Being a celebrity’s wife is really not easy.
Gan Guoyang appeared very patient, holding his 5-year-old daughter quietly waiting at the door.
8-year-old son Gan Wenshan, on the other hand, was like a wind-up toy, rolling and spinning wildly in the living room, babbling unknown things, perhaps related to the cartoons he’s been watching recently.
"Dad, hurry up! We need to leave, or we’ll be late, and the alien army will attack!"
Impatient Gan Wenshan urged.
"Mom is doing makeup and choosing clothes."
"Alright, I’ll go defeat the alien army by myself!"
With that, he ran into the garden to battle the imagined alien army.
Returning to Portland made Gan Guoyang most pleased because his son became much happier.
Here he has many good friends he’s known since childhood, and Thompson and the Love family’s children come over almost every week to hang out together.
Gan Wenshan inherited certain traits from his father; he is naturally the leader and boss of this group of kids.
However, between basketball and soccer, Gan Wenshan currently prefers soccer, saying that the soccer field is bigger and running is more fun.
Undoubtedly, he inherited his father’s stamina too, like a perpetual motion machine, endlessly running in the garden.
The 5-year-old daughter, however, is very quiet; she’s not the kind of little kid who likes to follow her brother and sister around.
She enjoys being alone, reading books, doing crafts, rarely making noise, and doesn’t really need friends to accompany her.
Of course, she still made Gan Guoyang worried; on her first day of kindergarten, she made the same mistake as her brother: pushing down a little girl who tried to grab her toy.
But after Gan Guoyang went to the kindergarten once, she no longer pushed other kids like her brother did.
By midterm, Gan Guoyang heard from the teacher that his daughter won all her classmates over by gifting toys, including the one who tried to grab her toy.
Gan Guoyang asked her, "Why did you do that? Relying on gifts, it’s hard to make real friends, you need to rely on interests."
The daughter said, "I wasn’t trying to make friends, I just didn’t want them to bother me."
Gan Guoyang was surprised by his daughter’s thought process, somewhat worried that his daughter might be maturing too quickly.
However, in daily life, he still noticed his daughter’s simplicity and childishness, completely untouched by adulthood.
Perhaps searching for one’s place in a group and fighting for it is a human nature and instinct, unrelated to age.
Just like this NBA 50th anniversary celebration, where the top 50 stars were selected; apart from those inevitable selections, with no suspense like Gan Guoyang, Jordan, Russell, Bird, Magic, the remaining lower-ranked ones were more or less a result of human relationships, the league’s balance considerations, and fights between teams.
For instance, Detroit Pistons’ star Dave Bing was selected into the top 50 stars, but looking at his career achievements, his main honors are Rookie of the Year, two times in the first team, one time in the second team, and one scoring champion, without any championship, no conference finals, and only three playoff appearances, his comprehensive achievements are weak among stars.
In comparison, Bob McAdoo from the same era had three scoring titles, one first team, one second team, and a championship. Most importantly, McAdoo holds a heavy regular season MVP trophy.
The regular season MVP is an honor almost exclusive to superstars, and in this top 50 star selection, McAdoo was the only one with this honor who didn’t make the cut.
Similarly, Dennis Johnson had three championship rings, won the Finals MVP, and was one of the toughest guards in the league back then, but also couldn’t get in.
The main reason being matters outside of basketball.
Dave Bing represented the Detroit Pistons, one of the most successful teams in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and one of the league’s oldest teams, with significant influence in speaking.
Whereas Bob McAdoo became famous with the Clippers, a marginal team in the league, and later won championships with the Lakers as a role player, and the Lakers wouldn’t speak up for a role player, so McAdoo was "without connections."
Moreover, after retiring, Dave Bing engaged in business and politics, with significant influence in the Michigan area, likely entering politics in the future.
McAdoo, in his later career, wandered between various teams, and when he couldn’t stay in the NBA, went to play in Italy, not leaving the court completely until 1993 at the age of 42.
In the eyes of fans, he was someone who loved basketball.
In the eyes of owners and media, he was just a "ball player."
A business magnate, a future politician, versus just a ball player, the media and league knew which to choose.
In summary, this 50th-anniversary celebration and the top 50 stars selection were full of controversy.
Of course, Gan Guoyang’s selection was without any controversy; he was even a leading figure of this celebration.
On the afternoon of the 7th, Gan Guoyang and his family took a flight to Cleveland, arriving at the Hilton Hotel where the stars stayed.
Here, Gan Guoyang met many "old" friends, Nate-Sermonde, Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry...
Gan Guoyang warmly hugged Sermonde, the two having known each other for over ten years. Sermonde still couldn’t believe that the young Chinese delivery guy from years ago would one day grow to become the league’s top superstar.
"You haven’t come over to my place for Christmas in a long time," Sermonde complained.