The rest, such as cultural barriers, psychological obstacles, language issues, etc., are just the straw that breaks the camel’s back, not the fundamental problems.
The two didn’t talk much on the way. Upon arriving at the scheduled restaurant, both hungry, they immediately placed their orders and began to eat heartily.
Gan Guoyang displayed his astonishing appetite. Hu Weidong originally wasn’t very hungry, but seeing Gan Guoyang enjoying his food so much, he also started to eat with gusto.
"You must never skimp on food, eat more and rest well, so you can practice more and recover early."
Halfway through the meal, Gan Guoyang wiped his mouth and directly asked, "Lao Hu, what are your plans for the future? Be honest with me. Do you want to stay, or do you want to go back?"
Hu Weidong put down his chopsticks, looking contemplative; this question had been troubling him for some time.
To stay or to leave? The choices in life can be confusing and bewildering.
The initial willingness to come to the NBA was partly for the high income, but a bigger reason was the allure of the vibrant NBA, the honor of the ultimate basketball arena.
Gan Guoyang’s experience gave many Chinese basketball players an NBA dream, along with an illusion that playing in the NBA is quite easy.
Look at Ah Gan, dominating and leaving those old black and white players in the NBA helpless, with unmatched dominance for seven championships.
It was only when Hu Weidong actually came to the NBA and to America that he realized things weren’t simple, the difficulties were all-encompassing.
As for the intensity of training, the NBA isn’t necessarily tougher than the national team, so physical fatigue and injuries can be endured.
But the sense of loneliness, lack of encouragement, and being constantly outmatched is a bigger challenge.
On the national team, especially on the Jiangsu Team, Hu Weidong was the absolute leader, with strategies built around him by everyone.
With the Lakers, a prestigious and powerful NBA team with superstars like O’Neal and Jide, Hu Weidong suddenly became a minor character, a peripheral figure.
Fortunately, West and Beelman, in honor of Ah Gan, were more considerate towards Lao Hu, providing him opportunities and resources.
But the NBA is a very realistic place, where so-called "nurturing" is reserved for a few extremely talented individuals. The rest must produce results once they receive their earnings.
Currently, Hu Weidong’s abilities do not stand out, and being injured, he naturally finds himself sidelined. Whether he can rise again depends entirely on him.
After pondering for a while, Lao Hu simply said, "I need to think about it further and first focus on healing my injury."
From Hu Weidong’s tone, Gan Guoyang sensed hesitation. He handed a beer to Lao Hu, saying, "No matter if you decide to stay or return, it’s your own choice. Just be sure about it. Staying is indeed challenging, but if you return, you can bring back some of the things you’ve learned in America. I won’t say more; whatever decision you make, let me know, and I’ll help you handle many of the issues."
Hu Weidong nodded. Not very expressive in his emotions, he just drank the beer Gan Guoyang handed him in one go to express his gratitude.
After finishing the beer, Hu Weidong found the taste very familiar, as if he’d tasted it somewhere before.
Gan Guoyang said, "Familiar taste, right? It’s our Tsingtao Beer."
"Tsingtao Beer? Tsingtao Beer is even sold here in America."
"Yes, indeed. Chinese beer has a market in America too. Do you know who introduced it here?"
Hu Weidong shook his head, and Gan Guoyang teased him by saying he’d introduce him to a senior in the evening.
In the afternoon, Hu Weidong went back to rest while Gan Guoyang worked out in the gym for two and a half hours.
He scheduled his time completely, and in the evening, he went to pick up Hu Weidong for dinner again.
Hu Weidong had no friends in Los Angeles and had nothing to do while resting his injury; he was happy to go out for dinner with Ah Gan.
Gan Guoyang picked a Chinese restaurant, and Hu Weidong curiously wondered who the senior Gan wanted him to meet was.
Only upon arrival did he realize the senior Gan Guoyang mentioned was once the former national basketball team forward Zhang Weiping.
Zhang Weiping and Hu Weidong belonged to two different generations of national basketball players, with Zhang Weiping being in the same generation as Mu Tiezhu.
When Zhang Weiping retired, Hu Weidong was only 11 years old.
After retiring, Zhang Weiping had been a coach for the national team, but due to differences in philosophy and factions, he left the national team and went to America.
In 1988, when Gan Guoyang won his first three-peat, Zhang Weiping was working at the University of Chicago.
Despite his privileged background and former status as a national team member, he worked odd jobs at an American university.
He worked with sports teams in nursing roles and as a librarian and bookstore manager, enduring a great deal of hardship.
Later, due to family and relationship issues, he left Chicago again in 1992, venturing alone to Los Angeles.
That year, Zhang Weiping was already 42 years old.
Starting from scratch in Los Angeles, he became a salesman for a beer sales company, responsible for marketing Tsingtao Beer in America.
With his exceptional skills and several years of hard work, he became the deputy regional manager for sales in the Western Conference, promoting Tsingtao Beer across America.
After Gan Guoyang retired and moved back to California, he coincidentally met this former national player, who later became famous in basketball commentary but was then still selling beer.
Gan Guoyang had maintained a good relationship with the national team since the 1980s. In the 85th delegation that visited America, there was Zhang Weiping, so the two knew each other.
However, after Zhang Weiping left the national team and came to America, he never tried to contact Gan Guoyang for help but instead carved out a new space for himself—a space unrelated to basketball.
His resilience and stubbornness were evident.