Allen Iverson is an unremarkable small guy, but his energy is beyond imagination. Philadelphia fans are hoping Iverson will become their Michael Jordan.
Why not their Ah Gan? Because Iverson is nothing like Ah Gan. Many young fans hope the young players and teams can defeat Ah Gan.
On the night of the game day, at the Philadelphia National Bank Center, all 21,000 seats were filled. After Iverson successfully challenged Jordan, people were expecting him to challenge the ultimate boss, the perfect classical hero, Ah Gan.
On the poster at the entrance of the stadium, Allen Iverson and Gan Guoyang were opposing each other, the little guy challenging the NBA’s first giant, and people eagerly anticipated Iverson would trip Gan Guoyang during the game.
The win or loss of the team wasn’t that important. Winning in a one-on-one duel was a must, representing the late ’90s NBA values.
Fans increasingly focused on individual abilities, breakthrough, slam dunks, crossovers, fadeaway jump shots, these were the techniques young people loved to imitate.
As for team play, smooth passes, backdoor cuts and the like, they were uninteresting. Most teenagers didn’t like watching this.
The NBA officials also intentionally adjusted the rules, guiding the games to change and evolve in the direction the audience liked.
Moves like Allen Iverson’s crossover that left Jordan behind, had it been ten years ago, in the 1986 season, the referee would have called a dribbling violation without hesitation.
By the early ’90s, the requirements for these moves had been relaxed, and by the late ’90s, because fans liked it, referees increasingly loosened their calls on carrying and palming violations.
Even so, in Iverson’s rookie season, he was still called for traveling and palming quite a lot, the officials had some restrictions on this.
Kobe felt itchy seeing the heated pre-game publicity, feeling uneasy.
After Christmas, he had been performing well. His playing time was increasing, and even visiting fans started asking for his autograph.
However, upon returning to his hometown of Philadelphia, Kobe was surprised and disappointed to find that no local fans remembered him.
Except for his parents and high school classmates, the rest of the arena’s Philadelphia inhabitants all regarded him as nothing.
Not entirely, Kobe saw a banner painted with his name and comics, which read "Kobe, West Coast crap."
Kobe didn’t understand the reason, he couldn’t comprehend why Philadelphia people would suddenly forget him.
This made Kobe feel resentful. Before going on the court, he said to Bird, "Coach, I want to get on the court early, I want to start."
Bird saw through Kobe’s emotions and said, "I will let you go on, but before that, you sit on the bench and observe well. I will let you defend Iverson, if you don’t do well, the whole city will laugh at you."
Kobe didn’t speak again, Bird firmly controlled Kobe’s emotions, making this young kid obediently sit on the bench awaiting orders.
For the Trail Blazers, this game wasn’t very difficult because the 76ers were a weak team, even with Iverson, they were still at the bottom of the Eastern conference.
Iverson’s performance was excellent enough, but as a rookie, especially a 6-foot guard, it was indeed hard to change the overall outlook of a team in a short time.
Eastern Time 7 PM, the match between both teams was about to begin, Iverson, wearing the No. 3 jersey, stood on the court, he was the shortest, slimmest on the field.
He was 21 years old, already had a daughter, and appeared much more mature than Kobe.
Unlike most rookies who either admired or timidly approached Ah Gan for the first time.
Before the jump ball, he walked up to Ah Gan and in a magnetic tone that didn’t match his appearance said, "Ah Gan, I don’t like you, and I’m not afraid of you either."
He stood with his hands on his hips, eyes wide open, looking up at this statue even taller than Jordan, challenging this first classical hero in the NBA.
Gan Guoyang was emotionally stirred and trash talked back, showing no expression, simply said, "I smell the aroma of bread. How about you, Allen?"
Iverson felt a chill on his scalp, realizing he might have made a mistake. The legend the veterans told about Ah Gan, was likely true.