The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 830 Difficult Decision

On January 18, the Trail Blazers played against the Washington Wizards on the road.

Gan Guoyang and the Trail Blazers showed no mercy to the people of the capital and the president, easily defeating the Wizards 116-102 on the road, extending their winning streak to an astonishing 38 games.

They've already approached 40 games and remain undefeated.

Gan Guoyang recorded a triple-double tonight with 38 points, 19 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Their performance was as excellent as ever, and the Wizards had no chance to put up a fight.

The traditional frontcourt combination of Rasheed Wallace and Juwan Howard was as fragile as paper against Gan Guoyang.

Two young players, both graduates of prestigious universities and established in the NCAA, found themselves struggling to adapt to Gan Guoyang's versatile playing style.

Juwan Howard's size is a major weakness, and his physical attributes are only average. This is a key reason why many NCAA-caliber big men have failed to replicate their success in the NBA.

Rasheed Wallace's poor rebounding skills caused him a lot of trouble in rebounding battles, and Gan Guoyang grabbed 7 offensive rebounds.

During the game, the NBC commentator exclaimed, "Forrest Gump and the Trail Blazers have transcended this era. Their basketball is something that other teams can't touch or understand."

Gan Guoyang's playing style is indeed too advanced. He has truly realized Dr. Naismith's ultimate basketball dream: no matter where the ball is, you must launch an attack, starting from where you get the ball.

In a regular season match like this, watching game footage is useless for other teams; once the game starts, you'll know they simply can't handle it.

Everyone was used to grinding out half-court sets and playing a defensive game. The Trail Blazers' approach caught everyone off guard. From the roster structure to the rotations to the tactics and the details of the game, everything was completely out of sync.

After the game, all the teams were completely bewildered. How could a game be played like that?
Some clever people figured it out, but before they could fully understand it, the next match was already upon them, and they had to go back to their usual routine.

If they still can't beat the Trail Blazers next time they face them, the coaches don't have any good solutions. A truly systematic study and countermeasure can only be done during the offseason.

This season is up to us, let's wait and see. Let the Trail Blazers be in terrible form, let's wait for their Ugly Duckling Night.

The Trail Blazers achieved a 38-game winning streak, but this news wasn't the headline the next day because another explosive piece of news broke.

Just three days after Clinton was charged with sexual harassment, on January 19, the president held a televised press conference.

At the press conference, Clinton and his wife Hillary stood together and admitted to the cameras that he had had contact with White House intern Lewinsky.

On television, Clinton, holding his wife's hand, tearfully apologized for his behavior, saying he was willing to accept any punishment, including losing the presidency.

This news spread rapidly across the United States via television media, and subsequently reached the world, becoming the most shocking news of January 1998.
The US president admitted that he made a mistake that any man would make.

When Gan Guoyang saw this news, he had already returned to Portland and was resting at home.

The team was exhausted after their away trip to the East, but thankfully the schedule provided them with two days of rest.

The Trail Blazers' schedule this season can be described as quite favorable, with many home games at the start, few back-to-back games, and only two back-to-back away games.

After each away game, they would arrange two days or more of rest time, and then play several back-to-back games at home.

This is very beneficial for the players' physical recovery, as well as for organizing their lives and game rhythm.

So far, the Trail Blazers have no major injuries, only some minor ailments.

These are all prerequisites for the Trail Blazers' success so far. It can be said that the right timing, location, and people have combined to allow the Trail Blazers to go this far.

Even the Trail Blazers' players and coaches themselves couldn't believe it; they hadn't lost a game by mid-January 1998.

But what's even more unbelievable is that their president would admit on television that he had a relationship with an intern.

"The United States is finished. The president actually did something like this! What do you call this? When a nation is about to perish, monsters will surely appear!"

Gan Youwei sat on the sofa, watching the news and expressing his opinions.

In the past two years, Gan Youwei's condition has stabilized, and there are no obvious signs of dementia, which is what makes Gan Guoyang feel most at ease.

Every time he goes home, he takes some time to watch TV with his dad, watch the news, and have a short chat.

Gan Guoyang likes to talk to Gan Youwei about the past, using the competition as a time anchor to constantly stimulate and evoke Gan Youwei's memories.

For example, the 1986 Finals, the 1991 Finals, the loss in the 1989 Western Conference Finals, the 1992 tackle on Malone, etc.

Gan Youwei remembers most of it very clearly and can clearly describe what happened that day and how he felt.

Every time Gan Youwei talks about his past experiences, Gan Guoyang feels a little more at ease, and he can better focus his attention on the game.

Besides reminiscing about the past, Gan Youwei also enjoys commenting on American social news and expressing his opinions from his own perspective.

As people get older and stop working, spending their days at home reading books and newspapers, they inevitably have a lot of random thoughts.

When Gan Youwei saw the president of a country admitting his mistakes on television in front of the entire nation and the world, he felt as if his worldview had been shattered.

Gan Guoyang seemed much calmer. He ate an apple and said, "It's nothing. The most important thing for a president is honesty. Problems in his private life are minor issues."

Gan Youwei took off his glasses and asked, "You and President Clinton are friends, do you think he's an honest person?"

Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "Dishonesty is not acceptable. How can an honest person become president?"

Gan Youwei scoffed and said, "You just said that the most important thing for a president is honesty, so how come you say that an honest person can't be president? Isn't that a contradiction?"

After finishing his apple, Gan Guoyang carefully tossed the core into the trash can and said, "As long as the president makes people feel that he is honest, that's enough. That's why Clinton revealed it himself."

Gan Youwei scratched his head, feeling completely confused, indicating that he didn't quite understand.

"Let me use basketball as an example. If you want to get a big contract, first, you have to be really good, and second, you have to make others think you are good."

"Is being good at basketball just a way for others to think you're good?"

"You don't understand, Dad. There's a reason behind this. You can figure it out yourself. It'll be a good exercise for your brain."

"Why would I exercise my brain? I'd rather watch TV."

Clinton's revelation caused a huge uproar, but from a political perspective, he made a smart move.

Because if Clinton didn't confess or admit it, he would be met with a series of bombshells from Starr.

These bombshells included phone recordings of Lewinsky and her friend Linda Tripp, and a blue dress stained with Clinton's genetic material.

As Gan Guoyang said, what matters to the president is not his affair with his intern secretary, but that he lies to the American people.

Although everyone knows politicians are full of lies, you can't expose their own "honest" lies—that's the rule, that's the unspoken understanding. Before Gan Guoyang reminded Clinton, he was completely unaware, believing everything was done flawlessly and without a trace. Little did he know that as the president of a country, how could anyone else remain undetected?
Besides, under the spotlight and magnifying glass, who can be perfect?

No one can, so it's better to just admit it openly and honestly sooner rather than later.

This will result in being subjected to rampant attacks and ridicule from the public, being pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes, and having this sordid matter brought up in every day to come.

The advantage, however, is that Clinton can avoid the biggest wave of attacks. All the previous messes are just the tip of the iceberg; the issue of "lies" is the most fatal.

Clinton spent a day talking to his wife, discussing and analyzing the pros and cons of the matter, and made a difficult decision.

Gan Guoyang's information played a crucial role in this, making it clear to Clinton that the president was not safe and that he could not hold out any longer; he had to sacrifice himself to save the president.

Of course, the Clintons were also very puzzled as to how Gan Guoyang knew so much about these things.
The key pieces of information he provided, including the blue dress, made Clinton instantly realize that everything he said was true.

The couple knew that Forrest Gump had a wide circle of friends and great abilities, but were his abilities really that great?

It is said that he has a close working relationship with the FBI and used FBI information to deal with a group of young players and agents who were demanding big contracts.

His entanglements with West Coast politicians, minority groups, and business tycoons are even more complex and difficult to unravel.

By the way, this guy still holds Chinese citizenship and is Chinese. He might have intelligence support from across the Pacific.

Clinton wondered if Forrest Gump's reminder was a demonstration of their intelligence capabilities by the other side, or perhaps some kind of political blackmail.
The couple spent the entire night trying to figure out how Forrest Gump knew all this information and what it meant.

Whether with good intentions or malice, the two immediately formed a united front, held a press conference together to acknowledge the matter, and faced the storm together.

As for Forrest Gump? Let him win, however he wants. Observe him for now, and we must get along well with him.

So, the day after Clinton revealed this, he called the Trail Blazers' training office at noon and said he was looking for Forrest Gump.

"This is Larry. Who are you? What do you need Forrest Gump for? He's in physical therapy." Bird answered the phone.

"I am President Bill Clinton, and I have some personal matters to discuss with Forrest Gump."

"You're Bill Clinton? Haha, I'm Ms. Lewinsky's boyfriend, and I think you need to give me an explanation."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, then the voice said, "Coach Larry Bird, it really is Bill Clinton. Can't you recognize my voice? I need to speak with Forrest Gump urgently."

Bird's mind went blank for a moment, thinking, "Oh no, it really does sound like the President's voice."

Bird came out, went to the physiotherapy room, found Gan Guoyang, and said, "Sonny, here's your phone."

Gan Guoyang asked, "Who?"

"Lewinsky's boyfriend."

"what?"

Gan Guoyang was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening during the interview.

"Shit, why is this guy calling here? Is he afraid of being eavesdropped on?" Gan Guoyang muttered.

Gan Guoyang arrived at the office, closed the door, and answered the phone. Clinton's voice sounded very friendly.

He expressed his gratitude to Gan Guoyang in a very warm tone, much more so than when they were just friends in the past.

After that, Clinton began to subtly probe Gan Guoyang, trying to get him to reveal why he knew so much confidential information.

Gan Guoyang obviously couldn't answer. How could he answer?

I knew about this a long time ago, and I even bought a magazine that detailed the cause and effect of the incident, which is why I still remember it vividly after more than ten years.

That was definitely something he couldn't say, so Gan Guoyang could only laugh it off and keep making excuses for Clinton.

Clinton, at his wits' end, finally asked, "Sonny, I... I'm thinking about how I can thank you, and how I can help you?"

Gan Guoyang said, "Oh, it's nothing, just let the NBA survive. You helped me in the past, you stood up for me when I hit someone, I'm very grateful to you, so I'm just reminding you, that's reasonable, right?"

"That makes perfect sense, that makes perfect sense. I still hope it can be of some help to you in the future."

I appreciate your kindness, and I will contact you when I need it.

"No problem, preferably while I'm still president."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Clinton hung up the phone.

Gan Guoyang let out a long sigh and looked up at the ceiling.

The fluorescent tubes on the ceiling were a bit old, flickering and making people's eyes uncomfortable.

Gan Guoyang didn't know if what he was doing was right or wrong; it was both a sudden inspiration and he had his own motives.

However, he could sense that it was very dangerous to have a powerful person owe you a favor.

Especially if you make him feel like you have something on him, it's like asking a tiger for its skin.

This couple may appear glamorous, but they are actually ruthless and vicious; no one in politics is immune to corruption.

The lights were still flickering with a buzzing sound. After Gan Guoyang came out, he asked the logistics department to replace the office light bulbs.

Bird came over and said, "Sonny, I'm thinking, should we just give up this season and not try to win the championship?"

Gan Guoyang touched Bird's forehead and said, "Since you don't have a fever, then you're crazy. I'll take you to a mental hospital right away."

“Sonny, when I answered the phone just now, I didn’t believe it was the president on the other end. I said… I said I was Lewinsky’s boyfriend… If we win the championship, we’ll have to go to the White House to be received again, which will be very awkward.”

Gan Guoyang thought to himself, "You son of a bitch, you don't even want to win the championship for this?"

He knew Bird was joking, of course. The bad boy was having too much fun as a coach and always had to find something to mess with.

"That's perfect. Go to the White House to meet your brother-in-law and exchange experiences as fellow travelers."

The two joked around as they returned to the stadium to continue training.

The logistics team was changing the lights. The flickering bulbs were replaced, the light became stable, and a buzzing electrical sound was heard.

(End of this chapter)