The Golden Age of Basketball

() (Splitting so fast disrupted my rhythm, and I will add more updates today. There is no competition in this chapter, so it’s a bit boring, sorry. The next chapter will expand the move, and invite a little mysterious person.)

After the game, most of the players from Palo Alto High School took the school bus back to school.Only Gan Guoyang, because his family is in San Francisco, asked Behrman for leave and wanted to go back early.

Because the team was in a good mood to win and Gan Guoyang was the number one hero, Bellman agreed to Gan Guoyang's request flatly without being rude for the first time.

"Go back and have a good rest."

Gan Guoyang was still a little unaccustomed to the fact that Bellman didn't come up with words like "**" and "ass".It seems that people are cheap sometimes, and they are usually scolded a lot, but they don't get used to being nice to you all of a sudden.

In this way, Gan Guoyang took the bus from Oakland to San Francisco and drove on the road connecting the two cities.

The game started at three o'clock and lasted more than an hour and a half. When the bus arrived at the Eisenhower Bridge, the sky had already darkened.

现在已经是10月底了，1981－1982赛季的nba常规赛将在10月30号拉开大幕，甘国阳很期待在奥克兰体育馆的第一场正式比赛。

However, at this time, he has no mind to think about Saturday's game in Oakland.Sitting in the car, he looked out the window at the falling night, covering the vast San Francisco Bay.

The urban area of ​​San Francisco has already started to be brightly lit, feeling the dazzling brilliance and the cool sea breeze, Gan Guoyang's mood gradually calmed down.

The joy of victory and the shock of seeing Russell kept him in a daze, giving him an unreal feeling, as if he traveled to the hotel in Shanghai on the first day.

Now he began to seriously recall today's game in his mind, as well as what Bill Russell had said to him in his ear before leaving.

"You played very well today, but you have to learn to control yourself slowly, and then you can really control the game."

Russell's words resurfaced in his mind over and over again, but he still couldn't figure out what it meant to "control oneself"?

Do you control fouls, control your performance and hope to cooperate more with your teammates, or control your emotions?

Gan Guoyang felt that he did well in these three items, and three fouls in the second half were acceptable. After taking the lead, he didn't care about his own statistics but covered his teammates. Emotionally, he was very focused except for being nervous at the beginning.

"Maybe he just said it casually." Gan Guoyang thought so.

Soon, the bus crossed San Francisco Bay and arrived in San Francisco.

After getting off the car in Chinatown, Gan Guoyang went straight to Gan's Restaurant with his bag.

Today is Friday, restaurants are doing very well, and Gan's Restaurant is no exception.Since Gan Youwei became the head chef here, the restaurant's business has been getting better day by day.

Before Gan Guoyang entered the door, he felt the noise in the restaurant.When Chinese people eat, they just want to have fun, even if foreigners come to eat, they have to do as the Romans do.

It was even more noisy as soon as you entered the door, the whole store was full, and the waiters were busy running around.At this time, Gan Youwei was naturally busy in the kitchen.

Gan Guoyang went upstairs to put away his things, then went downstairs into the kitchen, looking for Gan Youwei.

"Dad, I'm back."

Standing in the kitchen, Gan Guoyang feels extremely cramped. Now his height has gone straight to 6 feet 8. It seems that it is not a problem to reach the 6 feet 10 set by the game before graduating from high school.

"Guoyang, you're back! Have you had dinner yet? Dad, can I get you something to eat?" Gan Youwei cared about his son, but his hands were not idle, and the vegetables in the pot were flying up.

"No, you're busy. I'll go to Mr. Nate's for dinner tonight." Gan Guoyang saw that his father was so busy, and he had some questions to ask Thurmond, so he decided to go to the Big Nate BBQ restaurant to have some barbecue. Replenish energy.

"Come back early! Don't go playing basketball again after dinner, until late at night!" Gan Youwei watched his son go out with a basketball in his hand, and told him.

"Know it!"

When going out, Gan Guoyang glanced at the TV in the restaurant, and it turned out that it was broadcasting domestic news in China.

"...the State Council approved the first batch of special economic zones 'Shantou Special Economic Zone Establishment'..."

Gan Guoyang knows that the reform and opening up is about to completely change the face of the motherland, and the lives of many people will be changed.As for his own life, he had to fight on his own.

………………

"Mr. Thurmond, is Russell really so... so... unreasonable?"

After Gan Guoyang came to Thurmond's barbecue restaurant, the two ate together in a small private room.Gan Guoyang and Thurmond talked about the game this afternoon and the meeting with Bill Russell.

Thurmond naturally praised Gan Guoyang's performance in the second half, but his evaluation of Russell was "a cruel and cruel nba tyrant."

Gan Guoyang stuttered for a long time before using the word "unreasonable" to describe Russell, because Thurmond's evaluation of Russell was a little hard for him to accept.

"Hahaha, he is not an unreasonable and humane person, but the premise is that these principles and rules are made by him. You have to understand that he is the real king of nba. In 13 years, he only missed one finals , won 11 championships, eight consecutive championships once, and two player-coach championships."

Thurmond narrated Russell's great achievements. Even though Gan Guoyang was familiar with it, hearing these achievements from an NBA center who had played against Russell was still full of shock.

"I still remember, when I was a rookie, it was 1963, I met Russell for the first time. He stood next to me and said, 'Hey kid, what are you doing here? Your teammates Don't pass the ball to you? Do you know what you are? **It's nothing.'”

While eating the barbecue, Thurmond recalled the past, with some helplessness on his face.Gan Guoyang quietly listened to him tell the story of the basketball ruler.

"Then, you know I was so pissed off, I got an offensive rebound at the rim, and I wanted to jump up and dunk the ball in the hoop and show Russell that I wasn't useless. Of course, Bill rewarded a block Give me, tell me that I am nothing in front of him as a rookie."

"Then... is he still like this now?" Hearing this, Gan Guoyang's back felt a little chilled, and he didn't know what would happen to him if he met such an opponent on the field.

"Of course not. Any ruler, after stepping down from the altar of dominance, his divinity will fade, and his humanity will slowly recover." Thurmond said this, as if Russell was a nobody Xing's murderer is the same.

"Yes, in my eyes, or in the eyes of almost all NBA players at that time, Bill is an inhuman tyrant." Thurmond added.

"What did he mean when he told me 'learn to control yourself'?" Gan Guoyang never understood the meaning of this sentence, so he came to ask Thurmond.

"Haha, learn to control yourself, what Bill said is not wrong at all."

"Many people will think that Bill and I are very similar. Great body, strong defense, fierce style of play, and even worse offense. But our achievements are very different. He has as many rings as Two hands are not enough to wear, but I can't share one of them." Thurmond said regretfully.

"No, you are the best in my heart." Gan Guoyang didn't want to see Thurmond's loss.

"Haha, thank you Gan, but some things cannot be changed by comfort."

"You have to understand that in high school, you can rely on your talent to succeed; in college, you need talent and hard work to be recognized; With a little bit of luck, you can become a real king!" Thurmond's eyes seemed to burst into brilliance.

"Bill said, you have to learn to control yourself, that is the first step to possess extraordinary wisdom. Talent and luck are beyond the control of human beings, and what you strive to embody is a person's will. Only wisdom is the key to truly changing your destiny!"

"Why am I not as good as Bill? I used to think that he was just lucky, had a good coach, a good manager, and a group of good teammates. Later I realized that it was because I didn't really control myself at all, and I wouldn't avoid it. Disadvantages, I take a lot of shots; I can't bring a system, I'm just an excellent single defender; I am obsessed with being fierce and powerful, but I lack flexibility."

"I can't control myself, so I can't control my teammates, I can't control my team, I can't control the NBA, and I can't control my destiny."

"But Russell can. He not only controls his own destiny, but also the destiny of others. The only thing that can stop him is God and those who are close to God."

"Gan, you have to keep thinking, to understand yourself, to understand the world, and then you can control yourself, and then you can control the world. This road will be extremely difficult, but you have to understand that there is no road without thorns Often the road is not the road to success, but the road to execution. May God bless you."

On the way home, Gan Guoyang recalled what Thurmond had said to him, and his heart could not be calm for a long time.

For Gan Guoyang now, Thurmond's words are undoubtedly too profound and heavy.

Basketball life is still a comedy for him. The sweat and pain of training, the failure and victory of the game are just the necessary twists and turns of this comedy.

Gan Guoyang could not really understand Thurmond's heartfelt words until much later, after many successes and failures.

.....................

The next morning, Gan Guoyang got up early to help the restaurant with some work.

Since the father and son came to Gan's restaurant, the business has been getting better and better, and Gan Youwei has been busier and busier.In addition, Gan Guoyang went to Palo Alto to attend high school, and the father and son spent much less time together.

Even so, Gan Guoyang's affection for this father has not been reduced by half.He knew that the reason why his father worked so hard was for himself.The basketball and basketball shoes he wears every day were bought by his father with money.

"Dad, I heard that special economic zones have started to be built in China. If you stay in China to do business, it should be fine." Gan Guoyang told Gan Youwei about the news he saw yesterday.

"Oh, it's still not easy to survive in China. It's not easy to really change one's destiny through reform." Gan Youwei chatted with his son, which was rare recently.

"Hey, if we stay in China, I won't be able to play basketball."

"Tch, you kid, you only know how to play basketball, you're really crazy!"

Under his father's "criticism", Gan Guoyang has been busy all morning. Thanks to his size, it is difficult for him to walk around in the store.

"Cousin, Guohui hasn't come back yet?" Gan Guoyang asked Gan Youtang about his fat cousin.

Originally, Gan Guohui wanted to go to Oakland to watch Gan Guoyang's game by car immediately after class on Friday, but his mother came back from Washington and went to Palo Alto, and asked him to go to his grandmother's house after class on Friday, but he didn't Think of it as a game.

"Guohui's mother said that she came back with Guohui this morning, and it's past nine o'clock now, so it should be soon."

Just as he was talking, a large figure appeared at the door, almost covering the entire door. Needless to say, Gan Guohui came back.

"Guohui! You're back!" Gan Guoyang was very happy to see his cousin back, and was about to tell him about yesterday's game.

But Gan Guohui had a hurried and impatient face, and before Gan Guoyang continued, he said: "Big cousin, people from Jinmen Park have come to the Binhai Stadium to make trouble! They are looking for you by name!"

When Gan Guohui said this, Gan Guoyang was taken aback. Golden Gate Park?Breaking things?But he immediately thought that it must be Pittman of the cancer team, and they came for revenge.

"Let's go to Binhai Stadium!" Gan Guoyang immediately pulled Gan Guohui out the door.

"Hey! Why are you going? Don't hit people!" Gan Youtang thought it was going to fight when he heard the scene.

"It's okay, dad! Let's go play basketball!"

After a while, the two arrived at the Binhai Stadium by bus.On the way, Gan Guoyang knew that as soon as Gan Guohui came back in the morning, he ran into Chen Xing who was waiting for him near his house, saying that Pittman of the cancer team brought some experts from Golden Gate Park to the Binhai Stadium to find another match with Guns N' Roses.

Because Gan Guohui didn't go to Oakland to watch the game, his buddy and friend with sex (mouth gun) Chen Xing naturally didn't go either. He went back to San Francisco first and went to play at the Binhai Stadium.As a result, this happened.

"Is it still the three members of the cancer team?" Gan Guoyang asked as he walked.

"No, I heard from Chen Xing that there is a master from Oakland who is fat..."

"Fatty?" The two had already walked to the Binhai Stadium. Gan Guoyang looked around and saw his old acquaintance "Little Cousy" Pittman in the middle of the court.And a fat guy who's around 6'4 and a tall guy who's 6'10!

The Binhai Stadium was already full of people. Pittman saw Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui approaching, pushed aside the crowd and came up to them.

"Hi Gan, long time no see."

"Long time no see Pittman."

"Gan, you must be very clear about the purpose of my coming here. I want to fight Guns N' Roses again."

"Is it just you? Where's George and Longlegs?"

"No, no, no, I'm not revenge on behalf of cancer, but on behalf of myself. So I invited two good friends." Pittman was talking about the fat man and the big tall man.

"How? I didn't expect you to grow taller again. It seems that it is not so easy for me to get revenge. But I still have to try."

Pittman said lightly, but Gan Guoyang hesitated.

He is not afraid of losing. In fact, with his current strength, ordinary streetball players will not be his opponent at all. After all, this is not New York.There is a huge gap between wild players and professionally trained players.

However, players on regular basketball teams seldom go to the streets to play with others. First, they are afraid of getting hurt, and second, they are afraid of getting bad playing habits, especially for high school players.

When Gan Guoyang thought that if Behrman knew that he was playing on the street, he would definitely be sprayed to death by him.Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle.

"Speaking, Gan, is it possible that you are afraid? Could it be that you took stimulants when you won the cancer game? Then you should go back and eat some more." Pittman began to sneer.

Gan Guoyang absolutely couldn't bear to let Pittman get carried away like this.

At this time, he remembered what Russell and he said, "Control yourself," does controlling yourself mean calm down and retreat?of course not.

Thurmond said that only by controlling yourself can you control your teammates and the game.

Guns N' Roses won cancer by a big margin last time, but Pittman was not convinced, just like Gan Guoyang was not convinced when he lost.But this time, Gan Guoyang decided to completely conquer his opponent, so that Pittman would no longer have the idea of ​​revenge, using basketball.

"Come on bastard, I'll show you what fucking basketball is."