Chapter 2188 - 17: A Bit Too Shrewd
In the final season of his career, Gan Guoyang indeed shifted to focusing on defense and playmaking.
It’s not that he couldn’t score anymore, but after weighing the options, he realized contributing more to defense was more beneficial for the team.
After all, speaking solely of scoring, Gan Guoyang could be considered the greatest scorer in NBA history, with scoring efficiency and techniques unmatched.
A 360-degree offensive warrior with no blind spots, ranked first in NBA historical scoring.
By the end of the 2005-2006 season, Gan Guoyang’s regular-season total points had reached an astonishing 44,213, leaving Jabbar, Jordan, Karl Malone, and others far behind.
In the 2002-2003 season against the New Orleans Hornets, Gan Guoyang successfully surpassed Jabbar’s 38,387 points, ascending to the top of history.
In the 2003-2004 season, Gan Guoyang achieved 40,000 points, becoming the first in NBA history to reach this milestone.
In the same season, Gan Guoyang’s regular-season total rebounds surpassed 20,000, becoming the third player in NBA history to achieve such a feat after Chamberlain and Russell.
In the 2004-2005 season, Gan Guoyang’s total rebounds hit 21,827, surpassing Bill Russell, rising to second place on the rebound list, second only to Chamberlain.
In the 2005-2006 season, despite back injuries restricting him to just 66 games, Gan Guoyang averaged 14.6 rebounds per game, earning the title of Rebound King for the season.
This was his 13th career Rebound King title, following his last in the 1998-1999 season.
It was from this season that Gan Guoyang realized he should invest more in defense and rebounding, just as there hadn’t been a good second scoring threat on the team until Allen Iverson arrived.
With Iverson joining, Gan Guoyang’s average points dropped from 30 at the start of the season to 25, and by the last day of 2006, it had gradually fallen toward 20.
Yet, the Glory Team’s performance became more stable because Gan Guoyang knew his optimal number of shots per game was currently about 15. Scoring an efficient 20 points per game was best for the team.
Anything above that, with declining physical ability and less diverse offensive skills compared to the past, would result in diminishing returns, providing less help to the team, and possibly hindering the overall offensive flow.
He was no longer the 25-year-old unrestricted shooter, instead, on defense and rebounding, simply standing under the basket utilizing experience, judgment, and positioning, through proper command would yield results.
And at 42, while his speed and explosiveness indeed declined, his strength remained at its peak in this era of slower overall pace and intense physical battles under the basket, Gan Guoyang remained a top-level low-post defender, rim protector, and elite rebounder.
However, if this leads to saying that Ah Gan is merely a "versatile warrior adept at defense and playmaking," it would unjustly disregard Gan Guoyang’s 40,000 plus points.
Each of these 40,000 plus points was solidly earned on the NBA court, with almost no filler, through late-career ball-handling isolation plays, a large number of strategic play breakdowns, and many clutch baskets.
Additionally, Gan Guoyang proved with two scoring titles that at many times, it was merely that he didn’t need to score, not that he couldn’t.
Therefore, upon seeing the headline and content of this news, Gan Guoyang indeed felt a bit aggravated, LeBron James certainly knows how to speak well.
Previously, Gan Guoyang didn’t mind losing games, joking that failure was the mother of success, but now facing James, the "Chosen One," coming in to ride on his coattails was quite uncomfortable.
This has a lot to do with Nike. Ever since Jordan retired, Nike has been eager to mold another genius player to inherit Jordan’s mantle and compete with Avia.
Avia seems to clearly be lacking successors, having relied on Ah Gan for over twenty years, with future decades sustained solely by developing the Skyscraper series, more than enough to keep themselves fed.
No choice, the owner of Avia is technically inclined, unlike Nike, lacking marketing prowess with lacking overseas expansion, focusing more on a long-term global layout.
Nike is much stronger in market promotion and advertising, not only acquiring the Trail Blazers as a promotional base for Nike but also pioneering high-priced contracts for young talented players, packaging talent.
LeBron James is Nike’s marquee player, following Jordan’s championship-retirement in the 2002-2003 season, coinciding with James announcing his entry into the 2003 draft, perfectly extending the Nike lineage, he even wore the 23 number, same as Jordan’s, officially becoming Jordan’s successor, undertaking the inevitable challenge to Ah Gan.
Starting from the 2003-2004 season, James and Nike frequently made remarks seeming to praise while in fact disgusted Ah Gan, this time being one of their common occurrences.
Nike was also very astute, at Gan’s home base in Portland, continuing to praise Ah Gan, and after Kobe switched to Nike, shaping Kobe into the "successor to Ah Gan."
Thus, one Jordan successor, one successor to Ah Gan, all under Nike, within the League battling each other, it prevailed as merely a play between Nike’s marquee players.
As for Gan Guoyang, he remained the target they aimed to overthrow.
In the 2003-2004 season, after the Trail Blazers defeated Glory, culminating in championship victory, the praise for Kobe reached its peak.
However, following the Trail Blazers’ defeat in 05, 06, Kobe turned into a lone hero, a frustrated superstar waiting for redemption.
Conversely, James was in a period full of anticipation, taking Best Rookie in the 2003-2004 season and advancing into playoffs in the 05, 06 seasons.