The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 448 - 66: The Final Impact

The 80s were a time when individualism and heroism began to emerge in the NBA, but it was just the beginning.

Most players grew up in a basketball culture that prioritized the team, from high school to college, where the basketball education was all about putting the team first, victory first, and individual stats weren’t particularly important.

Also, although NBA salaries were high at the time, they haven’t reached exorbitant levels, and the commercial and economic interests behind the players weren’t significant enough to affect many parties.

Whether Drexler scored 16 points or 20 points didn’t affect his salary from the Trail Blazers, and since he had signed with Avia and had an endorsement income, he was even less concerned about Gan Guoyang getting more ball-handling opportunities.

Vandeweghe, Thompson, Porter, and others were all satisfied with their current salaries and playing conditions, and deep down, they respected Gan Guoyang.

Mitchell Thompson pointed out bluntly, "It’s not so much that Sonny’s isolation plays took away other people’s opportunities, but rather, Sonny solved the difficult problems with his isolation plays, leaving good chances for his teammates. If he wanted to, he could score like Chamberlain, but he didn’t. 38 points is just his normal level."

So, Jack Ramsey’s concerns were unnecessary.

By the late 70s and 80s, when the kids born in that era grew up, they fell in love with basketball by watching the games of Gan Guoyang, Jordan, and Johnson, immersed from a young age in the heroism-focused basketball atmosphere created by Stern, which laid the richer soil for the so-called "stat poison" players.

And the growing influence of the NBA, the larger contracts for players, and the increasingly significant commercial interests behind them became the sunlight and rain for the "stat poison" to grow.

Of course, the ecosystem of the NBA at that time was completely different from that of the 80s.

In the 86-87 season regular season, the scoring competition between Gan Guoyang and Jordan became a landmark event.

After the All-Star game, Gan Guoyang and Jordan continued their scoring spree, pushing the battle to a new peak.

Scoring 40 points wasn’t even enough to satisfy the fans and media anymore. Newspapers like the New York Times described their performances with phrases like "Jordan only scored 35 points," "Ah Gan only scored 36 points," and so on.

On February 26th, the Chicago Bulls hosted the New Jersey Nets at home, where Jordan scored 58 points, helping his team to victory.

On February 27th, the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Golden State Warriors at home, where Gan Guoyang scored 54 points against Joe Barry Carroll—and Gan Guoyang did it in just three quarters, making the fourth quarter garbage time.

On March 4th, the Chicago Bulls challenged the Detroit Pistons at the Silverdome, and Michael Jordan scored 57 points in regulation time and 4 points in overtime, a total of 61 points, to help the Bulls narrowly beat the Detroit Pistons by one point, rendering Dantley’s 32 points and Thomas’s 31 points moot.

That 61 points set a new regular-season scoring record for Jordan, surpassing his own previous record of 58 points just a week earlier.

At the same time, the 61 points also broke Tripucka’s scoring record of 56 points at the Silverdome.

After this game, Jordan’s average points per game successfully surpassed Gan Guoyang’s, climbing to the top of the scoring leaderboard.

After the game, Jordan took the initiative to call Gan Guoyang to share the good news—Wang Fuxi answered the phone, saying Gan Guoyang had gone out for a run and didn’t know when he would be back.

Jordan was speechless, So now you’re not disconnecting the phone, you’re just not at home, right?

On March 8th, the Portland Trail Blazers challenged the Houston Rockets away at the Summit Arena, where Gan Guoyang faced Olajuwon and scored 57 points.

Ralph Sampson’s knee kept causing problems, and he didn’t play tonight; without their three key players, the Rockets lost the imposing presence they had last season.

Olajuwon was in poor form, only scoring 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting, and throughout the game, Coach Bill Fitch stubbornly insisted on Olajuwon defending Gan Guoyang one-on-one.

Olajuwon was mentally crushed by Gan Guoyang, furiously slamming the ball to the floor in the fourth quarter, sending it flying into the stands, for which the referees gave him a technical foul.

He couldn’t understand how, in the previous season, both teams were battling for life and death in the Western Conference Finals, and the Rockets were just a step away from eliminating the Trail Blazers.

Entering the new season, Olajuwon had been full of ambition, having worked hard on his footwork and strength during the summer. Yet, as the season neared its end, the gap between them appeared even wider.

After losing the game, a frustrated Olajuwon went out with Drexler to drink away his sorrows. They went to a bar near the Summit Arena, where Olajuwon drank heavily.

Olajuwon was born into a strict Muslim family in Nigeria, but after coming to America, he fully embraced a secular lifestyle—drinking, eating meat, and womanizing, no different from ordinary people.

Drexler tried to comfort him, but thinking of all the outstanding things Gan Guoyang had done on the team, he knew he couldn’t console the proud Olajuwon.

Olajuwon became severely drunk, completely unconscious, and Drexler, wanting to take Olajuwon home, couldn’t move the tall, strong man by himself.

Drexler was forced to call for help, but it was late, and after calling friends in Houston, he couldn’t find anyone to come.

Left with no choice, Drexler called the hotel number and got through to Gan Guoyang’s room, asking the strong Gan Guoyang to come and lend a hand.

The hotel wasn’t far from the bar, and within ten minutes, Gan Guoyang arrived, shaking his head at the sight of Olajuwon’s drunken state, saying, "You make a fool of yourself and still drink?"

Then Gan Guoyang effortlessly hoisted Olajuwon up and took him to the taxi.

The weight of a completely inebriated person is known to those who have tried to carry one—it’s like carrying a dead pig.

Olajuwon weighed 250 pounds, and even two strong men might not be able to lift him, but Gan Guoyang easily got him out of the bar.

The taxi moved through the night, with Drexler sitting in the front seat, and Olajuwon and Gan Guoyang in the back.

The car stopped at an intersection, waiting for the red light. Hakeem Olajuwon, groggy and half-drunk, half-awake, was awakened by the breeze coming through the window. To his amazement, he saw a mosque in the night outside the window.

Olajuwon found it surprising. He had been in Houston for many years and knew there were mosques around, but he had never visited one. He wasn’t interested in all the religious rites and rituals.

So, for a moment, he thought he had returned to Nigeria, to Lagos, where his family would take him to the mosque every week. There, his life was peaceful and quiet, unlike the noisy confusion of the NBA.

Just as Olajuwon was unclear about his surroundings, the car started, and he realized he was in the vehicle. Turning his head to the other side, he saw Gan Guoyang staring at him: "You awake?"

"Xie Te... why is it you? Am I dreaming? I... fuck..." Olajuwon felt a headache coming on.

Seeing Olajuwon awake, Drexler in the front explained the situation, and Olajuwon slowly remembered that he drank a lot at the bar and got drunk.

He hadn’t expected to end up being carried to the car by Ah Gan, which was really embarrassing. After getting blown out by 57 points at home, then making a fool of himself while drunk, Olajuwon wished he could jump out of the car.

By the time they reached Olajuwon’s home, he was able to get out of the car and walk on his own. Drexler took Olajuwon back to his house, then returned to the hotel with Gan Guoyang, and they both left by plane early the next morning.

After sobering up, Olajuwon went looking for the mosque and found it just near the Summit Arena, a few blocks away, a walk of about ten minutes.

Olajuwon was convinced that there must be some sort of sign, a guidance from God, especially after seeing the mosque, and then seeing Ah Gan again.

At that time, he hadn’t decided whether to become a strict Muslim adherent, as the glamorous world of America still held much temptation.

However, a seed was planted in his heart, and he began searching for his spiritual path.

Two days later, Gan Guoyang scored 44 points at the Great Western Forum, while Jordan scored 41 points in the Boston Garden, and the competition for the scoring title was heating up.

The common point in that game was that both players lost.

On March 12th, the Chicago Bulls played an away game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and Jordan put up 49 points.

On March 13th, the Portland Trail Blazers challenged the Seattle SuperSonics away, and Gan Guoyang dropped 50 points.

This was his third 50-point game of the season, and he was getting hotter and hotter.

News of the two players began to dominate large sections of NBA media coverage.

Fans turned on the TV every day just to see how many points Jordan and Gan Guoyang had scored.

On March 21st, facing off against the San Antonio Spurs at home, Gan Guoyang exploited turnaround jump shots, hooks, and fast breaks to brilliantly score 59 points against Gilmore.

After that game, Gilmore even contemplated retiring, saying that for the first time he felt he completely didn’t understand defense and had no idea how to guard.

Gan Guoyang reclaimed the top spot on the scoring leaderboard.

On March 24th, the Chicago Bulls hosted the Philadelphia 76ers at home, and Jordan showed no mercy to the retiring Doctor J, Irving, by scoring 56 points in front of the home crowd!

He once again took the lead in the scoring race, surpassing Gan Guoyang.

The American media gradually realized that this might be an unprecedented battle for the scoring title, with both players creating history together.

There was a similar fight for the scoring title in 1977-1978, between David Thompson and George Gervin.

In the last game of the regular season, Gervin secured the scoring title with 63 points, including a staggering 33 points in one quarter.

However, that year Gervin’s average was only 27.2 points, nowhere close to what Jordan and Gan Guoyang were doing.

Besides Gervin’s legendary 33 points in one quarter, his second-highest game of the season was only 42 points.

Meanwhile, Jordan and Gan Guoyang had launched a stunning high-scoring battle, where 40 points was hardly noteworthy, and only 50 or 60 points would make a real impression.

Magazines, television, and newspapers increased their coverage of them, and these two guys never disappointed when it came to generating buzz.

Approaching the end of the season in April, Jordan made his move. As his average score gradually fell behind Gan Guoyang, in the 79th game against the Indiana Pacers, he scored 53 points, in the 80th game against the Milwaukee Bucks, 50 points, and in the 81st against the Atlanta Hawks, 61 points!

Gan Guoyang had entered a stable scoring period during March and April with a strategy of "10 points per quarter, 40 for the game," keeping his average around 37 points.

But Jordan’s explosive performance once again pushed the average to 38 points and ignited a Jordan craze nationwide, especially with his 61 points against the Hawks. Despite losing the game, his heroic performance with 38 shots and 22 hits, 21 free throws and 17 made, and three consecutive 50-point games, made the headlines all over the country.

These waves of Jordan’s super scoring impact pushed the battle for scoring supremacy with "Gan vs. Joe" to a climax.

By coincidence, the final opponent of the regular season for the Portland Trail Blazers was also the Atlanta Hawks.

On April 18th, the entire Trail Blazers team headed to Atlanta, ready to finish their regular season.

And Gan Guoyang was determined to make one last push for the scoring title.