[When I try to recall the Western Conference finals of 1997, everything is incredibly, incredibly clear.
From the moment the opening whistle blew, adrenaline levels rose, and the game was more intense than ever.
Every moment of touching the ball felt like the last few seconds before the end of a regular season game, with extremely, extremely focused attention.
So everything was so clear, so distinct, etched into my sea of memory like a knife carve.
My mind was always buzzing, whether at the Rose Garden or the Triangle Center, both were deafeningly loud.
All the players existed and breathed at a level they could not imagine.
And the reason for all this was that our opponent was the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was Ah Gan.]
——Excerpt from John Stockton's autobiography "Assisted", published in 2012.
[Many memories of the 1997 season have actually become blurry, even though it was my first season as a coach.
