Chapter 954 - 12 Windbreaker_3

At this moment, he even felt a bit envious of Jordan and Barkley, because Jordan and Barkley had goals—they wanted to catch up with themselves. So on the court, they were motivated and happy.

Until his daughter was born, he suddenly felt that on the road ahead, in the darkness, there was a small light.

This light wasn’t the target he was chasing, but it illuminated the path ahead, making him feel less lonely and isolated.

At the same time, years of arduous training, the accumulation of enormous sweat, had gradually reached the critical point where quantitative changes lead to qualitative transformation.

Gan Guoyang vaguely sensed that he was standing before the gateway to a new realm in basketball skills and game experience.

Although Gan Guoyang had dominated the League in the past and created history, overall he was the ultimate embodiment of past centers.

Russell’s defense, Chamberlain’s offense, Jabbar’s stability, Moses Malone’s ferocity, Bill Walton’s intelligence, Sermonde’s endurance—all could be found in Gan Guoyang.

But what about beyond them? What about surpassing the amalgamation of these traits? The areas unexplored by predecessors? These needed Gan Guoyang to explore painstakingly in the dark.

Besides the birth of his daughter providing him spiritual enlightenment, there were two people always subtly influencing him: Sabonis and Petrović.

Though Gan Guoyang is Chinese, he was essentially a product of American basketball, a pure American basketball hero, reaching his peak in 1987.

Whereas Sabonis and Petrović were the essence of European basketball, one internal and one external, both were extraordinary basketball geniuses.

Even when Gan Guoyang’s brilliance was so dazzling, they in Portland were not completely overshadowed, but always shining and playing important roles.

When they first joined the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang was mentoring and influencing them, and by 1992, in their third season, they had subtly begun to reciprocate this influence to Gan Guoyang.

The more team-oriented thinking of European basketball, its quieter style, along with the Princeton System, had been quietly influencing Gan Guoyang, allowing him to absorb new things.

Another breakthrough and evolution belonging to Gan Guoyang was imminent.

On February 26, the Trail Blazers were to challenge the Chicago Bulls on their home turf.

This was the second game of the season between the two teams, the 14th regular season Gan Qiao battle.

Except for the 1985-1986 season, when Jordan was out and Gan Guoyang couldn’t meet Jordan, in the other seven seasons, the two met head-to-head twice each season.

As opposed to the purely exciting intensity of prior matches, after meeting in the finals, the encounters between the Bulls and the Trail Blazers had become more symbolic, serving as a preliminary skirmish, a probing battle.

After losing the early season matchup, the Bulls had been advancing triumphantly throughout the season, approaching its end with an astonishing record of 47 wins and 10 losses.

Being defeated by the Trail Blazers early in the season had left the Bulls very dissatisfied, dealing a heavy blow to morale, so back on home ground, Jordan and the Bulls were determined to win and take the game.

But to the surprise of Chicago fans, tonight once again became a career night for Gan Guoyang:

A triple-double with 38 points, 21 rebounds, and 15 assists led the spirited Trail Blazers to once again crush Chicago!

After winning the game, the photo of Gan Guoyang holding his fist high in Chicago Stadium became the cover of the 1992 "Sports Illustrated" magazine.

Caption: Who can stop Sunny Gan? No one at all.