[{"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-1377":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},1444944,1896,"Chapter 1377: To Be or Not to Be (Part 4)","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1377",1377,"\u003Cp>The meeting of two generations of national team players was slightly awkward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Zhang Weiping left the national team due to factional struggles, and he was on the losing side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Weidong, on the other hand, was a young player promoted to the national team by the winning side, so to put it bluntly, they were not on the same side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Zhang Weiping left China for America in 1988, essentially stepping away from the national basketball system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Weidong joining the Los Angeles Lakers was a renowned event in basketball circles, and despite Zhang Weiping being in Los Angeles for so long, he had not tried to contact Hu Weidong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because there was always a hurdle in his heart that he couldn’t get over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, with Gan Guoyang acting as an intermediary, the awkwardness quickly dissipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite the generational difference, meeting a fellow basketball person in a distant foreign country felt like finding water in a desert, a moment to savor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The usually reticent Hu Weidong found his words, and Zhang Weiping, after years of ups and downs and challenges abroad, also gained perspective on the past struggles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the national team was developing in a good direction, and the victors of those past struggles had not achieved satisfactory results, leaving early due to illness and paving the way for successors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talking about interesting stories from the national team, each had their perspectives and views.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Discussing experiences in America, Zhang Weiping’s words were more profound and poignant, while Hu Weidong talked about his unique NBA experiences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When it came to their distant homeland, both coincidentally drank a toast and sighed softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It should be snowing in Beijing now,\" Zhang Weiping said, knowing there was no snow in Los Angeles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When talking about the future, both couldn’t help but feel pessimistic, longing for home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Weidong needn’t say much, while Zhang Weiping pondered if he would really spend his life selling beer in a foreign land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite being very successful in this job with a highly-ranked position from the company, Zhang Weiping, who once made waves in the national team, still felt his soul belonged on the basketball court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Weiping said, \"I had an opportunity earlier, Central Television invited me back to do basketball commentary. But honestly, there are many young people doing commentary, and at almost 50, I really lack the confidence to compete with them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>NBA had cultivated Chinese fans for years, starting with game broadcasts in the 80s and nurturing a large base of loyal viewers by the 90s, which led to the emergence of China’s first batch of sports commentators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, the best commentators on television sports programs came from the basketball channel, given the high demand from a large audience, training a group of specialists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Gan Guoyang’s return, the viewership for China’s NBA games soared again, increasing the demand for commentators and reporters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Central Television aimed to emulate America’s sports channels by inviting retired professional basketball players as guest commentators, with Zhang Weiping being one of those invited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Zhang Weiping wasn’t confident about appearing on TV. His current job was stable, a result of his hard work; is it worth giving it up to go back to commentary?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though commentary is related to basketball, Zhang Weiping wasn’t sure if that was the life he wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Hu Weidong, he was filled with indecision about whether to return or stay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both turned to Gan Guoyang, hoping this basketball hero could give them a clear answer, like a Bodhisattva.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gan Guoyang couldn’t give them an answer; even if he believed Zhang Weiping could have a place in the commentary world, who knows what the present holds? Would staying in America be better for him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be or not to be, in the end, it’s a decision one must make for oneself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they parted, Gan Guoyang reminded them to watch him take on Jordan on January 4th next year, on TV.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Basketball will eventually give you the answers,\" Gan Guoyang said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-----------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers, in the absence of Gan Guoyang, defeated the Los Angeles Clippers on December 27th away from home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This game held special significance for Bird, as the Clippers’ coach was his mentor, Bill Fitch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Veteran coach Fitch took over the Clippers in 1994, and Sterling showed unusual patience, letting Fitch coach the team for two seasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the 1996-1997 season, the Clippers had developed some competitiveness and made it to the playoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the series of high draft picks the team amassed over the years from poor results had mostly failed to produce talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either traded away or wasted, countless young players and stars spent their youth in vain there over more than a decade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Trail Blazers, however, demonstrated that they had competitiveness even without Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ben Wallace, following his stellar visibility in the previous game, gained significant playing time in this game and made an impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wallace was gradually moving from the end of the bench forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the game against the Clippers, the Trail Blazers left Los Angeles and headed to San Francisco, while Gan Guoyang stayed alone in Los Angeles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On December 31st, the last day of 1996, Gan Guoyang spent New Year’s Eve with his good friend Michael Jackson at Dream Manor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson was thrilled to see Gan Guoyang, while Gan Guoyang was worried seeing Jackson’s vitiligo worsening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, he seemed addicted to plastic surgery, as his facial features, muscles, and especially his nose, appeared increasingly unnatural and strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, his temperament and voice remained as gentle as ever. After a sumptuous dinner, Jackson and Gan Guoyang took a walk in Dream Manor.\u003C\u002Fp>",944,"2026-06-06T01:41:54.549Z",1,"novelbin.me","bd460a374e94aa454be9a7bca1686f70055d2ba8b4d0b5f8f92958e585c73492","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1378","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-1376",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]