"Fosse:
It's a pity that I didn't meet you in Los Angeles. The trip to UCLA came and went in a hurry and I didn't have the chance to contact you.
I am back in San Francisco now, and I am always thinking about the letter you wrote to me on June 15th, but I don’t know what to write in reply to you.
Recently, some things have been settled, and I just had something to say in my heart, so I replied to you this letter. I am sorry for the long separation.
It’s already July in the blink of an eye. When I last received your letter to me, my brother and I happened to go to Los Angeles for an interview with the UCLA basketball team.
The person who received me was a big man named Mark Eaton. I am already considered tall, and I have met people taller than me.
But Mark Eaton is really a giant, a real giant. I feel small in front of him.
He is a very good person. He entertained me because he was asked by Wilt Chamberlain (I have told you about Chamberlain and I in my letter before. You must not reveal it to others. He is stingy. Hell, if he knew I leaked out, he would definitely be angry with me. He is really nice to me.)
Eaton said that the reason why he continues to play basketball now is because he was inspired by Chamberlain.
Chamberlain told Eaton during a warm-up game to do what he is good at and be a good defender inside.
He graduated this year, and at the end of June he was selected by the Utah Jazz. He called me that day to tell me the news, and we became good friends.
But I told him on the phone that I might not go to UCLA to go to school or play basketball. He was a little surprised, but said he understood.
I am writing to you now to tell you this. UCLA is a famous basketball school with a long tradition. It is very attractive, but I feel that it is not suitable for me.
During the interview that day, I waited for a long time in the school gymnasium. I also drove here by myself. It took more than five hours and I was a little impatient.
The arena was empty at the time, so I played with Eaton for a while. His size and strength were so good that it was really difficult to score on him with conventional methods. I was a little short.
I asked him if he must have had a lot of playing time at UCLA, but Eaton told me that he had almost no chance to play.
He said that when coach Larry Brown was here in 1981, he still averaged 8 minutes of playing time per game.
This year the team changed coach Larry Farmar, and his playing time was reduced to 3 minutes.
Three minutes is too short. It's like taking off your clothes and rolling in the water. You can't take a bath to clean yourself, and you can't swim happily. You only get wet.
Eaton said that Coach Farmar doesn't like white players. He only has a preference for black players. It was the right decision for me not to go to UCLA. He definitely doesn't like Chinese players either.
I don’t care too much about skin color. The people I meet in California are not too sensitive about skin color because there are so many people of various ethnic groups here.
This is why I gave priority to UCLA among many schools. In fact, many schools in the east and south also sent me invitations, but those schools were too far away or the racial environment was not very good.
I'm not afraid of any racists, but I don't want to waste too much time fighting idiots and want to focus on basketball and life.
What really dissatisfied me about UCLA was that Coach Farmar did not agree with me in basketball philosophy. He did not give me the freedom to express myself like my high school coach.
After the interview, he set a lot of rules for me, including how to tie my shoelaces, the length of my shorts, how many minutes to play in each game when I was a freshman, etc.
I have heard the story of John Wooden. He was a great coach, but Mr. Wooden has retired. His set of things may not apply to every coach or player.
I am not a child and I don’t need anyone to teach me how to play ball and discipline myself. I need greater improvement.
So, I decided to reject UCLA because they didn’t care about me that much anyway.
I'm sorry that I said a lot of basketball-related things and some negative emotions and words. I couldn't control what I wrote.
You are always talking about me, why not talk about you..."
"Hey! Gump! What the hell are you doing? Writing a letter?"
Gan Guoyang, who was writing a letter, was startled by the voice behind him. He turned around and saw Bernard King walking into the gym.
Today is July 4th, the Independence Day of the United States. Gan Guoyang practiced for an hour at the YMCA training center in Chinatown.
When I was free, I suddenly remembered that I had not replied to Wang Fuxi before, so I took out a pen and paper, squatted on the bench on the sidelines and started writing.
When Bernard King interrupted him, he remembered that he had an appointment with King to practice at the gym today, but this guy was late.
Gan Guoyang hurriedly folded the letter and stuffed it into the sports backpack on the side, saying, "You are late. This is not a good habit."
With a wicked smile on his face, Jin said: "Oh my god, Gan, you're not writing letters to girls, are you? Is this the 1940s or 1950s? Do you want to communicate feelings through letters? Make a phone call and open your car Ford, pick her up at her house, go for a drive, have a big meal, watch a movie, I tell you you'll get it done. You're the California champion, be confident."
Gan Guoyang was too lazy to explain to Jin Duo and said, "Let's start training. You said you should add a little offensive skill to yourself every offseason."
Jin shook his head and said: "What a naive guy. You'd better hold a basketball when you go to bed at night."
Bernard King went to the locker room to change clothes. The venue was reserved for the afternoon period by two people.
Since quitting drinking, King has put forward higher demands on himself. He will strive to add offensive skills every off-season to improve his firepower.
This year, the Golden State Warriors were only one step away from the playoffs. They lost to the Phoenix Suns in the final battle to qualify for the playoffs, narrowly missing the playoffs for two consecutive years.
This is a big blow to the Warriors, who have a talented lineup, are united, and aspire to become a strong team in the league.
Bernard King's contract expires this summer, and there is currently no news that the Warriors will sign a new contract with Bernard King.
This made Bernard King a little upset. His performance this season was obviously very good, averaging 23.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and he was selected to the All-Star for the first time.
He has been training and playing with Gan Guoyang recently to let his heart settle.
Bernard Jin marveled at Gan Guoyang's super learning ability. This guy had already learned everything about his quick turn shot.
Heel rotation, fast speed, small rotation range, smooth and neat movements, ordinary big men simply cannot achieve this level.
Most of them are slow and need a relatively large turning space. Once they are flanked, they will lose their shooting space.
Although he plays as a center, Gan Guoyang is studying and learning offensive skills from top small forwards.
When he learned that Gan Guoyang would not go to UCLA, Bernard Jin said that UCLA's decline was not unreasonable and that they were too stupid to not give Gan Guoyang enough preferential treatment.
Jin also asked Gan Guoyang if he was interested in going to the University of Tennessee. Gan Guoyang smiled and shook his head. He didn't want to go to the south.
"We have been practicing turnaround jump shots for several days. Let's do something new today. What is it?" Gan Guoyang is more enthusiastic about basketball skills.
"You are such a basketball fanatic... Today I will teach you how to lay up with your left hand."
"What? A left-hand layup? Brother, everyone can do it."
"I know, but it's not an ordinary left-handed layup, but when you take off with your left foot and prepare to use your right hand for a layup, you have to switch to your left hand because of the opponent's defense. You can still switch to your left hand very smoothly. Or , the defender will predict your layup method based on your footsteps, and as a result, you will do the opposite, and the opponent will not be able to interfere or block you."
Generally speaking, for a layup, a player takes off with his left foot, takes off with his right foot, takes off with his right foot, and goes for a layup with his left hand.
In this way, the body can maintain balance and coordination. If the same hands and feet are used, it will be very awkward.
The solution for some NBA players is to jump with both feet, either left or right hand.
But there are also some players with top-notch coordination and skills who ignore left and right feet and left and right hands, adapt to circumstances, and play whatever they want.
This brings great difficulties and challenges to defenders.
Gan Guoyang became interested now. He knew that Bernard Jin must have special training methods. This guy had a special trainer.
Following the training regimen of NBA players is really a good way to improve yourself.
