The Golden Age of Basketball

Losing a regular-season game was not a major setback for the Shui Zhong Team; on the contrary, it helped them identify problems and find solutions.

From mid-November to late December, the Shui Zhong Team played a total of 7 games and achieved a record of 6 wins and 1 loss.

Aside from losing to the Washington Eagles, other schools in San Francisco were no match for Shui Zhong.

Gan Guoyang's statistics dropped in the latter four games, with a decrease in his offensive rebounds.

To counter well-trained opponents, Gan Guoyang reduced his offensive rebounding to focus more on getting back on defense.

Maintaining a stable zone defense to minimize the opponent's fast breaks was a top priority for Gan Guoyang.

On the offensive end, Gan Guoyang faced more double teams, and to avoid turnovers, he reduced his low-post plays.

Franklin took on more of the offensive duties, easing the scoring pressure on Gan Guoyang and making it harder for the opposition to defend against them.

While most schools focused on team basketball, Shui Zhong Team had already adopted a pro-team's twin-star model.

Although touted as twin stars, Gan Guoyang far surpassed Franklin in both impact and popularity.

As the games progressed, his reputation grew not just in the Bay Area but throughout California.

Playing at away gyms or Kezar Stadium was undoubtedly a huge waste of Gan Guoyang's popularity.

Starting from the fourth game, with the efforts of Huang Shaohua, the team's games were held at the War Memorial Gymnasium of the University of San Francisco.

With additional seating, the venue could accommodate 5,000 spectators, and ticket sales were a substantial source of income.

People came from all over to watch the games, not just locals from San Francisco.

There were those from Sacramento, Los Angeles, and even neighboring Nevada.

They didn't mind the three-and-a-half-hour drive.

Many of them were Chinese people living in America, eager to see this Eastern "Biochemical Warrior" with their own eyes in San Francisco.

Gan Guoyang did not disappoint these fans who had traveled from afar, winning victories for his team and cheers for himself with focused, dominant performances on the court.

In San Francisco, he encountered no center capable of contesting him one-on-one—California was not known for producing centers.

It was rumored that in Houston, Boston, and Pennsylvania, there were young, talented big men like Gan Guoyang, but they had yet to meet on the court.

Besides ticket sales, the school also sold caps, T-shirts, and posters with Gan Guoyang's autograph, and a Wilson basketball signed by him fetched $500 in an auction before one of the games.

Before the games, students would set up stalls outside the gym to sell Chinese snacks to raise funds for the team's training expenses and equipment purchases.

The remaining funds were partly deposited into the Chinese Progress Foundation to support the activities and rights of the Chinese community, with the rest allocated as subsidies to Shui Zhong Team players.

Gan Guoyang, of course, could take a larger share, as this money was essentially earned because of him.

He did not go for egalitarianism, but after receiving the money, he gave half to Gan Youwei and spent the rest on treating others to meals, leaving nothing behind.

The school also made plans for future games: naturally, it would be best if they could make it into the CIF State Championships.

If they failed to enter the state championships, next semester they could still compete in other invitationals, traveling to other states like Ohio, Indiana, or even Florida to play games.

In short, in basketball-developed America, if you have a decent team and a famous star, there won't be a lack of games to play or money to be made—there are plenty willing to spend to watch the games.

At that time, NBA was not the entirety of American basketball, not even a major part—just a small but somewhat influential segment.

In December, NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien announced at a press conference, "We have just signed the largest television broadcasting contract in league history," ending the awkward situation of over a month of the NBA season passing without television coverage since its start.

O'Brien didn't lie; this political figure, known historically for the Watergate scandal, understood the devastating consequences of lying.

But not lying doesn't mean he was reflecting the full picture; the NBA's new broadcasting contract was for 4 years at $88 million, with networks clearly stating in negotiations they would not offer a price over $100 million.

The annual average of $22 million was the same as the last year of the previous contract, without a single cent increase.

Considering the high inflation in the US economy at the time, the contract was effectively reduced in value.

And with a duration of only four years, concluding with the 1984-1985 season, it was evident that networks weren't very optimistic about the NBA's future development.

For comparison, the recently concluded MLB strike resulted in a $184 million contract.

And the NCAA college football league secured a $260 million contract.

The contract amounts for NCAA college basketball are also on the rise, not standing still.

Not to mention the NFL, which now sits at the top of the four major leagues, their new broadcasting contract is 21 billion US dollars.

The NBA's contract is not even a fraction of the NFL's.

In such a context and comparison, how much water is in O'Brien's "biggest in history" is clear to anyone who looks closely.

In the new broadcasting contract, the number of regular-season games CBS broadcasts has been reduced from the previous 41 to 28.

Fans can only watch 28 NBA game broadcasts on TV in a year. The NBA's official explanation is: Less is more.

They will offer fans the best games, not those boring, uninteresting matches, to maintain a good image of the league among fans.

How much self-deception there is in this theory can only be asked of the NBA executives themselves.

The reduction in TV broadcasts also made it difficult for Guoyang to catch live NBA games in his free time.

Until December 25th, Christmas Day, the NBA's traditional Christmas Battle, when the television network broadcast the Nets versus the Knicks.

With school on break, Guoyang could watch the live broadcast at home.

The game was held at the famous Madison Square Garden Plaza, and surprisingly, the attendance rate for this headline New York derby was only 50%.

Through the TV camera, it was visible that many seats were empty because neither team had any popular stars.

The game was scheduled for the afternoon Eastern Time, so when Guoyang watched it, it was noon Pacific Time.

You Wei finished up in the kitchen and found Guoyang watching the TV, saying, "Guoyang, I have something here, help me return it."

Guoyang asked, "Something? What is it?"

You Wei took out a large metal box and handed it to Guoyang. Upon opening it, inside were stacks of upscale restaurant discount coupons, many supermarket gift cards, three watches, two rolls of high-end ties, and a Mont Blanc gold pen set.

"Dad, what are all these? Did you buy them?"

"No, they were given by someone, from the University of San Francisco."

"University of San Francisco? Why would they give you these?"

"Of course, they were not for me; they were meant for you. Since you never accept things from others, they handed them over to your uncle, who then gave them to me. I've stored them, and when you have time, you can return them all to the givers."

Ever since Guoyang became famous, countless people have wanted to give him gifts.

Journalists, agents, scouts, and college basketball recruiters all want to get closer to him by giving gifts.

But Guoyang knows the saying, "one who takes gifts finds himself indebted." As long as he plays basketball well, he won't be short on money in the future and doesn't need to fall into traps by accepting others' gifts.

When it comes to gift-giving, Americans and Chinese both use the same tactics: If the person himself won't accept, then take a detour and go through relatives.

Guoyang's closest relative is his father, You Wei, but You Wei is also a straightforward and honest man.

Gan's Restaurant gain fame through Guoyang's achievement, and he makes a living through his culinary skills, not by freeloading.

Accepting gifts from others changes the nature of things. You Wei knows this could bring trouble to his son and firmly refuses to accept.

So, some people found another roundabout way, going to Youtang and entrusting him to pass the items to You Wei, and thus the gifts still ended up in his hands.

You Wei certainly would not use them and didn't want to nag his son daily and interfere with his basketball and studies, so he simply collected everything.

When Christmas break arrived, he handed it all to Guoyang to deal with.

After understanding the situation, Guoyang agreed with his father's approach, but to whom should he return these things?

After some thought, Guoyang thought of Mr. Kapu-Lavin, so he made a call to Mr. Kapu-Lavin and arranged to meet at Rochambeau Court that afternoon.

The Knicks and the Nets game was still going on, but Guoyang lost interest in watching; it really was not worth watching.

As he was leaving, he suddenly remembered something and said to You Wei, "Dad, I won't be back for dinner tonight."

"You're not coming back tonight? Do you have a date?"

"No, an old friend invited me for dinner."

"Alright then, just be careful, don't mess around."

Watching his son leave, You Wei muttered to himself, "Old friend, you haven't been in America that long, and you already have old friends?"

He didn't know that the "old friend" Guoyang mentioned truly was an "old" friend.