Chapter 5: June 1983

"Dear Fosse:

Before I knew it, nearly a year has passed since I arrived at Gonzaga University. I never expected that we would still be corresponding, and that we would still have so much to say to each other.

Seeing in your last letter that you received an offer from the University of Portland makes me truly happy for you. Our distance has closed a bit more; flying from Portland to Spokane takes only an hour.

This summer vacation, I don't plan to return to San Francisco. Most of my time will be spent staying in Spokane to participate in the school's basketball training camp and prepare for the new season.

Looking back now, following the advice of Fitzgerald and my father a year ago—sitting out my first year and dedicating my energy to academics to secure my degree early—was a very correct decision.

Last week, I passed Professor Slatic's marketing course exam and earned enough credits. This means that next academic year, I only need to secure another 12 credits to fulfill all the requirements for my degree certificate and become eligible for a bachelor's degree.

This means I won't need to finish a full four years to get my degree certificate, and if possible, I can enter the NBA sooner.

Getting a college degree was my dad's expectation for me. I think I'll be able to accomplish that soon, and then go fulfill my own expectation: stepping onto the court to play basketball.

A whole year without playing in an official game is truly difficult to endure, but fortunately, I have you, and I also set up an imaginary rival for myself.

Coach Fitzgerald said a year ago that there is a Houston University player named Hakeem Olajuwon who also sat out his first year and began to shine brightly in his second.

In March of this year, they reached the NCAA championship game, and I told Fitz that I will definitely be better than this guy.

By the way, yesterday I measured my height with Coach Steve Delong. I have grown to 6 feet 10 inches. In centimeters, I am 209, a centimeter taller than 208.

Coach Delong said that at this height, if I enter the NBA draft, I can claim to be 6 feet 11 inches. Anyway, standing on the basketball court, people generally won't be able to tell the difference.

Last week, I also attended Father Bergen's public speaking class. I gave a speech and demonstration on how to cook a table of delicious Chinese food, and Father Bergen said he really wanted to taste it.

Throughout this year, aside from studying academic subjects, I have memorized at least three hundred basketball tactical schemes. But a few days ago, Coach Bellman came to me and said I had better forget all these tactics entirely; only by forgetting these plays can we become stronger.

Lately, Coach Bellman has been acting a bit mystical, especially after the 1983 Finals concluded and the Philadelphia 76ers captured the championship without a hitch.

It is said that Mr. Bellman has a friend named something like Goose, who does economic analysis in New York, but he loves basketball very much and made an accurate prediction for this year's champion.

However, I've looked through several newspapers and magazines and haven't seen any news about this friend of Bellman's. They all seem uninterested in computer analysis.

You chose a computer science major in college, which I think is fantastic. It is a field with a bright future and boundless prospects, and I hope you achieve remarkable things as well.

In half a month, Spokane will welcome the so-called 'Sunny Gan Memorial Day,' and they are planning to hold a warm-up game in the gymnasium.

To be honest, this memorial day makes me quite anxious. The mayor even said they would hold activities in the city square, and I feel under a lot of pressure—after all, I haven't played a single official game yet.

Fortunately, I am very confident in my condition. Not only have I grown taller, but my muscle mass is also increasing. Last time during practice in the arena, I accidentally shattered the backboard.

Coach Fitzgerald didn't scold me at all; instead, he happily swept up the glass shards himself and had Coach Delong install a new backboard.

I also discovered something recently: my teammate, John Stockton, his girlfriend Nada actually has a twin sister, and the two of them look identical.

Once, I saw Stockton's girlfriend with another man at school. I was shocked and rushed to tell Stockton, but he calmly told me that was Nada's sister, Laura.

Later I found out that John, that guy, met Laura first, but Laura had a boyfriend, so he got together with Nada.

That guy actually kept this secret from me for so long. He is just as subtly passionate as his appearance suggests.

Let's pause the letter here for now. There is one more thing to tell you: in July, we are going to Los Angeles to play warm-up games, and I hope we can meet then.

Gan Guoyang, June 1983."

Gan Guoyang stuffed the finished letter into the mailbox next to the dormitory, then slung his gym bag over his shoulder and headed to the campus fitness center for training.

Influenced by Fitzgerald's suggestion, Gan Guoyang did not participate in official games during his first year. This allowed him to detach himself from the hectic away-game travel and game preparations, pouring more energy into his academics, completing his credits early, and granting him a more flexible operating space for his future plans.

Although Gan Guoyang was very reluctant at the time—he was eager to take the court in NCAA games—the Gonzaga University side respected Gan Guoyang's wishes. Naturally, it would have been best if he wanted to play as a freshman.

Yet in the end, Gan Guoyang respected his father Gan Youwei's idea to sit out for a year for the sake of his studies. There are many such precedents in the NCAA, and Gan Guoyang felt that a year of dedicated cultivation would be more helpful to his condition.

Many things happened within this year. In September 1982, Moses Malone was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, reinforcing the final piece of the 76ers' puzzle.

In October 1982, Bernard King signed with the New York Knicks. Warriors owner Moli's betrayal left King extremely furious.

In November 1982, Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" was released, and its groundbreaking MTV swept across America, declaring the formal entry of the pop music scene into the Michael Jackson era.

In March 1983, the University of Houston unexpectedly lost to North Carolina State in the NCAA final. Olajuwon was selected to the All-American team, and Most Outstanding Player Ralph Sampson decided to enter the draft.

In April 1983, the NBA league and the players' association reached an agreement to set a ceiling on player salaries, implementing a salary cap system starting from the 1984-1985 season.

In June 1983, the Philadelphia 76ers swept the Lakers with an unrivaled momentum to capture the championship, and Moses Malone won the Finals MVP.

Meanwhile, because of his year-long hiatus, Gan Guoyang vanished from nationwide media, as if forgotten by everyone.

Throughout the year, as Gan Guoyang and Wang Fuxi's correspondence grew more frequent and deep, their emotional bond grew stronger. In the cold north, far from familiar surroundings, each letter became a spiritual solace.

However, up to this point, the two had not made any substantive progress.

At Gonzaga University, the tall, handsome, and striking Gan Guoyang was very popular among girls, but Gan Guoyang always kept a distance from the opposite sex, holding few expectations or fantasies about romance and women.

This was perhaps related to his experience growing up in an orphanage.

Arriving at the fitness center, Coach Steve Delong was leading Stockton, Dave Clement, and others in strength training.

Stockton was struggling to press the barbell upward, his face contorted as he exerted every ounce of strength he had.

Gan Guoyang watched Stockton's training with keen interest. When Stockton stepped off the equipment, Gan Guoyang stepped forward and performed two warm-up sets with the exact same weight on the barbell.

Stockton stood with his hands on his hips to the side, breathing heavily, and said, "Gan, next time I'll wait until you're done training before I work out. Why did you play basketball? I think you should join weightlifting competitions, and Gonzaga's NCAA team is also missing a weightlifting gold medal."

"Weightlifting would affect my growth. In fact, Fitz suggested I try football. I performed well during the tryouts, but I still want to focus on basketball."

After a year of getting along, Stockton and Gan Guoyang had become very close friends.

Stockton belonged to the quintessential "Gonzaga man." Born in Spokane, he attended Gonzaga Preparatory School, destined early on to study at Gonzaga.

As an upperclassman, Stockton helped Gan Guoyang familiarize himself with the environment and resolve many academic and daily living issues.

In basketball training, Gan Guoyang, who had gaps in his tactical knowledge, learned quite a bit from Stockton.

Of those 300-plus tactics, he had discussed at least 200 with Stockton to understand their inner meanings.

Stockton watched as Gan Guoyang effortlessly executed 300-pound bench presses and easily pulled off chin-ups, feeling a sense of awe in his heart for this beast.

Back when he first started strength training with Coach Delong, he couldn't even push up a 100-pound bench press and couldn't do a single chin-up.

Later on, he managed to raise his bench press to 135 pounds for only 10 repetitions.

"What a monster," Stockton thought to himself.

The talent Gan Guoyang displayed in basketball left the entire Gonzaga Bulldogs team in awe, and they were all exceptionally eager to see what kind of elevation and transformation Gan Guoyang's official entry into the team and participation in games this year would bring to the Bulldogs.

Last season, 1982-1983, the Gonzaga University regular season achieved only an ordinary record of 11 wins and 12 losses, going just 6 wins and 6 losses within the West Coast Conference, missing out on the NCAA national tournament and not qualifying for the NIT either—gaining nothing as usual.

This year, with Gan Guoyang's addition, the entire team shared a driving spirit to accomplish something remarkable.

Even so, everyone's aspiration was merely to secure a top-three spot in the West Coast Conference, scrape into the NCAA play-in tournament, or participate in the NIT, which would already be quite good.

After all, the West Coast Conference was so weak that it didn't even have a direct berth to the NCAA national tournament and had to play play-in games against other conferences.

In the blink of an eye, a few weeks passed, and the school began its summer break. Right at the cusp of the official break—on the exact anniversary of Gan Guoyang's arrival at Gonzaga last year, "Sunny Gan Memorial Day"—at the concrete-box-like Kennedy Pavilion, Gan Guoyang would make his official debut for Gonzaga University in a game, participating in a warm-up match against the University of California, Irvine.

Kennedy Pavilion resembled a piece of 1960s sci-fi film architecture. Aside from hosting basketball games, in the '60s and '70s it had also held many small rock concerts, and numerous famous bands had performed on its stage, including the legendary Led Zeppelin and the Eagles.

On this "Sunny Gan Memorial Day," however, the campus gymnasium, already on break, was packed to the brim, even more bustling than when Led Zeppelin came to perform.

Draped in the number 11 jersey of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Gan Guoyang stood at the center of the court, preparing for his very first official game at Gonzaga University.

He was taller and sturdier than he had been at North Overseas Chinese Middle School, and the shoes on his feet had been changed to a new pair of AVIA. The previous pair no longer fit as his feet grew with his height, and Gan Guoyang had tucked them away as a treasured keepsake.

Bellman, Fitzgerald, Delong, and others sat on the bench, their nerves likely even tighter than Gan Guoyang's.

On the main stands opposite, the local mayor of Spokane, city council members, and the university leadership of Gonzaga were all seated.

"Bobby, is this guy Gan reliable? I'm so scared. If he messes up, I'll want to slam my head against a wall and die."

"Rest assured. If he were that easy to mess up, I would have hanged myself long ago. Trust him; he's going to have a great performance today."

After the warm-ups and player introductions concluded, Gan Guoyang stood at the center circle, preparing for the opening tip against Anteaters center Bob Thornton.

Before the tip-off, Gan Guoyang said to Thornton, "You're Bob? Nice to meet you. I express my apologies to you here and feel profound sympathy and regret for your misfortune."

Bob wore a look of utter confusion and asked, "You're Gan? What are you talking about? I don't understand at all."

Gan Guoyang replied, "You'll find out in a moment. I'm afraid if I get too absorbed, I won't have time to talk to you."

At that moment, the referee blew the whistle to signal readiness and tossed the ball high into the air.