In order to achieve his career-best state, Kobe often consulted Gan Guoyang on how he could perceive the moon, rather than just see it.
Kobe pondered this question during the 1999 Finals, a time when he reached that state and performed excellently in the finals.
But soon, as Gan Guoyang left the Trail Blazers, Kobe had to take on the responsibility alone, once again facing the same issue: how to get closer to that wonderful state?
With Gan Guoyang around, Kobe only needed to worry about one thing, which was scoring; everything else would be handled seamlessly by Ah Gan.
After becoming the leader himself, Kobe realized there were numerous issues he needed to handle, both on and off the court, and sometimes he was forced to lose focus.
He disliked losing focus; he wished to concentrate, but reality forced him to take everything into account. He did his best to block everything out, ignoring any external opinions, focusing solely on himself, yet he felt it was still not enough.
Gan Guoyang told Kobe, I can no longer give you an answer because we have embarked on different paths; you are not me, and I am not you. There’s not just one path to reach the ultimate place; you should find your own path.
At the same time, Gan Guoyang suggested Kobe could ask Jordan, as Jordan’s technical characteristics were obviously similar to Kobe’s path.
However, in the season when Jordan came to the Trail Blazers as an executive, the two had a falling out, arguing during Kobe’s consultation with Jordan.
Eventually, Jordan left the Trail Blazers and made a comeback. However, it’s not true that Jordan taught Kobe nothing, nor that Kobe learned nothing.
Kobe knew that focus was his path, igniting himself with a fierce desire to win, concentrating on basketball alone, blocking out all other sensations, naturally reaching the state of "perceiving the moon" without seeing it.
This was different between Kobe, Jordan, and Gan Guoyang; Gan Guoyang never took the path of focus. On the contrary, he was never that focused.
He was inclusive, like the sun, spreading his brilliance everywhere, absorbing and controlling everything, from teammates to opponents, even referees.
This season, after becoming the leader of the Trail Blazers, Kobe’s understanding and insight into this deepened. In the 00-01 and 01-02 seasons, Kobe once wanted to be a leader like Gan Guoyang.
He learned from Ah Gan in every way, adopting his tolerance and openness, his optimism and free-spiritedness, but these traits weren’t inherent in him; Kobe was not this kind of person by nature.
So, everyone felt awkward, and Kobe himself felt awkward as well. In fact, there isn’t only one model of a team leader. As long as players recognize your strength and feel your sincerity, leaders of various personalities exist.
By this season, Kobe finally stopped emulating others poorly and started gradually returning to his favored style, interacting with teammates according to his true nature.
He let himself be harsh when harsh, annoying when annoying, without caring too much. He simply wanted to play the best game and lead the team to the championship.
Furthermore, he was no longer obsessed with having control over everything; not everyone, like Ah Gan, has such strong control urges, able to turn the team into puppets.
He focused more on himself, honing his body, skillfully practicing, refining details, like a martial arts fanatic in a martial arts novel, with little thought of becoming the martial arts leader, only wanting to become the top martial artist in the world.
Against the Glory Team, Kobe hit his first three shots seamlessly, slicing through the Glory defense like a sharp knife.
Kobe’s scoring performance didn’t end; taking the ball at the arc top, facing Jordan’s defense, he accelerated simply into the paint, stopped, and observed the defense.
Just when Jordan and the helping Yao Ming thought Kobe would pass to the weak side, Kobe suddenly plunged into the paint, went baseline, and completed the reverse dunk!
The Rose Garden Arena erupted in cheers as Kobe, chewing gum, slightly shook his head and pointed at Jordan, implying his defense was inadequate.
Kobe seized the moment when Jordan and Yao Ming were distracted, dashing in and executing a reverse dunk to evade Gan Guoyang’s block; it was truly an impressive shot.
In the subsequent two rounds, neither side scored; Andre Miller’s floater in the paint was blocked by Big Ben, and Kobe missed his fifth attempt.
The Trail Blazers’ defense was very well-organized, their details impeccable, especially against pick-and-rolls; Carl seemingly had done great work on defensive coaching.
They didn’t blindly increase intensity but ensured every rotation and defensive action was as standardized as possible, doing their best within their capability to trouble the opponent.
This aligned with Carl’s defensive philosophy and had been the Trail Blazers’ long-standing defensive principle: we’re not about stopping the opponent from scoring, but making each score difficult.
Such defense tested players’ patience and resilience; without thorough mental and physical preparation, and without adjusting their focus to the best, it’s easy to get lost in such defense.
Yao Ming, after consecutively making two shots at the start, missed the next two offensive attempts.
A mid-range jumper from the baseline missed, and a layup attempt after receiving a pass from Jordan was disrupted by Little O’Neal.
On the fast break, Kobe dribbled calmly, passed to Michael Redd on the weak side, and Redd hit the three-pointer!
With that shot, the Glory Team called a timeout as the score reached 11:7, with the Trail Blazers leading the Glory Team by 4 points.
The point gap wasn’t large, but the Glory Team was suppressed offensively by the Trail Blazers, with Jordan missing two shots.