The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 598 - 10 Gap_2

"No, seat belts are uncomfortable."

"But it’s safe!"

"Drive on, I trust your driving skills."

Petrović disliked wearing seat belts just like his free and unrestrained style of play on the court.

Leaving the apartment and heading south along Interstate 45, they arrived at Willamette University 45 minutes later.

By then, the sky had already brightened, and they parked in the gym parking lot, running into Rick Adelman.

After returning to Portland, Adelman went from head coach to assistant coach, returning to his previous job—overseeing the rookie training camp.

As a coach, Adelman was quite strict. During the summer league, he trained the team harshly, being extremely tough on Divac and Sabonis, mercilessly pointing out their numerous issues.

Therefore, both Sabonis and Divac were somewhat intimidated by Adelman, whereas head coach Bobby Berman felt approachable and gentle to them.

After his recovery, Petrović also received guidance from Adelman. Though a superstar in Europe, Petrović appeared too slender and slow in Adelman’s eyes, who said, "You’ll have a hard time making it in the NBA like this."

Petrović was not convinced, thinking his body hadn’t yet recovered to its optimal state.

Today, he felt quite good and took the initiative to greet Adelman, "Coach, you’ve come so early."

Adelman replied with his raspy voice, "It’s the first day, I need to come early to prepare. Are you all ready?"

Petrović nodded vigorously and asked, "Has Ah Gan arrived?"

"Ah Gan must have been training for at least an hour now," Adelman replied and pointed to a sedan in the corner of the parking lot—it was Gan Guoyang’s car.

Petrović was surprised; they were already early, how could Ah Gan be earlier?

The four of them entered the gym, where the sound of a basketball being dribbled echoed "thump-thump."

Upon entering the court, only one person was in the vast gym, his back to the four men, shirtless, his muscles sculpted to perfection.

His back muscles showcased marble-like textures, looking from afar like a piece of art.

He wasn’t as tall as David Robinson, but was thicker and his lower body was as solid as rock.

At that moment, he was practicing three-point long shots. A stack of balls was placed nearby; he grabbed one and, without any movement in his lower limbs, relied entirely on the powerful force of his arms and wrists to effortlessly shoot the ball.

His entire upper body core was extremely stable, without any swaying—only his arms and hands moved, creating a perfect parabolic trajectory with the ball dropping smoothly into the basket.

Then the second, third, fourth... ten in a row, all with the same machine-like precision and stability.

After finishing all the balls in the basket, Gan Guoyang missed only once, and the rest not only hit the target but didn’t even touch the rim.

This precise, stable shooting, relying solely on the upper limbs, was truly a sight to behold, stunningly beautiful, and the four men simply stood there on the sideline, quietly watching.

Only after shooting did Gan Guoyang notice that Adelman and the three little pigs from Eastern Europe had arrived at the gym and were watching him shoot.

Gan Guoyang waved at Adelman, "Rick! Do me a favor and pick up the balls back into the basket, thanks!"

Adelman spread his hands and said, "I’m a coach."

"I know, this is the price of your betrayal, a little punishment for you. Get to work, I’m buying lunch."

In front of Petrović and the others, Adelman, who was incredibly strict, could only spread his hands, sigh helplessly, and actually went to pick up the balls.

For Petrović and the others, this was inconceivable—in Europe, basketball coaches held supreme authority, their word was law, just like in American college basketball.

However, in the NBA, particularly with the Trail Blazers, the stars were supreme.

Adelman went and picked up the balls one by one, seemingly not embarrassed by the task.

Gan Guoyang came over to greet the trio from Eastern Europe, and up close, Petrović felt how strong the NBA’s top player’s presence and pressure were.

Although shorter than Sabonis and Divac, standing before him, he didn’t feel small at all—in fact, he looked even more imposing than the two giants.

This was related to his perfect, strong muscles and also to his unmatched confidence and demeanor, his eyes brimming with openness and assurance.

From his commanding Adelman to pick up the balls, it was clear he was the King here, in control of everything.

Petrović had thought about what he would say when he first met Ah Gan, wanting to challenge him one-on-one or compete in three-point shooting like they had talked about on the phone.

But seeing Gan Guoyang shoot so precisely from beyond the three-point line, relying only on upper-body strength, Petrović hesitated.

The NBA’s three-point line was much further than FIBA’s, and he still hadn’t adjusted to the NBA’s distance, let alone challenge this center three-point king.

Gan Guoyang asked about Sabonis and Petrović’s injuries and inquired about Divac’s English learning progress.

He reminded, "The purpose of the rookie training camp is to select those who can stay with the Trail Blazers. Although you all have contracts, those on short-term deals will work very hard to stay. They will be very desperate. The Trail Blazers have always been a fair team; play well and you can stay, play poorly, and even if you stay, you won’t get enough playing time. So the rookie training camp is always very tough, very tough—good luck, comrades."