Gan Guoyang didn’t smile. He patted Beelman’s shoulder and said, "Bobby, we promised Pete and Reggie at their graves that we would continue to stay on the court and play well. This is indeed your career plan; it’s a good plan. You should go. Take Amy and Cindy with you to settle in Los Angeles, become a better coach, and build a new championship team, right?"
Beelman covered his face with a straw hat. His shoulders trembled as he sobbed. This was the second time he cried after Lewis and Peterlovic had their accidents.
It was a good thing for him. Gan Guoyang held his shoulder, and the two sat there for a long time until some students came in to play.
When they parted ways, Beelman looked a lot more normal. He took off the straw hat and said, "Sonny, I’ve often thought about whether I can win a championship without you. This time, I want to prove it one way or another."
Gan Guoyang laughed, "Good luck, Bobby. You’re going to the Lakers. If you meet me in the playoffs, you’re doomed."
The two laughed as they bid farewell. After 12 years of working together, the mentor and disciple parted ways, each advancing on their own basketball path.
Beelman wasn’t the first to leave, nor was West.
When going to Croatia to see Peterlovic, one person simply didn’t return.
Sabonis stayed in Europe. This year, his contract also expired, but he decided not to renew with the Trail Blazers. He wasn’t looking to go to another NBA team, but decided to return to Europe to play.
His reason was simple: "Pete said he wanted to return to Europe to play. Now that he can’t do that, I want to help him achieve it."
Sabonis also found it hard to move on from Peterlovic’s sudden death, especially since they came to the Trail Blazers together as the original Eastern European trio.
After Divac was traded, the relationship between the two became close. Sabonis constantly recalled their conversations on the plane in his mind. He couldn’t continue playing for the Trail Blazers.
Of course, there were other reasons. For instance, Saboni had already won four championships and played as Gan Guoyang’s assistant for the Trail Blazers for four years. He wanted to return to Europe to enjoy being "the boss."
Also, the lifestyle of playing over 100 high-intensity games every season for four consecutive seasons was unfriendly to his increasingly fragile and aging body. He wanted to return to Europe to nurse his ankles and knees.
Sabonis had a soft and conservative side to his personality; he was unlike Peterlovic, who was sharp and fierce.
However, his decision was understandable. He returned from Croatia to Lithuania and joined the team Peterlovic once played for: Real Madrid.
He signed a three-year contract with Madrid, where one season in Europe consists of at most 40 games, less than half of the NBA.
And the intensity and fatigue level were much lower. In Madrid, Sabonis would receive the treatment of a super star and core player.
Although Peterlovic initially had an unpleasant experience with Real Madrid, after his unexpected death, Real Madrid fans still commemorated him and warmly welcomed Sabonis’s arrival.
Sabonis completed the signing with Real Madrid yesterday. In the evening, he made a transatlantic phone call to Portland to Gan Guoyang, saying over the phone, "I miss Pete so much."
In the increasingly commercialized and celebrity-filled 90s NBA wave, the Portland Trail Blazers were one of the few traditional teams that still felt like a family.
And this family was slowly breaking apart.
Returning home, Gan Guoyang chose to focus on training to keep his mind occupied and avoid overthinking.
He sweated profusely at the Pyramid Arena, completing the most basic tasks one after another.
Training continued until dark, and by dinner time, Gan Guoyang had completely entered a state of oblivion.
Quentin came to the arena to tell him it was time to eat, and only then did Gan Guoyang throw down the basketball to get ready to leave.
Quentin, with a stern face, delivered bad news to Gan Guoyang: "Sonny, uh... Michael Jordan’s father has died."
Gan Guoyang, while organizing his sneakers, suddenly raised his head. At the present moment, just hearing the word "death" would trigger him, causing his hair to stand on end.
"Who? Michael Jordan? James Jordan was found?"
In July, Jordan’s father lost contact with family after playing golf in North Carolina.
His plan had been to go to Chicago to participate in the baseball celebrity game hosted by his son, but James Jordan didn’t appear.
It wasn’t until two weeks later in August, after losing contact, that the family realized something was wrong because the company managed by James Jordan was also in disarray without oversight.
Salaries weren’t being paid, bills weren’t being settled, employees left or switched jobs, and James Jordan wasn’t acting independently or taking a solitary break, but was missing.
It was then that Michael Jordan rushed to North Carolina. Gan Guoyang, informed by the news, had a friend in the U.S. Department of Justice assist with the investigation.
Gan Guoyang turned on the TV, and the evening news reported the confirmation of James Jordan’s death.
Police found a severely decomposed body in a swamp in South Carolina’s McColl on August 3, unable to identify who it was.
After an autopsy, the police kept basic material files: a fingerprint hand and a tooth-laden jaw, with the remaining parts cremated on August 7.
Because the police station didn’t have sufficient cold storage equipment, they had no choice but to put it in the crematorium.
Fortunately, the preserved teeth allowed for DNA testing. Upon Jordan’s arrival, a blood test confirmed that the body was indeed his father, James Jordan.