The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 572 - 1 1988-1989_4

Gan Guoyang only had contact with him for three days and knew what kind of person this guy was, as he had seen too many people lacking love.

On the contrary, Tang Jianguo could never see through Ah Gan, and he couldn’t fully grasp what kind of person this mysterious superstar really was.

Tang Jianguo tried every means to curry favor, including announcing at a championship commemoration rally in July that he would build a new stadium for the Trail Blazers next season, right next to the original Memorial Coliseum, a decision that was highly praised by Portland fans, and fully supported by the Portland City Government.

He also spent money on a brand new jet for the Trail Blazers, to be used as a private plane for traveling between cities.

However, Ah Gan always had an attitude of "take it or leave it", not swayed by incentives, making Tang Jianguo exclaim, "Ah Gan is the most difficult person I’ve ever dealt with!"

In terms of investment, Gan Guoyang’s actions in investing in the funeral and construction industries were hailed by Tang Jianguo as shrewd and unique.

However, Gan Guoyang remained indifferent to Tang Jianguo’s flattery, always maintaining a proper distance from his boss.

This drove Tang Jianguo crazy, like a child who never gets acknowledged, which made him even more devoted to the Trail Blazers.

By August, Gan Guoyang had stopped all social activities, focusing solely on training, preparing for the new season.

He continued to participate in Newell’s Big Man training camp, where Newell said, "I have nothing left to teach you," to which Ah Gan replied, "I’m here for technical poverty alleviation."

In September, the Trail Blazers confirmed their new head coach selection, the management decided to appoint Bobby Beelman to succeed as head coach, continuing Jack Ramsay’s tactical philosophy.

This was considered by the outside world as a way to please Ah Gan, as there were more veteran head coaches available on the market, yet the Trail Blazers chose Beelman.

The reason Beelman got the position was simply because he was Ah Gan’s high school and college coach, clinging to his coattails all the way to the NBA.

In the media’s view, the Trail Blazers’ new season did not look promising.

On September 17, 1988, the Seoul Olympics opened.

Gan Guoyang, representing Avia, went to Korea for a promotional event and took the opportunity to watch the Olympic games.

Gan Guoyang’s arrival in Korea caused a huge sensation, and during an event at a sports venue, a stampede and fan faintings occurred, leading to more than thirty injured and nearly a hundred rushed to the hospital.

This incident later appeared multiple times in Korean period dramas.

In this Olympics, the Chinese delegation returned without glory, winning only 4 gold medals, with many strong events met with Waterloo.

This was not unrelated to the poor officiating environment of the Korean host.

The Chinese Men’s Basketball Team suffered from biased refereeing in their ranking match against Korea.

Despite being the stronger team, they were subjected to unfair calls by the referees, including a critical three-pointer being disallowed.

In the end, China lost to Korea 90:93 and could only compete with Egypt for the eleventh place.

This infuriated Gan Guoyang, who had watched the whole game, leading him to declare that he would never again come to Korea for business activities.

After the Olympics, Coach Qian Chenghai retired, no longer serving as the head coach.

Gan Guoyang told Coach Qian that if professional players were allowed to compete in the future, he would definitely serve his country.

This was not the only case of biased officiating at the Olympics; in the boxing ring, notorious for corrupt judges, Korean boxer Park HeeChung defeated American boxer Roy Jones to win the championship, which was blatantly shameless.

No wonder some say the greatest positive contribution of the Seoul Olympics was their theme song "Hand in Hand", which indeed is very catchy and classic.

The American Men’s Basketball Team also met with Waterloo in Seoul.

They lost to the Soviet Union Men’s Basketball Team led by Sabonis in the semifinals, missed out on the finals, and lost the gold medal.

At the end of the game, Coach Thompson walked past the jubilant Soviet players with a white towel draped over his shoulders and his head bowed, appearing particularly forlorn; his basketball philosophy was outdated and no longer effective in international competition.

The Americans felt a great humiliation, and a campaign for revenge gradually began.

Sabonis, at this Olympics, reached the peak of his basketball career.

After the semifinal, he met face-to-face with Gan Guoyang for the first time, and it is said that the two found a spot for a one-on-one match.

No one knows the outcome, but after the Olympics Sabonis expressed a strong desire to go to the NBA and fight alongside Ah Gan.

After the Olympics, Gan Guoyang returned to America, where he attended the election for the new president of the Players Union in New York.

With the votes of the players, Charlie Grantham, widely supported by black players, was successfully elected as the new president of the Players Union, taking charge.

Jim Quinn’s prediction was not wrong, Grantham, with his long-standing management of player relations, was unrivaled in the election, becoming the first black union president in the North American Professional League.

In October, at the Trail Blazers’ rookie training camp, Gan Guoyang attended as usual and, as usual, expressed his frustration, "You are the worst group of rookies I’ve ever trained."

This year’s batch was indeed poor, even worse than last year’s, and after a week, not one of them was up to snuff.

Gan Guoyang quickly immersed himself in preparing for the new season while Wang Fuxi’s belly grew bigger and bigger; he had to split his attention to care for the pregnant woman.

Gan Youwei temporarily put down the work at his restaurant and came to Portland specifically to make nutritious meals for his daughter-in-law, believing that American cooks weren’t up to making meals nutritious or tasty enough.

At the same time, Gan Guoyang’s mother-in-law, Wan Ling, also arrived in Portland to help with her daughter’s daily care, thinking the Filipino maid was too clumsy and slow, and that a mother’s personal care was better.