Everything was ready, David Stern came to the scene with brand new championship rings and the tenth championship banner. Everyone was waiting.
Bill Schonely, now 70 years old, was still doing play-by-play commentary on the sidelines. When he shouted, "Let’s welcome the pride of Gonzaga, Oregon, Sunny Gan," the entire Rose Garden Arena erupted.
Sure enough, Gan Guoyang made it. He jogged out from the tunnel wearing the number 11 jersey, and the whole arena went wild.
Gan Guoyang received his ninth championship ring from David Stern and said, "Just one more, and both my hands will be full."
Stern replied, "You made it back just in time, you can still catch the second half of the game."
Every member who was retained from the last season received a new ring, and both Gan Guoyang and Terry Porter now had nine.
This made Charles Barkley, who had just joined and wasn’t eligible for a ring, extremely envious, and he could only watch longingly from the side.
Seeing Barkley like this, Porter kindly said, "You can have mine; I don’t want it anymore."
For Porter, he had so many rings that he was numb and really wanted to retire to enjoy life.
But Gan Guoyang was adamant about not letting Porter retire, so Porter had to continue enduring the long season.
During the following flag-raising ceremony, Gan Guoyang hoisted the team’s tenth championship banner to the ceiling.
The Trail Blazers officially surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers to become the team with the second-most championships in NBA history, becoming the top powerhouse in the Western Conference.
The atmosphere at the scene reached its peak, even Stern reflected inwardly, thinking that if Ah Gan were to retire just like that, it would be a huge loss.
This old fox also started to waver. He realized that the impact of the espionage case was diminishing and it was turning into a high-level game of chess and vengeance, and nobody really cared what the truth was anymore.
In the second half, Gan Guoyang insisted on playing, and Carl was concerned that after a long journey, he might risk injury by playing hastily.
Gan Guoyang stared at Carl, saying, "Injury? Are you joking with me, Rick?"
"...Okay, okay, you can play. But... Charles did quite well in the first half."
"Let Charles keep playing. I’ll play the three-spot, or maybe you want to play the three-spot, Charles?"
"I don’t play the three-spot. Only sissies play the three-spot. I want to be inside." Barkley refused the position exchange request.
Barkley knew that his shooting skills would make playing the three-spot disastrous, as his three-point shooting had declined heavily.
Last season, Barkley’s three-point percentage fell to 16%, which was simply dreadful.
Ah Gan had advised him back then to practice three-pointers diligently, but he ultimately didn’t stick with it, falling back to square one overnight.
Since the Trail Blazers had a big lead in the first half, and the Clippers were known for being a weak team, plus the season had just started, everyone had a relaxed mindset about the game, so Carl agreed to let Gan Guoyang start the second half at the three-spot.
Therefore, the Trail Blazers had three 36-year-old players in their frontcourt, quite aged, but fortunately, their form was still very good.
Gan Guoyang’s reappearance in the second half made the fans even more excited. They initially thought Ah Gan wouldn’t play tonight but didn’t expect he would show up in time.
Gan Guoyang was eager to participate in the game to find his season form since he hadn’t trained well this summer and barely practiced during training camp. If he didn’t get enough game time, he would really worry about his form in the playoffs later on.
With a huge lead, Gan Guoyang didn’t rush to try scoring after coming on court. He decided to start with defense and tactical cooperation, slowly getting into form through playing.
In the past, at his peak, Gan Guoyang was the one who took control of the game while others adapted to him. Now, knowing his form wasn’t at its best, he actively adapted to the game.
Many former star veterans often failed to realize, or couldn’t implement this, easily playing ugly games as their form declined, shocking everyone.
The one matched against Gan Guoyang at the three-spot was a rookie, a young man just picked by the Clippers with the fourth pick in the 1999 draft, Lamar Odom.
Standing at 6 feet 10 inches tall, this player had the dribbling and passing skills of an outside player, and was dubbed the "Left-handed Magic," having been labeled a genius early on.
In the 1999 draft, he had the opportunity to become the first overall pick by the Chicago Bulls, but he stood up Jerry Krause in the tryout session.
He left the Bulls’ management waiting for six hours while he partied on a New York beach, saying it was because he felt too much pressure to play for the Bulls, having to withstand the shadows of Jordan and Pippen, and it would be terrible if he didn’t play well.
Similarly, he didn’t want to go to the Grizzlies and was finally picked by the Clippers, coming to warm and shining Los Angeles, which made him very satisfied.
In his debut game, Odom faced the Seattle SuperSonics and scored 30 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and made 3 assists, astonishing the whole league.
This gave Odom the confidence to make a name in the NBA, realizing that the NBA was not that formidable, and a rookie like him could easily score 30 points.
In the second game against the king of Portland Trail Blazers, hearing that Ah Gan couldn’t play, Odom’s confidence further increased, scoring 14 points in the first half.
In Odom’s view, Alan Henderson was too slow, and he could handle him easily. He just didn’t expect Ah Gan to return in the second half.
Moreover, Gan Guoyang moved to the three-spot to match up with Odom. Odom’s nervousness was evident, and his eyes kept darting around at the start of the third quarter.
But after a few rounds, Odom found out that Gan Guoyang didn’t seem as terrifying as mentioned on TV and in rumors, especially the supposedly unbreakable trash talk, which didn’t occur at all.
On the contrary, Gan Guoyang even made time to chat with Odom about this and that.
Even during tactical play when they were on the weak side, Ah Gan would chat with Odom with hands on his hips.
He wasn’t the oppressive monster that seniors described, who would suffocate you into a psychological shadow.
Odom, a straightforward person, really started chatting with Gan Guoyang, complaining about a bunch of nonsense with the Clippers.
"Where do you guys train now, is it still at the air force base?"
"Air force base? I seem to have heard of that place, it’s free. But it’s no longer there, we’re now at Southwest College."
"Awful! No air conditioning or security in the gym, if it gets hot, you have to prop the door open with a brick, and after it’s all over, there’s not even a place to shower!"
"Oh, God, I heard that when they used to train at the air force base, at least there was a free shower."
For more than ten years, Sterling has been consistently stingy, investing very little in the team’s training facilities.
This led to poor training conditions and a lack of unity among the players, making the game more about goofing off rather than winning.
This left a bad influence on young rookies like Odom, as he thought NBA teams were supposed to be the most professional basketball institutions in the world.
But in reality, there were countless makeshift operations, and the Clippers happened to be the most makeshift of them all.
Odom had a belly full of grievances and didn’t expect that a god-like figure like Ah Gan would be willing to listen to his complaints, making him feel quite special.
However, as the third quarter progressed, Odom found it wasn’t that special anymore.
Firstly, he realized he couldn’t score at all, facing Ah Gan’s defense one-on-one had no openings whatsoever, and it was impenetrable.
Then, Gan Guoyang became more and more comfortable and unchecked on offense, his moves unpredictable, while Odom felt like his actions were entirely seen through.
Their chit-chat, which distracted Odom, did not bother Ah Gan at all, as he kept doing his job, which only put the already trailing Clippers in a more passive state with no solutions.
By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers had extended their lead to over 20 points, leaving no chance for the Clippers to catch up, who surrendered early and played garbage time.
With a score of 121:96, the Trail Blazers won a big victory over the Clippers at home, securing back-to-back wins and getting off to a good start for the new season.
Odom, who scored 15 points in the first half, only got 3 points in the second half through free throws, with no other contributions, being easily contained.
When the game ended, Odom realized that he might have fallen into another of Ah Gan’s traps, though this trap wasn’t uncomfortable, but rather quite enjoyable.
Gan Guoyang was becoming gentler, especially towards young players. He no longer has an interest in intimidating or threatening them.
He prefers to show caring while gently leading them into his soft trap.