Two days after the trade deadline had passed, Hansen encountered two new additions to the team in the locker room.
Battier’s fra was much larger than anticipated, his shoulders were notably broad.
This easily evoked his nickna, "Batman."
The nickna originally stemd from the similarity in the pronunciation of "Battier" and "Batter."
But indeed, if he spread his arms open wide, he seemingly had the large horizontal area that would remind one of a bat.
Of course, more impressive than his physique was his expression.
Yes, expression. It is rare for soone to attract others with their expression, but you could hardly help being drawn in by his.
If Randolph’s perpetual impatient visage easily made one think of a ticking tibomb, about to explode at any mont, then Battier’s expression was akin to a cup of water; looking at him, you knew he could quench your thirst.
Or, to use another word that was more palpable: approachability.
During his ti at Duke University, Battier had another, more impressive nickna: The President.
It’s hard to imagine what level of approachability a player must have to earn such a title.
Battier was selected by the Grizzlies in 2001, but he left in 2006, with Guy being the oldest in this iteration of the Grizzlies, ironically the very one traded for Battier.
Therefore, he had played for the Grizzlies for a long ti but now didn’t have a single forr teammate left.
However, when he entered the locker room, several Grizzlies players approached to greet him.
Hansen glanced over, Conley, Tony Allen, and even Randolph went up with smiles on their faces.
It seed like although they hadn’t been teammates, they had plenty of pleasant encounters on the court as opponents.
"Shaun, I’ll swap spots with you," Conley offered proactively as Battier was about to take West’s forr locker spot.
"No, Mike, I appreciate it but I used to be in that spot when I played here earlier, I’m more used to it," Battier courteously declined Conley’s offer.
Tsk, you could tell whether soone had it or not the mont they opened their mouth.
Conley’s corner spot signified a status in the team; Battier switching with Conley would have been a loss of face, but declining the heartfelt invite would have been discourteous too.
Yet with a single sentence, he not only gave ample face to Conley but found a graceful exit for himself too.
"Han, you’ve given quite the hard ti before," Battier said with a smile to Hansen as he sat down next to where West’s locker used to be.
Hansen’s intersections with Battier were actually not that abundant, mostly originating on the court.
The last ti their teams clashed was just last week, where he had perford well, scoring 26 points, with Courtney Lee initially assigned to guard him, though Battier did too.
"Your defense also gave a hard ti," Hansen replied, adept at the mutual business praise.
"Haha, Yao often talked to about you."
Yao Ming?
That was sowhat surprising to Hansen, as he had never played for the national team and his interactions with Yao, the legend of East University basketball, were no more significant than with other players.
"Is Yao ntioning my absence from the national team?"
"Not at all, he praised you, saying you’re the face of East University for the next decade."
"Did he really say that?" Hansen was even more taken aback.
Battier nodded, "He also said one day you would beco an even greater East University player than him."
Had he not known Battier was Arican, Hansen might have thought he was sent by the East University basketball association.
Yet, to know Yao thought so highly of him was indeed a surprise.
Essentially, he was different from Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi; completely detached from the system, with no ties to the CBA, so being unfamiliar with others, including Yao, was normal.
Maybe if the basketball association had invited him to play in the World Championships last sumr, things would have been different, but there are no what-ifs in this world.
This made him recall the years after Yao’s retirent from mory, where as the president of the basketball association, Yao had ideas but struggled to implent them, ultimately earning a notorious reputation.
"Yao is one of my best friends; I am fortunate to have worked with him in Houston for five years. He’s the one who gave a true understanding of East University players: how tough, confident, and leadership-oriented they could be."
"That’s natural. We East University people are no less capable than Aricans," Hansen said proudly, being from East University—an East University one might call the beacon of Blue Star from his past life.
As the conversation unfolded, they found even more topics to discuss.
They even ended up talking about table tennis and making plans to play together when they had a chance.
They chatted until Joerger ca in to call the players to practice, which was when they stopped.
It was only upon standing up that Hansen realized they had talked for so long without him feeling it.
No wonder Battier could have a nickna like The President, it really wasn’t for nothing.
However, it was also upon standing up that Hansen noticed the other new addition, who had been "neglected."
Crawford’s body looked quite slender, especially next to Randolph, making him seem almost childlike.
Perhaps the neglect affected his mood, which didn’t seem particularly good.
But who would care about a fringe player?
During the full-court scrimmage in practice, Hollins placed Battier straight into the starting lineup.
This decision was not unexpected; Battier had always been a starting player in the league, and the Grizzlies had given up significant assets to acquire him.
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