The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 540 - 43: The Death Ray
The fourth quarter was about to begin, and Gan Guoyang remained on the court.
The Great Western Forum was all too familiar to him.
He loved playing here, loved the bright yellow floor, and loved the passionate, colorful fans.
Of course, his favorite thing was winning here.
Every time Gan Guoyang came to Los Angeles, there were always many Chinese fans.
They came from all parts of California, after all, California had the largest Chinese population.
Tonight was no exception, with pretty girls constantly shouting at Guoyang from the sidelines, just like Hong Kong music fans chasing stars in that era.
In Los Angeles, there was a huge Gan Guoyang fan club, mostly comprised of female fans.
In terms of looks, Guoyang was no worse than stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In terms of physique and demeanor, he was even better.
The abundant masculine energy he exuded led the aesthetic preference of the Chinese circles in the 80s and 90s; nobody was interested in the effeminate pretty boys anymore. Male stars began working out and getting tanned one after another, trying to keep up with Ah Gan’s pace.
Guoyang politely smiled at the crazy female fans. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
In Portland, there were even more female fans, and most of them were married, which was really crazy.
Magic Johnson saw Gan Guoyang getting warmly welcomed by the girls and jokingly said, "Give them a number, and they’ll continue screaming in your room tonight."
Johnson had done, was doing, and would continue to do that kind of thing.
For him, hooking up with girls was just as important as playing basketball or eating.
And many girls were picked right there at courtside during the games, just needing mutual interest to proceed.
Of course, Guoyang would never do such a thing. He responded, "If I still have energy for anything else tonight, that’d be disrespectful to the Lakers. Of course, the same goes for you."
Johnson smiled and said nothing because Guoyang was right; after tonight’s game, neither of them would have the energy to spend time with a girl.
The games against the Trail Blazers were that intense, with astonishing physical demands that left them exhausted and without the desire to do anything else afterward.
Truth be told, seeing Guoyang still full of vigor and fight, Johnson felt a tinge of fear deep down.
This was Magic Johnson’s ninth season.
In those nine seasons, he’d suffered from serious injuries and had to take about ten games off each year to recuperate.
He was an extremely energetic person, but after nine years of frantic racing across the basketball court and other fields every night, it took a toll on him.
His back, ankles, and knees ached every day.
He once told the media that with his style of play and running frequency, he might not last more than ten seasons.
Besides him, Worthy’s knees, Byron Scott’s patellar tendon, and Michael Cooper’s ankle were all plagued with injuries.
Of course, every NBA team had injury problems—getting hurt was commonplace in a professional league with such intensity and frequent games.
But the Lakers’ extreme running style indeed consumed a lot, wearing down the body even more seriously.
Johnson could feel that since 1984, the entire team had been in pain due to the prolonged war of attrition against the Blazers and Guoyang.
Riley, who had left, becoming more solemn was Jerry West, and Jerry Buss, whose temper was growing worse—all of them were troubled by the people of Portland.
Don Nelson said, "When you feel pain, your enemy feels the same pain, or even worse. Persevere, and collapse later than your enemies."
Nelson’s words were sensible, and from various reports, it seemed the Trail Blazers were indeed in trouble this year.
Vandeweghe was injured, Parkson got traded, Drexler seemed discontent with his role, Thompson was sluggish, Gilmore was old, and Jack Ramsay was distracted.
The Lakers knew how hard it was to defend a championship after several failed attempts at consecutive titles.
The Blazers must be having a tough time in this difficult fight to retain their crown.
This gave both the Lakers and Johnson motivation; having beaten the Trail Blazers three times before, they had to endure.
As the playoffs drew closer and the rivalry between the two teams intensified, it became clear that this would decide the psychological advantage in the postseason.
But now, Magic Johnson was a bit worried, he couldn’t see any signs of collapse in Ah Gan, not even a hint.
This was the source of that tinge of fear in the depths of Johnson’s heart.
Gan Guoyang was still so focused, so confident, a bright spark in his eyes.
From this Magic Johnson knew, such a man couldn’t be defeated psychologically or in willpower.
No matter the situation, he would fight to the end, seizing any chance for victory.
You can’t expect to bulldoze through or achieve victory by decree, that’s impossible.
In the past, the Lakers often did so in the Western Conference—opponents would realize they were outclassed in talent, unable to keep up, and would collapse both mentally and physically.
To beat Ah Gan, one must be superior in strength and maintain focus and a high level of play from start to finish.
In this respect, Johnson believed his willpower and determination were no less than Ah Gan’s. He was confident to keep competing with Ah Gan, all the way to the postseason, to see who would give out first.
He longed to see disintegration, confusion, even fear in Ah Gan’s eyes because that would mean the Trail Blazers were done for.
As the fourth quarter began, Johnson chose to play with his back to the basket, pushing into the paint. After holding off Drexler, he turned and moved down the middle, facing Guoyang’s help defense, a hook shot released and scored.
