The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 22 Chinese People and Basketball

Gan Guoyang and Gan Guohui have completed their 10-day basketball summer camp and gained a lot.

In 10 days, the course covered almost every aspect of basketball skills, providing Gan Guoyang with a comprehensive refresher course.

With the help of Bellman's private coaching, Gan Guoyang's basketball skills were solidified.

He used to play street 3v3, which has relatively simple requirements for skills and tactics.

In a real 5v5 match, a more comprehensive set of requirements will be placed on a player.

Gan Guoyang achieved his goal at this training camp; the $150 was well spent, and he was generally satisfied.

The only drawback was that the teammates in the same camp were really not very good; they were all just enthusiasts.

Gan Guoyang's techniques had no chance to be tested on the field. In the final 5v5 match, he only needed to exert a little force to bring down his opponent.

It's understandable, really. A group of 13 or 14-year-old basketball enthusiasts, all under 180cm tall, are no match for a 16-year-old center who is over two meters tall, well-rounded and powerful.

The two returned to Gan's Restaurant in the afternoon and found that it had changed drastically.

The steaming platform that was previously placed in the hall for serving dishes has been removed and replaced with a wooden platform.

The restaurant has been equipped with sound systems, microphones, and laser lights. A wine cabinet has been added where the Guan Gong statue used to be, with a large number of wines neatly arranged. It no longer resembles the Chinese restaurant it used to be.

Gan Guoyang almost thought the restaurant had closed down, changed owners, and been renovated, but when he went outside and glanced at the sign, it was still Gan Family Restaurant.

It seems that Gan Bingguang and Gan Youtang have fully embraced the band residency model in order to attract San Francisco's large number of music lovers and marginalized groups.

They also came up with a new idea: they hired two pretty Chinese-American girls as waitresses and added a dishwasher in the kitchen.

Gan Guoyang no longer needed to deliver food; his task was to focus on studying and playing basketball. Because of him, Gan's Restaurant began to gain fame in the Chinese community.

Everyone will say, "It's that basketball kid's family restaurant; they beat the number one team on the streets of San Francisco in the game."

In any society, fame is often accompanied by wealth and status, which explains why Eileen Chang said that one should become famous as early as possible.

Sixteen-year-old Gan Guoyang made a name for himself on the streets, so he wasn't the only one who wanted to help him on his basketball journey.

On the 15th, Chen Yaoming, the landlord of Gan Family Restaurant, visited the restaurant with his son Chen Xing and a sprightly old man.

Chen Yaoming, no longer the arrogant and haughty man he was when demanding rent, smiled and served tea and water to Gan Bingguang, saying that the good business of Gan's restaurant was half due to its location.

Gan Bingguang didn't bother with Chen Yaoming, but the old man was someone important; he was Huang Shaohua, the vice chairman of the San Francisco Chinese Community Endeavor Foundation.

Chinese immigrants have a history of over a hundred years in San Francisco, and the Pacific Railroad was built with the blood and sweat of Chinese people.

In order to survive in distant foreign lands, Chinese people banded together for mutual support, and thus large and small chambers of commerce and gangs were established.

As times have changed, some of them have gradually disappeared, while others have become formalized and financialized. The Chinese American Endeavor Association is one of the largest Chinese foundations in San Francisco.

When Gan Bingguang and his family immigrated to the United States, they received financial assistance from the Endeavour Association, and he also received support from the Endeavour Association when he opened his restaurant.

Huang Shaohua's purpose for this trip was very clear: to sponsor Gan Guoyang's playing of ball. His food, clothing, accommodation, training, and schooling expenses will all be covered by the foundation.

He also said he would bring more people to Gan's Restaurant in the future, as he heard that there was a chef there with superb culinary skills.

Huang Shaohua's generosity was, of course, conditional: Gan Guoyang would represent the Chinatown Beiqiao Middle School basketball team in next year's CIF competition.

"This is my only request. As long as you help Beiqiao High School compete in the California tournament and bring glory to our Chinese community, I will cover all your college expenses!" Gan Guoyang asked, "What if I fail to bring glory?"

Huang Shaohua laughed and said, "I watched your game against Cancer that day. I don't think there are many high school students in San Francisco who are better than you. With you here, at least our new team's performance won't be too bad."

"Beiqiao Middle School used to have a basketball team, but it was disbanded because of its poor performance. This year, CIF has an expansion plan that will increase the number of participating teams, so we have a chance to make a name for ourselves. You've come at the perfect time; you're exactly the kind of talent our basketball team desperately needs."

“Young man, I know you are very talented, and many high schools will be coming to you recently. To be honest, Beiqiao Middle School has very weak basketball resources and a weak sports atmosphere, so it is not a suitable place for development. But I will try my best to give you the best conditions and the greatest support! I hope you can think it over carefully and give me an answer before the start of the school year.”

Despite his advanced age and age spots on his face, Huang Shaohua spoke with great respect and sincerity to Gan Guoyang, a younger man, and did not resort to moral blackmail or force Gan Guoyang to join the Chinese school's team.

Gan Guoyang said, "Mr. Huang, there's no need to wait until before the start of the school year. I can give you the answer now. My dad has already completed the enrollment procedures for Beiqiao Middle School, and I will definitely join the Beiqiao Middle School basketball team."

Hearing Gan Guoyang say this, Huang Shaohua was very excited, grinning from ear to ear, and kept saying, "We'll have a sports star in the future, haha, we'll have a sports star in the future!"

Huang Shaohua then decided to host a banquet at Gan Family Restaurant the following evening, inviting the board of directors, teachers, important members of the foundation, and prominent figures in Chinatown of Beiqiao School to congratulate Gan Guoyang on joining the Beiqiao Middle School basketball team.

This very Chinese way of celebrating made Gan Guoyang feel flattered. He was just a high school student who hadn't made a name for himself yet. Was it really worth such a grand celebration?
Seeing Gan Guoyang's confusion, Chen Yaoming said, "Young man, you don't understand, do you? Mr. Huang and I both have ancestral roots in Dongguan. The passion of Dongguan people for basketball is unique in all of China."

"In 1949, I was nine years old and my parents and I were in Guangzhou. All of Guangdong was liberated, and the government organized basketball games every night at the floodlit basketball court in Guangzhou Cultural Park. Wow, the basketball team was composed of People's Liberation Army soldiers from the north. They were all tall and strong, and our Guangdong team couldn't beat them."

"Then, a team from Dongguan called Huaqing volunteered to compete against teams from the north. The leaders in Guangzhou didn't even give them a chance to play, but they persisted and seized the opportunity when one team was absent, first defeating the team from the Central and Southern Military Region. After that, the Guangzhou Municipal Government team, the Beijing Garrison team, none of them were a match for us!"

"Haha, we won a dozen or twenty games in a row, turning the Guangzhou Stadium into Dongguan's home ground. That atmosphere, that sense of pride, I still remember it vividly even after thirty years."

When Chen Yaoming talked about his basketball past, his originally somewhat sleazy face suddenly shone with light.

Chen Xing, standing to the side, rested his chin on his hand, looking utterly helpless. Clearly, Chen Yaoming had told this story countless times.

Huang Shaohua said, "In the 40s and 50s, there was a famous Chinese-American basketball player in San Francisco named Huang Xianhu. Although he was not tall, he was very good at playing basketball and had a very accurate shot. In 46, we organized a Chinese-American all-star basketball team, and he led the team to defeat American teams twice in a row. Wow, we Chinese were so proud at that time."

"Huang Xianhu was the first Chinese American to play basketball at Madison Square Garden. He played for the University of San Francisco and had a 60% field goal percentage! By the way, he was teammates with that Kap LaVine in college, and Kap had a very high opinion of you."

"But later on, there were more and more Black people on the basketball court. You could see Black people playing basketball everywhere on the streets, and fewer and fewer Chinese kids were playing basketball. Everyone wanted their children to be doctors or lawyers; nobody wanted their children to be athletes."

"The United States is a sporting powerhouse, and every region attaches great importance to sports, especially team sports like basketball, which are related to the honor of local communities. You can never overemphasize their importance."

To many Americans, the NBA is simply a high-level professional league, and watching it is just for fun.

Local basketball teams and university basketball teams hold a much higher status and deserve all the support they receive.

In the United States, there is the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Locally, in high schools and universities, there are also their own basketball hall of fame to carry on their unique history and allow future generations to commemorate, emulate, and strive for.

Gan Guoyang understood the deeper meaning behind it and knew that he had a responsibility on his shoulders, but he was not afraid.

"By the way, Mr. Huang, Huang Xianhu shares the same surname as you. What is your relationship?"

“Xianhu is my nephew, and I gave him his first basketball.”

Gan Guoyang then turned to Chen Yaoming and said, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Huang has been so generous. You love basketball so much, shouldn't you do something in return?"

"Show? Show what? Just tell me what you want!"

"Could you reduce the rent for Gan Family Restaurant? The rent is a bit too high."

(End of this chapter)