So Hansen’s words were actually ant to influence the Pelicans, especially Jas’ mindset.
If Jas hadn’t reached the Finals, losing wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, he’s already lost for 14 consecutive years since 2003, what’s another ti?
But if he makes it and then loses, letting Hansen steal this biggest show in history, that’s sure to cause psychological problems.
After all, dynasties might co again, but being the backdrop of a dynasty is unique.
So just ask Jas if he really wants to make it to the Finals!
Before the ga starts, Rondo and Hansen talked about where to go after leaving the Cavaliers.
Besides Griffin and Gilbert, Rondo is the only one who knows Hansen will leave the Cavaliers this sumr.
Or rather, Rondo, his college teammate and roommate, is his most trusted personal team mber.
Hansen’s first choice is definitely a big city.
Note, it’s a big city, not a big market.
Because with Hansen’s influence, wherever he goes will beco a big market.
And what determines the market’s potential is not whether it was initially a big market, but the population of the city it’s in.
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio.
These are the cities in the United States with NBA teams and populations over a million.
Not too few, not too many, exactly ten teams.
"I heard Prokhorov is selling his remaining shares of the Brooklyn Nets, and Canadian Chinese Cai Zhongxin has the best chance to beco the major shareholder."
Rondo gave Hansen a new piece of information.
Hansen certainly wouldn’t be unaware of Cai, but he didn’t know the exact ti when Cai would beco the Nets’ owner.
With this, the Nets could beco an option.
In New York, having Cai as the owner is certainly better than Dolan by more than just one level.
Of course, whether it’s the Nets or the Clippers, Hansen just considers them as options.
He’s planning to emulate what Durant did back in the day, rent a villa and have a deep conversation with the managent of these options before making a final decision.
This won’t be an easy decision, because Hansen is about to turn 30, and his next contract will be the last long-term one of his career.
Or in other words, if nothing unexpected happens, his next stop will be the last of his career, so his choice must be careful.
But there’s one thing that can be certain.
"No matter where I go this sumr, I will demand they make you an important mber of the team managent."
Hansen hasn’t had managerial problems in Cleveland like he did in mphis, thanks to the way he returned to Cleveland and because of Gilbert.
That’s a kind of luck.
The attitude of managent towards players isn’t directly proportional to the player’s ability, evidenced by Jordan’s standoff with the Bulls’ managent and the Lakers’ with Kobe.
Essentially, players and managent represent labor on both sides, it’s a cooperative relationship, one that’s uncertain.
The most reliable way to gain influence is having team mbers like Rondo enter managent.
After being a judge in the All-Star ga dunk contest, Hansen wants more control.
Doesn’t that sound just like what Jas did with the Cavaliers?
It is the sa.
There’s nothing new under the sun.
Or, to put it another way, Jas wasn’t wrong about it, he had absolute influence with the Cavaliers.
The problem was, he just wasn’t good enough.
Victory can cover up a lot of internal problems in a team, and similarly, after success, no one will care whether you interfered with managent.
But such conditions are quite harsh, and only a limited number of teams can accept them.
While they were chatting, the Ga 7 of the Western Conference Finals had already started.
Then, Hansen and Rondo saw an offensively uninterested Jas.
Jas mostly stood on the weak side with his arms crossed, just feeding the ball to Davis for isolation plays.
Davis is strong in cutting without the ball, playing him one-on-one like this is too difficult for him.
Hansen couldn’t help but laugh in the end.
He really understands Jas; with what he said, Jas truly doesn’t want to play in the Finals anymore!
However, what’s hard to hold back is, maybe due to low morale, the Rockets’ outside shooting touch was frighteningly low tonight too.
And though Jas had little desire to attack, the referees were on their side.
Nike might not be as strong as before, but a starved cal is still bigger than a horse. It’s not as strong as UA but still stronger than Adi.
So this led to a vicious cycle.
The Rockets’ poor outside shooting forced them to make more penetrations.
But penetrations didn’t win them whistles, which allowed the Pelicans to boldly shrink their defense and force the Rockets to take more outside shots.
And then, they just kept missing more and more shots.
As the classic fan phrase goes, they almost bent the rim with their shots.
Repeated bricks led to long rebounds, and Davis’ mobility let him go crazy grabbing rebounds.
The Pelicans frequently utilized Davis’ rebounds to launch fast breaks.
Jas’ failure with the One Star and Four Shooters tactic back then is very similar to the problem the Rockets are encountering now.
With a good feel, hitting the most threes in history isn’t an issue.
But when the touch isn’t there and there’s no midrange scoring ability, this is the kind of disastrous ga you encounter.
However, Jas wasn’t really here to win tonight, which is why even when the Rockets couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives, the Pelicans didn’t pull away fast.
Hansen felt it was unbearable towards the end; unlike the high-quality offense and defense showdown between the Cavaliers and Celtics in their Ga 7, this was just rookies pecking at each other.
In the end, the Rockets crumbled first, they couldn’t make a shot even in open positions, as if cursed.
After an incredibly ugly ga, the Pelicans defeated the Rockets 101 to 92 and advanced to the Finals.
The Rockets went 7-of-44 from three-point range, missing their last 27 attempts in a row.
This result can only be described as an unexpected surprise.
Although the referees were indeed against them, the Rockets’ shooting was ridiculously off.
Not saying they had to be on fire, but if they made even 30% of their shots, they’d be in the Finals.
One could say the Magic Ball is great, but just like the Magic Skills from martial arts novels, it’s easy to fall into deviation.
Davis was the Pelicans’ main contributor to the win tonight, pouring in 32 points and grabbing 20 rebounds, with 2 steals and 3 blocks on defense.
Given Jas scored just 18 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, it’s fair to say Davis carried Jas into the Finals.
When the ga ended, Davis was at the sidelines celebrating chest bumps with teammates, visibly excited.
After being on the Pelicans for so many years without reaching the Finals and almost wanting to leave,
now he’s made it to the Finals directly in his first playoff, and he did it himself, how could he not be excited!
However, during the post-ga handshake, Jas looked even worse than if he had lost.
The Finals matchup is finally set for the Cavaliers and Pelicans.
Because of what Hansen said before, with this result confird, fans on social dia have started celebrating.
"No ti to mourn for Jas Harden missing his first Finals trip, let’s celebrate LeBron Jas making it to the Finals again!"
"The Finals matchups in the past three years haven’t been the sa, but the sa is that there’s Jas and Hansen in the players facing off!"
"From the Lakers to the Warriors, to the Pelicans, LeBron has switched teams three years in a row, but makes it to the Finals every year, an unparalleled historical achievent!"
"LeBron has shown his knack for picking teammates, guaranteeing the Finals, but unfortunately, standing across from him is always that man."
"Oh Mr. Jas, every eting is a long-awaited reunion!"
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