[{"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-766":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},1444183,1896,"Chapter 766 - 12 Borrowing Your Auspicious Words_5","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-766",766,"\u003Cp>The Bulls started the season with three consecutive losses, and Jordan’s scoring was not satisfactory, managing 4 wins and 4 losses in the first 8 games, only a 50% win rate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before facing the Portland Trail Blazers, they lost to the Phoenix Suns—Charles Barkley overshadowed Jordan in that game, scoring 37 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Jordan only scored 34 points, which led to him constantly talking trash to Barkley during the game and after the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This seriously hurt Jordan’s pride; he cared a lot about his statistics and would confirm his scores with the officials during games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he felt there was a discrepancy, he would correct it; his memory was very good, and he rarely made mistakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the start of this season, Jordan clearly felt that more people were provoking him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he was so strong, yet unable to win a championship, this psychological gap tormented him; he hated this feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the preseason game against the Seattle SuperSonics, Gary Payton, this brash kid, encountered Jordan at a nightclub and dared to tell Jordan, \"I’m worth millions, I can buy Ferraris and Lamborghinis now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan shrugged and said, \"I have them too, but mine were given for free by sponsors.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, this comment made Payton lose face, but deep down, Jordan was very angry. How dare a rookie talk to me like that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan eagerly wanted to establish his dominance in the game with victories and scoring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was, Phil Jackson wanted him to stop being a scoring champion and share the ball with his teammates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding how to integrate the triangle offense with Jordan, the Bulls were still filled with controversy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reinsdorf complained to Krause, asking whether the triangle offense was restraining Jordan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And low-post players like Cartwright were tired of Jordan trying to solve problems with solo plays over and over again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Jordan himself, he was not quite sure what to do; his basketball philosophy was simple, but now someone was trying to complicate things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Directly in training, he said, \"If I had been playing for Phil from the start, I wouldn’t be who I am now. And I don’t understand, why do I have to play within Tex Winter’s system, what exactly has Tex Winter won?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such disrespectful remarks drove Krause crazy; he was a loyal supporter of Winter and insisted on the triangle offense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Krause was concerned whether Phil Jackson could control the locker room, whether he could control Jordan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson, on the other hand, was very confident, believing that regular-season games didn’t mean much, and that the process was more important than the result.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the game against the Trail Blazers, Jackson handed out books to the players on the way, a habit of his during away games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hoped that by reading, players could calm down and reflect on their own state, drawing guiding strength from it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave Scottie Pippen \"The Bonfire of the Vanities,\" rookie Scott Williams \"Babies of Tulsa,\" Purdue \"The Great Santini,\" Bill Cartwright \"Collapse,\" and to Jordan, \"Song of Solomon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to distributing books, Jackson also conducted psychological tests on the players, preferring bus rides over flights to let the players enjoy the scenery along the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the result was that the players had no interest in enjoying the scenery, they would sleep on the bus, and play cards on the plane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the psychological tests, they felt like they were taking a school quiz and just randomly filled in the answers, resulting in the entire Bulls team being labeled as having mental issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson once doubted whether he could communicate with the generation of the ’60s, while the players felt Jackson was too pretentious and too fond of preaching grand principles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Jackson soon found a person who could quickly unite the Bulls players—Ah Gan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arriving in Portland, sitting on the bus, there were billboards related to Ah Gan everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Portland had no other stars, whether in sports, pop music, or film; Ah Gan was their only one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson was aware of the Trail Blazers’ recent performance and said, \"The performance of the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan represents my ideal state of mind; we need to catch up with them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew this was reverse psychology, but it stirred up anger throughout the Bulls, with the Portland Trail Blazers hanging over them like a specter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jordan scoffed upon hearing this, jeering at Jackson: \"Maybe Bobby Berman will reserve a seat next to you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls teammates, rarely in agreement with Jordan, sided with him this time, concurring with what he said, but Jackson wasn’t angry; he knew that on the evening of the 18th, the Bulls would put forth their ideal performance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson looked out the window, at the giant AVIA advertisement, Ah Gan’s big eyes gazing at everyone passing by, with \"Now your Time\" written below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jackson thought to himself: \"I’ll take that as a good omen, Ah Gan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",824,"2026-06-06T01:41:38.168Z",1,"novelbin.me","21f8ab1035a1b5cc58cdf6bc79ee4bfe4446a7c1f80589f5449ab97257f89802","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-767","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-765",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]