The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 563 Enemy
"At halftime, the Bulls trail the Trail Blazers 57-59, down by 2 points."

"Forrest scored 23 points in the first half, and he scored 11 points in the last five minutes of the second quarter."

"Jordan scored 19 points and had 6 assists in the first half. Michael and Forrest were always ahead of everyone else."

"Petrovic played well, scoring 10 points and adding 3 assists in the first half. His two three-pointers played a key role."

During halftime, Bill Shawnley summarized the first half of the game, and he specifically mentioned Petrovic.

Shawnley is a living legend of the Trail Blazers, the voice of the team, and has been providing live commentary for the team since its inception.

However, Shawnley is not an easy person to get along with, and not every Trail Blazers player can get along with him.

After all, there have been so many players coming and going over the years. If a Trail Blazers player wants to be valued by Shawn Lee and emphasized during commentary, he must gain his approval through his performance on the court.

Moreover, Shawnley is a fairly fair and objective person. He is never stingy with praise and "Rip City," but when the team performs poorly, he will also criticize directly, saying, "They played terribly tonight."

Seanley never says, “We did well, we were great tonight, we didn’t feel so good.” He always uses “they” or “he” instead of “we.”

Although he is the most senior figure in the Trail Blazers' history, he insists that the players' outstanding performance on the court determined the outcome of the game.

He sees himself as just a reporter and a commentator, nothing more. He doesn't overly identify with the team or think he can share in the glory of victory.

Of course, the Trail Blazers players are willing to do this and share the glory with Shawnley.

As the players were leaving the field at halftime, Shawnley stopped Petrovic and asked if he had time after the game so he could buy him a drink and something to eat.

Since arriving in Portland, Petrovic has kept a low profile, with very little social activity, focusing his attention on basketball.

Petrovic was somewhat surprised by the invitation from Shaneley, a team icon, because he knew that Shaneley was always strict, especially with young players. He wouldn't easily give newcomers a friendly look unless they performed exceptionally well.

Petrovic has been playing well lately, especially his three-pointers in the first half tonight.

Although he couldn't stop Jordan, he didn't fall into a complete disadvantage or perform poorly.

“Okay, I’m fine, thank you,” Petrovich said, then went back to the locker room.

In the locker room, he told Gan Guoyang about it, while Gan Guoyang was drinking water to replenish his fluids.

Upon hearing Seanley say he was going to treat Petrovic to dinner, Gan Guoyang took out $100 from his locker and handed it to Petrovic, saying, "Remember to pay the bill tonight. Don't let Bill pay; he won't. That old stingy guy... Besides, it's good to have dinner with him and get to know him better. Sometimes you should participate in some social activities to integrate into the team and the city. If you play well, you'll stay here for a long time."

Petrovich refused Gan Guoyang's money, saying, "I'll treat you, I don't need $100, and I won't let Seanley pay."

Although Petrovic is a newcomer, his salary is not low, more than $100 million a year, the same as Drexler last season.

Although the NBA has a salary cap, there are no regulations on the amount or duration of contracts, and there are no standard contracts. Players and teams negotiate privately within the framework of the collective bargaining agreement.

Therefore, it is common for role players to earn more money than key players. For example, although Petrovic was a rookie, considering his status in European leagues and the efforts of his agent, the Trail Blazers still gave him a contract of more than $100 million.

Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls earns just over $70 a year.

Gan Guoyang forgot that Petrovic wasn't like Curry or Korsey, who were rookies who earned very little and had families to support. They were short of money, so he smiled and took the money back.

Petrovich asked curiously, "Is Bill stingy?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Bill's stinginess is about the same as my dominance on the basketball court."

Petrovich thought to himself, "Your dominance in showing off is unparalleled."

Shawnley's stinginess is well-known among the Trail Blazers' veteran players. Mitchell Thompson once said that Shawnley was the kind of guy who would go out with $200 and come back with $198.

His favorite things are free things: free food, free tickets, free drinks, and so on.

Back when the Trail Blazers had a smaller roster and everyone was close, Shawnley often went out for late-night snacks with Ramsey, Culp, and others after games.

Everyone split the cost equally, which was about ten to twenty dollars per person.

But every time it came time to pay, Seanley would say, "I only ate soup and salad, so I'll only pay four dollars and fifty cents."

Ramsey would say you can't do that, and Seanley would take out five dollars and put it on the table, refusing to spend a penny more.

In addition, he refused to share the cost of taxis with everyone, and was always the first to run to the plane to eat the free lunch.

Later, seeing how stingy he was, people started to tease him. One summer, at an NBA broadcasters' conference in New York, Drexler and other Trail Blazers players happened to be training in New York and were eating at the same Italian restaurant.

Drexler saw Seanley and had everyone put the bill in Seanley's name, then left immediately after finishing the meal.

When Seanley went to pay the bill, he discovered that the meal had cost $500!

In the end, Gan Guoyang paid for it; he didn't really care about the amount of money.

But he cared a lot about Seanley's life; he was afraid that the five hundred dollars would drive Bill to suicide.

So while Shawnley was very strict with his players, Forrest Gump was an exception, after all, he was his savior.

As the second half began, Shawnley continued to describe the progress of the game in his loud voice.

Judging from Shawnley's voice, the game suddenly became much more intense compared to the first half.

Jordan attacked the Trail Blazers' basket at the start of the third quarter. Using Bill Cartwright's screen, he faked a shot to shake off the defender, then cut to the basket with one hand from the middle and dunked! He was even faster than in the first half and fooled Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang's mid-range shot missed, and Jordan grabbed the rebound and launched a counterattack.

The ball was passed to John Paxson in the right corner, and Paxson made a three-pointer!
The Bulls took a commanding 62-59 lead over the Trail Blazers, putting them up by 3 points.

Subsequently, Pippen, Grant, and Jordan teamed up against Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Porter, who was cutting to the basket, but Porter's layup was interfered with by Cartwright and he missed.

During the counterattack, Jordan took a jump shot from the high post, and after Gan Guoyang came up to defend, he suddenly made a pass to Grant under the basket.

Grant made an easy layup, and the Bulls went on a 7-0 run against the Trail Blazers in the third quarter, extending their lead to 5 points.

Berman stood up from the bench, but he didn't call a timeout, knowing that Gan Guoyang would solve the problem.

Clearly, the Bulls made targeted adjustments during halftime, catching the Trail Blazers somewhat off guard.

The Trail Blazers spread out, and Gan Guoyang went for a low post one-on-one, with Grant now guarding him.

Jordan and Pippen double-teamed again, and this time Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Thompson.

Thompson made a jump shot from just inside the free-throw line, scoring two points.

Then, on defense, Gan Guoyang took the lead in guarding Jordan, leaving the inside to Thompson.

He and Petrovic double-teamed Jordan in the middle, forcing Jordan to pass the ball to Pippen.

As a result, Kossi stole the ball and scored on a fast break with a dunk!

With the score at 64-63, the Trail Blazers quickly closed the gap to just one point.

Jordan drove to the basket again, on the left side, with his left hand, but the shot was blocked by Gan Guoyang!
However, after landing, Jordan still kept the ball in his hands and threw it to Grant before he went out of bounds.

After receiving the ball, Grant made a floater off the backboard over Thompson, and the Bulls maintained their 3-point lead.

Gan Guoyang defended this ball to the extreme, even blocking the shot, but Jordan still managed to control the ball and pass it to his teammate.

Jordan plopped down on the ground, got up, smiled at Gan Guoyang, and shook his head, indicating that there was nothing Gan could do about him.

But Jordan's smile quickly faded. Petrovic used Gan Guoyang's screen on the left side to break through to the basket, and Jordan bypassed Gan Guoyang to closely guard Petrovic.

He was going to put more pressure on Petrovic, but the two collided under the basket and fell to the ground.

Jordan clearly committed a blocking foul on that play, but after getting up, he pushed Petrovic.

As a result, Petrovic flew into a rage, turned around and punched Jordan in the chest!
Jordan never expected that this European rookie, number 44, would dare to hit him.

He went up to shove Jordan, but Pippen grabbed Jordan and told him not to be impulsive, saying that Forrest Gump was behind him.

But Grant didn't understand. He charged at Petrovich, wanting to avenge his boss.

The two men wrestled on the ground, creating chaos as players from both sides surrounded them.

Just then, Grant suddenly felt himself being lifted up and dragged out.

Then he was thrown out, skimming the ground, and landed in the stands outside the boundary, colliding with the reporters there.

Grant was a little confused. He looked up and saw Forrest, wearing a white jersey, trash-talking everyone in the middle of a group of red Bulls players.

"Where the hell do you think this is? The Silver Dome Center? You sons of bitches, get out of here!"

"If you want to finish the game here and leave, I suggest you fucking play the game properly!"

"Referee, give me a technical foul!"

A conflict vanished without a trace, and no one dared to confront Forrest Gump.

Is it fair? No, it's not. Although Jordan pushed Petrovic, Petrovic struck Jordan first.

Is it a double standard? Yes, it is, because this is competitive sports, which means you have to stand on your teammate's side. Judging right and wrong is something to do after the game.

The referee gave Gan Guoyang, Grant, and Petrovic a technical foul each, and the Bulls were awarded free throws.

At this moment, Phil Jackson pulled Jordan aside and said, "Michael, Forrest Gump will never be on your side. If you ever get into a fight with one of his teammates, he'll punch you without hesitation."

Jackson didn't want to miss this opportunity to sow discord between the two.

Jordan didn't say anything, and silently ran to the court to shoot free throws.

Jackson thought to himself that the outcome of this game was no longer important.

The important thing is to make Jordan understand that Forrest Gump is his enemy, his biggest enemy.

(End of this chapter)