The Golden Age of Basketball.

Chapter 990 Methods of Persuasion
On September 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, New York City held commemorative events, and the President of the United States and thousands of others came to the site of the attacks to pay their respects.

However, this is not the largest or most attended of the hundreds of memorial events held across the United States.

The biggest one is in Las Vegas.

Hundreds of people from all over the United States, claiming to be "Forrest Gump followers," came to Las Vegas on September 11. They consider this day their religion's "Christmas Day" and Forrest Gump's city a holy city, to commemorate the day their faith was born.

The number of participants was not large, just over a hundred; however, the commemorative activities that followed drew a massive crowd.

Because Gan Guoyang is so famous and well-known, and because there are so many tourists visiting Las Vegas in September, the followers arrived early to promote their faith.

Finally, on September 11, thousands of people gathered near the MGM Grand Hotel, and the number continued to grow from morning to night.

A small portion were believers who had traveled from all over, while another portion were tourists who came to watch the spectacle. They genuinely wanted to find a place to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

As more and more people gathered, the Vegas Police Department began to lose control of the situation and had to call the Glorious Team for help, hoping that Forrest Gump could come to the scene to take charge.

Gan Guoyang was training at the stadium when he received the call. He was told to "take charge of the overall situation," but he thought to himself, "What kind of overall situation am I supposed to take charge of? Am I supposed to lead them in a rebellion?"
But later, Mayor Oscar Goodman personally invited him, and Gan Guoyang had no choice but to drive back to MGM to meet with his loyal and devout followers.

Gan Guoyang was very worried that they might be some kind of illegal religious organization, so he publicly declared on stage that if there is a religion that follows him, it should only exist in the heart of an individual and should not have any hierarchical organization. If anyone claims to have established an organization with doctrines and rules, it must be illegal and not in accordance with faith.

"If you really want to believe in me, you can come to Las Vegas to watch my games, or turn on the TV to watch CBS's NBA live broadcasts. That's the best support. Everything about me is in basketball. Welcome to Las Vegas, enjoy life, that's my doctrine."

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted in the square, and Gan Guoyang hurriedly stepped off the stage and returned to his car.

Oscar Goodman said, "Your speech was brilliant, and it will contribute one percent to the tourism industry in Vegas."

Gan Guoyang said coldly, "Don't let me get involved in such incidents again. I want to live a few more years."

"how come?"

"The best spiritual leaders are the ones who have died. In this way, they leave behind only their deeds for you to interpret, without any rebuttal."

Gan Guoyang was well aware of the dangers of such incidents; once he got involved with religious forces, he would be in big trouble.

He didn't want this to be paying for his past foolish actions.

Just like in the United States, security is being strengthened across the country, and American athletes are even afraid to travel abroad to compete for fear of terrorist attacks.

Back at the training facility, everyone else had finished practicing, but Jordan was quietly working on his three-point shooting.

"Where have you been, buddy?"

"Preaching".

Jordan shook his head, tossed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and invited him to a one-on-one match.

Gan Guoyang, however, was in a bad mood and somewhat irritated. He said, "How about we go fishing?"

"Well, fishing is a good way to relax."

After packing up, Gan Guoyang had Quentin drive them, along with their respective bodyguards, to Lake Mead, located east of Las Vegas.

Lake Mead is a reservoir formed on the upper Colorado River after the Hoover Dam was built, and it is the largest reservoir in the United States.

Most of Nevada is arid and receives little rainfall, making it very difficult to find wetlands for fishing. The only option is to come to Lake Mead, which is famous for its striped bass.

There are designated fishing spots here, and staff provide various services. As long as you pay, you can fish however you want.

The two chose a spot on the open lake to sit down, gazing at the calm water beneath which lurked a large number of ferocious striped bass.

In September, around three or four in the afternoon, the weather was very pleasant, with perfect sunshine and a gentle breeze – a truly wonderful day for fishing.

Jordan was a good fisherman and soon had a good catch, while Gan Guoyang didn't catch much and his mind wasn't on fishing.

He often stares blankly at the calm water, sometimes not even reacting when the fishing rod moves.

Jordan looked at his meager fish box and said, "What's wrong with you, Sonny? Still upset about those fanatics? It's fucking ridiculous, but who gave you the right to make such an accurate prediction back then? That's not something the God of Basketball should be doing."

Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "I'm not troubled by the fanatics. The God of Basketball is naturally troubled by basketball."

"What, you don't have confidence in the team?"

"I fucking have no faith in you, Michael!"

"What's wrong with me? We've been training together for over a month, don't you have confidence in me?"

"It's because I trained with you for over a month that I lost confidence in you! You're not even as good as Kobe!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm 40, buddy! Besides, I can still beat that bastard Kobe!"

"Stop messing around, Michael. You can beat Kobe, but with your style of play, it's hard for us to win."

As he spoke, Gan Guoyang finally caught a fish, a big one, and put it into the fish box.

“I came back from outside and saw you practicing three-pointers, that’s good, but how high can you go?”

Jordan shrugged and said, "Probably a little worse than you."

"A little worse than me? Do you know what your three-point shooting percentage was last season? 18%! Not even as good as Barkley!"

"Don't get excited. Three-pointers are important, but not that important. I could still win a championship back then."

"But the Glorious desperately needs a three-point shooter right now. You can't take many shots, but you have to have one."

"What should I do? I'm already training hard! Should I go back to the drawing board?"

Gan Guoyang looked at the stone at his feet and said, "In terms of tactics and fighting style, you must listen to me completely."

"We agreed that whoever scores the most points will be the boss."

"Yes, we did agree on that, so now I'm here to tell you again, isn't that right?"

The term "two leaders" refers to the way people respond when asked in public, "Who is the team leader?"

On the surface, Gan Guoyang and Jordan both agreed, because Gan Guoyang wanted to give Jordan face; he wasn't there to be a subordinate.

But privately, Gan Guoyang must be in control of everything, otherwise if Jordan continues to play the old style, the new season will definitely be very difficult.

Jordan laughed and said, "Sonny, how come you get more petty as you get older? You think I really want to compete with you for the top spot? You're kidding, what do I have to compete with you for? Since I chose to come to Las Vegas, it's because I'm following your orders and obeying tactical discipline. I really want to see how you act as the leader. Everyone praises you and says you're a leader. I think you're just petty."

Gan Guoyang readily admitted, saying, "Yes, I am petty and a control freak. You'd better be prepared. I heard you criticize your teammates harshly when they don't perform well. I want to tell you, I am too." Gan Guoyang appeared even more candid in front of his friend, his control over the team never wavering.

The greater the opportunity, the more tightly it needs to be controlled; conversely, when the opportunity is small, it is better to loosen the restrictions and allow young people to develop freely.

At this point, Jordan was completely outmaneuvered by Gan Guoyang.

When he first arrived at Glorious, there was indeed controversy regarding his status, especially among Jordan's team, who were very worried that Jordan's collaboration with Forrest Gump would lower his status and thus reduce Jordan's commercial value.

Although their achievements differ greatly, they have always been considered rivals and benchmarks in terms of publicity.

Besides, Forrest Gump did have many championships and consistently beat Jordan, but Jordan also had championships and performed exceptionally well.

To become a demigod is already a great honor.

The management of Guanghui were also worried that if Jordan and Gan Guoyang fought for the leadership position, it would cause internal turmoil.

What if Jordan is dissatisfied and quits during the game, only scoring 7 or 8 points in a crucial game and ruining the victory?
Gan Guoyang firmly believed that Jordan would not do such a thing, but the distinction between the two kings still needed to be made. In public, we have two people in charge, so we should give Jordan enough face.

Within the team, Gan Guoyang is the undisputed leader; how to play and what arrangements to make are all up to him.

Jordan is proud, but this time, he compromised, willing to save face while sacrificing substance.

Gan Guoyang wasn't greedy for the leader's position; he simply understood that a team can only have one leader.

If they give up their status for the sake of friendship, the end result may be a lose-lose situation. At 40, they no longer have the chance to make mistakes.

Gan Guoyang caught more and more fish. When he had almost finished, he suddenly said, "By the way, let's go have dinner with Porter tonight. That guy wants to retire again. I need to talk to him about it."

"It's a miracle that Porter has made it this far. How did you convince him to play with you?"

Jordan really wanted to learn from him. One of the major reasons the Bulls broke up in 1998 was that Jordan was unable to unite the team to continue playing.

Otherwise, given Pippen and Jordan's form, reaching the Finals in 1999 wouldn't have been a problem, although they would most likely still have lost to the Trail Blazers in the Finals.

Gan Guoyang has dominated the league for twenty years, and he has many old friends who play with him. Everyone seems to be willing to play with him.

Gan Guoyang got up, cleaned the fish, and then picked up a large stone from the ground and put it into the fish box.

"If he stays to continue playing, I'll give him some fish. If he doesn't want to stay, I'll give him stones. It's that simple."

Jordan thought to himself, "This guy is really ruthless. If I hadn't agreed to become his underling, would I have been given stones too?"

Jordan shook his head. "Impossible. Forrest Gump isn't that kind of person."
-
Time flies. Summer has passed and autumn has arrived. The 2002-2003 preseason is just around the corner.

After Jordan announced his move to the Glorious in June, he stayed in Las Vegas for nearly three months to train with Gan Guoyang.

During this time, Juanita sent him a divorce lawyer's letter to discuss divorce matters, which left Jordan "homeless." He preferred to stay in Las Vegas and numb himself with training and beautiful women.

He hasn't trained for this long during the offseason in a long time, and he has successfully dropped to 220 pounds.

In October, the Glorious's training camp officially began, and the players returned to the team, assembling a powerful Las Vegas Glorious.

On the first day of training camp, Tomjanovich was very surprised by the physical condition of Gan Guoyang and Jordan.

"I can't believe these are two veterans nearing 40. Perhaps Father Time has forgotten their existence, or perhaps someone has cast a spell on them." Tomjanovich never hesitates to shower them with praise.

It's not magic, but rather scientific and disciplined training.

Because of their age, Gan Guoyang and Jordan no longer engage in extremely high-intensity training, but instead engage in long periods of low to medium intensity practice.

The two, along with Ewing, started a Las Vegas version of the "Breakfast Club," strictly controlling their diet and maintaining a regular training intensity.

Using computer software and data models to analyze the body's condition, weighing and testing weekly, and using the latest cryotherapy methods to maintain muscles and joints.

These technologies are all cutting-edge and not used by many teams. Gan Guoyang has a forward-thinking approach, emphasizing scientific training rather than blindly believing in intensity.

Jordan benefited greatly from the two-plus months of long recovery training; the inflammation in his knees was greatly relieved, and many of his minor injuries were healed.

Ewing took good care of his knee problem, not just focusing on maintenance, but using advanced equipment for treatment and strengthening his leg muscles.

In short, scientific training and advanced equipment cannot turn back time, but they can slow down decline as much as possible and restore a good state of health.

All of this was brought to Glory by Gan Guoyang. The money earned last season, after being distributed to other teams in the league and casino owners, was used by the team to purchase equipment and improve Glory's training and logistics.

Gan Guoyang has increased his weight to 256 pounds. In the new season, he will need to play more pick-and-roll tactics, which requires more weight to provide cover.

Of course, in terms of playing style, he will still be biased towards the outside, with a lot of mid-to-long-range shots, providing long-range firepower for the team.

Only in crucial moments will Jordan and Gan Guoyang unleash their trump card to deliver a fatal blow to their opponents.

On October 7th, the Radiant team played their first preseason game at home against the Phoenix Suns.

This year's Suns are also very strong, with Grant Hill returning from injury and in great form after a season of rest.

On the backcourt, rookies Tony Parker and Joe Johnson have great potential. The Suns traded Anfernee Hardaway to the New York Knicks for Kurt Thomas to strengthen their center position.

On the front line, Antoine Walker is already one of the best scorers in the league, and the team also drafted Amar'e Stoudemire in the draft.

The Suns' original target was Yao Ming, but unfortunately, they couldn't fight against the big players, and Yao Ming was traded to Las Vegas in a series of well-known moves.

The Suns have a good roster now, and given time, they will become a formidable opponent in the West.

Currently, the team seems a bit inexperienced, with too many newcomers.

In the first quarter, the Glory team exerted a little effort and surprisingly went on a 15-0 run against the Suns. Jordan and Gan Guoyang scored 15 points in a row without conceding a single basket.

Although it was just a preseason game, it was clear that both players were in excellent form, proving they hadn't wasted their summer.

The stadium was packed, which is rare for a preseason game, and Gan Guoyang and Jordan did not disappoint the audience.

They played for 15 minutes in the first half and 15 minutes in the second half. The key players played for half an hour in the preseason, which was a good thing for the football fans.

The two scored similarly, with Jordan having 21 points and Forrest Gump having 20.

As the game was about to end, Jordan broke through and assisted Gan Guoyang for a mid-range jump shot, bringing his score to 22 points, surpassing Jordan's lead.

The two high-fived and went off the field to rest.

(End of this chapter)