Malone has always been unwilling to accept defeat against Gan, but this time he had no choice but to accept it.
With a 77-win season, even if the Trail Blazers decline in future seasons, they remain the top favorite to win the championship.
No team in the Western Conference is a match for the Trail Blazers. It might even be another four consecutive championships, or at least a continuous entry into the Finals. In conclusion, Western Conference teams have no chance.
Since the 1980s, Malone has been taking hits from Gan and the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference, and he’s had enough. He doesn’t want to waste more time and energy.
Therefore, although he’s nostalgic for Seattle, where he spent seven years building his career and his life, tightly interwoven with the city,
Nothing lasts forever. After shaving off his beard, George Karl chose to leave and continue pursuing his championship dream elsewhere.
He decided that his next stop must be an Eastern Conference team, and he would never return to the Western Conference, unless he could coach Gan in Portland.
An outstanding coach concluded a brilliant Chapter of his coaching career, while Jerry Sloan’s journey with the Utah Jazz continues, with a long way yet to go.
After the game in the visitor’s locker room of the Utah Jazz, everyone was quiet, just like usual.
The players simply high-fived or bumped fists, then went to shower and change clothes.
There weren’t many reporters surrounding the Jazz team, and even those present didn’t focus their questions on the Jazz team.
They mostly asked about the Jazz’s opponents in the Western Conference Finals and John Stockton’s thoughts on this upcoming series.
As always, Stockton’s heart surged with emotions, but his face remained unchanged.
"I’m looking forward to the battle with Gan and the Trail Blazers. In some ways, it’s even more thrilling than the Finals," Stockton said.
For Stockton and the Jazz team, defeating Gan and the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals would be a tremendous achievement.
Even though everyone knows that this season, the Trail Blazers, led by Gan, are coming with a fierce desire for revenge and are nearly unstoppable.
Before the series, predictions suggested that winning even one game against the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals would be a success for the Jazz, yet the entire Jazz team remained passionately and focused on preparing for the games.
The only one unsettled in the entire team, however, was head coach Jerry Sloan.
After flying back to Salt Lake City from Seattle, the team was dismissed to rest for two days, then prepare to head to Portland.
However, Sloan did not go home to rest; instead, he went to a hospital in Salt Lake City to accompany his wife, Barbie Sloan.
As early as last June, when the Jazz were playing in the Finals, Barbie Sloan felt discomfort in her chest and went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a malignant tumor.
Because her husband was deeply focused on the most important games of his life, Mrs. Sloan didn’t tell him about it, choosing to handle the examinations and treatments herself.
Even after the Finals ended, she still didn’t inform Sloan of her condition.
The two had known each other for over 40 years, dating since high school, then marrying, having children, and supporting each other all along.
But contrary to what most people might expect, their 40 years of marriage involved very little communication.
Sloan is a traditional, hard-nosed American white man, known on the court for his defense, aggressive playing style, and readiness to confront any player.
Off the court, Sloan was the same—silent, tough, and reserved, bearing all hardships on his own.
He preferred smoking and drinking before and after games to relieve stress instead of confiding in his wife.
Thus, they spent 30 years in silent understanding as a couple until Barbie Sloan’s cancer forced the truth out, and their son informed Sloan about his mother’s illness.
Of course, Sloan took his wife to receive treatment actively, yet he didn’t know how to comfort Barbie in her suffering.
Because for his own pain, he never needed comfort from others, and naturally, he didn’t know how to offer it to someone else.
In the end, he chose his own way to comfort his wife: he quit smoking and drinking.
In the past, he spent long hours drinking in bars before returning home late at night.
In 1998, Sloan completely distanced himself from alcohol. On the flight back to Salt Lake City, when Malone asked him, "If we beat the Trail Blazers again this year, will you have a drink?"
Sloan shook his head and said, "Water is just as good for celebrating. I’ve quit drinking."
Aside from training and games, he spent more time with Barbie.
They still didn’t talk much but found a shared interest in collecting.
They enjoyed attending garage sales and flea markets, purchasing various odd yet memorable items.
Sloan was a typical miser, unwilling to spend money easily, and preserved his collected items carefully.
Before returning to Salt Lake City to accompany his wife at the hospital, Sloan specifically brought along a newly acquired collectible, hoping to lift his wife’s spirits.
Barbie Sloan lay in bed after chemotherapy, still severely vomiting, her hair largely fallen out, but improving overall.
Sloan showed her the collectible he had just acquired, which turned out to be a white cellulon mask.
"What’s this? A mask?"
"It’s a sports mask, used after facial fractures. Don’t you have any impression of it?"
"A bit like something from that killing spree movie."
"This did appear in a film. But I told you, it’s a sports mask, worn by Gan once."
When Gan was mentioned, Barbie’s eyes changed, and she picked up the mask for careful examination.
In the world of sports, anything related to Gan Guoyang was exceedingly valuable.
This mask was the terrifying sports mask used by Gan Guoyang during the 1986-1987 season.
In the season opener against the Supersonics, Gan Guoyang headbutted Xavier McDaniel, knocking him out, while fracturing his own eyebrow bone.
During the ensuing games, Gan Guoyang wore this demon-like terrifying mask, with the second game being against the Utah Jazz.
At the time, Jerry Sloan was an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz, and he vividly remembers everyone being awed by Gan’s terrifying appearance.
The Jazz suffered a great loss at home, and later, Gan Guoyang’s mask even frightened a little girl in San Francisco to tears, resulting in him switching to a transparent mask afterward.
Later on, Avia released a "Killing Man Jason" edition of the Skyscraper shoes, which initially didn’t cause much sensation.
Unexpectedly, in the mid to late 90s, with the rise of streetball and rap culture, this stylistic and culturally forward "Killing Man Jason" became a sought-after sneaker on the streets.
Avia opened a special production line to produce a batch for the market, then shut it down entirely, making "Killing Man Jason" a treasure among collectors.
As for the cellulon mask Gan wore, it remained in Gan Guoyang’s possession until he left it with the Trail Blazers as a memento upon his first retirement.
Sporting goods companies specially replicated a similar batch for the collectibles market.
Of course, the one Jerry Sloan purchased wasn’t the one Gan wore but one of the replicas.
Even as a replica, it’s still highly collectible, given that this style has long been out of production.
"It’s really great, Jerry. If you can beat the Trail Blazers next..."
"Don’t talk about basketball, Barbie. There’s no basketball here."
Sloan interrupted Barbie, and the two enjoyed the silence they had maintained for 30 years.
But to Barbie, this feeling was much better than before.
years ago, when they were still high school students, Barbie drove home after school one day and saw Jerry Sloan, who had just finished his basketball practice, giving her a thumbs-up, indicating he wanted a ride.
Barbie stopped and drove him through the snow back to poverty-stricken Gobblers Knob, later encouraging him to pursue a basketball career instead of becoming an oil field worker, leading Sloan to achieve success and become a star in the basketball world, changing his destiny for the better.
However, this also led them to a 30-year marriage filled with silence and barriers until one of them was leaving, they finally truly came together.
Two days later, Jerry Sloan and the entire Jazz team flew to Portland to begin their deadly Western Conference Finals journey—an outlook shared by all media and experts before the series.
On the plane, Jerry Sloan put on the cellulon mask that Gan had once worn, imitating Gan Guoyang’s tone, and said, "I’m going to take you all down! Are you scared, girls?"
The Jazz players laughed, and Malone loudly replied, "We’re going to kick your ass!"
Everyone laughed even louder, and Sloan took off the mask and said to Malone, "You better mean it, Karl."
Malone nodded solemnly; the Jazz players indeed weren’t afraid.
But Malone still mumbled under his breath, "Just not losing too bad would be a win."