Because what he cared about was not being the king of votes—after all, who would consider that kind of thing an honor?
What he cared about was the unfairness, fans wanting to vote but finding they couldn’t—that was what truly dampened their enthusiasm.
"Because of the League’s discriminatory treatnt of East University fans, I will not play in this year’s All-Star Ga."
Hansen then made his statent through Carrell.
His temper simply wouldn’t allow it, and this tough stance surprised not just the United States fans but even Silva.
Following that, Silva took a trip to Cleveland.
His attitude was polite, and he showed him a draft of a League docunt that hadn’t been officially announced yet.
In this docunt, the League was planning a major overhaul of the voting system next year, splitting the vote between fans and players, each accounting for 50% of the total.
This was already written in the docunt, but Silva added that next year the League would not restrict the voting of East University fans on the official website.
Obviously, this andnt was hastily added after Hansen’s strong stance.
Although Silva wanted to maintain control, he could not afford the risk of the All-Star Ga occurring without Hansen.
After all, the mont Hansen confird his participation in this year’s All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, the event’s popularity soared to its highest level since the year 2000.
Silva made a statent, but Hansen was not appeased since this year’s All-Star voting results could not be changed.
This move caused considerable damage to the League, and Silva consequently gained a deeper understanding of Hansen’s character.
Hansen did not change his decision to sit out this year’s All-Star Ga, which agitated even more United States fans.
Since Hansen was sitting out, those United States fans who had voted for him essentially cast their votes in vain.
Not to ntion that Hansen had previously announced he would participate in the Slam Dunk Contest, raising the fans’ expectations, only to disappoint them in the end.
Hansen’s social dia beca like a busy morning marketplace, bustling with various opinions.
Then, the League saw a different side of Hansen.
Two days after returning from New York, the Cavaliers visited Boston to challenge the Celtics.
Because of Howard’s joining the Brooklyn Nets, they didn’t make the disastrous trade-off of their future with the Celtics as "history" had it.
Thus, the Celtics had entered a rebuilding mode, having let go of Ray Allen and then Pierce the previous sumr.
From the original Green Army’s Big Three, only Garnett remained.
And Garnett’s role was that of a veteran in rebuilding mode, playing only about 20 minutes per ga with his status and shots greatly reduced.
There wasn’t supposed to be much suspense in this ga, but it was this match where Hansen erupted for 58 points, leading his team to a 40 victory.
As a well-known forr nesis of Boston, he silenced the North Shore Garden Arena.
Garnett was so infuriated that he got consecutive technical fouls and was ejected from the ga.
Although Hansen had been given a considerable amount of ball-handling responsibilities this season, he overall played more of an organizing role.
This could be seen from his average assists per ga for the season.
But clearly, so of the comnts from the United States fans had provoked him.
And this was just the beginning; in the following gas against the Thunders and the Raptors, he scored 54 and 50 points, respectively!
Three consecutive gas with 50 points!!
More importantly, the Cavaliers pulled off a three-ga winning streak.
You must understand that the Cavaliers’ performance in January had been erratic, and aside from the Celtics, the two other teams they faced weren’t weak.
Hansen responded to those United States fans with his performance.
Following Hansen’s display, the League’s official response wasn’t late; they imdiately highlighted his three consecutive gas with 50 points, his second ti achieving this milestone, becoming the second person in history after Chamberlain. They also published a highlight reel of Hansen’s performances on social dia with the text: "Contending for the greatest of all ti."
That was an official endorsent, and those fans imdiately fell silent.
Because clearly, you can’t find another player in the League capable of accomplishing this.
At such a ti, any reason to question the so-called king of votes seed feeble.
After Hansen’s scoring fireworks ended, ti moved into February, and the Cavaliers were soon to face the Heat for the first ti this season.
This season, due to the departure of Bosh, the Heat weren’t highly favored initially.
From Stan’s rankings, it was clear to see they were rated the lowest of the three Nike super teams.
However, reaching this point, they were the most stable among the three.
They were only two wins behind the Warriors, with 60 victories being a modest goal.
In other words, the experience of the Heat fans this season was almost identical to that of the Warriors fans: waking up to a resounding victory.
They also used their own experiences to prove one thing: The Big Three’s team-building model is unreasonable; team depth is key.
This can actually be seen from the Grizzlies’ dynasty experience as well.
The Grizzlies’ first two championships, especially during the defending season, were won using roster depth to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Heat.
And during the third season, when their depth was lacking, they almost lost the dynasty.
This ga was also very crucial for the Cavaliers.
If they wanted to break out of The East, let alone win the championship, the Heat was unavoidable.
If they were to suffer a devastating defeat like the one they had against the Rockets before, it would greatly affect the team’s confidence and morale.
But the challenge of this ga was also significant.
The Heat had just achieved a nine-ga winning streak; they were much stronger than the Thunders or Raptors by more than a little.
The ga was on the Heat’s ho court, with the Cavaliers arriving the day before the match.
After arriving in Miami, Hansen took Irving straight to the training gym.
This ga was critical; they needed to get into the best possible shape before the match.
However, what they didn’t expect was that a familiar figure appeared in the gym while they hadn’t been practicing for long.
Sharp eyes, a handso face, and that unparalleled aura; it was Durant who had arrived.
It wasn’t strange for Durant, as the big shot of the Heat, to appear in the training gym.
Irving knew Durant and initially wanted to greet him, but seeing that Hansen completely ignored the other party, he could only retract his gaze.
Hansen treated Durant as if he was thin air and continued practicing with Irving.
However, before they had finished training, to their surprise, Durant actually approached them.
This did catch Hansen off guard.
After all, this might be the first ti since their one-on-one training in the sumr that they were face to face in private.
Most of the other tis, they fought through alter egos on social dia.
"Tomorrow night, no, this entire season, I’m going to beat you!" It turned out Durant ca to talk trash.
But that was normal, considering that since the sumr of 2010 when Hansen joined the Grizzlies, Durant hadn’t won a series against Hansen in the past four years.
Now that the Heat was clearly much stronger than the Cavaliers, he finally had his chance to gloat.
"Just like Shaq beat Michael in 1995?" Hansen said, smiling.
Durant thought for a mont and nodded, "Right, just like Shaq did!"
Jordan retired after leading the Bulls to their first dynasty and then lost to O’Neal and Hardaway’s Magic team during The East finals in his first year back.
Hansen’s example was very apt.
However, this left Irving beside them confused - why was Hansen helping his opponent argue while trash-talking?
But he understood soon enough because Hansen’s following words broke Durant’s defense:
"Thanks for comparing to Michael."
Irving wiped his sweat, glad that Hansen was a teammate and not an opponent.
Durant turned red but couldn’t co up with a response and ended up snorting coldly:
"You don’t win gas with talk!"
After saying that, he didn’t give Hansen another chance to speak and quickly left the gym.
"Are we confident we can win tomorrow night?" Once Durant had left, Irving couldn’t help asking.
He knew Durant well - if they really lost, Durant would definitely rub it in their faces.
Hansen shook his head, signaling Irving to continue training.
Seeing Irving still standing there, Hansen added:
"Isn’t that what makes it interesting?"
—Divider—
① The East starters: Wall, Wade, Hansen, Durant, Howard
Subs: Irving, Lowry, Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Big Gasol, Millsap, Noah
The West starters: Curry, Kobe, Jas, Bosh, Anthony Davis
Subs: Paul, Westbrook, Harden, Klay Thompson, Alderich, Duncan, Little Gasol
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