Gan Guoyang patted Coutor on the shoulder, congratulating him on winning the championship, and asked, "Will you continue to fight on?"
"Yes, I will keep fighting, just like you."
"No, it should be me like you."
Coutor is one year older than Gan Guoyang, already 39 this year, which is considered old in the fighting world.
Originally he was a heavyweight fighter, but with age, he is no longer a match for those younger fighters.
In UFC 39, Rick Rodriguez shattered his orbital bone, causing him to lose his heavyweight championship.
Later, he switched to light heavyweight, according to himself, he plans to fight until he is 40, to keep fighting until he can fight no more.
After everything ended, at night, Gan Guoyang returned home. As soon as he parked the car, he saw a person standing barefoot in the garden, motionless.
Gan Guoyang immediately knew who it was, hurried forward, and said: "Dad, why are you out here again? Without even wearing shoes."
"Who are you calling dad?"
"It’s me, I’m Ah Gan."
"Ah Gan? Which Ah Gan? I only know the one who plays basketball..."
"The one who plays basketball, your son."
"What? The basketball Ah Gan is my son? Impossible."
"If you don’t want to, we can sever our father-son relationship."
"Well... this, what time is it today?"
"2003 NBA Finals, tomorrow is Game 5."
"Oh~ I... I remember, just remembered, Las Vegas Radiance against that, Portland Trail Blazers! No, right, Ah Gan is a Trail Blazers player, how is Radiance 3-1? The Trail Blazers won’t lose."
"I’m no longer a Trail Blazers player! I’m now a Radiance player, Radiance is the team I created myself."
"Damn~ how did you even create your own team?"
"Why are you still cursing? Come on, let’s go home quickly."
Gan Youwei’s Alzheimer’s symptoms have inevitably worsened in the past two years.
Although under meticulous care, the progression is slow, the living condition is good.
But from 1993 until now, it’s been 10 years, and the memory loss is irreversible.
The situation is getting worse, like not knowing who he is, not knowing where he is, running out barefoot more and more often.
No matter who finds him, the best way to restore his memory is to talk to him about the current NBA situation.
He can immediately recall recent game situations and remember he is the father of NBA legend Gan Guoyang.
It can be said that the NBA has become the last memory switch in Gan Youwei’s mind, also a memory calendar.
This is a major motivation for Gan Guoyang to continue fighting; he doesn’t want Gan Youwei to forget everything, that would be too cruel.
Bringing Gan Youwei home, Gan Youwei has already remembered his identity and recalled his son.
He was somewhat upset and said, "This ailment of mine is getting worse, I’ve forgotten how to cook, can’t make you a midnight snack."
"If you can’t do it, then you can’t, I don’t eat midnight snacks now."
"Son, if you feel tired, stop playing basketball. Don’t wear yourself out for me."
"I’m okay, I’m not even 40, still young, what is there to fear."
"Almost 11 championships, can’t fit them all on two hands, still playing?"
"There’s still the feet."
"Hmm~ I was thinking, if you stop playing basketball, we should go back to San Francisco together, renovate your uncle’s shop, and being a cook sounds good."
"Didn’t you say you can’t cook anymore? What cook are you being, you forgot to even add salt."
"Not talking about me! I meant you, you go be a cook."
"Hey, how come you still remember telling me to be a cook! I have 11 rings in hand, conquered such a vast empire, and you are still thinking about me being a cook! I think you’re not ill, very sharp in the mind, remembering everything."
"Is that so? You have 11 rings? How... how did you get those rings? Who gave them to you?"
Gan Guoyang knew, his dad’s mind had frozen again, the symptoms really are worsening.
June 13th, the fifth game of the finals begins, still at the MGM Hotel Center.
Gan Guoyang arrived at the gym early, warm-up in the locker room, preparing for the game.
As a veteran, warming up and preparation before each game is very important.
He needs over an hour to stretch his ligaments, getting his muscles into optimal condition.
Not for excellent performance in the game, just for regular performance, and avoiding injury.
Five minutes later, Jordan arrived, his face was brimming with joy, unable to contain his smile.
"Why are you smiling like you’ve won a five million lottery? What’s got you so happy?"
"Five million isn’t worthy of a smile, Sonny. It’s the last game, of course, I’m happy."
"The game isn’t over yet, don’t be happy too early, that’s not your style."
"Look at the news, buddy, Jermaine O’Neal injured his leg during training, Portland people are done."
Jordan handed over the newspaper to Gan Guoyang, still hot off the press, Little O’Neal strained, missing the fifth game.
Already at a disadvantage, and a big defeat in the fourth game, the Trail Blazers are demoralized and hit hard again.
Once Little O’Neal is absent, the Trail Blazers virtually concede the championship; the fifth game is indeed the last one.
"Xie Te, it’s truly a pity, I still wanted to dunk on Jermaine’s head a couple of times in the last game."
"Don’t be so cruel, Sonny, we ought to leave, give the youngsters some opportunities."
Jordan advised Gan Guoyang to retire together with him, perfectly ending their 1984 golden generation career.
This year Jordan played both happily and painfully; happy for the perfect collaboration with Gan Guoyang, apart from the Eastern Conference Finals, there was no challenge along the way.
Those young stars, Allen Iverson, Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Carter, Jide, Duncan, were all thrashed by the two, proving they were just old, not dead, that they just didn’t want to play, not that they couldn’t.
Sadly, at 39, every day he endures the torture of pain and fatigue.
The knees, waist, legs, fingers, Jordan was covered in scars.
Moreover, to win the championship, Jordan and Ah Gan both gave it their all in the game.
Not just strolling in defense, brushing stats in attacks, taking breaks when they wanted, earning the most money without shouldering the most responsibilities, acting like senior executives, laying on the merit book, letting young people work, taking credit themselves.
During the regular season, both played all 82 games, not missing a single one, each game appearance time was over 30 minutes, offering a spectacular performance to the fans for an entire season.
By the finals, Jordan had begun taking painkillers, spending a lot of time relaxing, undergoing physiotherapy after and before each game, otherwise, he couldn’t sleep at night.
"I really admire you, honestly, you even had time to watch UFC yesterday, while I just lay in bed not wanting to move, because there’s a game today."
Jordan had always been a monster with incredible energy, even when young, during the season, would run to Atlantic City to gamble overnight, then continue playing the next day.
But worn for nearly 20 years, along with aging, reaching the finals already felt strenuous.
Most importantly, as the championship neared, Jordan asked himself, does he still have the drive to continue?
The answer was no, truly no, even more certain than the last time in 1998.
He already planned what to do after retiring, playing golf, going out with friends, handling relationships with his wife and children, etc.
However, when he asked Gan Guoyang what his plans were after the finals, Gan Guoyang thought for a moment and said, "Rest for two days, prepare for new training. I feel my technique has some issues, needs improvement. You’re right, some techniques are too complex, my body can hardly withstand it, I need to upgrade, use newer techniques."
"Xie Te! Sonny, after becoming teammates with you, I’m convinced by you, I admit defeat, you should have 11 rings, should defeat me three times in the finals, truly."
Gan Guoyang smiled and said, "You know, I really love playing basketball, I truly love it."
(Bronze Dice, Volume II "Reunion" End.)