Chapter 52: You deal with him

On November 13th, the Trail Blazers faced off against the Dallas Mavericks at home, where Sam Bowie encountered Gan Guoyang again on the court after eight months.

Gan Guoyang's emergence changed the fate of Sam Bowie's basketball career.

Bowie became famous early on; by 1979, he was already a star high school player known across America, averaging 28 points and 18 rebounds per game, and was named the Player of the Year.

At 7 feet 1 inch tall, with limbs as long as a giant spider's, he was as renowned as Ralph Sampson. They met at the Capital All-Star Game in 1979, attracting over 19,000 spectators to the event, dubbed "The Battle of the Giants."

These two centers, seen as wonders, were loaded with expectations, believed to dominate the League's interior for the next decade.

After high school, Bowie was coveted by many schools and ultimately went to the basketball powerhouse, Coach Rupp's base at the University of Kentucky.