Chapter 722: Chapter 81: The Great Wall Stands Forever_2
As soon as the punishment result was announced, cheers erupted outside the Hyatt Hotel.
A two-game suspension was indeed the best outcome. With the Trail Blazers leading 1:0, even if they lost two straight games, being behind 1:2 was still manageable.
Moreover, the Pistons had also lost Isiah Thomas, so it wasn’t clear which team was stronger or weaker.
Upon receiving the news firsthand, Wu Zhixiong immediately called Gan Guoyang’s home to inform him of the outcome.
After Wang Fuxi finished the call, he relayed the message to Gan Guoyang, who was feeding a child.
"Michael, he peed, hand me the diaper... Diaper, diaper! That’s a napkin!"
Michael Jackson had been staying at Gan Guoyang’s house for the past couple of days, waiting for the outcome of the punishment and taking the opportunity to rest in Portland, away from the relentless pursuit of Los Angeles reporters.
The King of Pop possessed unparalleled talent and accomplishment in music and dance, but he had absolutely no experience in childcare.
He was now acting as Gan Guoyang’s helper, preparing formula and passing diapers. He even tried holding the baby at noon, looking as stiff as a mummy.
Upon learning that Gan Guoyang was suspended for two games, Jackson heaved a great sigh of relief, only for Gan Wenshan, who had just been changed, to pee again...
"Shit, I’ll never want to have kids in my life..."
After a day’s experience of childcare, Michael Jackson admitted he had fears of marriage and children.
Jackson was 32 years old this year. As a superstar, he naturally had no shortage of women in his life, but he had never thought about getting married.
In the past two years, he had grown close to Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Presley, although Lisa was already married and had a child.
Gan Guoyang said, "I used to think the same as you, but at some moment, when you feel that there’s someone in this world worth your fondness and living for, you might change your mind a little..."
Regarding the decision to suspend him for two games, Gan Guoyang remained calm inside; he was ready to accept any possible outcome.
However, for the Trail Blazers players, having Ah Gan miss just two games was a great encouragement.
On June 8th, the second game between the teams took place at the Memorial Coliseum, with Ah Gan absent from the match.
On the Pistons’ side, Isiah Thomas had already returned to Detroit for rehabilitation treatment and was reportedly trying to play in the third game.
Both teams had lost their star players, but the Trail Blazers still retained their complete offensive and defensive systems.
Sabonis played a crucial role in this game, proving to be a worthy substitute for Gan Guoyang.
Although Sabonis didn’t have the same fiery firepower as Gan Guoyang on the offensive end, his defensive coverage was much larger than people imagined.
Sabonis demonstrated his influence beyond the offensive statistics; his solid screens and smart passing posed a significant threat.
In this game, Sabonis had his most outstanding playoff performance, with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks.
Gan Guoyang, sitting on the sidelines, continuously instructed Sabonis on how to deal with Lan Bi’er and how to respond to that shameless old slick at the basket.
Trail Blazers’ former coach Jack Ramsey appeared courtside in this game, sitting not far from the Pistons’ bench and behind Chuck Daly.
Throughout the game, Old Jack stared down Daly, making him feel like there were thorns in his back, unable to properly command.
The Trail Blazers, all game, suppressed the Pistons who were missing Thomas; when it was time for a counterattack, the Pistons without Thomas were powerless.
The final score was 98:104, with the Trail Blazers defeating their opponents by 6 points, securing both home games and taking a 2:0 lead in the series!
The situation was greatly favorable for the Trail Blazers, but their real challenge was the next three away games in Detroit, where they would inevitably face the ferocious attack of Detroit fans, especially Gan Guoyang.
On June 9th, Gan Guoyang left Portland and took a charter plane with the team to Detroit.
At the airport, the team bus was besieged by a mass of fans; local police arrangements were severely inadequate.
Some extreme fans attacked the Trail Blazers’ bus, throwing rocks and bricks at it.
Gan Guoyang and the Detroiters were naturally at odds; previously, Detroit auto workers lost their jobs due to Japanese car imports, vented their anger on the Chinese people, mistook them for Japanese, and killed an innocent Chinese person. In the end, two white men were sentenced to only a few years in prison.
This grudge cannot be resolved and will only deepen.
Upon arrival at the hotel, by rights, the NBA team’s accommodation arrangements are secret and not disclosed to the media.
But unexpectedly, this time the Trail Blazers’ location leaked out, leading to many troublemakers gathering near the hotel to create noise, disturbing the Trail Blazers players’ rest.
The Trail Blazers team were wary of eating the food provided by the hotel, so they sent someone to order takeout from a Chinese restaurant instead.
When the team took the bus for training, they were besieged once more, and the local Detroit media and newspapers accused the Trail Blazers of being a team of butchers.
"Ah Gan is the league’s number one butcher!"
"This man who runs a funeral home is a cold-blooded and ruthless killer."
"We have reason to suspect that, for the sake of his funeral home’s business, Ah Gan is secretly murdering people."
Detroit was like another world; this is the norm in America, where different states have different laws and cultural ecologies, and the differences are vast, beyond the control of the nation.
Before the start of the third game, the Trail Blazers players had not gotten proper rest; on the morning of June 11th, the noise outside the hotel lasted until dawn.
