The 2002 All-Star Game concluded with two old-timers jointly winning the All-Star MVP award.
In the same week, America's Super Bowl also decided its result, with the New England Patriots defeating the St. Louis Rams at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, claiming their first Super Bowl trophy in history.
Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, selected in the 6th round with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, earned the honor of Super Bowl MVP.
In an interview, this low-draft pick white player boldly expressed his desire to become the Ah Gan of the football world, aiming to be the greatest in history.
Gan Guoyang has already become synonymous with the greatest in sports history, undeniably the number one in basketball.
Ever since he achieved the honor of 10 championships, the discussion about the greatest of all time has lost its meaning and heat.
Because his first place is indisputable, others are just competing for second place.
The annoying thing is this guy is still playing, still adding badges to his stats and honor roll.
After the All-Star Game, Ah Gan had a small outbreak in form.
During the team's Southeast road trip, he performed excellently, leading the team to consecutive victories over the Heat, Magic, Hawks, and Hornets, achieving a four-game winning streak.
In the four games, Gan Guoyang averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks, showcasing 70% of the peak Ah Gan's style.
Especially Gan Guoyang's three-point shooting, in the four games, both the number of shots and the shooting percentage reached career highs.
As a trendsetter of three-point shooting in the league, over the past decade, the three-point shot has been a very important weapon in Gan Guoyang's arsenal, but not ranked in the top three.
As he aged, lost weight, weakened in confrontation ability, and favored outside offense, Gan Guoyang's three-pointers have increased.
His three-point attempts went from 2-3 in his rookie season to 4-6 mid-career, and now reaching an average of 8 attempts per game.
This number of attempts is among the top in the league, and the 46% shooting percentage balances volume and accuracy.
It's worth noting that many of his shots aren't open shots but rather outside shots taken by force when tactics fail, using three-pointers to forcibly end the attack.
Gan Guoyang calculated that a 46% three-point shooting percentage is equivalent to a 70% two-point shooting percentage.
About the same as his peak, only with much less damage, fewer scoring possessions, stronger explosiveness, and increased instability.
Suitable for achieving miracles in certain games and knocking out opponents in one go.
Early in the season, Gan Guoyang optimized his play with his training team.
After the All-Star Game, this optimization started to take effect, and with a wave of good form, the Glory Team temporarily rose to sixth in the Western Conference.
But after returning to Las Vegas, the Glory Team encountered a losing streak due to the instability of their three-point shooting.
If Gan Guoyang hits only 35% in a game, the Glory Team struggles on the offensive end.
Mathematically, the three-pointer does offer more advantages and efficiency, but must reach a certain volume to cause a qualitative change.
Shooting three to four, five to six more isn't enough in accumulated quantity, having relatively little impact.
The contribution of Gan Guoyang alone is quite limited, as the Glory Team's other players currently have average three-point shooting levels.
Moreover, the overall pace of the league is still relatively slow, and the Glory Team's Princeton System lacks sufficient coordination.
The offensive fluency has not been achieved, and problems such as lack of offensive power, excessive shooting instability brought by the Princeton have been exposed first.
In the past, Gan Guoyang used his strong low-post prowess to compensate for everything, but now he himself is taking more threes, which naturally makes this problem worse.
On February 21, the trade deadline approaches, and Danny Ainge hopes to acquire a player on the trade market with strong offensive power to solve the current firepower shortage problem of the Glory Team.
On February 20, the Glory Team faced the Eastern Conference's second-ranked New Jersey Nets at home.
The night before the game, Gan Guoyang invited the Nets' center, his old friend Hakeem Olajuwon, to the MGM Grand Hotel's hot spring room for a soak.
The good thing about the Glory Team's home is that it's very popular among visiting players is that the hotel is connected to the arena.
The hotel's facilities are fully equipped with food, hot springs, gambling, film, and entertainment, all-inclusive.
After visiting players check in, they can immediately go downstairs to the casino for a spin, able to indulge until just before the game starts the next day, even after the game, if they don't want to leave, they can continue until early the next morning.
For many players and teams with weak willpower and lacking strict management, this can be deadly.
Some team coaches and management have been protesting, claiming that the Glory Team's situation is a violation, using such means to deliberately weaken the opponent's fighting power.
No wonder the Glory Team's home record is so good, almost comparable to the league's top three teams, while their away games are just so-so, turns out there's trickery behind it.
But players don't think that way, with each team enjoying coming to Las Vegas for away games, and Eastern Conference teams only having one chance per season, treasuring it deeply.
Due to faith reasons, Olajuwon doesn't drink, gamble, or mess with other women.
So, Gan Guoyang just invited him for a soak, to catch up and chat.
Since leaving the Heat, Olajuwon has stayed with the New Jersey Nets.