The Golden Age of Basketball

Even though they lost twice in the semifinals to the Boston Celtics, James’ performance in the games was indeed promising.

Gan Guoyang knew that he was just a super big boss in this NBA game, and he didn’t mind taking some hits.

People cursing back and forth, having grudges and feuds, that’s what makes the league fun. If it were all peaceful, it would be boring.

The only thing that irked Gan Guoyang about James was that he always hid his desires and intentions.

Who doesn’t want to win a championship when entering the NBA? Who doesn’t want to be the greatest in history? A straightforward challenge is fine.

Like Kobe, he was straightforward; initially, people disliked him, but over time, they realized that’s just who he was. How can you not compete zealously on the basketball court?

But with some of James’ statements, he always liked to cloak them with grandiose things, yet secretly had different ideas.

For instance, after joining the Cavaliers in 2003, James was asked, "What do you think about the future with the Cavaliers?"

James said, "This isn’t my team; it’s Arenas’ and Miller’s team. I think we’ll work well together and move forward."

This low-key and humble attitude isn’t wrong, as Arenas indeed played beautifully after joining the Cavaliers, both tanking and getting good stats.

If James were wholeheartedly assisting Arenas and Miller, that would be fine, but the problem is, while he said that, he later had multiple internal conflicts with Arenas over the team’s dominance.

Although the conflicts weren’t made public, they were still good teammates, but privately, some insiders knew James hoped to trade Arenas for teammates more suited to him.

These two seasons, the Cavaliers’ internal strife was intense, James gained much exposure, but Arenas always held firm as the team’s leader.

Arenas’ Adidas endorsement, and Adidas’ "Zero Story" advertisements for Arenas, were quite successful. Coupled with his brilliant performances these two seasons, he consistently held the upper hand over LeBron James within the team.

In 2005, the Cavaliers invited Rick Carlisle as the head coach. Carlisle focused on team offense, and James’ role in the team was always a bit inferior to Arenas’.

Coaches like Carlisle, with deep experience and championship rings, have very strict requirements for players.

In short, he wasn’t entirely on James’ side but approached it fairly from the team’s performance perspective.

As a result, the struggle for ball control and status within the team continued, with Nike and Adidas clashing behind the scenes.

The phrase James said in his rookie season, "This is Arenas’ team," became empty words. Feigned humility, it would have been better to frankly say he wanted to be the team leader, and everyone openly competed, which would have been more satisfying.

Gan Guoyang, being well-informed, of course knew about these things; more than half of them were told to him directly by Jim Paxson.

Paxson, the guy, had a big mouth, but sometimes you could really get a lot of information from him.

Back in 2000, when Gan Guoyang went to Ohio to watch James’ game, it was Paxson who exposed his whereabouts, affecting their friendship.

Later in 2002, when Glory traded the first pick to the Cavaliers, Gan Guoyang still gave Jim Paxson plentiful chips, but their relationship had shifted to one mainly of interest exchange, and the friendship from their playing days was very faint by then.

They playing together really seemed like ancient history.

This time, with James making such statements, there was surely a pusher behind the scenes.

Before the game started in the evening, Gan Guoyang went to warm up on the court and greeted Jim Paxson.

"Hey, Jim! You’ve put on weight again, looks like you’re doing well as the GM, and it seems you have good prospects this season."

Gan Guoyang patted Paxson on the shoulder. The trade in 2002 indeed gave the Cavaliers ample capital.

Plus, with the 2003 draft pick, the Cavaliers quickly became one of the hottest teams in the league from being an unnoticed underdog in a marginal area.

The Cavaliers’ jerseys were selling like hotcakes, and tickets were always sold out. James’ popularity in America, especially in Ohio, was indeed very high.

This season, Jim Paxson further strengthened the team by signing veteran stars like Chris Weber, who was bought out from the 76ers, and Michael Finley, who was bought out from the Mavericks.

Replenishing with two star veterans indicated that the Cavaliers had great appeal to veterans, betting on these two seasons going big and competing for the championship.

The current core lineup of the Cavaliers has Arenas, James, Brad Miller, Drew Gooden, Varejao, Eric Snow, and Donyell Marshall among the players.

With the addition of Weber and Finley, the Cavaliers’ strength should not be underestimated.

Currently in the East, the defending champions Miami Heat were declining significantly, and the Boston Celtics were experiencing turmoil.

During Christmas, Gan Guoyang called some old friends to send blessings. Bobby Berman said his days with the Celtics might not last long.

Where people gather, conflicts arise, and the NBA involves such substantial interests, so the battles are naturally intense.

Some leave when they resign in their hometown, others stay for the late-night exams; Paxson was the one going for the exams now.

"I just got something from you... By the way, you must have seen some of LeBron’s pre-game comments, right?" Paxson brought up the topic himself.

"Oh~ you mean the untruthful article from that Cleveland newspaper?"

"Haha... you know, the media always likes to take things out of context. LeBron greatly respects you."

Paxson could see that something was off with James’ comments—a career scorer of over 40,000 points, and you’re saying he focuses on defense and playmaking?

While Ah Gan’s defense is indeed historically top-notch, you can’t say that just because Ah Gan has been focusing on defense lately.

"Never mind, Nike must be pushing from behind. Some of what he says... maybe he himself doesn’t even know what he’s saying. Kids these days, they all speak from pre-written scripts; the league is becoming more like acting, don’t you think, Jim?"

Jim Paxson didn’t dare continue the conversation, he just chuckled and changed the topic.

At 7 PM, the arena was packed with more than 20,000 fans, a difference from the past with the Cavaliers, now very popular.

Gan Guoyang could be sure that tonight so many fans came to watch not for Ah Gan, but for Arenas and LeBron James.

They were finally no longer the overlooked underdogs, nor Michael Jordan’s stepping stones; it can only be said, fortunes change.

Before the game started, Arenas, Miller, James, and others came over to shake hands with Gan Guoyang.

Arenas always went all out when playing against Glory and, at the same time, showed great respect for Ah Gan, hugging him and even kissing Gan Guoyang’s hand.

Compared to his rookie season, Arenas visibly bulked up, with shoulders incredibly broad and upper body strength unnaturally robust.

Compared to the beanpole feeling when he first joined the league, he was like a different man.

It showed, on the one hand, that Arenas trained very hard, and on the other, this guy might have been using steroids.

No way around it, given the high-intensity, high-intensity talent battle in the NBA, players really find it hard to survive without some technological aid now.

For a few million or tens of millions of US Dollar contracts, the side effects of drug use are negligible.

Moreover, basketball’s use of drugs for muscle building, or painkillers for inflammation, is much more restrained compared to bodybuilding.

After all, bodybuilding just requires muscles, while playing basketball still requires explosive power, flexibility, and endurance; just having muscles isn’t enough.

Arenas, with his hard training, strong physique, superb shooting skills, and dominant style on the court, won the hearts of many fans.

Now in Cleveland, fans supporting Arenas are no fewer than those supporting James; he is known as the Cavaliers’ leader among many fans.

But James, when shaking hands, didn’t dare to look Ah Gan in the eye. Gan Guoyang didn’t mind and said, "LeBron, I think you’re right, the all-around warrior in defense and playmaking. How about I defend you tonight?"

James shrugged, not daring to take the bait, mumbled something about "Goat, 40,000 points, respect you," laughed it off, and moved on.

Gan Guoyang shook his head, thinking this kid was a bit too shrewd.