Chapter 18 California Bald

[Thursday, October 5, 1995, Indianapolis.]

When did I start missing and needing Ah Gan?

I think it was during my ninth season in the League, which was also my ninth year with the Pacers.

Without Ah Gan in the League, there was no one for you to look up to.

Over the years, some sad things happened to him, dealing with death, accidents, and farewells.

He needed a break, and so did we.

I always thought he shouldn't have run a funeral home, that brought him closer to death, but he didn't seem to care much, after all, he kept burying us, leaving the whole League gasping for breath.

I never shrank from facing him, but I never won either. I lost to him back in high school, and in 1987, when I entered the League, the night before our first home game against the Trail Blazers, I kept thinking about how I was going to "show him some colors."

Yes, colors, that's how you say it in Chinese, which Ah Gan taught me later.

It means "Give somebody a piece of my mind."