Chapter 53 I Didn't Hear It

The final outcome of the dispute between Bellman and the girls' basketball coach was that the two teams split the court, each taking half.

Bellman was furious about this. "F***, we're playing for the California state championship tonight at the Great Western Forum, broadcast live on CBS, and we can't even find a gym for a pre-game warmup in the afternoon—we have to share the court with a bunch of girls!"

While the coach was extremely displeased, the players certainly didn't feel that way. Warming up alongside the girls gave the young men an extra surge of energy.

One by one, they ran faster and jumped higher than usual, and during layup drills, they even started attempting slam dunks.

Watching this pack of colts showing signs of spring fever, Bellman barked out reprimands, only to provoke giggles from the girls on the other side.

Well, that just made them even more excited.

The girls' team coach, a woman in her forties, looked at Bellman’s crude language with utter disdain, and the two of them were soon arguing again.

With training no longer viable, Bellman left in a huff, gathering his team to head straight to the Great Western Forum to wait.

As they were leaving, Gan Guohui nudged Gan Guoyang and said, "Hey, hey, hey, cousin, that girl just now was gorgeous and so tall. Why didn't you ask for her number?"

Chen Xing chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! Look, look, she's still looking at you. Go on over and get her contact info!"

Gan Guoyang shook his head and replied, "The game is coming up soon, don't get distracted. Let's go."

With that, Gan Guoyang left the gym without looking back, refusing to spare another glance at the girl.

Yet despite his words, a faint image of the girl's smile flashed through his mind, leaving him slightly curious: Who was she, and how did she know him?

The girl didn't run after him to hand over her phone number, and the two seemed to have merely crossed paths like ships in the night.

Gan Guoyang’s mind was entirely occupied by basketball and tonight's game; there was simply no room for anything else.

After leaving the high school and arriving at the Great Western Forum, the players had to wait until 4:30 PM before they were finally allowed inside to warm up.

This amphitheater-like circular structure was the heart of Los Angeles basketball. Together with New York's Madison Square Garden, forming an east-west duality, it stood as the most famous indoor arena in the entire United States.

The Los Angeles Lakers had used it as their home court since 1967, bearing witness to the glory, the lows, and the resurgence of the Lakers over the past decade or more.

Just like the Oakland Coliseum, it also hosted a multitude of concerts, with well-known bands and musicians performing there.

Compared to those illustrious figures, the players from North Overseas Chinese High School were mere shrimps, and from the moment they entered the Forum, they were treated with anything but normalcy.

No staff member guided them to their locker room. Teacher Liu had to ask around and grope his way forward until he finally found their designated room, only to find the door locked without a key.

Bellman, whose anger had been building up for a long time, had had enough. With a swift kick, he smashed the locker room door open, then pulled a few green bills from his pocket and handed them to Teacher Liu to pay for the damages.

"Los Angeles people are f***ing pieces of shits. We must win this game tonight!"

Bellman was quite dissatisfied with the arrangements for this California State Championship final—the terrible living conditions, the subpar food, the lack of a practice facility, and the indifferent, inadequate reception.

Compared to Bellman’s irritability, the players of the Water Clock team were quite calm. They changed in the locker room, chatting and talking, with not a single complaint voiced along the way.

Gan Guohui said, "It hasn't been easy for us to make it this far. They definitely aren't going to let us win easily. This is Los Angeles, not San Francisco."

Xu Xun said, "It's still much better than in South Korea."

Gan Guoyang said, "It's no big deal. Once we're well-fed, we can beat the opponents."

Franklin said, "I can play basketball barefoot and on an empty stomach."

The other players held no resentment toward the "special" treatment of the past two days; they were solely focused on winning the game.

They carried the hopes of Northern California, and they knew from their fathers that the hardships endured by the Chinese were far greater than this.

Deeply moved by everyone's attitude, Bellman said, "I am proud of you all. The people of Los Angeles will pay the price for their arrogance."

---

At 6:30 PM, the Water Clock team donned their red jerseys and stepped onto the floor of the Great Western Forum. (In reality, the 1982 CIF State Final took place at the Oakland Coliseum, while the 83 final was in Los Angeles.)

The Lakers had just played a home game against the Cavaliers the previous day, and the court flooring hadn't even been changed; the Lakers' logo remained prominently in the center of the floor.

A banner reading "California state basketball championship" hung above the technical table.

The Forum, which could seat over 17,000 people, was already packed with more than 15,000 spectators as game time approached, and fans were still streaming in continuously.

In the current NBA, the Lakers were the most popular team with the best home attendance, yet their previous regular-season game had drawn just over 14,000 fans.

The influence of this California state final was thus self-evident.

Playing in such a massive arena in front of tens of thousands of fans created a psychological atmosphere completely different from that of small and medium-sized gymnasiums.

The towering dome, the blinding lights, and the roaring, wave-like noise resembled an ancient Roman amphitheater or a grandiose religious altar.

The players were gladiators, offerings to the gods. Standing on the court, the game was no longer just a game; it was a duel, a ritual concerning faith.

Tonight's opponent for the Water Clock team was Riverside Polytechnic High School from Los Angeles. Prior to this match, the two teams had never crossed paths and knew virtually nothing about each other.

In the 1980s, when video technology was underdeveloped, neither side had watched game film of the other, remaining entirely clueless. This was a head-on collision in the truest sense.

The only person who knew anything about Riverside High was Gan Guoyang, because when reviewing the roster, he spotted a familiar name: Reggie Miller.

Before the game started, Gan Guoyang put his arm around Xu Xun's shoulders and said, "Ah-Xun, keep a close eye on that number 30 during the game. Don't let your guard down just because he's far from the basket."

Xu Xun nodded. He was the defensive anchor on the perimeter for the Water Clock team—a tenacious, harassing defensive guard who dared to bite and scrap against any elite perimeter scorer in California.

As the game was about to tip off, the live announcers, referees, reporters, and broadcasters took their positions, and several large television broadcast cameras placed around the court aimed their lenses at the floor.

This was a live broadcast, and hundreds of thousands of television viewers across California would be watching from home—the broadcast ratings surpassed those of an average NBA game.

During the starting lineups introduction, when the arena announcer called out "Sunny-Gump," a minor ripple passed through the audience, with cheers erupting from a specific section.

Gan Guoyang glanced in that direction. The arena lights over the stands had been dimmed, making it pitch black and impossible to see clearly, but it was likely a group of Chinese fans from Los Angeles.

When introducing the Riverside Polytechnic High School players, the volume in the arena grew noticeably louder, especially at the mention of "Reggie Miller."

It wasn't that Reggie Miller was immensely famous in Los Angeles—he was a good player, but the truly famous one was his sister: the nationwide women's basketball superstar and legendary scorer who once dropped 105 points in a single game, Cheryl Miller.

She enjoyed enormous fame in Southern California as a household basketball name, while Reggie was merely a poor younger brother living in her shadow.

The broadcast camera very timely cut to Cheryl Miller, who was watching from the sidelines. The siblings looked remarkably similar, both sharing slender physiques.

The game began in a tense, stifling atmosphere. First, because the match was of paramount importance as the inaugural Northern-Southern California showdown, making both players and coaches nervous and cautious; and second, because basketball games of that era featured fewer entertainment elements—there were no cheerleaders, nor any flashy, entertaining interactive activities. The fans in attendance watched more like they were viewing a serious theatrical play, a dynamic that would not improve until several editions later.

Both teams started out playing very slow-paced offense and defense: half-court sets, zone defenses, endless ball movement, and cautious shot selections.

Having no prior history against each other, the two squads probed each other's toughness, acting like a snake and a leopard confronting one another in the wild.

The leopard looked larger, armed with sharp teeth and claws, appearing capable of swatting the snake to death with a single paw.

Yet the snake was venomous; if the leopard was bitten even once, it would perish.

Riverside Polytechnic High School resembled a poisonous snake, with their primary scorer being that thin, unassuming number 30.

Only Gan Guoyang knew in his heart that this was a dangerous player.

To accommodate television broadcasts and cooperate with a sufficient number of advertisers, the finals no longer used the two-half system, switching instead to a four-quarter, 48-minute format.

This posed a greater test for the players' physical endurance and team rotations, which was precisely why Bellman had insisted on finding a place to warm up during the day.

Gan Guoyang participated in the team's offense and defense at a sluggish pace in the first quarter, keeping his teeth and claws concealed as he constantly circled and sparred with the viper.

The two teams fought to a standstill on the court, ending the first quarter tied 16-16. Gan Guoyang scored 4 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the opening period.

Both teams played a very mild brand of offense, with a large portion of their points coming from perimeter jump shots. Both squads stuck to zone defense, yielding plenty of outside shooting opportunities.

In the second quarter, the style of play suddenly shifted.

The game's tempo accelerated, and Gan Guoyang could not afford a moment of rest on the bench; the Water Clock team's offense and defense could not function without him for even a second.

Reggie Miller suddenly gambled on defense, stripping the ball right out of Franklin's hands, and then launched into a coast-to-coast fast break with his slightly pigeon-toed gait.

As he neared the basket, Miller slightly slowed his pace, adjusting his strides to set up a two-handed dunk.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his sister on the sidelines. She had risen from her seat—was she standing up to cheer for his dunk?

Yet her expression seemed wrong. Her mouth was wide open, shouting something—what was she shouting? The Great Western Forum was far too loud, and Miller couldn't make it out at all.

He proceeded with his jump regardless, preparing to throw down a two-handed slam, only for a massive hand to reach from behind and forcefully nail the ball against the backboard.

[...I later found out that my sister didn't stand up to cheer for me back then; she was shouting at the top of her lungs, 'Someone's behind you!' The Great Western Forum was just too loud, and I didn't hear her.]

--------- Excerpt from Reggie Miller's 1995 biography, *I love being the enemy*.