The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 32 Unity is Strength

Malone’s response shocked everyone again.

"Even if it’s LeBron, it would be the same."

"I’ll shut up, then," Hansen replied simply.

Malone’s enthusiasm had passed, and he no longer felt like yelling at Conningham.

The game continued.

"Thank you." Before going on the court, Conningham pulled Hansen aside to thank him.

"Should I make up for the thanks I owe you now?"

The two men looked at each other and then both started laughing.

Sometimes, the relationships between men are just that simple.

In the end, the Cavaliers still lost to the Grizzlies, missing out on the next round of games.

Hansen also ended his journey in the Summer League.

In five games, he played an average of 29 minutes per game, contributing 17 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 3.4 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, and 2.6 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 44.2%, a three-point shooting percentage of 40.5%, and a free throw percentage of 80.5%.

On the night the Summer League ended, the players welcomed their true off-season.

Hansen and Conningham would stay in Las Vegas for one more day before heading back to Cleveland with the coaching staff, as they hadn’t signed official contracts with the Cavaliers yet.

Hansen didn’t go out wandering like before; instead, he knocked on Malone’s door.

Malone opened the door, looking puzzled.

"Coach, I’ve come to apologize," Hansen said with a smile, holding a fruit basket in his hand.

Not understanding his intention, Malone still let him into the room.

"Tell me, what are you really here for?" As soon as Hansen sat down, Malone directly asked.

"I truly came to apologize. I’m still too young, and even if I had concerns, I shouldn’t have challenged your authority openly," Hansen said as he placed the fruit basket on the table.

Malone watched Hansen without saying a word, feeling increasingly that he couldn’t see through him.

Hansen now seemed extremely mature, just like he had shown on the plane.

But if Hansen were truly that mature, he wouldn’t have spoken the way he did at the press conference, nor would he have confronted him so directly on the court.

"Do you dislike James?"

Malone’s follow-up almost made Hansen lose his composure.

Could you be any more down-to-earth!

"Cough, no, I’m not," Hansen shook his head.

What detractor of James would admit to being one? Besides, those social media posts weren’t really bashing, just stating facts.

"So why did you bring up LeBron at that time?"

Malone could really see through everything!

"Coach, I’m just a bit concerned," Hansen admitted as he couldn’t keep up the act any longer.

"Concerned?"

"You know, I haven’t tried out for the Cavaliers, and part of it is because the Cavaliers are a championship-contending team, and then there’s LeBron..."

Hansen was cautious, watching Malone’s reaction closely, and paused.

"Go on." Malone got up to make some coffee.

"Everyone says LeBron is the ’Emperor’ of Cleveland. There, no one can go against his will—from the management to the coaching staff, to the players, they are all LeBron’s ’followers’; even if LeBron is wrong, no one would speak up."

"So, what are you worried about?" Malone stopped, turned his head back, able to pinpoint the critical issue.

"I’m worried that once I get there, I’ll be forced to become one of them, but that’s not what I want. I didn’t work hard to get into the NBA to be someone’s friend or follower; I want to defeat opponents and prove my worth."

As he spoke, Hansen subconsciously stood up.

"What you want to do doesn’t seem to be directly related to your worry," Malone motioned for him to sit down.

"This is why I brought up LeBron," Hansen said without sitting down.

Malone fell into deep thought.

Hansen wanted to know if he was one of those supporters.

"I can’t decide what others think, I can only tell you what I think."

He took the brewed coffee, handed a cup to Hansen, and took one for himself before sitting down again,

"I’ve never tried to be LeBron’s friend, nor blindly praise him. I’m a coach. If he doesn’t do his job well, I’ll treat him like any other player."

After finishing the coffee in Malone’s room, Hansen walked out with a smile. freёnovelkiss.com

In fact, from the moment he learned that he had been chosen by the Cavaliers because of James, he faced a choice.

To stand with James or against him.

There was no middle ground because refusing James’s kindness was tantamount to standing against him.

Hansen made the choice decisively, but he needed to prepare for it, otherwise, he would lose his opportunity with the Cavaliers.

What he inevitably had to do was to elevate his own skills to become indispensable to the Cavaliers.

But beyond that, what he also needed to do was to unite all the forces he could.

This was emphasized by the greats and was the most crucial link on the path of struggle.

An individual’s power is always trivial, but when a group forms, it makes the enemy apprehensive.

Seeing Malone on the plane, Hansen was surprised and that question arose.

Then tonight, he knew the answer to that question.

It was neither a switch in Malone’s allegiance nor bad relations between Malone and James; it was that Malone was a man of principle.

Moreover, Malone’s courage to say "LeBron is the same" in front of so many rookies showed that he was not someone who says one thing and does another.

In other words, Malone was someone he could unite with.

After returning to Cleveland, Hansen and Conningham signed their contracts successively.

Contracts for the NBA first round are fixed and tied to the salary cap.

Hansen’s contract was for 4 years, $7.94 million, fully guaranteed, but with team options for the third and the fourth years.

The first year was $1.59 million before taxes, and about $800,000 after taxes.

Including the money he earned from betting before, he was now a millionaire.

Hansen shot the signing photo, posted it on social media, and captioned it,

"The beginning of a legendary journey - No. 77."

This status update immediately drew ridicule from the haters.

"You can fool others, but don’t fool yourself in the process!"

"Remember, don’t delete this, and look back in two years to see how ridiculous this is."

"Is this why you refused to join the national team? Your head is only filled with money, no patriotism at all!"

...

Previously, the news of Hansen’s refusal to join the national team training had been exposed by domestic media with very leading headlines.

"Hansen Refuses National Team Call-Up, Affecting Team Training."

So now, not just haters, but some uninformed fans also began to echo the sentiment.

Initially, Hansen was in high spirits after the Summer League, thinking it might still be possible to go back timely as opportunities at home are rare.

But with the media stirring things up, he completely lost the thought.

Given the domestic environment, without a stance from the basketball association, the media would never report like that.

This situation was nearly identical to that of Wang Zhizhi back then.

Not returning to the country, Hansen then proceeded to Miami as arranged, he had previously agreed with Wade that they would train together this summer.

To achieve his goal of becoming an indispensable player for the Cavaliers, he had to take "Star Catcher" to its limits before the season started.