The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 437 - 55 Rain Man

(The image from the previous Chapter was inexplicably flagged by the review system; it seems the system glitched, even reviewing the image of the basketball arena. This Chapter is also affected... The dunk picture requires review, but the images should be visible in the day after tomorrow.)

The person with the best three-point shooting form tonight was not Gan Guoyang, nor Bird, but Schlammfeste.

He scored 19 points in the first round; from his shooting posture, you could tell that he was well-suited for long-range shots—the arc of his ball was high, and his shooting form was very energy-efficient.

Gan Guoyang’s opponent in the semi-finals was exactly Schlammfeste. Before the start of the official match, Gan Guoyang said to Schlammfeste, "I’ll score one more point than you."

Schlammfeste pretended not to care, but once those words are heard, they can stick in one’s mind and keep appearing, disrupting a person’s form.

Schlammfeste had known Gan Guoyang since college; Gan was at Gonzaga and he was at the University of Washington, both in the Northwest Region—they played against each other often.

He knew Gan Guoyang was confident, and always did what he said he would do. What made Gan’s trash talk so potent was not the cleverness of his words, but the fact that in the end, he always delivered.

As the whistle blew to start the match, both players began shooting from the baseline. Schlammfeste’s touch was not great at the beginning, dropping several balls at the first and second racks.

However, starting from the top of the arc, he steadied himself—sinking four shots from the top of the key, and then hitting five in a row from the 45-degree angle on the left side! His form was getting better and better.

In the final corner, he was still shooting well, sinking four in a row. As he prepared to shoot the last one, he caught a glimpse of Gan Guoyang already finishing on the other side.

For a brief 0.1 seconds, Schlammfeste realized that if he could make this money ball, he could definitely eliminate Gan Guoyang!

But it was thinking for that extra 0.1 seconds that made his shot a bit too soft, and the ball bounced off the rim and out.

Schlammfeste was very annoyed, he looked up at the scoreboard and sure enough, he had scored 15 points, while Gan Guoyang had 16.

If he had made the last ball, he could have beaten Ah Gan.

Gan Guoyang’s performance was actually not outstanding, but back then the NBA players’ three-point shooting skills weren’t too good; Gan Guoyang was already leading the pack.

Sometimes, on the basketball court, you have to believe in the strength of the strong.

Then Bird and Hodges competed, and unsurprisingly, Bird was in excellent form, scored 18 points, and defeated Hodges to enter the finals.

In the finals, the two would toss a coin to decide who would go first. Gan Guoyang chose heads, Bird chose tails, the referee tossed the coin, and the result was heads—Bird would shoot first, followed by Gan Guoyang.

This order did not bode well for Bird.

If his opponent had been someone else, Bird would have preferred to shoot first.

He would post a decent score, putting pressure on the second competitor.

But facing Ah Gan was different.

Gan Guoyang patted Bird on the shoulder and said, "You’re done. Unless you get another 22 points, I will beat you by one point and finish you with the last ball."

Bird had participated in last year’s three-point contest and was in spectacular form, scoring 22 points—the highest score of the year. That was truly impressive, and Gan Guoyang did not have confidence in a guaranteed win.

But if Bird scored in the teens like he did in the previous two rounds, Gan Guoyang was confident he could come from behind and finish Bird.

Bird knew his form was average; he’d played the regular season feeling very worn out, and his severe back injuries affected his shooting.

He didn’t bother with much chitchat with Gan Guoyang, just started shooting—the first rack went well for him, scoring 4 points. But then his form fluctuated, and in the end, he scored 16 points.

This score was not too low, but definitely not high. After shooting, Bird had a stern expression as he returned to the bench, knowing he was in trouble.

Ah Gan, that guy, definitely wouldn’t miss this chance to win the three-point championship.

Bird used to be a man full of self-confidence, but facing Ah Gan, he felt somewhat illusory.

Gan Guoyang felt a lot of pressure too—you’ve got to back up the big talk you’ve made.

Boasting always feels good, but delivering on it is never easy.

He had already thought it through—if he couldn’t score 16 points, he would just run back to the locker room!

But when he truly started shooting, Gan Guoyang completely calmed down.

At the first corner rack, he made three shots, one of which was a money ball, scoring 4 points.

This solidified his confidence. Afterwards, at the 45-degree angles and the top of the arc, he performed well, and after three racks, he had already scored 13 points.

Bird saw this and thought, it’s all over; Gan Guoyang already had 13 points.

At the fourth rack, Gan Guoyang made 2 shots, including one money ball, adding up to 16 points!

Bird pursed his lips, knowing that this championship was likely to slip through his fingers.

At the last rack, the first ball didn’t go in, the second didn’t either, nor did the third!

It seemed as if Gan Guoyang deliberately wanted to give the audience a bit of suspense.

With the fourth ball, he took it, adjusted his stance and rhythm, relaxed his shoulders, and released the shot.

As the ball left his hands, Gan Guoyang knew it was good—there was no problem with that trajectory!

Before the ball even sank into the net, Gan Guoyang raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and turned to walk away.

He didn’t bother shooting the last money ball.

The ball swished through the net, hit—Gan Guoyang scored 17, beating Bird, and won the 1987 NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest!

Gan Guoyang shook hands and embraced with Bird, asking, "Larry, how does it feel to be the second best?"

"Better than scoring 5 points."

Unable to beat Gan Guoyang, Bird could only resort to hurting Jordan.

Gan Guoyang received the three-point contest championship trophy from David Stern’s hands.

While shaking hands, Gan Guoyang said, "How about that, David, looks great doesn’t it? Quite profitable, eh?"

Stern’s face still held his signature smile as he replied, "Thank you for your spectacular show."

"My championship will be forgotten, but Michael’s 5 points will be remembered forever."

David Stern was getting a bit impatient too, but he still tried to hold it back and said, "There’s the Slam Dunk Contest coming up, you and Michael put on a good show."

minutes later, the Slam Dunk Contest officially began, and Gan Guoyang appeared courtside once again, becoming the first player in NBA history to participate in both the Three-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest.

Including Gan Guoyang, there were a total of nine participants in the Slam Dunk Contest: Tom Chambers, Johnny Dawkins, Drexler, Ron Harper, Jordan, Jerome Kossie, Gerald Wilkins, and Terence Stansbury.

Popular players such as Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins were absent due to injuries.

If it weren’t for Gan Guoyang stepping in, the Slam Dunk Contest would definitely have lost some of its luster with only Jordan alone.

In his element, Jordan became incredibly intense, vowing to regain his territory on his home court.

Like the Three-Point Contest, the Slam Dunk Contest started with a first round of eliminations, followed by one-on-one matchups in the semifinals.

The last two players would then compete in the finals to decide the champion of the Slam Dunk Contest.

Each player had two dunk attempts in the first round, and based on the highest scores, the top four would advance to the semifinals.

The panel of judges tonight consisted of five people: former Supersonics star Fred Brown, four-time All-Star Johnny Green, host and TV star Joe Piscopo, Celtics legend Sam Jones, and University of Washington Coach Marc Hazzard.

Jordan was the first to take the stage, launching himself like a cheetah for a double-handed reverse dunk in midair, the movements graceful and the finish polished, as fans all held up signs with a perfect score of 10.

The judges didn’t give their scores right away; next was Drexler, who seemed a bit nervous and botched his first dunk. His move was a self-lob and dunk, tossing the ball against the backboard, rebounding it, then leaping for a one-handed catch and slam dunk.

The dunk was not bad, but on the whole, it was quite standard and lacked any special flair.

This was indeed the case with dunks in the 80s; they were smooth and elegant but often lacked creativity.

And creativity was exactly Gan Guoyang’s strength, though it wasn’t really necessary for the first round.

Gan Guoyang was the last to perform, opting for a midair spin with a one-handed Statue of Liberty dunk and a self-lob dunk similar to Drexler’s, except that he finished powerfully with both hands.

Once Gan Guoyang took the court, he stood out from the guards and forwards before him with his tall stature and sense of power, delivering dunks that were highly impactful to both fans and judges.

The scoring for the first round came in, and Gan Guoyang, Jordan, Drexler, and Jerome Kossie advanced to the semifinals.

Everyone was surprised; three Trail Blazers against one Bull, with Jordan as the lone hero.

In the draw for the semifinals, Gan Guoyang was pitted against Kossie, and Jordan against Drexler, with each player executing three dunks.

By the semifinals, everyone’s creativity with their dunks was waning a bit. For example, Jordan used a rebound pass followed by an aerial spin dunk, a move quite similar to Gan Guoyang’s. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

In terms of execution, Jordan’s was a bit more graceful, while Gan Guoyang’s was filled with brute force, shaking the hoop anxiously with its power — the sense of strength was Gan Guoyang’s greatest weapon tonight.

During the semifinals against Kossie, Gan Guoyang glared at him as if to say, "Try and win against me," and in the end, Kossie faltered, failing two dunks and sending Gan Guoyang to the finals.

Finally, it was time for the thrilling finals, where the two men would fight to the death.

Jordan said nothing, not wanting to hear a single word from Gan Guoyang before the competition ended.

He started off with an air-borne, folded-back double dunk, a spectacular move that earned him 48 points from the judges.

Gan Guoyang also chose a reverse dunk, but he went for an alley-oop, slamming the ball into the basket with great force and momentum, scoring 47 points.

Jordan began his second dunk, this time going for a one-handed glide dunk, with an expansive gesture in mid-air.

It was still 48 points; evidently, some judges thought Jordan’s move was not perfect enough, lacking something.

Then Gan Guoyang started to unleash his big moves, bringing out his secret weapon.

With the help of Drexler, he completed a 360-degree double-handed dunk in mid-air after an alley-oop!

The dunk was spectacular and earned a perfect score of 50 points!

The pressure was on Michael Jordan, who then performed one of his classic moves.

Dribbling the ball, sprinting, taking off, gliding through the air, his body making a tucking and then extending motion, he dunked the ball into the hoop!

This dunk caused a sensation throughout the stadium, with fans cheering wildly, and the judges generously awarded a perfect score of 50 points!

Next, if Gan Guoyang could score another perfect 50 points, he would clinch the slam dunk contest title; one point less, and they would have to compete in another dunk.

At that moment, Gan Guoyang went to the sidelines and took a large umbrella from Wang Fuxi, a prop he had prepared earlier.

The fans on site were somewhat bewildered: how could a dunk involve a prop, and an umbrella at that?

"Xie Te, what’s this guy up to? What is he doing?" Jordan felt a bit of cognitive dissonance when he saw Gan Guoyang with the umbrella.

However, Seattle fans quickly caught on: this umbrella was the colorful one used by Paul Westphal for the Sports Illustrated cover shoot in 1980.

It was an iconic photo of Westphal, for Seattle has a well-known nickname: "Rain City," renowned for its persistent rain.

When Westphal left the Suns for Seattle, Sports Illustrated captured that photograph and wrote a feature article titled "Swimming through the Rain."

Holding the large umbrella, which was colored yellow, green, and white, Gan Guoyang stood near the midcourt line, then began his sprint with the ball.

One step inside the free throw line, Gan Guoyang leapt high into the air, opened the umbrella mid-flight as if using the gliding power of the umbrella to fly towards the basket, and dunked the ball!

At courtside, the photographers’ cameras snapped away incessantly, capturing two images destined to become world-famous basketball paintings of the NBA slam dunk contest—one for Jordan, and one for Ah Gan.

The image of Gan Guoyang pressing the ball into the hoop with one hand while holding the spread umbrella in the other became an eternal classic of the NBA.

There was no doubt the slam dunk champion would be Gan Guoyang; as he landed, the entire arena erupted, this was Seattle, the city of rain, and this inspired dunk undoubtedly deserved a perfect score of 50 points!

He showed that dunking could be done in such a manner, even with the help of a prop.

His knowledge of dunk contests thirty years ahead certainly came into play.

Gan Guoyang earned himself a new nickname with that creative umbrella dunk, "Rain man".