Barkley returned to Phoenix, where he could catch his breath at home.
On the plane, Barkley opened the gift from Gan Guoyang, the weighty box.
Inside was a golden glowing pizza, indeed made of gold.
It’s slightly smaller than a normal pizza and is set on a stand that can be propped up.
The pizza is primarily gold, while adorned with ham, mushrooms, and vegetables made of rubies, diamonds, and emeralds.
Barkley was fond of this golden pizza, and his gloom from consecutive losses slightly alleviated.
Unlike most professional athletes, Barkley never hides his love for junk food.
Burgers, fried chicken, cola, pizza, donuts—these are his favorites.
And he never agrees with the notion that these foods are junk food.
He says, "These foods have bread, cheese, vegetables, and meat. If cooked separately and served on different plates, people would call it a nutritious dinner. Why does combining them into a delicious food make it junk? I believe it’s a conspiracy."
Among these so-called junk foods, Barkley’s favorite is not burgers but pizza.
He thinks pizza is the most delicious and provides him with enough nutrition and energy.
When he came to Phoenix and needed to gain weight, the main food in his kitchen was pizza and donuts.
He even planned to join a pizza eating contest after retiring, confident that his appetite could win a championship or two.
As for the NBA Championship? Honestly, after Game 4, his confidence wasn’t as strong.
He still wanted to win, and would give it his all in the upcoming games.
But the reality of being down 1-3 tells him they’re one step away from elimination.
He needed to mentally prepare for fishing at home so the outcome would be less painful when it truly arrived.
The golden pizza from Gan Guoyang is said to be an MVP gift to Barkley, but also seems like consolation after losing.
Thinking about this, Barkley got a bit angry, thinking, I won’t go easy in Game 5 just because you gave me a golden pizza!
But what good is it not going easy, when they simply can’t win?
Once confidence begins to waver, it’s often irrecoverable.
Whether intentional or not, Gan Guoyang’s golden pizza weakened Barkley’s will to resist.
Let it be part of Gan Guoyang’s psychological post-season battle.
Of course, Gan Guoyang had prepared this golden pizza long ago.
Whether Barkley won the MVP or lost the game, it would be given to him.
This is a testament to their decade-long friendship. Black people like shiny things.
After returning to Phoenix, Barkley spent some thought on considering what to give as a return gift.
He truly loved Ah Gan’s golden pizza and placed it prominently at home.
Later, whenever he had free time, he would sit in front of it with a stool, gleefully admiring it for a long time.
He would also murmur, "My precious pizza~"
When Charles Barkley accepted the golden pizza, the Sun Team’s 0.1% chance to create a miracle had disappeared.
This shouldn’t be blamed on Barkley, as their best chance in the second game had quietly slipped away.
Of course, in Game 5, Barkley and the Suns still offered strong and effective resistance.
Upon returning to Phoenix, they regrouped and played a beautiful offensive game in front of Phoenix fans.
The Suns experienced a burst of shooting from outside, with Barkley, Dan Angi, and Marley consecutively hitting threes in the first quarter.
Terry Porter missed this game; he didn’t travel to Phoenix with the team but stayed in Portland for treatment and rest.
Porter was crucial for the Trail Blazers; his key shots in the second game were very important.
Currently, the Trail Blazers can’t afford to be short-handed in the guard position, and Game 5 was something they could afford to relax a bit.
In the first quarter, Phoenix quickly took the lead and maintained control over the Trail Blazers throughout the first half.
Gan Guoyang led a counterattack in the third quarter, momentarily tying and even surpassing the score.
But the Suns indeed had an exceptionally good sense of attack tonight, their threes were scarily accurate.
Throughout the game, the Suns made 9 out of 15 three-point attempts; such a high three-point percentage further strained the Trail Blazers’ already porous perimeter defense.
In the 90s, in most playoff games, a team making over 10 three-point attempts was rare, and 15 attempts were even rarer.
The Trail Blazers were originally the leading team in three-point attempts, but with Porter injured and Kossie half-crippled, their three-point attempts had decreased somewhat.
Even so, the Trail Blazers still fought with the Suns to the end, as Gan Guoyang told Barkley, "Since you’ve accepted the gift, there’s no need to return to Portland, right?"
In the last minute of the game, Gan Guoyang hit a three-pointer tying the score and then snatched the ball from Barkley on defense.
But the referee’s whistle blew, calling Gan Guoyang for a hand foul and sending Barkley to the free-throw line.
Gan Guoyang already had five fouls; this call was borderline, but since they were in Phoenix, it was to be expected.
Moreover, the referee tonight was Bavetta; Gan Guoyang didn’t want to argue with this old guy and risk getting a technical foul.