Chapter 844: Chapter 38 Ignition of War_2
Seven years have passed, but the events of the Olympics are still vivid in Jordan’s mind, unforgettable.
Pippen suddenly asked, "I heard Ah Gan also joined the training camp, right? As a practice player for the team?"
Jordan was silent for a moment, scratched his chin, and then suddenly laughed out loud.
As everyone looked confused, Jordan said, "Sonny is the only one in the whole training camp who could handle Natt. Unfortunately, he’s not American, or I could have had an easier time at the Olympics."
Just as everyone was very curious about Gan Guoyang’s story, Jordan shook his head and refused to continue, saying, "I don’t want to boost someone else’s morale; you can ask him yourself when you have the chance."
Then Jordan went on the court to warm up, leaving his teammates looking at each other, wondering what secret could be so closely guarded?
In fact, Jordan had a lot to say about Ah Gan and that memorable training camp; he really wanted to talk and reminisce with an old friend.
So he called Gan Guoyang, who had already returned to Portland.
"Do you want to participate in the 1992 Olympics?" Gan Guoyang asked Jordan.
"Oh no, I don’t want to participate in any Olympics again. The summer of 1992... my goodness, that’s more than a year away. We have to finish this season, then play another season, and then go to Spain to play for a month. That is some inhuman torture. I won’t have the energy for it, I just want to rest, really rest, play golf," Jordan complained on the phone.
Jordan grumbled away on the phone, and Gan Guoyang could tell that the guy wanted to participate; he just needed a little persuasion.
"Is that so? Well, if you don’t participate in the Olympics, I might join. If the American Team faces China, you guys are definitely going to lose."
"No no no, that’s impossible, Sonny. Even with you, the Chinese Team can’t possibly beat Team USA."
"Hard to say, if you’re not there, I don’t believe any of those guys left can stop me. Patrick?"
"Forget about Patrick... Hey, do you still remember when Patrick was homesick?"
"Oh, I remember, I remember, during the All-Star game."
The two then changed the subject to Ewing.
Back at the training camp, during the All-Star game, because Ewing had been traveling away from home for so long, he actually said he was homesick.
Then assistant coach George Ravelin took Ewing to see his college coach, John Thompson; it was like going home to see his old coach.
Unexpectedly, this became known to Natt because Ewing returned to the hotel late that night and was caught by Natt, who asked where he had been. Ewing honestly told the truth.
The next day, during the game between the Olympic Team and the All-Star Team, Ewing started and ended up being blown away by Gan Guoyang.
Natt was furious during the game, yelling at Ravelin, claiming Ewing’s poor performance was due to the previous night’s visit to John Thompson, which caused him to come back late and be out of shape.
Ravelin was speechless, thinking it was just a visit to a college coach, not something like visiting a prostitute. How could returning late affect him that much?
Plus, even if Ewing had gone to bed earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to beat Ah Gan anyway. Wasn’t it normal to be outplayed by Ah Gan?
George Ravelin was the first African American head coach in US college history, and in college, he was a strong and excellent rebounder.
In 1963, when Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech "I Have a Dream" at the Lincoln Memorial, George Ravelin stood by his side, volunteering to provide security service for him.
(The person in white in the bottom right corner)
So Ravelin was not someone to be trifled with by Bobby Knight as he pleased.
He immediately fought back, yelling "Fuck you, Bob! It’s not my fault he can’t make a shot! It’s not my fault he can’t beat Ah Gan; he never could! Fuck you!"
The fact was, the Olympic Team won that game. Gan Guoyang’s playing time was limited, and the Olympic Team had already found their rhythm, but Natt and Ravelin quarreled on the bench the whole game.
"I’ll tell you, Sonny, they kept arguing until the game ended, and then they didn’t speak to each other for three whole days," Jordan said.
"Fuck, Patrick can’t beat me and still needs the excuse of coming home late? Even if I hadn’t slept all night and had red eyes, I’d still beat him just the same," Gan Guoyang said.
"Who’s to say otherwise, but that’s Natt for you, you know, he always has to find a target to hit, otherwise he wouldn’t know how to coach a game," Jordan explained.
The two also talked about Bob Knight’s old shoes; he wore a pair of old sneakers to the gym, and Gan Guoyang joked, "Why are you wearing your grandfather’s shoes over here?"
That comment had everyone laughing on the floor, and then Natt spent the entire camp verbally dueling with Gan Guoyang, both attacking each other without backing down, essentially challenging Natt not to use him as a practice player.
"The final result was, Natt cut Charles from the team. He said it was Charles who taught you to say that," Jordan revealed.
Natt and Gan Guoyang’s verbal sparring ultimately led to Barkley being eliminated from the training camp.
"Oh, and John Stockton, I guess that’s why he was cut, too," Jordan added.
"Shit, Steve Alford isn’t even as good as one hair on John’s head. Natt is a biased old bastard. Michael, this time you have to join the Olympics and then tell the selectors that if you’re coming, they must not include Isiah Thomas, and they should bring Stockton!"
