The Golden Age of Basketball

In the next game, most of the Blazers players got the chance to play. Gan Guoyang spent most of the time on the bench bickering with Jim Paxson, or giving pointers to Sabonis. A game passed quickly.

The Blazers, who are superior in strength and cooperated with each other, easily defeated the Suns in the running-in period 119:101. Sabonis also completed his debut very well, scoring 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Still very good, everything is expected.

After the game, Gan Guoyang graciously invited Kevin Johnson out for a drink. Tonight, Johnson played a bit depressed. He committed two fouls in the first quarter. After that, he couldn't find the rhythm of the game, and his performance was not satisfactory.

Gan Guoyang invited Johnson to the large wine shop he often goes to in Chinatown. He is a regular customer here. The longer he stays in the NBA, the more friends he will have. They come to Portland to play games, and they are opponents on the field. Off the court, Gan Guoyang still has to entertain them.

Most American players like to go to wine and nightclubs, and Gan Guoyang can't always take them to eat Chinese food, so he has to go to nightclubs with them, and he is familiar with the entertainment venues near Chinatown.

The owner of this wine is a Malaysian, and there are quite a few Southeast Asians in Chinatown. Although Southeast Asians are generally not very enthusiastic about basketball, they are helpless. The Portland Trail Blazers are the only ones in Portland and even the entire Oregon region. Major league teams, and others such as baseball, football, and ice hockey are nowhere to be seen in Oregon.

So it can be said that throughout Oregon, Gan Guoyang is a sports hero here. Basically, when he goes to any wine and nightclub in Chinatown, the boss will choose to give him a discount, or simply not charge him.

Because whichever store Gan Guoyang goes to, the popularity of which spot will obviously increase a lot, and this Malaysian wine is like this.

The boss is also here tonight, and seeing Gan Guoyang bringing his friends over, he quickly wants to take Gan Guoyang to the private room he often goes to, but Gan Guoyang waved his hand, saying that he doesn't need a private room, as long as he is in Taiwan.

The two chatted for a long time while drinking. Kevin Johnson is different from ordinary blacks. He comes from a middle-class family and has a good tutor. Although basketball is his first hobby and career, his ambition does not stop there.

Gan Guoyang also knew that this black boy from Sacramento would want to participate in politics in the future, so Gan Guoyang always laughed at him for speaking and acting like a senator or secretary of state.

Johnson didn't care, he was in awe of Gan Guoyang in basketball, and in other respects he also found that Gan Guoyang was a very insightful person, completely different from those black players who only knew how to play, pick up girls, and drink.

Don't talk about anything else, just about politics, two people can chat for hours.

Of course Gan Guoyang is unwilling to get involved in any political-related issues, but sometimes, he still can't help but show off some social development experience that people have summed up decades later in front of Kevin Johnson, bluffing this kid I was taken aback for a while.

While chatting vigorously, Gan Guoyang noticed that a very familiar person came over. It was the waitress who bumped into him that day and knocked over the wine.

"Not fired yet?" This was the first sentence Gan Guoyang said when he saw her, and the girl blushed when she said this.

After she spilled the wine that time, when she went back, she was criticized by the foreman, and the money for the wine had to be deducted from her salary, but soon a man in a black suit came over and said that he would pay for the money for the spilled wine, and gave the money to her on the spot. Take it out, don't even have to look for it.

The girl wanted to ask why she had to help her lose money, but the black suit left without looking back. Later, the girl learned from others that the black suit was the bodyguard of Portland star Sonny Gan.

Only then did the girl realize who she had bumped into. On the first day she came to Portland, she saw the Oriental giant wearing the No. 11 jersey on the big billboard at Portland Airport.

"No, I still have to work... Oh yes, someone asked me to pass this note to you." Gan Guoyang thought that the little girl came to thank him, but she took out a note from her hand and handed it to you. Gave it to Gan Guoyang.

"Is it your phone number? I can think about whether to call your number at night." Every time Gan Guoyang came to the bar, a woman would stuff him with a phone note, including the one at the door of the team's locker room. The small mailbox is always full of communication slips.

Gan Guoyang's way of dealing with it is either to save a bag and throw it directly into the trash can, or to grab a handful from it and give it to young players like Kexi and Kenny Johnson who are full of energy and have nowhere to vent.

"No, it's not my phone number, it's... a customer over there asked me to pass it to you." Knowing that Gan Guoyang thought she was handing him her phone number, the girl hurriedly explained.

Gan Guoyang followed the direction the girl pointed, and found that the seat there was empty. It seemed that the person should leave.

Gan Guoyang was a little puzzled, who wanted to pass the note to him like this?Gan Guoyang thought about opening the note in his hand, and saw three words written on it, "skinheads, spiracy."

"Skinheads, arm wrestling, conspiracy?" Gan Guoyang saw these three words, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and immediately thought of three years ago, in a black nightclub in Portland, skinheads suddenly attacked and rushed to the Trail Blazers. In the box, it was Gan Guoyang who made a bet with those white people to drive these guys away.

At that time, Gan Guoyang felt that there was something strange about this matter. The security guards at the nightclub did not show up from the beginning to the end, and the police were also late. If someone wanted to hurt the Trail Blazers players, then those skinheads would not bet with Gan Guoyang. up.

But if it was just a coincidence, then it was a bit too much of a coincidence, and judging from the performance of the leader at the time, he was quite calm. He maintained restraint and did not retreat easily, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

Discussing this matter with Drexler later, both of them felt that if Gan Guoyang hadn't proposed an arm-wrestling bet at that time, but the two sides had fought, and the Blazers had made the first move, the consequences might have been beyond imagination.

However, it has been a long time since the incident, and Gan Guoyang did not expect that there would be sediment suddenly appearing, showing clues again.

"What does that person look like?" Gan Guoyang asked.

"I didn't see it clearly. He was wearing a cowboy hat and dressed very ordinary. He was a white man. I don't know anything else." The girl replied after thinking for a while.

Kevin Johnson on the side asked Gan Guoyang what was going on, Gan Guoyang thought about it, and told Kevin Johnson the whole story.

Kevin Johnson, as a person who can get involved in politics in the future, obviously has a certain political mind. After listening to Gan Guoyang's narration, he thought for a while and said: "If this is really a conspiracy, then the other party does not want to hurt the Blazers. players, but at the same time want to create negative news about the Blazers, then I can only say that he may want to get you."

Johnson's words hit the nail on the head. Gan Guoyang had also thought about this situation. After Kevin Johnson said this, plus this note and some things in Xia Tian, ​​Gan Guoyang vaguely felt that there must be some connection between them.

Weinberg has been the owner of the Blazers for so many years. He has also won the championship and made money.

However, due to the arrival of Gan Guoyang and the team's beginning to enter the ranks of the championship, the commercial value of the Blazers has also been rising in recent years, which is completely a high-quality asset. Weinberg is not ready to sell the team yet.

Therefore, Weinberg rejected several wealth giants who wanted to acquire the Blazers this summer. Judging from the current situation, Weinberg will not sell the Blazers for at least three years.

But in the turbulent capital market, anything can happen. Gan Guoyang also talked with Weinberg before, and Weinberg also mentioned that since the pioneers selected Gan Guoyang in 84, there have been capitalists who want to Taking over the Trail Blazers, they obviously took a fancy to the opportunity, but were rejected by Weinberg.

Now, there are still people trying to buy the only professional major league team in Oregon. Obviously, this skinhead incident is a man-made plan. They want to make things bigger and attract social attention. By.

Thinking of this, Gan Guoyang still broke out in a cold sweat. If this is the case, even if the players are not harmed, it will still have a negative impact on the team's management, training and operation. The performance on the basketball court, the team may fall apart in the end.

"It's just my guess, what are you going to do?" Kevin Johnson asked.

"How to do it? Do nothing. The United States is a society controlled by capital, and I am just a wage earner. I see that I am more important than anything else. But since someone sent me a note, it means that there must be something wrong with one party. .I just need to play basketball with peace of mind, and stay the same to cope with all changes.” Gan Guoyang tore off the note in his hand.

In a capitalist society like the United States, the power of money is so powerful that ordinary people can hardly imagine. Gan Guoyang has a clear understanding of this. He can be regarded as a big man on the court, but in front of capital, he is just a small rich man.

A small rich man should protect his own one-acre three-point land, and don't easily think about fighting for world hegemony.

But silently waiting for the opportunity, the little rich man will one day become a giant crocodile.