After the Grizzlies’ offense missed a shot, Brown was already at midcourt waving at his teammates.
You wouldn’t believe it if you saw it, not just the Grizzlies but even the fans on site were stunned.
Can you even play like that?
Hansen was at a loss for words because Jas wasn’t defending him, and he had montarily forgotten about this tactic.
But this was Jas, after all. If it were any other player who took off on a fast break without playing defense, they’d get benched by the coach or roasted by the team leader right away.
The craziest part was that after Jas took the ball and completed a signature tomahawk dunk in transition, he roared at the fans courtside in celebration.
That move silenced the New York fans.
A low blow, filthy play; they just saw it with their own eyes!
From last season’s shocking kneeling to this season’s defenseless fast break, it seems that if you have no sha, you’re truly invincible.
However, when he tried the sa tactic next ti, it did not succeed.
Because Hansen was already at the three-point line.
As the Grizzlies were on offense, Hansen was free to choose where to position himself as long as he didn’t engage in the attack.
And with his off-the-ball defense, he maximized the speed boost given by the "Death Entanglent."
As Jas took off on another fast break, preparing for another brutal dunk, Hansen flew from behind and smacked the ball out of Jas’s raised hand, sending it flying out of bounds.
Unsurprisingly, the New York fans were now cheering for Hansen.
To say hesitating even for a second to exchange Jas for Hansen would be an insult to Hansen.
But no one blad them; booing at Jas was to make him get a grip, but instead of seeing him rise to the challenge, they got fed a mouthful of crap.
The only reason they weren’t chanting MVP for Hansen was that the block wasn’t on a free throw.
Tonight, Hansen focused primarily on defense, not looking to top Madison’s scoring leaderboard, but he certainly left an indelible mark on this sacred basketball ground in his own way.
By the end of the third quarter, Jas finally reached 10 points.
The subsequent 4 points weren’t from field goals, but rather the referees helping his score reach double figures.
Yet by the end of the third, the New York Knicks were down by 25 points, and the ga had lost all suspense.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Jas was set to continue coming off the bench, but when he saw Hansen still standing up not caring that the ga had entered garbage ti, he turned back to the bench.
Before long into the fourth quarter, he left the ga early.
In the end, the Grizzlies easily defeated the New York Knicks 102 to 84 on their ho court.
Hansen contributed 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 10 steals, and 2 blocks in three quarters.
Jas ended up with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 turnovers.
At the post-ga press conference, Hansen and Joerger attended together.
"You got 10 steals tonight, setting a new career-high, and it only took you three quarters. How did you do it?" Hansen’s steal stats tonight were incredibly eye-catching, impossible to ignore.
"You should ntion that 5 of those steals were off LeBron."
Hansen’s response caused a stir in the room.
But he wasn’t done yet. That comnt was just a setup, for he had another line to deliver.
"LeBron needs to work on his ball-handling skills. If you just dribble in place, you won’t shake off the defender."
The press conference exploded at that statent.
So things are well known, but it doesn’t an they should be voiced.
If anyone else had said it, they’d be blacklisted by Nike.
But this was Hansen, the UA’s lead endorser, back-to-back Finals MVP. What could they do to him?
Especially with Stern close to retirent, even if Nike had ideas, they wouldn’t take action.
With these two explosive statents, Hansen had not even finished.
"LeBron’s points tonight should only be 2. The rest of the 8 points were gifted by the referees."
Hansen’s frankness left the reporters wide-eyed with astonishnt.
But indeed, Jas only scored one field goal tonight, and that was by giving up on defense.
Hansen’s words were also a veiled emphasis on what he had said before the ga.
If anyone didn’t understand the concept of lockdown, what he did tonight was the best demonstration.
At the end of the press conference, a reporter from ESPN ntioned Jas’s performance tonight, saying that his knee injury affected his play, and that he left the ga due to the injury in the fourth quarter.
Facing such an explanation by the reporter, Hansen just smiled lightly and said,
"LeBron doesn’t have many injuries left to bla."
Elbow, groin, ankle, knee... what will be next?
After the press conference ended, Hansen’s social dia beca a battlefield.
LeBron fans were truly flustered.
Before, even if Hansen attacked Jas, he had been relatively indirect.
For example, when he previously said that Jas was not as good as Guy, he still used out-of-context quotes for sensationalism.
But this ti, Hansen was in full-on attack mode!
Hansen’s Anti-Fans value soared, and his social dia was bustling.
Han’s fans were not going to let LeBron fans get away with it.
"Han is just concerned about his forr teammate. Look at KD developing playmaking in one season – is it so hard for LeBron to develop his dribbling? Surely he can’t be worse than KD?"
"We are actually very grateful to LeBron. After all, like Han said, without LeBron’s contribution of 5 steals, he would never have gotten 10 steals in just three quarters."
"LeBron is still playing superstar-level ball in the NBA despite injuries all over the place. He truly has historic NBA-level talent."
...
Hansen realized that as his fan base increased, there appeared to be a surge of "talent" among them.
Perhaps many of them used to be his haters, who had slowly been converted by his performance.
It seems that paradox is indeed true: the more fans you have, the more haters you gain; the more haters you have, the more fans you attract.
Regardless, the "Decapitation Strike" was very successful.
With all the commotion he stirred up, whether it was on the offense or PR front, tomorrow’s news was bound to be bustling.
And no matter the final outco, Jas’s status with Nike was sure to continue its decline.
He was also looking forward to how things would develop between Nike and Jas next sumr.
After the ga against the New York Knicks, Hansen returned to mphis.
When he got back, he found out the head of Under Armour was still in town.
Aside from praising Hansen’s excellent performance, the UA head ntioned another matter.
As the sales of shoes had gradually increased, UA had systematically set up a research lab last year, and they had now made a new breakthrough in shoe technology.
Taking advantage of the critical mont next sumr, they were preparing to launch a new series of shoes aid at higher-end consurs.
Now they were consulting with Hansen about the design direction of the shoe’s appearance and the series naming.
After all, the initial success of the HS Terminator series was based on Hansen’s suggestions.
Hansen didn’t have any ideas for the new series naming, but he definitely had so personal thoughts on shoe design.
During the opening ga against the Heat, he couldn’t help his team win due to fitness issues, which made him consider how to improve.
Since the Anti-Fans System didn’t directly offer any talent for fitness improvent, he had to find references from reality.
And then he found another way to address the fitness issue: Simplicity.
Simply put, it was about simplifying movents on the court, using the least amount of energy to accomplish what he wanted each play.
Of course, all of this was based on his accumulated talent; without that, talking about simplicity was just empty talk.
But at least now, he could manage it on the court.
As for the shoes, a classic black and white color sche seed more appropriate.
Just like AJ initially went with black and white, which still remains a favorite among shoe collectors years later.
Of course, the specific design needed a the, as black and white shoes are very common. That required a separate opportunity.
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