The Golden Age of Basketball

After this season, the Trail Blazers showed signs of dismantling. After winning the championship, the Blazers’ shareholders wanted to further clear Gan’s influence.

Rick Carlisle chose to resign and leave due to conflicts with the executives, and shortly afterward, Larry Bird also left the Trail Blazers. The team began transitioning to a more offensive style, with Kobe Bryant’s scoring climbing to an average of 35 points per game in the 2005-2006 season.

However, Little O’Neal, due to injuries, was already showing signs of decline, even younger than Kobe.

This was something Kobe hadn’t anticipated; he thought Little O’Neal could, like Gan, remain strong at least as long as he himself could.

But people’s talents are different, monsters like Gan Guoyang played until 42 years old, while Little O’Neal declined even more by the 2006-2007 season.

While he could still average 19 points per game, a good offensive point inside, his shooting percentage had dropped to 43%, which was too low, even lower than Kobe’s.

Kobe found it difficult to win a championship with an inside player with a lower shooting percentage than himself.

Not only Little O’Neal, but Michael Redd also started to encounter injury problems, both suffering from knee injuries, the most fatal joint area for basketball players.

So, the Trail Blazers still had a very good starting lineup, but various major and minor injuries made it difficult for the main players to consistently play together.

This season, the Trail Blazers mainly relied on Kobe and Shawn Marion to support the team, currently ranking fourth in the Western Conference, leading Glory by one game.

Actually, as long as Little O’Neal and Michael Redd were somewhat healthier, even if they had 70% of their peak performance, with Kobe’s current ability, the Trail Blazers would still be championship contenders. Their lineup was indeed very strong. They had Jarrett Jack in the point guard position, Lafrentz as the center, and strength players like Udoka and Fred Jones on the bench.

Even with the Mavericks and Suns being so aggressive, the complete Trail Blazers were not afraid, and many experts were optimistic about the Trail Blazers making it out of the West.

This season, without a super team in the entire league, whoever can stay healthy and support to the playoffs may very well be the biggest winner.

But health issues plagued the Trail Blazers, and Portland’s humid and rainy climate was not conducive to player recovery.

Moreover, after Gan Guoyang left the Trail Blazers, the team’s medical system was overhauled. The excellent medical system and diagnostic system that Gan once supervised and built gradually got replaced by new medical teams after Guoyang left.

As a result, after holding on until winning the championship in 2004, the Trail Blazers’ medical system started having problems, with players frequently getting injured.

In this game, both Little O’Neal and Michael Redd were absent due to knee injuries, leaving the Trail Blazers with only Kobe and Shawn Marion as the two core players to play.

This left much less suspense in the game; Glory’s Gerald Wallace was sidelined with a left-arm contusion, while other famous workhorses like Yao Ming, Gan, and Allen Iverson were all ready to play.

Gan Guoyang walked over to Kobe and Iverson with the ball and said, "You brat, you don’t even come over to greet me, how did you become so impolite?"

"I’m the guest, you should be hosting me, boss." Kobe said as he stepped forward to hug Gan Guoyang.

As time passed, Kobe no longer held the childish hostility toward Gan Guoyang; instead, with age, he increasingly understood Gan’s greatness.

Because within the Trail Blazers, although Kobe was the number one star and a fan favorite, he actually didn’t hold high discursive power.

Put plainly, he was still a worker, albeit a high-level worker. Nike’s control over the Trail Blazers was very tight, and the management did not allow players to express opinions.

After signing with Nike, Nike formulated a series of promotional plans for him, giving him the exclusive nickname "Black Mamba," and restarted marketing his character and persona, achieving great success.

Kobe transformed from the formerly sunny and uplifting "Little Flying Hero" to donning a layer of complex and dark attire, which, inversely, increased his charm.

Also, due to Kobe messing up, frequently going back and forth in court, his reputation among black players actually improved because, as a black person, without having done anything, or not having been caught by the police, what kind of black person are you?

Now, after several years, Kobe successfully "turned black," and he was still the league’s most popular star; his wife remained by his side, his daughter was growing up healthy, and he had enough time to pursue his next championship.

But when alone, Kobe would tell himself, he could no longer become a player like Gan Guoyang, not anymore.

Just like when Mike Corleone pulled the trigger in the restaurant to kill Solazzo and the police, from that moment, he could no longer become Mayor Corleone, Senator Corleone, only the godfather of the dark world. Although it was also cool, impressive, and well-liked, he simply couldn’t be like Gan.

Even as Iverson said, having half of Gan wouldn’t work, it’s the rule.

He had tattoos on his arm, symbolizing his love for his wife, and also symbolizing compromise.

The Black Mamba’s venom saved him, but also ruined the path he once yearned for.

Of course, he was the one who truly destroyed it all.

Gan Guoyang patted Kobe on the shoulder and asked, "Where’s your daughter? Didn’t she come to Las Vegas?"

"Vanessa took them back to Los Angeles... I’ll go to Los Angeles and spend Christmas with them after this game."

"Why don’t you play in Los Angeles? How about that idea?"

"Haha, I’m not like you, I’ll stay in Portland."

"Don’t speak too soon, Little Kobe, you’ve got a long road ahead."

Like Jordan, Kobe was sharp; he asked Gan Guoyang, "Are you planning to retire?"

Gan Guoyang didn’t deny it, just smiled, playing a between-the-legs dribble, and ran back to his half-court.

The game started on time, Yao Ming stood in the center circle and jumped for the ball with Lafrentz.

Lafrentz was once a promising genius center, likened to Gan for his shooting ability, and was highly anticipated.

However, since Bill Walton, every American-born white center ultimately only ended up disappointing people, Lafrentz was no exception.

Though he had brilliant performances in many games, his lack of stability and overall mediocrity prevented him from reaching expectations.

After moving through multiple teams, he came to the Trail Blazers to serve as the starting center, still possessing good ability but now averagely ordinary, undeserving of his high draft pick.

It was from Lafrentz that for over 20 years, no white center could break into a high draft pick (top five) in the NBA until a white inside called Klingon was selected by the Trail Blazers in 2024.

One could say, Lafrentz’s mediocre career thoroughly shattered pro basketball’s fantasy for native white centers.

For the jump ball, Yao Ming tipped the ball to Iverson, starting the team’s first attack.

Though Iverson played as the point guard on the court, the team’s organizational duty was handed over to Gan.

Gan Guoyang arrived early at the arc position to receive the ball for a high-post action, Glory began running the play.

With Little O’Neal absent in the Trail Blazers’ inside, replacing him was Outlaw, a 22-year-old with impressive wingspan.

Outlaw appeared bewildered facing Gan, unsure of how to defend this legendary player, and this season was the first he saw increased playing time to a starting level.

Gan Guoyang noticed the confusion in Outlaw’s eyes and pointed to the three-point line in front of him, saying, "Step closer, kid, you want me to just shoot three-pointers?"

Outlaw obediently moved a step forward, and Gan Guoyang immediately made a lob pass to Iverson cutting inside. Iverson took the ball, made a jump step into the paint, faced Kobe’s defense, banked a floater for two points!

Kobe shouted to Outlaw, "Shrink, shrink, our strategy is to shrink!"

"But Gan said..."

"Don’t listen to anything he says, pretend you’re deaf, man! Damn, this isn’t your first year either."

Outlaw was already in his fourth year, but his experience against Gan was too little; he didn’t know that when facing Gan, the primary rule was to play deaf and dumb.

Kobe said again to Gan Guoyang, "Boss, at your age, you’re still messing with the younger guys!" Gan Guoyang was 20 years older than Outlaw.

"Otherwise, what do you think I stayed in the NBA for? To exercise?"