Chapter 37: Guidance

October 31st fell on a weekend, and Bellman gave the players the day off from training.

Gan Guoyang invited his three closest teammates—Gan Guohui, Chen Xing, and Xu Xun—to Oakland to watch the Warriors' home opener. To his surprise, he expected them to jump at the chance, but each had a reason to decline. Gan Guohui said he had a date, Chen Xing had to attend a math tutoring class, and Xu Xun needed to stay and help at his family's shop. Even when Gan Guoyang offered to cover their tickets, they still refused, clearly disinterested in the Warriors' season opener.

The lack of influence the NBA had at the time was evident. The season opener had no television broadcast, no massive advertising campaigns, and everything remained quiet. Had Thurmond not called Gan Guoyang, he wouldn't have even known that the new NBA season had begun two days prior.

In the afternoon, Thurmond personally drove Gan Guoyang to Oakland. Upon learning that his friends couldn't make it, Thurmond shook his head. "The current state of the NBA is even worse than in the 70s. Young people aren't interested in professional basketball; the locals prefer college and high school games. Gan, you deserve credit for that—well done. The news about you and the Water Clock team in October completely overshadowed the Warriors. Everyone has lost interest in the team. Actually, the Warriors performed quite well last season."

The popularity of the Water Clock team in San Francisco had further suppressed interest in the Warriors. Gan Guoyang hadn't realized the NBA had fallen into such a state by the early 80s. In truth, the Warriors' roster was quite competitive. Last season, they acquired Bernard King and World B. Free through trades, drafted rebounding machine Larry Smith, and in a trade with the Celtics, sent away Robert Parish and the third overall pick to secure the first overall pick, which they used to draft the seven-foot center Joe Barry Carroll.

Although this trade was later viewed as the catalyst for the Celtics' resurgence—Red Auerbach used that third pick to draft Kevin McHale, forming a frontcourt trio with Bird and Parish that won the 1981 championship—from the Warriors' perspective, landing Carroll wasn't a terrible outcome. The young squad played well during the 80-81 season, falling just one game short of the playoffs. (Had the Warriors kept their pick and Parish, and found a way to draft McHale, history would have been vastly different, but Auerbach surely would never have allowed that to happen.)

The Warriors kept their roster intact for the new season. With only one player over the age of 30, the core consisted of young players around 25 years old. Such a promising roster should have been a draw for the city's fans. Yet, on the way, Thurmond told Gan Guoyang that for today's home opener—only the second game of the season—the attendance was just over 7,000, with capacity at less than 40 percent.

"Is that why you invited me and my friends to the game? Because there are too many empty seats and you needed some youngsters to fill the numbers?" Gan Guoyang joked.

"I’m not as petty as you suggest, kid. You’re getting sharper with your tongue. I promised to invite you so you could experience the NBA atmosphere firsthand. It gives you a concrete goal; you want to play on an NBA court in the future, don't you?"

"I know, thank you, Nate. I was just joking. Actually, I have many questions I’d like to ask you regarding the details of offensive techniques."

Gan Guoyang trained hard with the Water Clock team, and Bellman’s guidance was meticulous, but there was one problem: he couldn't find anyone on the team to match up against him. This prevented him from effectively honing certain offensive skills. While Bellman was knowledgeable, he wasn't a big man by trade. The training level of high school basketball could no longer satisfy Gan Guoyang’s growing needs; he craved more advanced instruction.

"A desire to learn is a good thing. Your rate of progress surprises me. To be honest, I can’t coach you; offense was never my strength."

"But you averaged 20 points per game."

"There’s a difference between averaging 20 points. Some people’s 20 points are given to them by the team, while others’ 20 points are what they give to the team. I was clearly the former. I never liked offense since high school; I preferred defense. However, I can find someone to give you some pointers—for free."

Thurmond drove across the Bay Bridge to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, a multi-purpose sports complex built in the 60s. The core venue featured a large stadium and an arena, which would later become known by a famous name—Oracle Arena.

Thurmond parked the car. It was past two o'clock, with several hours until tip-off. He led Gan Guoyang through the staff entrance; the way was clear, as Thurmond’s face served as his pass. He showed Gan Guoyang the locker rooms, the media center, and finally, the courtside. The interior of the Oakland Coliseum, with its circular dome design, looked simple yet grand. Beyond serving as the Warriors' home, it hosted countless concerts by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, and Queen.

This was Gan Guoyang’s first time in an NBA arena. It was much older than what he saw on TV, having been built in the 60s without modern renovations. The floor looked dull, the ceiling lacked massive LED screens, and the courtside featured simple metal folding chairs.

Thurmond pulled up two special folding chairs for them to sit, telling Gan Guoyang to be patient, as the person who would answer his questions was coming.

At 3:30, the Golden State Warriors arrived to warm up. Thurmond stood to greet head coach Al Attles. Attles was one of the first African-American coaches in the league, second only to Bill Russell. He had been Thurmond’s teammate and later his coach. He became a player-coach in the 1970-71 season, moved into full-time coaching after retiring, and led the team to a championship in 1975.

Thurmond introduced Gan Guoyang to Attles. Attles feigned surprise, saying, "Whoa, you’re that 'Ah Gan'! You stole all the Warriors' popularity this summer! Don’t you think you owe the team some compensation? Why don’t you just come play for the Warriors next year? I’ll tell the owner to write you a big check."

"Stop joking, Al. If you can make the owner write big checks, maybe you should write one for me; I still think I can play," Thurmond retorted.

The two old friends shared a laugh, and Thurmond explained his purpose: the kid was eager to learn some techniques.

"Pointers? Why don’t you teach him center techniques yourself?"

"You know as well as I do that my offense is like a pile of crap."

"So you do know. I thought you were oblivious."

Attles blew his whistle and gathered the Warriors players. They looked Gan Guoyang up and down, curious about this tall Chinese-American teenager. With so many professionals nearby, Gan Guoyang grew reserved. He nudged Thurmond and asked, "Nate, I just wanted some simple advice. Is this really necessary?"

Thurmond replied, "It’s nothing. Professionals mentoring students is standard; we’re all players, just exchanging ideas."

In America, it was a long-standing tradition for professional players to spar and exchange ideas with amateur street players and college athletes. Many pro teams trained at local university facilities and would scrimmage with NCAA players to pass on experience. Veterans often nurtured younger players, some of whom might one day become their colleagues or opponents on the professional stage.

"Kid, what do you want to know? The Warriors coaching staff is at your service. Your performance in Fremont has been hyped to the heavens. We’d like to see it for ourselves, Ah Gan."

So this was the famous Ah Gan. A few Warriors players grew excited, looking eager to test him, while others remained indifferent.

Gan Guoyang said, "I want to understand the turnaround jump shot technique. I feel my motion isn't fluid enough."

Attles pointed to two men. "Larry, Bernard, you two—give him some pointers. Everyone else, warm up, or watch if you’re interested."