After the 1993 season, Calvin went to Miami, but he returned to Portland every summer.
He maintained a good personal relationship with Bill Walton and Gan Guoyang and was invited this time to help Gan Guoyang with rehabilitation training.
"Sonny, if you play entirely in the style you used to, I think you could be at the level of Jordan. However, if you change your mindset, and tailor a playstyle that suits your current physical condition, you might still be at the 2-Dan level. Of course, whether Michael Jordan agrees, I don’t know."
Calvin’s words were enlightening to Gan Guoyang. Recently, Gan Guoyang had been training hard, but progress was honestly not swift.
Once you start high-intensity training, you definitely need to increase your intake. Eating and drinking a lot are inevitable, causing immediate weight rebound.
Due to changes in body metabolism and the gradual decrease in muscle quality, Gan Guoyang’s explosiveness and reaction speed are difficult to return to their peak.
After all, he was 32 years old. Once a man turns 30, physical decline is inevitable. He was known as the "Bionic Man," but ultimately, he wasn’t truly a bionic man.
If he keeps thinking of relying on training to return to his peak, it might result in half the effort and double the frustration, ultimately ending up at the same level as Jordan.
But if he changes his mindset, accepts the reality of certain declines, and focuses on developing his strengths, improving on his original playstyle, it might yield good results.
For instance, Gan Guoyang’s explosiveness and reaction speed cannot return to their peak. At his peak, Gan Guoyang’s explosiveness was on par with a young Olajuwon, and his reaction speed topped the league.
There was a TV program that did a feature on Gan Guoyang’s reaction speed, finding that his reaction speed was possibly among the fastest in the world, close to the human limit.
It’s no wonder, despite not being exceptionally tall, he could contribute so many blocks, and his invention of the unique "no-look defense" demonstrated his very keen neural senses.
People generally have a so-called "sixth sense," like when someone stands behind you, even if you can’t see or hear them, you can perceive subtle changes in the surrounding environment to notify you of potential danger behind.
But all of these will gradually decline with age, and it’s irreversible, even for Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang often thought, "If I had known, I shouldn’t have played any basketball games, I should have played some cultivation game."
His explosiveness, speed, and neural reactions may decline, but some aspects are just reaching their peak in their thirties and still on the rise.
For example, strength, a man’s absolute physical strength is often strongest after the age of 35, and Gan Guoyang was originally the Power King of the league.
After turning 30, his strength still has room to grow, and absolute strength can bring many advantages in tactics and techniques.
Additionally, with the accumulation brought by time and aging, his shooting touch gets better, which are advantages worth developing.
Gan Guoyang trains while thinking, thinks while correcting, and the most important thing for him is that his focus has returned.
Focus, passion, and challenge are just as important as strength, speed, and explosiveness.
Sometimes even more so.
During training one day, someone came to the training ground; it was Quentin.
Just as he was about to speak, Gan Guoyang stopped him and said, "Shut up, answer me yes or no when I ask."
Recently, because there’s been too much contact and information to handle daily, many things are filtered by bodyguard Quentin first.
He filters out the important matters to report to Gan Guoyang, and less important ones he handles himself or passes to Wang Fuxi to decide.
Quentin’s role is akin to a skilled Chief Eunuch, combining the work of a bodyguard and a secretary.
But during this time, every time Gan Guoyang saw Quentin come with news, he felt anxious. This guy’s news was often deadly.
It was him who reported Petrović’s death, it was him who informed about an old uncle’s passing, and it was Quentin who notified when Jordan’s father passed away.
He’s simply a harbinger of death, and always blindsided people.
"Has anyone died?"
Quentin shook his head.
"Has anything happened to anyone?"
Quentin shook his head again.
"Alright, go ahead, what’s the matter."
Only then did Quentin say, "Ah Hui is here, he says there’s something important to discuss with you."
"Ah Hui? Is that kid back from China? Tell him to wait for me a bit, we’ll be right over."
Upon hearing it was Gan Guohui, Gan Guoyang paused his training to change clothes and went from the court to the study.
In these recent years, under the protection of his older brother, Gan Guohui has been doing quite well in the sports agency business.
He teamed up with Larry Fleisher’s son, Mark Fleisher, working as a player agent together.
Besides the North American market, Gan Guohui and Mark both emphasize expanding the NBA’s overseas market.
Mark Fleisher focuses on the European region, while in recent years Gan Guohui has begun focusing on exploring player potential in Asia.
Among them, when the Los Angeles Lakers selected Hu Weidong in the 1995 draft, it was due to Gan Guohui’s operation.
If Hu Weidong can come, Gan Guohui would become his agent.
This time, during David Stern’s Asia tour, Gan Guohui accompanied as part of the entourage, personally promoting Hu Weidong’s entry into the NBA.
Upon seeing his older brother, Gan Guohui didn’t waste words and directly reported the situation.
"Three things: the first one, it’s confirmed that Hu Weidong will come to the NBA next season! It’s indeed the Lakers, the number 8 jersey is already prepared."
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