[{"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-679":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},1444096,1896,"Chapter 679 - 57: High Mountains","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-679",679,"\u003Cp>Inside the home locker room at Chicago Stadium, the situation is quite similar to the away locker rooms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A large number of media reporters crowded the more spacious Bulls locker room, surrounding Michael Jordan before the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In some ways, Jordan and Ah Gan are similar; they both excel at managing their relationships with the media, using a close-knit attitude to leverage this intermediary bridge to maintain tight connections with fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For any commercialized sport, media publicity is essential, serving as the fans’ eyes and ears, sometimes even their brains, thinking on their behalf and guiding public opinion to praise or criticize a player.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan and Ah Gan are both praised figures, although not without controversies, people’s affection for them is overflowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To date, Gan Guoyang’s achievements are greater, with a triple championship that is truly remarkable, and his records shine brightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, from this year’s investigations by authoritative magazines like Sports Illustrated, the number of people supporting and liking Michael Jordan is greater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reasons are multifaceted: nationality differences, playing styles, business promotion, etc., but the most speculated reason is that everyone wants to see Jordan win for once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah Gan has won too much; if one side always wins and the other loses, it is no longer an evenly matched confrontation, and it is not appealing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird met twice in the finals, each with their wins and losses, and they also had alternating wins in the regular seasons, with no one achieving a dominating advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah Gan and Jordan each have their unique strengths and are unquestionably the leaders of the interior and exterior lines in the league.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the records of their respective teams differ greatly, with last year marking the 11th encounter, where Gan Guoyang led the Trail Blazers to their ninth victory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight is the 12th face-off of their careers, if the Bulls and Jordan lose again, Gan Guoyang will dominate with a record of 10:2, reaching double-digit victories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan has been asked more than once in interviews how he views the record between the two teams, and how he sees the Bulls’ record of more losses than wins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In earlier years, Jordan would confidently say, \"We’ll be playing in the league for a long time, and one day I will win it back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Jordan still firmly responds with slight annoyance when faced with this question: \"There’s still a lot of time left for me, and I will defeat him in more important matches.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang often hears Jordan’s responses through reporters, and his replies are always heartwarmingly consistent: \"The future belongs to Michael.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much so that years later, Avia shot an advertisement ending with the slogan \"The future is yours,\" which was later seen as a jab at Michael Jordan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Ah Gan, Jordan enjoys sitting in front of his locker and chatting with many media friends, then learning about the current situation of the Trail Blazers through their narratives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Portland has the most players from socialist countries, and their gameplay is different from other teams; Bobby Beelman particularly values the role of data.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sabonis and Ah Gan are the cornerstones of the Trail Blazers’ offense and defense, but their guards have performed exceptionally well in recent games. Hornacek, Porter, Petrović, Curry, Sanders, they have very strong firepower.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sabonis might struggle with foul trouble, and his defensive experience is still insufficient. Divac, on the other hand, is more talented offensively but lacks speed and explosiveness.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Trail Blazers’ front line is their biggest weakness; Jerome Kossie is not in good shape tonight, his finger is injured. Aside from Kossie, there are no reliable, versatile front line players left.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, they have one,\" Jordan interrupted their conversation, continuing, \"If Ah Gan plays in the three-position.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reporters all chuckled, but the laughter soon faded because Jordan wasn’t joking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah Gan seldom plays in the three-position, but that doesn’t mean he lacks the ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the former ’three giants’ of the Trail Blazers, Ah Gan was the small forward, and their offense dominated the league.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, playing as a 6-foot-10 small forward is not unacceptable, John Salley at 6-foot-11 thrives in the three-position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However, if Ah Gan goes to the perimeter, I will take him on; Sonny always brings out the best in my defense.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Jordan spoke, the reporters were all heads down, furiously taking notes, undoubtedly the statement would become a key part of tomorrow’s headline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Jordan and the reporters chatted away, the Bulls’ teammates looked on coldly from the side, Scottie Pippen occasionally showing peculiar looks, seemingly with a hint of disdain but not daring to openly show it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He muttered to himself, \"I’m the key to defending Ah Gan, what can you do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Pippen wouldn’t say this aloud, but he wasn’t wrong; Pippen was crucial for the Bulls in handling Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the last game, Phil Jackson didn’t assign Pippen the heavy task of assisting in the defense against Gan Guoyang since the season had just begun and everyone was still testing each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the season progressed, the Bulls’ triangle offense and team building achieved success, performing increasingly well in the regular season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson has coaching tactics different from Collins; he’s not a tactical genius and dislikes endlessly designing various plays.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He melds this talented team with his unique philosophy of value, gaining more and more respect and adoration from the players — except Jordan.\u003C\u002Fp>",906,"2026-06-06T01:41:36.635Z",1,"novelbin.me","f6b15848e026a005695ac3c9a234d8389c8174199f00297f809843cede078450","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-680","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-678",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]