"You’re pushing me, Michael."
"Yeah, I pushed you, so what?"
"Is that how you treat old friends?"
"Come on, you’ve been prepping for this game for a week, right? Staying in Los Angeles for special training."
"Looks like you know everything."
"I’ve seen through you, Sonny, you don’t stand a chance. This isn’t your era anymore."
"You’ve become just as annoying with your words."
"Oh, Sonny, you’ve always talked like that."
Just as he finished, Jordan cut in from the middle, catching the ball on the wing.
The pass wasn’t great, and Riddle’s defense was aggressive.
Jordan switched to a post-up, turned, and shot a fadeaway jump shot but missed.
Dennis Rodman tried to snatch the rebound, but Gan Guoyang bulldozed Rodman out of the way and took the rebound.
Rodman’s anticipation was accurate, but Ah Gan’s was equally precise and he was much stronger than Rodman.
"You won’t snatch any offensive rebounds tonight." After grabbing the rebound, Gan Guoyang said to Rodman.
Rodman shrugged and said, "Sonny, don’t vent your anger on me. This is between you and Michael, nothing to do with me."
Rodman had evolved from the distinctively weird bad boy of his Pistons days to the flamboyant worm.
In Chicago, and throughout the NBA, he was that unique existence.
He had no interest in intervening in the feud between Ah Gan and Jordan, just watched from the sidelines.
The Trail Blazers started strong. Van Exel soon used Gan Guoyang’s pick-and-roll to hit a three-pointer from the outside.
Scottie Pippen immediately answered with a three-pointer on the offensive end.
Compared to 10 years ago, players have become increasingly confident in shooting threes.
Gan Guoyang once again set a screen for Riddle on the outside. This time, Jordan was even more relentless in pestering Riddle.
As Riddle circled repeatedly, Jordan pushed Gan Guoyang again.
This time, Gan Guoyang no longer indulged Jordan. When Riddle returned the ball to Gan Guoyang, Gan Guoyang received it, raised his arm to avoid Jordan’s clamp, and accidentally elbowed Jordan on the brow.
A seemingly casual elbow made Jordan’s eye corner bleed, and blood flowed instantly. The referee had to stop the game and let the team doctor enter to bandage.
Jordan shouted at Gan Guoyang: "Is this how you treat old friends?"
Gan Guoyang replied: "My elbow hurts too."
"So I should apologize to you?"
"That’s okay, I forgive you."
"F**k You, F**k You Sonny!"
"Thanks, I like your North Carolina accent."
Bloodshed as soon as the match started, and the two began trash-talking.
Gan Guoyang received a technical foul, and Jordan made the free throw.
The ball still belonged to the Trail Blazers. Gan Guoyang didn’t assist his teammates anymore.
He received the ball in the low post, turned against the Bulls’ double team, and scored with a reverse layup!
Pippen again tried to sneak a three-pointer from the outside but missed this time.
Jordan grabbed the offensive rebound, turned, shot, and scored.
Both teams started without much structure; it was intentional.
Larry Bird knew that if the Trail Blazers played head-to-head with the Bulls by the book, they’d have little chance, so he opted for a freer style of play.
While Phil Jackson had another layer of thinking: he hoped that Jordan and Pippen could truly overcome the hurdle of Ah Gan.
In the pre-game locker room, Jackson asked Jordan, "Michael, do you hate Ah Gan?"
Jordan shook his head and said, "No, never, never will."
"I understand you now. You want to truly defeat him."
Jordan said nothing, but the answer was in the silence, in the efforts he had put in over the years.
So, Jackson didn’t create too many tactical arrangements, letting the players handle and solve the problems themselves.
In Jackson’s view, today’s Chicago Bulls are no longer the team from 1991 or 1992 that were infinitely close to the championship but always fell short by just a bit.
Jackson believed if not for Ah Gan, the championship would have been theirs, or even in 1992 if there were minor changes, like a butterfly flapping its wings across the Pacific, the championship might have been the Bulls’.
But they just couldn’t get it.
The newest Bulls of 1994 were stronger, a more complete team.
They were the best from skills to tactics, from physical to spiritual, Jackson firmly believed this.
The ball again came to Ah Gan’s hands, and he turned to push Lang Li away, scoring a neat hook shot with his right hand.
In return, the Bulls employed their advanced triangle offense, giving Pippen a chance for a one-on-one on the left side.
Facing AC Green’s defense, Pippen performed a move-hook and scored too.
"Your signature move, Sonny!" Pippen shouted to Gan Guoyang.
He was telling Ah Gan that this move wasn’t exclusive to him.
Pippen was reclaiming dignity for Gan Guoyang’s blow to Jordan.
Compared to three years ago, Pippen had matured.
This year he’s 31, at the prime age for a player.
Still, contract issues troubled him.
The contract he signed in 1991 seemed too cheap now.
But no choice, he signed it himself with black and white ink, earning $2.25 million a year now.
The rookie pick Allen Iverson is earning $2.27 million this year.
Grant Hill, only three years in the league, is already earning $5 million.
Shaquille O’Neal’s billion-dollar contract earns him $11 million this year.
Michael Jordan on the same team earns $25 million, ten times Pippen’s.
As for Gan Guoyang, $33 million a year, exceeding a team’s salary cap.
Hearing Pippen dare to shout at him, Gan Guoyang mercilessly responded with a hook shot.
After scoring, he said to Pippen: "My hook shot is worth 15 times yours!"
Upon hearing this, Pippen’s already long face showed greater dismay.
He then assisted Luke Longley for a successful mid-range jump shot.
Next, he stole from AC Green on defense, attempted a dunk on the fast break but hesitated due to Ah Gan’s fierce chase and passed the ball back to Jordan outside.
Jordan took the ball and charged inside, Gan Guoyang intercepted again, but Jordan cleverly passed behind to the trailing Rodman.
Rodman scored off the board with an exaggerated gesture, dodging Ah Gan’s one-on-two defense.
After scoring, Rodman again shrugged at Gan Guoyang and said: "I have no intention of getting involved in your argument, just doing my job."
Rodman had no interest in trash-talking with Ah Gan or locking horns on the court; he just did his job.
In earlier days, young and fiery Rodman wouldn’t act this way towards Gan Guoyang.
A solid beating really makes a difference.