章 146: Chapter 44 Desire

[The Lakers' start to the 1985 season was far from smooth. Following the painful Finals in 1984, they intended to conquer the new season, but Riley's experiments with the starting lineup led to disappointing results. Before their November 4 battle against the Trail Blazers, they had a record of 2 wins and 3 losses. Against the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang began with a terrifying fast-break dunk off the tip-off that nearly shook three Lakers players off the court…]

————Excerpt from "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s" written by Jeff Pearlman, published in 2013.

Standing on the sidelines, Riley touched his forehead reflexively after seeing Gan Guoyang's basket, smoothing out his slick hair before crossing his arms to continue watching the game.

He had dressed as impeccably as the Hollywood stars watching from the courtside, but inside he was anything but the picture of calm and grace.