The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 519 - 22 Born for the Big Scene

In fact, Jordan’s ping pong skills were far from even an amateur hobbyist.

Over the years, the games between him and Banks had been like a bad game of chess, getting worse with each match.

But this couldn’t be blamed on Jordan. Ping pong is an easy sport to pick up with a bit of athletic talent; even self-taught players can look decent playing it.

However, when playing against someone who has trained properly, you quickly realize that you can’t even return a serve.

Let alone play against Gan Guoyang, an old, cunning player who uses pimpled rubber paddles—Jordan probably couldn’t even distinguish the different characteristics of rubber paddles, much less compete with someone who uses them.

Having been tricked by Gan Guoyang into participating in the three-point contest last time, Jordan had fallen into a trap but hadn’t learned his lesson. Trying to regain his honor through ping pong was like carrying a lantern into the toilet—absolute suicide.

Gan Guoyang, seeing that Jordan couldn’t return a single serve, played three balls then let Jordan serve.

Jordan, with a forced bravado, served the ball, and Gan Guoyang knew from his posture that he was a pure enthusiast, with no professional training; if he played seriously, not a single rally would last more than three shots.

Gan Guoyang showed mercy, pretending to have serious rallies with Jordan, not spinning the ball much and even deliberately losing points to let Jordan score.

Jordan knew in his heart that Ah Gan, damn it, was professional, and with a mere exertion of effort, he wouldn’t be able to return a single ball.

Now, the back-and-forth play was just Gan Guoyang giving him face.

After hitting a dozen or so balls, Gan Guoyang always stayed one point ahead of Jordan.

Those unfamiliar with ping pong might think the two were evenly matched, but those with a bit of knowledge would understand that it was a total crush.

Gan Guoyang was so confident in his crushing performance that he declared he’d beat Jordan by just one point—no more, no less—it was just a game to him.

After playing a dozen balls, Jordan knew he couldn’t win, so he simply threw down his paddle and stopped playing, going forward to shake hands with Gan Guoyang.

"You play well, Michael," said Gan Guoyang as he praised Jordan.

With a look of helplessness, Jordan replied, "Thanks, Sonny. Why don’t you go play ping pong?"

"My ping pong skills are nothing special in China. Basketball suits me better."

Jordan heaved a long sigh and from that point on, he gave up ping pong as a hobby.

The idea of secretly practicing at home was non-existent; the gap was just too great.

Maybe with a professional coach, he might reach Ah Gan’s level.

But Jordan knew that the most important battleground between the two was basketball.

Ping pong, card games, they were just minor diversions in life.

With Jordan’s improving skills and the further strengthening of the Bulls team this season, his confidence grew stronger.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics were in an unavoidable decline.

The Pistons were on the rise, and the Bulls, alongside the Bullets and the Cavaliers, became the East’s new disruptors.

During lunch, Jordan secretly asked Gan Guoyang, "Sonny, where’d you buy that racket?"

"When I heard I was going to play ping pong against you, I specifically went to Evanston to buy this long-pimpled racket."

Evanston is a satellite city of Chicago, an affluent area with sports equipment stores that are well-stocked.

Hanni had driven Gan Guoyang to buy a paddle yesterday, just to deal with Jordan, only to find it was overkill—using a cleaver to kill a chicken.

"Long pimples? What are long pimples?"

Gan Guoyang sighed, thinking to himself that Jordan didn’t even know what long pimples were; had he known, he wouldn’t have bothered going so far to buy a specialty racket and rubber to play against him.

He might as well have used a block of wood or, better yet, a bus card; he probably still could have won.

Gan Guoyang patiently explained to Jordan the different styles of play for different types of rubber and the techniques required to handle various spins.

Jordan just shook his head in response, learning that ping pong could be so complex affirmed his decision to give it up.

Basketball seemed much simpler to him.

Due to the introduction of illegal offensive rules, Jordan’s average score for the season had dropped to 35 points.

Jordan further improved his shooting, making his shots more fluid and less hesitant than before.

After this "Pong Battle" concluded, 1987 came to a close.

Jordan invited Gan Guoyang to a New Year’s Eve party at the Chicago Grand Hotel, but Guoyang declined. He returned to his hotel to call his wife and father, then held a small New Year’s Eve celebration with his teammates at the lodge.

Everyone made an exception and had a few drinks. Hanni hired a jazz band to play songs for the players, and they stayed happy until the early morning before returning to their rooms to rest.

Rest and relaxation helped the Trail Blazers recover from the previous back-to-back away games, allowing them to enter the first game of 1988 in relatively good condition.

On January 1, 1988, snow began to fall in Chicago.

Before the official start of the game, the media began to stir the pot.

Especially the local media in Chicago, a large number of newspapers and radio stations provided pre-game analysis.

Many of them believed that this year would mark the start of Chicago’s ascent over Portland.

Gan Guoyang’s average points per game had slipped from 38 to 31, and it was suggested he had previously taken advantage of the rules.

If the league no longer allowed complete clearing out, Guoyang, as a center, would see his influence greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s scoring had only dropped a little over two points while his other stats had increased. The Bulls were very strong in the regular season, while the Trail Blazers seemed to be in decline.

"The situation will start to reverse from this year on." — Chicago Forum Newspaper

"Just like with Magic and Bird before, this year it’s Michael’s turn." — Chicago Star Newspaper

"A three-peat is exceedingly difficult for the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan. The Portland people are gradually sinking into the mire while Michael and the Bulls are taking off." — Today in Chicago

The media is fundamentally about catering to the audience’s emotions, particularly newspapers and news – once the day and the readers’ emotional moment pass, it’s just waste paper.

So, large and small media outlets simply don’t worry about being proven wrong after the game; their priority is to fervently fuel the emotions of Chicago fans in the moment.

Moreover, Jordan really is strong and rarely disappoints Chicago fans.

Gan, who liked reading newspapers, of course saw these comments, scoffed disdainfully, and tossed them into the waste bin, thinking that no matter the era, tabloid writers are always loose-lipped.

Before the game, the American national anthem rang out in the Chicago Stadium. Whenever this happened, Guoyang would stiffen his gaze and study the ceiling, observing every detail of each stadium’s ceiling.

This stadium, like the Boston Garden, was also used for both hockey and basketball.

Apart from the Bulls’ games, it was also the home court for the NHL’s Blackhawks Team.

Before 1987, the Blackhawks had already won the overall NHL championship trophy three times, and the Chicago Stadium’s rafters were adorned with the Blackhawks’ three championship banners.

It could be said that among Chicago’s professional sports teams, the Bulls had the least achievements and lacked a strong legacy.

But because of Michael Jordan, the Chicago Stadium was packed every night.

Tonight, with the addition of Guoyang’s presence, the venue was even noisier.

After the national anthem, the cheering of the fans mixed with the "noise" of the live pipe organ was a real challenge to the eardrums.

Built in the 1920s, this old stadium installed a Barton Pipe Organ with 3,663 pipes, like in a church, to create a favorable game atmosphere, providing music when needed.

In earlier years, this massive pipe organ was controlled by the famous organist Al Melgard, who provided the soundtrack for a great number of Blackhawks and Bulls games.

This early DJ would use music to reflect the home crowd’s mood, such as playing "Three Blind Mice" when he thought the referees were being unfair.

When large-scale riots and brawls occurred among the fans, he tried to calm the crowd’s emotions with religious music.

If that was ineffective, he would go full scale, depress the volume pedal, press all the keys, and use the sound waves to shatter the main lights of the home court, also waking the brawling fans so that they would stop fighting and leave the stadium.

It was because of the loud sound of the pipe organ, along with the noise of over twenty thousand fans, that the Chicago Stadium was nicknamed "Madison Insane Asylum."

Gan Guoyang liked it here, liked playing basketball in such an extremely noisy and chaotic away game environment.

Far from feeling annoyed, he was excited, feeling an urge to perform to his fullest here.

He was born for the big stage.