[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-golden-age-of-basketball":3,"chapter-the-golden-age-of-basketball-the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1266":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Golden Age of Basketball",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1444633,1896,"Chapter 1266 - 4: Loyal Portland","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1266",1266,"\u003Cp>[People are never static, and neither is a team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One day, when key individuals in a team no longer fulfill their duties, a team without a core will be unable to unite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The core can collapse due to various reasons, aging, exhaustion, accumulation of negative emotions, or the unbearable weight of life and fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, when the core can no longer unite people’s hearts, the corresponding team cannot provide positive feedback—trust, loyalty, and a sense of security—to the core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, the core could even become the focal point of resentment, the source of all conflicts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take, for example, my Hollywood friend Robert Towne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Towne is an Oscar-winning screenwriter who brought us the great film \"Chinatown.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterward, everyone hoped for a sequel, for Jack Nicholson to reprise his unforgettable role as the private detective Jake Gittes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Robert Towne, Jack Nicholson, and producer-actor Robert Evans prepared to start shooting the sequel to Chinatown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having worked successfully together in 1974 on Chinatown, in 1990, they named the film \"The Two Jakes\" hoping to achieve glory once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evans was set to play an important role in the film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, shortly after filming began, Towne painfully concluded that Evans could not fulfill this role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Production suddenly stopped, directly resulting in the loss of millions of US Dollars, followed by protracted lawsuits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one was a winner; Evans lost as his role was replaced, Towne lost because he was no longer part of the team when the film restarted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nicholson lost because handling the roles of director, producer, and actor was too challenging for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The public and the movie studios also lost because \"The Two Jakes\" was not a true sequel to \"Chinatown,\" and the film couldn’t reach the height of its predecessor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this process, a quarter-century of friendship and the efforts and work of the film company employees were all wasted and ended up in vain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When individuals stray from their path, the team composed of individuals will similarly lose motivation and direction, especially the individual that serves as the core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I also have another friend, Dr. Lu Richfield; he is a therapist and team repair expert in California.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When a team has no goal or a leader doesn’t have a clearly defined goal, the team will break apart.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dr. firmly said, \"The goal must be deeply rooted; otherwise, people may start operating like individual parts in this system that so truly requires cooperation, which will inevitably lead to division.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From 1993-1995, Miami Heat had a unified goal, the championship, and we worked together to reach the highest peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, starting in 1996, our core leadership gradually collapsed, the team broke apart, and we no longer had a clear goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same year Sunny Gan made a comeback, before which he had already won 7 championships, always surprising people with his ability to maintain leadership.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How the Trail Blazers always kept focus on championship and victory is a question I’ve researched over the years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One thing is certain, he must have been unwavering, the strongest, most unshakable core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He is the least likely to change.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>———— Published in 1998, excerpt from \"The Winner Within,\" a New York Times bestseller by Pat Riley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time flew by to July, and Gan Guoyang endured a week of hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t entirely stop eating but controlled his intake to a level that quickly burned fat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guided by a professional team, he lost over a dozen pounds in just over a week.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face changed from its previously chubby, slightly double-chinned appearance to a sharply sculpted one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes, which used to look somewhat gentle, now appeared sharp and gleaming (actually from hunger).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His shoulders and back became thinner, allowing him to wear the custom broad-shouldered suit without needing a new one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His belly became smaller, no longer looking bloated; the once strong and perfect body shape returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gan Guoyang donned the full outfit and stood before the mirror, holding a basketball, he felt he was back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Gan Guoyang knew inside that he hadn’t fully come back; only his appearance was temporarily restored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His strength, jumping ability, reaction speed, game sense, and desire for victory were still in a pending state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He breathed deeply, deciding to manage the surface tasks first and tackle the press conference next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was one hour left until Gan Guoyang’s comeback news conference; he was currently sitting prepared in the locker room at the Rose Garden Arena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, helicopters hovered outside, broadcast trucks blocked the entrance, and many reporters rushed from all directions to attend the press conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For this day, Gan Guoyang, Tang Jianguo, and the Trail Blazers had all done sufficient groundwork and preparations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things gradually became hectic; public emotions turned restless, with impatient people constantly calling the Trail Blazers to question if they and Ah Gan were toying with the public?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Jianguo monitored all this and very much relished the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This vast scope and immense scale of media attention are priceless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"USA Today\" reported that in recent days, stocks of Tang Jianguo’s company, as well as Avia, increased by over a hundred percent, with their market value rising by over 3 billion US Dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This fueled speculation, leading people to wonder if Gan’s comeback was somehow linked to financial manipulation.\u003C\u002Fp>",878,"2026-06-06T01:41:52.558Z",1,"novelbin.me","ecb3ea663a71e2cf559574082bccfd46874d07e60a04986dc72345a612eab20f","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1267","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1265",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]