s bad back, suggested, "I’ll teach you a good way to exercise your back—do 1,000 sit-ups every day."

Bird gave Gan Guoyang a "fuck you" and a "happy marriage" before getting ready to immerse himself in the game.

Despite poor health and an extremely weak rotation, the Celtics, relying on their stars and traditions, still firmly held the top spot in the Eastern division.

The Philadelphia 76ers had completely declined, the Milwaukee Bucks seemed challenging but Jack Sikma could not bring a qualitative change to them, and the Atlanta Hawks were full of bluster but brittle inside.

The real challengers to the Celtics’ dominance in the Eastern division were the young, brutish Detroit Pistons and the Washington Bullets with Moses Malone and Charles Barkley.

In their encounters, the Celtics distinctly felt the impact.

The solid, tough frontcourts of these two teams challenged the increasingly aging trio of Celtics’ frontcourt stars.

Among the trio, Robert Parish was the oldest at 33 years old, entering his tenth year in the League.

This season, his performance also improved, his average points per game increased, and his time on court soared since they no longer had a sixth man.

Against most of the League’s frontcourt players, Parish had no problems with his height, wingspan, and strength enough to oppress the Eastern division.

However, last year in the finals, he was utterly obliterated by Gan Guoyang and even developed a psychological shadow because defending against Gan Guoyang was indeed a nightmare.

A long-lasting nightmare, overpowering offensive abilities along with extended minutes on court, left opponents exhausted after each game.

Parish, who already had a face as fierce as a chieftain’s, looked even more worried standing at center court facing Gan Guoyang.

As soon as Gan Guoyang started, he drew a foul on Parish with a face-up breakthrough, prompting the usually silent center to protest against the referee.

Gan Guoyang didn’t care much about that, stepped up to the free-throw line, and scored both shots, earning his first points of the night.

Red Auerbach sat in his usual front-row seat, wearing his brown glasses and watched the game with a serious expression.

From 1947 to today, Auerbach had been watching NBA games for a full 40 years, witnessing all sorts of changes in basketball. Compared to 40 years ago, the NBA today is a completely different game.

Through all the changes, Auerbach had always kept up with the trend, even once being a creator of the trends, but now the tide had overwhelmed him, he began to find the games incomprehensible.

He was now 70 years old; he had gained a lot from basketball, the Celtics gave him a lifetime contract exceeding $250,000 annually after going public.

Until July 31, 1992, he could collect $250,000 a year, and after that date, his salary would drop to $125,000 per year, until his death.

This was a reward for Auerbach’s contributions, but after the Celtics went public, they were worth a hundred million dollars, with Auerbach’s contribution he could have taken 10% of the shares, easily equating to a fortune of $10 million.

Auerbach didn’t do so; he only took what he thought he deserved, a modest annual $250,000 compared to his contribution.

"The moment I was willing to take a $250,000 lifetime contract instead of team shares, I knew I had become a hopeless, inflexible old fool. But I accept all this; it’s the inevitable path every aging person must take—to die clinging to one’s glory, rather than flailing around in a desperate attempt to stay alive, forsaking principles for profit; that would be the real hopelessness," Auerbach later reflected.

At this time on the court, Gan Guoyang had already stacked 10 points over Robert Parish’s head.

Gan Guoyang was even more ruthless than in last year’s finals, with Parish, already burdened with one foul, not daring to be too aggressive.

Facing the strength disparity and the tactical spread, Parish felt as lonely and helpless as the last of the Native Americans.

Of course, Gan Guoyang showed no mercy; he preferred to establish a sufficient lead in the first quarter to make the rest of the game easier.

The Celtics appeared somewhat unprepared and were taken by surprise with the Trail Blazers leading 14:6; KC Jones called for a timeout.

Auerbach wiped his glasses, wondering how Jack Ramsay could have coached such a team and such a player.