The promises made by Silva to Hansen had not changed, despite Hansen’s apparent indifference.
Perhaps Silva’s earlier promises were based on Hansen’s league status.
Now, the league’s official statent ca out earlier than expected due to Hansen’s performance.
Hansen’s absence from this year’s All-Star Ga was a foregone conclusion, and the league did not wish to see another year without him.
By mid-February, ti had flown by.
The All-Star Ga was about to comnce in mphis.
Just before the All-Star festivities, the league officially approved the Grizzlies’ trade, and Pera beca the new owner of the team.
Consequently, Pera was present during the All-Star weekend.
It was on dia Day that he announced in front of many journalists that he would erect a statue for Hansen.
It was a surprising event.
Because usually, such honors as statue dedications co after a player’s retirent.
Yet, from Pera’s perspective, it made perfect sense.
Heisley had such a poor reputation in mphis that as the new owner, Pera needed a powerful way to quickly gain the support of mphis fans.
Indeed, he achieved his goal, as by the end of dia Day, the Grizzlies’ social dia was flooded with a warm welco for Pera.
On the sa day, Jas made a statent on dia Day that put Hansen in the spotlight.
Jas had been asked about participating in the dunk contest, a frequent question at the All-Star Gas.
"The person who said he’d participate and then didn’t isn’t ; I just haven’t found the right mont yet."
Although Jas did not ntion Hansen by na, fans naturally knew he was referring to Hansen.
This quickly turned into a hot topic.
Regardless of why Hansen didn’t show up, the fact was he didn’t.
A considerable number of fans had been looking forward to his performance in the dunk contest, and disappointnt is hard to avoid when expectations are not t.
The result was that Hansen, vacationing in Big Sky City, Montana, saw his negative popularity soaring.
He once envied the way Jas drew criticism and lanted that he could not borrow that system, but now he didn’t even need to borrow it—Jas had beco the tool which increased his negative popularity.
Of course, Hansen wasn’t paying attention to that right now, because he was at the ski resort, watching Ajalee ski.
The long season is a test for a player’s physical and ntal endurance, not to ntion that now, as a star, Hansen had to participate in brand events even on his days off. He practically beca a non-stop machine.
So, taking the opportunity of not having to attend the All-Star Ga, he let Rondo cancel all promotional activities and took Ajalee on a proper vacation.
Skiing is, of course, the ideal outdoor activity for February.
However, due to NBA regulations, skiing is classified as a risky sport, and players are not allowed to participate before retirent.
Previously, Radmanovic of the Lakers was fined $500,000 by the league for skiing injuries and even earned the nickna "Ski Man."
Hansen could only watch with admiration.
At first glance, Ajalee seed like an ordinary person, but as you get to know her, you realize she genuinely is a rich second generation; she is proficient in so many things.
Dance, music, diving, rock climbing, skiing, bungee jumping—there seed nothing she couldn’t do.
Although Hansen earns a high inco now, he found himself sowhat envious of Ajalee.
Because, fundantally, he was still a worker, a long way off from retirent and enjoying life.
They couldn’t ski, but they could still stroll in the park.
They chose to ski here also because it was close to Yellowstone National Park.
Hansen had been in the United States for so many years, and he had never visited the renowned Yellowstone.
His biggest impression of the place ca from the movie "2012," where the eruption of the volcano in Yellowstone fulfilled audiences’ fantasies.
The popular joke was: The simplest way to annihilate the United States was to let the Yellowstone volcano erupt once.
So even speculated whether dropping an atomic bomb into the volcano’s crater could wipe the United States off the face of the Earth.
The geothermal scenery here is indeed quite spectacular, especially the Grand Prismatic Spring—its vivid colors are reminiscent of the Five-Flower Lake I saw in Jiuzhaigou, even in February.
But beyond that, the other natural landscapes are comparatively ordinary when set against Jiuzhaigou.
No wonder Curry was so excited when he first visited Jiuzhaigou.
However, this ti they were mainly here for the wildlife, which was their key interest.
The wind was light that day, so they took a helicopter straight to the gathering places of wild animals.
It was only from this bird’s eye view that Hansen began to perceive the vastness, similar to the "great uncle of the wilderness."
Most of the United States is composed of plains, and the Rocky Mountains are one of the few major mountain ranges.
Especially when a herd of Arican bison were running across the snowy fields, the scene was truly magnificent.
"Maybe in the sumr ti, we could take a trip to Africa," Hansen thought, recalling the wildlife shows he often watched in his previous life.
Spring had arrived, the season of rebirth for all things...
The most abundant and appealing part of those shows was Africa.
Just in ti for sumr, his estate would be ready, and the pets he planned to adopt would also be brought over from there.
He had decided to adopt a young African Lion.
He had already thought of a na: The Young King.
On the day of the All-Star Ga, Hansen and Ajalee were resting in the hotel room, with a bunch of snacks and drinks on the table, watching the live broadcast of the All-Star Ga.
Having a girlfriend to watch the ga with was sothing many people dreamt of.
After the ga started, The West quickly took the lead.
The power gap between The East and The West was apparent this year, and even more so with Hansen’s absence.
But it was this situation that made this All-Star Ga particularly "exciting."
Jas’s desire to score on the court was stronger than ever. Specifically, when Curry didn’t pass him the ball during a fast break, Jas went straight for the block.
Even though Curry dodged it in the end, the scene still caused a stir among the audience.
It’s just that after many years, Jas really wanted the MVP during the rare All-Star ga without Hansen.
However, he soon encountered his biggest MVP competitor: his forr teammate Westbrook.
Although Westbrook was selected as a substitute, he was a point guard.
Especially when Jas was on the court at the sa ti, Westbrook clung to the ball as if his hands were suction cups.
You want the MVP, Jas? No chance!
Back when they were teammates, Westbrook had to give up so control for the sake of team spirit, which almost resulted in him being traded.
Since Jas had been traded to The East, Westbrook hadn’t had the chance to exact revenge—now, co the All-Star ga, it was ti to settle both new and old scores.
The image of these two players on the court was even more thrilling than last year’s All-Star Ga with Hansen and Jas together.
And Cole was quite interesting too; upon realizing Curry had little interest in the MVP, he gave Westbrook plenty of playti, sitting back to watch the two battle it out.
After all, both the Lakers and the Thunders were direct competitors to the Warriors, and the more fiercely these two fought during the All-Star Ga, the better for him.
The West ultimately won over The East with a score of 163 to 150.
Statistically, Jas had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks—a classic stuffing of the stat sheet.
But Westbrook scored 41 points!
In this battle of stat padders, Westbrook, as the point guard, erged victorious and won his first All-Star Ga MVP of his career.
If the scores had been close, the award might have gone to Jas, but the difference was too great.
Hansen couldn’t help but laugh at the end.
This was even more exhilarating than an actual ga.
Before the broadcast ended, Hansen was already practicing his ball-handling and post-up moves with Ajalee while they watched.
He couldn’t let the All-Star weekend go entirely to waste.
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