章 15: Chapter 14 Are You That Old?
Leaving the restaurant and taking a few steps to the left, one could see a wire gate.
Entering it led to a cement clearing with a basketball hoop erected.
In San Francisco's midday summer, the weather was not too hot but rather pleasant and sunny.
The sea breeze from the Pacific Ocean dissipated the heat, bringing refreshment and moisture.
It was the perfect weather for basketball.
Gan Guoyang followed the others to this makeshift court, set down the ball, and began to warm up.
Nate took off his shirt, revealing his extremely well-built muscles, changed into a pair of sports shoes, and limbered up a bit.
His friends drank and smoked, watching the game with keen interest from the sidelines.
For a fleeting moment, Nate felt bewildered. What was he doing, why was he about to play a game of one-on-one with a kid who delivered takeout?
If he won, what would he gain? Nothing, of course. That was to be expected.
If he lost? Oh God, that just couldn't happen. But if, by some cruel joke, God made it happen, he would become the biggest laughingstock in the basketball world of 1981.
He, Nate-Sermonde, Nate the Great, the NBA's best one-on-one interior defender, a legendary center who had been to the finals twice, a future Hall of Famer, was, on his 40th birthday, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Rifield miracle along with his Cavaliers teammates, and because his "The Begining" restaurant had closed down, he had to order takeout from a Chinese Restaurant to entertain his friends. Then he ended up playing a street game of one-on-one with the delivery kid and even lost.
Looking at Dick-Snyder, Jim-Crismon, and Bing-Smith sitting there, those big mouths would definitely spice up this series of events and spread them throughout the entire League.
Jim-Jones, still playing for the Lakers, if he told Jabbar about this, the mockery would be enormous.
He would be ridiculed by Jabbar for at least two years, and it might even be included in the new book Jabbar was planning to write.
Thinking about this, Nate felt some regrets, but he was already standing on the court, how could he back down now?
The little Chinese lad had finished warming up and stood beneath the basket, looking quite determined, with the air of an interior player.
Over two meters tall, with a good wingspan, once he shed his jacket, his muscles were solid and well-defined, and his legs were very powerful as well.
Upon a closer look, the kid's physical attributes and talent were actually quite good.
Moreover, judging by his skeletal structure, he still had the potential to grow taller, clearly a promising interior player.
Hence, Nate put aside his regrets and decided to teach this overconfident youngster a lesson, and at the same time, test his depth.
"Sorry, I'm old, so it takes me a bit longer to warm up. Hey buddy, do you really not know who I am?"
"I really like the NBA, but... I truly don't know you."
Gan Guoyang spoke truthfully. He followed the NBA twenty years later, so how could he recognize stars from the '60s and '70s?
Sermonde of course didn't understand what Gan Guoyang meant, thinking to himself, what's wrong with this guy's way of speaking, somewhat asking for a beating?
You like the NBA yet don't know me?
Good, very good, today I'll make sure you get to know me.
"Remember, my name is Nate, Nate-Sermonde."
To this name, Gan Guoyang showed a face of unfamiliarity, utterly unperturbed.
Holding the ball, he looked up at the mountainous figure of Sermonde and took a deep breath.
Sermonde stood 6 feet 11 inches tall, a genuine 2.11 meters, no embellishment in height.
Just standing there, he was an overwhelming presence.
Sermonde didn't assume a defensive stance for the first shot, as if to say, come on, kid, if I play defense seriously, count it as my loss.
Gan Guoyang didn't hesitate, and from 18 feet away from the basket, he took a jump shot.
Sermonde extended a hand symbolically. For the average person, having a 2.11-meter giant stretch out a hand towards you would disrupt the rhythm of the shot.
But Gan Guoyang's shot was steady, and he scored two points.
Sermonde's friends on the sideline exploded with excitement. A group of them started to yell, clinking their glasses together to cheer Gan Guoyang on.
Sermonde was a bit irritated. The kid's shooting wasn't bad, but he'd have to see how many more he could make.
Sermonde still stood two meters away with his hands on his hips, letting Gan Guoyang take the shot.
Gan Guoyang, of course, didn't hold back, jumping and shooting from the same spot again and hitting the mark; he had a talent for shooting.
Sermonde's face showed a bit of embarrassment, but the thought of sticking close and defending properly made him feel even more embarrassed.
As a result, he let Gan Guoyang attempt a third shot, and Gan Guoyang's shooting hand was really solid; he scored again!
It was as if he was saying, if you let me shoot, I'll just keep shooting until I win the game.
Sermonde's teammates on the sidelines were already going crazy with laughter. Finally, Sermonde couldn't take it anymore and started to actively move forward to defend on the fourth shot.
The moment Sermonde closed in, Gan Guoyang felt an overwhelming presence.
This was one of the giants in NBA history, with an incredible wingspan of 2.35 meters.
Possibly the best player ever at defending against Jabbar's Sky Hook.
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Although the 40-year-old's knees had taken a severe beating and could no longer move flexibly or jump well.
But with sheer size, skill, and experience alone, Sermonde successfully blocked Gan Guoyang's attempts.
Gan Guoyang tried to dribble past him, but in the face of strong opposition, his ball was stolen.
Confrontation, the different levels of confrontation, require completely different technical skills.
It was precisely these details that Gan Guoyang lacked.
Sermonde, who made the steal, did not gloat; he regretted agreeing to this ridiculous game of one-on-one even more.
Beating this kid wouldn't bring any benefit, and his knee was starting to hurt.
Injury to his right knee was the direct reason he retired. Two surgeries meant he could no longer jump to block opponents night after night.
When it was Sermonde's turn to attack, Gan Guoyang stood ready near the basket.
Sermonde might have been a center, but his dribbling skills were quite good; thinking of stealing the ball was out of the question.
Once inside the three-second zone, Sermonde turned and backed into Gan Guoyang, pushing inward.
Having gained weight since retirement, Sermonde was now 250 pounds, and this kind of disparity in size and weight was almost crushing.
But to Sermonde's surprise, the backing down wasn't as smooth as he had imagined; the kid behind him was putting up a fierce resistance.
Back in his high school days in Akron, Sermonde wasn't a great ball handler; he loved back-to-the-basket plays more.
More than twenty years of experience told him that if he continued to move this sluggishly, without exerting force, he might be pushed out of the three-second zone.
What kind of monstrous strength was in this kid's body?
But exerting force relied on leg strength, which his knees no longer had in terms of explosive power.
He still managed to use his weight to get under the basket, and with a skilled pivot and his reach, a slight jump was all it took to lay the ball into the basket.
For him, this was as easy as putting an egg into a refrigerator.
Open the fridge door, put the egg in, close the fridge door.
But the problem occurred at the second step, putting the egg in.
Gan Guoyang's hand was also on the ball, right in front of the basket.
The ball hung in the air for 0.2 seconds before leaving Sermonde's hand and falling onto the court.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The ball bounced a few times on the ground and rolled to the side.
Gan Guoyang jumped to block, swatting Sermonde's shot away!
Jim-Jones picked up the ball and muttered, "Oh Lord, Nate, are you really this old now?"
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