Pacific Time, June 3rd, 7:30 PM, the 1999 NBA Finals commenced.
Portland once again became the protagonist of the Finals, as described in Sports Illustrated, "Once the Trail Blazers’ war machine is started, it won’t stop easily."
As the core engine of this war machine, Gan Guoyang was in great form, operating at high speed for over a decade.
Several days of rest allowed Gan Guoyang to catch his breath, although the Cox Report had placed significant mental pressure on him, but as long as he stepped onto the basketball court, all troubles would be cleared away.
During the lengthy opening ceremony, Gan Guoyang kept chewing gum quietly, with the TV cameras focusing on him, the only superstar on the court.
Both inside and outside the court, Gan Guoyang was the brightest focal point; those who loved him and those who hated him couldn’t move their eyes from him.
He was the superstar among superstars, making everyone else appear lackluster in comparison.
The Knicks players, dressed in blue jerseys, couldn’t help but feel nervous upon stepping onto the floor of the Rose Garden Arena.
Madison Square Garden is the holy land of basketball, but for nearly 10 years, the holy land of NBA basketball is Portland’s arena, the Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Garden.
In the previous eight Finals, whenever the first game was held in Portland, the Trail Blazers never lost.
No one could take the initiative over Portland.
With such heritage and momentum, the Trail Blazers were full of confidence.
Of course, the Cox Report still had some impact within the Trail Blazers Team.
Since the May 7 incident, the atmosphere within the team had been rather delicate.
Though everyone publicly supported Ah Gan, how they truly felt inside remained unpredictable.
The human mind is difficult to gauge; NBA players are ultimately just athletes, and a team is merely a team, not a revolutionary organization.
Tang Jianguo, who had always stood firmly by Gan Guoyang’s side, chose silence this time and did not express any opinion.
It’s said he was looking for the next buyer for the Trail Blazers, raising funds for his 2000 presidential campaign, while also making strategic cuts.
The Trail Blazers and Ah Gan had accumulated tremendous prestige for him, and it seemed it was the time for him to leverage this prestige to ascend further.
However, whether to step up over Ah Gan’s corpse or use Ah Gan’s counterattack to expand his influence, he was still observing.
Only young hotheads like Kobe and Little O’Neal in the team privately said to Gan Guoyang, "We definitely believe you, support you."
Gan Guoyang immediately reminded them not to express their stance in any circumstances; if supportive, keep it to themselves, and if opposed, it doesn’t matter.
"Shut your mouths; don’t express anything. At times like this, protecting yourselves is more important than protecting me, got it?"
The two were obedient and did not make any statements in front of the media or the public.
But Gan Guoyang never expected that the opponent Spreewell actually said before the game, "Ah Gan and America, I choose Ah Gan."
Gan Guoyang really didn’t know whether to call him brainless or thank him for daring to defy everyone to support the opponent under such circumstances.
But thinking about it, it seemed normal; if this guy were like ordinary people, how could he do things like trying to strangle the coach, feeling indifferent when his daughter was bitten by a dog?
After the opening ceremony ended, as the game was about to officially start, Gan Guoyang walked up to Spreewell and said, "I heard your support for me, thank you."
Spreewell replied, "I didn’t support you, I just said what I wanted to say. And also, thanks for helping me back then, we’re even."
The madman still maintained a wild demeanor, not bowing his head at all in front of idols and opponents.
These Black players were quite interesting; their values and actions often clashed with modern society, making people feel they had issues with their minds.
But sometimes, looking from another angle, they seemed rather traditional, which might be largely related to their chaotic upbringing.
Sabonis and Alonzo Mourning stood at the center circle for the jump ball, and as the referee threw the ball, the game began.
Old Sabonis, with a height advantage, managed to tip the ball first, passing it to Point Guard Brellock, starting the first offense of the series.
Sabonis was 34 this year too, but he was in pretty good form; years of playing leisurely in Europe and good maintenance kept him in decent shape.
The Trail Blazers focused their early offense on Old Sabonis, who received the ball in the low post, ready to aggressively attack the Mourning position.
On the weak side, Shawn Kemp desperately fought front to stop Gan Guoyang from cutting in, with Kemp’s Finals task being to keep an eye on Gan Guoyang.
Kemp knew this was an almost impossible task, but he was determined to go all out.
Compared to his Supersonics days, Kemp had gained a lot of weight in 1999, not to enhance his competitiveness but because he lacked self-discipline.
In The Big Apple, it’s really easy for a player to indulge in revelry.
The fact that Kemp managed to hold off until this year before his figure started to change was already considered self-discipline.
Gaining weight had the benefit of making him more resistant in the interior, allowing him to somewhat withstand Ah Gan’s crushing pressure.
Kemp started quite energetically; Van Gundy instructed him to not spare any effort, with Thomas available as backup.
Sabonis received the ball, with both sides repeatedly double-teaming and wrestling in the low post, resulting in the referee suddenly blowing the whistle.
The chief referee called the Knicks for illegal defense, revealing clear traces of a 2-3 zone defense in their first defense.