The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 1 A game and a dream
"Writing a story is like shooting hoops; you keep making shots, and you keep missing, and then you keep going, endlessly, until you're out of the game." — The author

Dang Lei sometimes thinks how wonderful it would be if his life were just a dream.

When he woke up from the dream and returned to reality, he discovered that he was actually a normal person.

You can tell from Dang Lei's surname that he is an orphan who grew up in an orphanage.

Dang Lei has never met his parents. According to Aunt Jiang, who takes care of him at the welfare home, she found him at the gate of the welfare home one winter morning in 1989.

He was sleeping peacefully in a bamboo basket lined with cotton, his little face red from the cold. He only burst into tears when Aunt Jiang picked him up.

Tucked among the cotton wadding was a note, a message from the child's mother, entrusting a kind person to raise the child, signed "Rui".

Aunt Jiang was moved by the mother's heartlessness, as she didn't even want her own child, so she named the child "Lei".

At first, the people at the orphanage couldn't understand why such a lovely boy would be abandoned by his parents. Later, they discovered that Dang Lei had a serious congenital heart condition.

Given the medical technology available at the time and the welfare home's limited funds, surgery was not an option to cure him. The doctor said he was unlikely to live past 20.

The welfare home is full of children with congenital disabilities and defects, and Dang Lei became one of them.

Xiao Dang Lei was completely unaware of this at first, and he grew up carefree with his friends at the orphanage.

One day, he noticed that some of his friends were disappearing one by one. The young boy was so scared that he thought the children would be eaten by his aunt, and for a while, he would hide whenever he saw her.

He later learned that these healthy children had been adopted and now had parents and a home.

Children like Dang Lei, who have serious congenital diseases, are unlikely to be adopted.

Aside from having congenital heart disease, Dang Lei is no different from other children. He attends school normally and excels in all his academic subjects. However, he cannot attend physical education classes or participate in strenuous physical activities.

While other children were running and playing on the playground, Dang Lei could only sit in the classroom and watch longingly.

Once, he couldn't resist chasing and playing with the boys in his class. Soon after, his heart started racing and he couldn't breathe properly, which scared the teacher so much that he was taken to the hospital.

The doctor told him, "You can't do strenuous exercise anymore, or it will be life-threatening."

Xiao Danglei asked, "Can I play basketball?"

The doctor laughed and said, "Of course not, basketball is also a strenuous exercise."

Xiao Dang Lei lowered his head. Of course he knew that basketball was a strenuous sport, but he was still not convinced and asked the doctor again.

As if it were a cruel joke of fate, he, who was destined to be unrelated to sports, unexpectedly encountered basketball.

It was the summer of 1997 when the TV station started broadcasting a basketball animation featuring a red-haired boy. In front of the 21-inch color TV donated by a kind-hearted person, Dang Lei was deeply attracted by "Slam Dunk" and spent the entire summer vacation watching it.

He smashed a black patch into the originally snow-white wall of the welfare home with a floral ball.

In 1998, CCTV-2 broadcast the NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. Children from the surrounding neighborhoods were betting on who would win the championship using Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles Water Margin cards in the city park.

While most people bet on Jordan, Dang Lei, taking an unconventional approach, wagered the entire welfare home's Water Margin cards (instant noodles donated by volunteers), believing that Karl Malone and Stockton's Jazz would win.

With Jordan's final shot, all the Water Margin cards in the orphanage were taken by others. Dang Lei spent the whole summer vacation winning them back through various means, and even won a lot more to give back to the children in the orphanage.

In 2001, Wang Zhizhi put on the number 16 jersey for the Dallas Mavericks, becoming the first Asian player to enter the NBA.

CCTV began broadcasting NBA regular season games, especially those of the Dallas Mavericks, regularly every week.

That year, Dang Lei graduated from elementary school and went to the county middle school, which was ten kilometers away from the orphanage, and began his boarding life. Away from the aunts and friends at the orphanage, and facing the heavy academic workload of middle school, he needed a source of emotional support.

In 2002, Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets as the number one draft pick, bringing the NBA craze in China to its peak. Most young people who love basketball became fans of the Rockets and Yao Ming.

Dang Lei was no exception.

Whenever time and conditions permit, Dang Lei never misses an NBA game, especially the games between the Rockets and Yao Ming.

At lunchtime, when CCTV broadcasted a game, Dang Lei and a group of classmates would go to the convenience store near the school gate to watch the game and buy a bag of Mimi shrimp crackers for 50 cents as a broadcast fee for the store owner.

Basketball newspapers and magazines such as "Sports Weekly", "Basketball Pioneer" and "Slam Dunk" became the best reading material to relax from the tedious schoolwork.

Back then, each student didn't have much pocket money. After eating, they had no money left to buy magazines. So whenever the newsstand had new stock, Dang Lei would gather everyone to pool their money to buy a copy, which would then be passed around among all the boys in the class.

He was the first to buy them, but always the last to read them. By the time they reached him, the newly bought magazines and newspapers were already old and worn, as if they had been dragged out of a dog hole. But that didn't stop him from reading them with great interest.

The distant yet passionate world of basketball across the ocean became a stage for teenagers to unleash their energy and imagination during their monotonous and confusing adolescence.

Wearing the number 11 jersey, the Chinese little giant embodies many beautiful yet unrealistic fantasies. Before anime characters, Korean beauties, and Japanese teachers had taken over the minds of teenagers, this 2.26-meter-tall man captivated the hearts of most young people.

Dang Lei was also deeply inspired by Yao Ming's achievements in the United States, and at one point naively believed that the "Ming Dynasty" touted by the Chinese media would one day arrive.

Dang Lei's hopes for Yao Ming and the Rockets accompanied him through three years of high school, but the Rockets and Yao Ming were eliminated in the first round by the Mavericks and Jazz respectively. The championship was just a distant dream, as distant as the students' dreams of Tsinghua and Peking University.

In 2008, the Rockets won 22 straight games in the regular season, but Yao Ming was sidelined for the rest of the season due to injury.

On the Olympic stage, Yao Ming led the Chinese men's basketball team to their best performance in history on home soil.

Dang Lei performed exceptionally well in the college entrance examination that year, and was admitted to a 985 university, leaving his small county town for the provincial capital.

In 2009, the Rockets finally made it past the first round to the semifinals to face the Lakers. After winning the first game, Yao Ming was sidelined with an injury again.

A promising situation was ruined in an instant, leaving Chinese fans with endless regret.

That year, Dang Lei was 20 years old. Heart problems began to frequently bother him. He often felt weak, had chest tightness, shortness of breath, and a rapid heartbeat.

In 2010, Yao Ming was sidelined for the entire season. Dang Lei overcame his health problems with unwavering willpower, achieved high grades, earned all his credits, received scholarships and stipends, and after deducting his living expenses, bought thirty boxes of milk, two boxes of books, and a large box of toys for the children at the welfare home.

Aunt Jiang called and asked him to save more money for his future. Dang Lei agreed verbally, but after hanging up, he ordered three basketballs and a simple basketball hoop and sent them back.

He hopes that children who love basketball can have real basketballs to play with.

In 2011, Yao Ming played five games and then disappeared from the court, as his body could no longer support him in playing basketball.

In June, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the championship, but Wang Zhizhi, wearing number 16, had already left Dallas.

On July 20, Yao Ming announced his retirement, leaving the basketball court forever.

When the news popped up, Dang Lei felt a tightness in his chest and sat in front of his laptop for a while, lost in thought.

He is currently playing NBA 2K11, a basketball game released last October. Unable to play on the court, he can only express his passion for basketball through the game.

In MP mode, he created a player he admired and named it after Gump, the protagonist of his favorite movie "Forrest Gump"—he envied Forrest Gump for being able to keep running.

Gump, standing at 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 meters), is an athletic inside player who combines strength and agility.

He has a square and handsome face, a strong physique, long arms, and powerful legs; he looks like a natural basketball player.

In terms of ability value settings, Dang Lei, who has an initial SP value of 10000, concentrates his limited points on shooting, strength and blocking.

Through training and matches, Gump continuously earned SP points, and under Dang Lei's allocation, his ability value rose steadily, allowing him to successfully grow into a star, a superstar, and a super-superstar.

After careful nurturing, Gump has become a perfect center with both offensive and defensive prowess, accurate shooting, amazing strength, and dual abilities inside and outside the paint, leading the team toward a dynasty.

The news of Yao Ming's retirement pulled Dang Lei out of the virtual world of basketball; a dream about basketball had come to an end, completely ended.

Those beautiful bubbles that once supported his spiritual world were burst at this moment. Yao Ming, only 31 years old and still in his prime as a center, left the basketball stage.

The Yao-McGrady duo, the championship, the Ming Dynasty—it was all just a beautiful fantasy woven by the passion of fans, like the scorching heat of midsummer dissipating completely after a heavy rain.

Dang Lei quit the game, closed his laptop, and decided to go outside for some fresh air; he felt extremely suffocated.

It's summer vacation now, but Dang Lei didn't go back to the welfare home. Instead, he stayed at school to tutor and earn some living expenses. The campus was deserted, with only the lush sycamore trees on both sides of the road rustling in the evening breeze.

Just a few steps from the dormitory, you'll reach the basketball court. In the past, whenever I passed by here, whether it was day or night, there were always many students playing basketball, and the sounds of thumping and banging filled the air, making it quite lively.

It's unusually quiet here tonight; none of the five basketball courts and ten hoops are playing.

Although students go home for summer vacation, there are still many people like Dang Lei who stay on campus, as well as people from other schools who come to play ball. There are always many people here until the lights are turned off at 10 pm.

What's wrong with today? It's not even eight o'clock yet, and there's not a single person here.

Dang Lei looked at the empty court and saw a brown basketball placed under the basket on the south side of court number two.

It was placed precisely within the semi-circular impact zone directly below the basket, perfectly positioned, as if intentionally placed there.

Dang Lei looked around. There was no one nearby. Suddenly, an impulse surged within him. The basketball seemed to be calling to him, urging him to go and pick it up.

Due to health reasons, Dang Lei was unable to play basketball. When he was a child, he would occasionally take a ball and find an empty court to play shooting games under the basket.

What makes basketball unique compared to other ball sports is that you don't need to be part of a team; you can enjoy the sport alone. You can spend hours dribbling, shooting, retrieving the ball, and shooting again under the basket until it gets too dark to see the basket anymore.

However, the school's sports field was always occupied and almost never available. Dang Lei didn't want people to know about his physical defect, so he always kept his distance from sports activities.

The court was unusually empty at this moment, with a ball under the basket. He clenched his fist and walked through the wire fence to court number two. The court lights illuminated the field brightly, and he seemed to step from the dark stands onto a shining stage. Many fans' eyes were hidden in the dark night around him.

Standing directly under the basket and looking up, Dang Lei felt that the rim was very low and very large, as if he could reach it with his hand.

Picking up the ball, the brown basketball skin with the word "Wilson" printed in black is a relatively rare Wilson basketball.

The official NBA ball is Spalding, and most of the balls sold in sporting goods stores are either Spalding or Spalding imitations. Wilson's ball, which was the official NBA ball before 1984, is not well-known in China and is not widely used.

He weighed the ball in his hand; it was a bit heavy. He took two steps back and threw the ball towards the basket. Dang Lei's shooting form was very standard, the result of countless hours of practice without a ball. The ball went into the basket cleanly, making a crisp "swish" sound as it passed through the net.

"Whoo~"

Dang Lei breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much better about the tightness in his chest; the feeling of scoring a goal was fantastic.

He picked up the ball, dribbled it twice, then stepped back a few paces to a slightly greater distance before shooting again. The ball hit the backboard, bounced, and went into the basket.

He had a great touch tonight. He has basketball talent; his shooting form is smooth and perfect, and his body movements are coordinated.

He gradually increased his speed, moving further and further away from the basket, until he was still able to make shots even beyond the three-point line.

With his talent, although he can't play professionally, he can still become a skilled amateur player on the local basketball court if he studies hard.

But life played too many tricks on him, giving him life only to take away his health. He faced everything with optimism and magnanimity and tried his best to overcome everything, but he knew in his heart that this body didn't have much time left for him, and he could feel it.

Just as he launched a long-range three-pointer that missed, and was about to retrieve the ball, he suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

A sharp pain shot through his chest, as if a hand was twisting his heart. The tightness in his chest grew stronger and stronger, and he felt like he couldn't get enough air no matter how hard he tried.

His hands and feet began to go numb, everything around him blurred in his vision, and the bright lights suddenly went out.

Finally, what appeared before him was a pitch-black sky with two moons hanging in it.

"If...if I were dreaming...how wonderful that would be..."

(End of this chapter)