[{"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-959":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},1444426,1896,"Chapter 959 - 14 Absolutely Right_3","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-959",959,"\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many times, communication after marriage isn’t romantic or warm; rather, it’s often speechless, but Gan Guoyang was used to it long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, tomorrow he will start a road trip, leaving Portland for a week.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Gan Guoyang, this is also an opportunity to relax himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The season is nearing its end, and the situation in the Eastern and Western Conferences is becoming clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bulls are leading far ahead, significantly ahead in performance, and barring any surprises, they will secure the league’s top spot this year, gaining home-court advantage in all series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the Trail Blazers have faced ups and downs, thanks to the rise of Gan Guoyang and young players, they continue to lead the Western Conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Magic Johnson retiring, the Trail Blazers have no opponents in the Western Conference; the weak teams remain weak, reducing the difficulty of the regular season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The defending champions still have hope of securing 60 wins, laying the foundation for the third championship of a three-peat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Lakers withdrew from championship contention, three strong teams emerged below the Trail Blazers: the Jazz, Suns, and Warriors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spurs, who maintained competitiveness in the past two seasons, fell behind this season, while the Supersonics slowly caught up and started to become regulars in the playoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, in the 80s, evenly matched with Gan Guoyang, Olajuwon and his Houston Rockets have now reached the edge of the playoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time the road trip, the first stop for the Trail Blazers is Houston, where the Rockets are striving for the top eight in the Western Conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon arriving in Houston, the Texas media started hyping the showdown between Gan Guoyang and Olajuwon again— a battle that began back in the 1984 NCAA finals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after 8 years, the gap in achievements between them has grown larger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, in terms of strength, Gan Guoyang highly respects Olajuwon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Gan Guoyang, in terms of importance, Olajuwon is only second to Michael Jordan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If we only talk about the inside game, after Jabbar’s retirement, Olajuwon is the only player Gan Guoyang takes seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Years of contests, coupled with Drexler’s relationship, make them both rivals and friends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Gan Guoyang never figured out, even till his death, whether the punch from back then was really thrown by Olajuwon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, Olajuwon never admitted it till his death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once hot-tempered and fierce-looking, Olajuwon, under years of setbacks and the influence of his religious beliefs, became much more gentle, kind-faced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, before competing with Gan Guoyang, he would always glare fiercely, as if he wanted to devour the opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, his gaze is calm and firm, regardless of what trash talk Gan Guoyang says, Olajuwon just smiles and doesn’t respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Psycho-tactics don’t work on Olajuwon anymore, and Gan Guoyang no longer plays such games with his old friend; they enjoy the showdown in technique and strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The match this evening was a direct confrontation, played remarkably well, both performing at their best level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fighting hard to enter the playoffs, the Rockets played very tenaciously, consistently leading the Trail Blazers, with Olajuwon entangling Gan Guoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, at the key moment in the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang still helped the Trail Blazers overtake the score with a three-pointer and a pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing Gan Guoyang’s defense, Olajuwon’s fadeaway shot didn’t hit, losing the Rockets the chance to turn the game around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They lost another game, moving further away from the playoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even worse, after this shot, Olajuwon hobbled off the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the game, the Rockets officially announced that Olajuwon had strained his hamstring and might miss some upcoming games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Rockets, who need results at the moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to the hotel, Gan Guoyang called Olajuwon to inquire about his condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Olajuwon chatted a lot with his old friend, mostly about Islam, leaving Gan Guoyang bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But finally, Olajuwon suddenly said to Gan Guoyang: \"Sonny, in the past, you said something to me, ’Don’t let loyalty hurt you,’ I think what you said was very right, absolutely right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gan Guoyang suddenly smelled a hint of seaside sunshine.\u003C\u002Fp>",682,"2026-06-06T01:41:40.447Z",1,"novelbin.me","dce2b513423a72412cd09799781777e463a4db57f01b899d274c3d0bbf074c4c","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-960","the-golden-age-of-basketball-chapter-958",2033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-golden-age-of-basketball-cover.jpg"]