[{"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-886":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},1444253,1896,"Chapter 886 - 53 Welcome to the Finals","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-886",886,"\u003Cp>After the game between the Trail Blazers and the Suns ended, Ed Pinkney leaned against the locker in the locker room, crying uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second half of the fourth quarter, the Suns were overwhelmed by the tidal wave of the Trail Blazers’ offense, with the point differential stretching to 20 at one point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During garbage time, Bobby Berman sent in all the substitutes. Sitting at the tail end of the bench, Pinkney came in and played the final three minutes of the Western Conference Finals against the Trail Blazers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Pinkney’s first appearance in the series; he played the shortest minutes of the entire team—shorter than rookie Antonio Davis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of Pinkney’s offensive-tilted style and lack of physical presence, he ranked behind Thompson, Davis, and Bryant in Bobby Berman’s rotation order, effectively making him the team’s 12th man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike Thompson and the others, Thompson, Davis, and Bryant were all drafted by the Trail Blazers, while Pinkney was merely a throw-in piece in the Reggie Lewis trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arriving in Portland, Pinkney had never been a priority. In the eyes of the media, the fans, and even the team owner, he was a dispensable figure, someone who could pack up and leave in the next trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adelman walked over and asked him what was wrong. Pinkney replied, \"I feel like the team doesn’t need me. I’m happy we won, but... I feel like I didn’t contribute anything to the victory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, Pinkney cried even harder, unable to control himself. Porter, Sabonis, and Thompson came to comfort him, assuring him that he was part of the team, not someone who didn’t matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Pinkney couldn’t stop. He was both happy and sad—happy that he had finally made it to the NBA Finals, but sad that he was no longer the king of the team, just an unnoticed soldier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pinkney’s most glorious time was during college—at Villanova University, he was the team’s cornerstone, leading his squad all the way to the 1985 NCAA National Championship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, they lost to Ewing’s Georgetown team in the championship, marking the greatest regret of Pinkney’s basketball career.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 1985, he entered the NBA through the draft. After being the cornerstone at Villanova, he could only be a mediocre role player in the NBA.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He entered the NBA just one year after Ah Gan, but while Ah Gan had already won four championship rings, Pinkney had only appeared in two playoff runs—both with the Boston Celtics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Counting tonight’s game, he had played in just nine playoff games in his career, not even double digits, with stats and contributions so negligible they were almost laughable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the time, he was little more than a waterboy or cheerleader. He was trying to adjust to this role and job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the Trail Blazers advanced to the Finals once more, chasing their sixth championship in franchise history, Pinkney felt a deep sense of emptiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the brilliant spotlight, he felt his own insignificance and recalled the agony of losing to Georgetown in 1985.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That loss was like a black hole, always lurking in his heart, bleeding silently and never truly healing, which was why his emotions collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the others didn’t know how to console him, Gan Guoyang finished his interviews and returned to the locker room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Pinkney crying, understanding the situation, Gan Guoyang pulled out his mobile phone from his locker and handed it to Pinkney.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ed, make a call.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Call who?\" Pinkney looked up and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can call anyone you want, but when most people cry, they usually want to call their mothers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pinkney took the phone, stopped crying, and dialed his home number.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment, he heard his mother’s voice on the other end of the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Congratulations, Ed. I saw your performance in the Finals—fantastic. You played tonight; that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pinkney covered his mouth and sobbed quietly for a while. After calming down, he thanked his mother and asked after the family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Pinkney household, there were seven children—he was the only boy, with six sisters, which sometimes made him feel rather fragile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hanging up, Pinkney handed the phone back to Gan Guoyang and said, \"Sorry, I shouldn’t have acted this way...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s nothing. When you win the championship ring, you’ll cry again. Consider this a rehearsal; just don’t cry too hard then.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang’s few words quickly lifted the somber atmosphere in the locker room. His confidence always had a way of infecting everyone, making them believe he would definitely win the championship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the flight back to Portland, the mood had completely lightened. However, they didn’t celebrate wildly like the Chicago Bulls with dancing—everyone had grown used to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven years, five trips to the Finals—Portland was building its own dynasty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Portland Airport, as usual, a number of Trail Blazers fans came to welcome them back, though the crowd wasn’t too large.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Gan Guoyang got off the plane, he said to Berman, \"I really miss 1986. The first time we made it to the Finals, the crowd welcoming us back was huge. Now everyone’s gotten used to it—making the Finals isn’t a big deal anymore; only winning the championship matters.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Berman replied, \"That’s the curse of being a champion. Once you’ve been a champion, anything less than another championship feels like failure. The peak is the only place to go, and after that, the only way forward is to win over and over again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s exactly what makes this game interesting, isn’t it, Bobby?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Berman glanced at the calm look on Gan Guoyang’s face and smiled. To be honest, after coaching Ah Gan for so many years, he was still amazed by his passion for basketball and winning.\u003C\u002Fp>",959,"2026-06-06T01:41:38.819Z",1,"novelbin.me","bbd8d849234693f19bc9f2062506ab7907a4f445a72a9f70aaadaba5df9f379d","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-887","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-885",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]