This might be an important step in his growth, just like standing firm against his parents over Vanessa.

In the end, he married Vanessa, and they moved to Portland, bought a villa in Lake Oswego Park, and started their life together there.

Now on the court, Kobe also needed to take such a step, making the atmosphere of the game tense and charged.

The Trail Blazers' lineup this season is quite impressive, with starting power forward Little O'Neal, shooting guard Kobe, center Ben Wallace, small forward Reuben Patterson, and starting point guard Derek Anderson.

In 2000, with Gan Guoyang's retirement, a batch of veteran players from the Trail Blazers either retired or left, leaving half of the roster vacant.

In this context, Larry Bird leveraged his skills, made a series of trades, and draft picks, refilling the team's roster while maintaining strong competitiveness.

Among them was Michael Redd, selected in the draft as Gan Guoyang's designated successor, who is now an important backcourt substitute for the team.

In the interior, Bird also signed Pacers' inside powerhouse Dale Davis, further strengthening the team's defense under the basket.

Since the new season started, the Trail Blazers' record currently ranks first in the Western Conference and second in the league, only behind the Boston Celtics, with an extremely fierce momentum.

Rick Carlisle abandoned his former flowing offensive system and turned the Trail Blazers into a team with very tough, oppressive defense.

The game began, and the Trail Blazers won the jump ball. Amidst the cheers and anticipation of the fans, Kobe initiated his first attack against the 'betrayers'.

Kobe held the ball, veered in the middle, then drove straight to the basket, but was double-teamed by Gan Guoyang and Beelman.

Under pressure, Kobe forcibly shot, the ball hit the board, then rebounded on the front rim, missing.

Miller grabbed the defensive rebound, Kobe's first offensive attempt missed, he seemed a bit anxious.

He didn't even observe the Blazers' defensive formation; they started with a zone defense, which had a strong deterrent effect against breakthroughs. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Glory Team, being a newly formed team, had no tactical inertia, so they adapted particularly quickly to the new rules, and they used zone defense the most in the league.

They liked starting with a zone defense, making opponents uncomfortable, forcing long-range three-point shots, disrupting the opponent's offensive rhythm.

And clearly, Kobe didn't observe well, just charged in blindly, this guy lost his cool too quickly.

'Watch carefully, kid; charging in against a zone defense?' Gan Guoyang joined the offense, reminding Kobe, just like when they used to play together.

Kobe wanted to retort but didn't know what to say; Ah Gan was right, he forgot to observe properly.

Gan Guoyang received the ball at the top of the key, and he carefully observed the Blazers' defense, which initially was man-to-man but kept an inward-leaning formation.

Obviously, their protection of the inside would be robust.

Watching tapes for preparation, Gan Guoyang noticed Big Ben and Little O's very strong defensive mobility; they frequently set up traps inside, lured, then double-teamed to block opponents' attacks.

Gan Guoyang directed a low-post position and passed the ball to Brad Miller, taking advantage of height to attack Ben Wallace right off the bat.

Big Ben's weakness as a center is his lack of height, which is a hard flaw, but his strong mobility is his advantage.

That's why Bird chose outside players with decent height, strong mobility, and tough defense to form a powerful defensive clamp with Ben Wallace.

Like Reuben Patterson, though at 6'5" he's relatively short for a forward, he is very strong, can withstand in the paint, and has great defense.

Also Derek Anderson, also 6'5", playing shooting guard, switched to point guard after joining the Trail Blazers, with great effect.

Ben Wallace as a center has moderate individual defense but as a helper alongside other players provides a defense greater than the sum of its parts.

He is an excellent defensive collaborator, needs coordination as the point guard among defensive players.

Gan Guoyang of course knew this; he personally trained Big Ben and knew his weaknesses.

Thus, they started letting Miller take advantage with height and wingspan against Big Ben, scoring on the first attempt.

Then, Little O'Neal attempted a low-post spin on Gan Guoyang but had the ball poked away by him.

'Why would you even start with a low-post against me, Jermaine?'

'Kobe told me to.'

'Get back to defense.'

'Okay.'

Even wearing the Glory Team's gold uniform, Gan Guoyang still seemed like Portland's king, able to command the Trail Blazers' players.

The next play was another triangle offense, with Gan Guoyang passing high to Miller, who spun, hook-shot, and overpowered Big Ben, scoring two points.

Miller's low-post offensive skills are mediocre; starting attacks on smaller guys works, but mainly he scores mid-range jumpers and cleans up missed shots.

Starting with two low-post plays, his task was already completed.

Clearly, the Glory Team's game preparation was thorough.

More thorough than their last game against the Supersonics.

The Trail Blazers scored their first points on the fourth possession.

Kobe used a screen to run to the right baseline area, received a pass from Anderson, and made a mid-range jump shot.

The Glory Team was already leading 7-2, and Gan Guoyang assisted Arenas in hitting a three-pointer.