The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 33 Miami Special Training

Wade’s special training took place in an indoor gymnasium at Miami Palm Beach.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see palm trees swaying in the wind and the beautiful Miami Beach, making for a quite comfortable environment.

Inside the training gym, there were Bosh, Haslem, Chalmers, and James Jones besides Wade.

Except for Bosh, the others were all Heat team members.

As for Bosh, his agent was also Thomas, and they were all newcomers from the ’03 draft class, which naturally meant he had a close relationship with Wade.

Of course, there were also some trainers at the scene.

When Hansen arrived, Wade was chatting with a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

Seeing Hansen come in, Wade stopped the conversation and shouted towards Hansen, "Let me see who has arrived!"

When Hansen approached, Wade extended his hand for a hug.

"Number 77, I heard about it, you’re really awesome," Wade whispered during the hug.

There were no negative fan value generated in the system, meaning Wade truly thought he was impressive.

As basketball players, they naturally communicated through the sport.

After a few greetings and warming up with some shooting, they played three-on-three half-court.

The players on this court were stronger than those at the Summer League, but Hansen, having boosted his strength during the Summer League, was able to cope.

They played several rounds with alternating teammates before a group of them stood on the sidelines for a rest and a chat.

"Your defense still hasn’t improved much," Wade was still as straightforward as ever.

If it were before, Hansen would have taken Wade’s words as harsh criticism, but after the Summer League, especially after those two games against the Kings, his perspective had changed.

Conflict is the foundation of technique, much like the base of a pyramid; his defensive skills had been improving, but his physical confrontation hadn’t kept up, and going against Wade, who was even tougher than Evans, he truly didn’t feel as strong.

This was probably also the reason he hadn’t been able to reach the "Star Catcher" threshold.

"I’m planning to gain weight and increase my physicality over the summer."

Wade’s eyes widened as he looked at Hansen; Hansen had found the right direction.

"Got a plan?"

"I plan to get up to 220 pounds," the same weight as Evans.

And Wade was also at that weight now.

"Young man, I suggest you don’t do that," someone interjected at that moment.

Hansen turned his head to find that it was the middle-aged man who had been talking with Wade earlier.

Strangely enough, the man felt very familiar to him, although he was sure he had never met him before.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce him—this is Tim Grover, my friend," Wade took the initiative to introduce him.

Tim Grover?!

Hansen was shocked to hear the name.

Who was Tim Grover? He was Jordan’s personal trainer, even the progenitor of private personal trainers.

Hansen, himself a trainer, could not have been unaware of his name, but he hadn’t expected the man to be so young?

He remembered from his last life glimpsing news footage of a white-haired old man.

"Why do you say that?" Hansen asked.

Despite his shock, he didn’t just assume Grover was right because of his reputation.

Grover was indeed the progenitor of personal trainers, but that was just because he was the first to eat the crab, so to speak.

The profession of a trainer was constantly developing, and by his era, it had already matured considerably.

Take, for instance, the old belief that "shooters shouldn’t train muscles as it would affect their shooting accuracy," a notion that had been disproven in his time.

The most typical example was Curry, whose upper body strength in the later part of his career was very impressive, yet it did not affect his shooting.

The fundamental reason lies in the formation of muscle memory. Becoming stronger simply requires adapting to new memories.

"Your body won’t be able to handle such a large weight gain in a short period of time," Grover said, surprising Hansen.

However, Hansen still disagreed with him.

Like Ben Simmons, who indeed couldn’t handle gaining 15 kilograms in one offseason, he had only put on 7 kilograms.

"What do you think would be an appropriate weight for me to reach?" Hansen asked.

"I don’t know."

Don’t know?

Hansen was stunned. So, you still speak up when you don’t know!

"Everyone has their own optimal weight, and that’s something athletes need to explore on their own."

Hansen was speechless; why did he get the impression that Grover was like a charlatan from a marketplace, spouting great principles but leaving the specifics of how to achieve them up to oneself?

Especially when combining Grover’s age, the more he looked, the more it seemed to fit.

"You could try adding 5 pounds at a time, and if there’s no significant reaction from your body after two or three months, you could add another 5 pounds," Grover continued, perhaps sensing the doubt in Hansen.

Too slow.

Hansen felt that Grover’s suggestion was too slow. Following Grover’s pace, reaching 100 kilograms would take 6 to 9 months, by which time the season would have already started.

If he continued to gain weight during the season, he wouldn’t have time to adjust to the new muscle memory, and his shooting would be off.

"I’ll try doing that," Hansen said with a smile.

Although he didn’t agree with Grover, the man was after all a friend of Wade’s, and he felt obliged to show some respect.

In the following period, from mid-July to mid-September, Hansen continued to train with Wade in Miami.

During this time, he completed his weight gain, increasing from 93 kilograms to 98 kilograms.

He didn’t lower his target but went through a phase of weight gain because he needed time to adapt to the new muscle memory.

According to his plan, he would reach 100 kilograms before the season began and it wouldn’t affect his shooting touch.

The most significant impact of the weight gain was that he was now able to keep up with Wade’s physical strength when defending him.

Although this inevitably led to a slight decrease in his mobility speed, it was within an acceptable range.

Toward the end of the specialized training, Hansen finally felt that he was reaching the bottleneck of the "Star Catcher."

This was undoubtedly of great significance to him.

Over the summer, the Cavaliers didn’t stop bolstering their backcourt lineup.

They signed Anthony Parker, a 34-year-old seasoned scoring guard with outstanding defense who, during his three seasons with the Raptors, had two seasons with a three-point shooting percentage above 43%.

Additionally, they signed Jamario Moon, known as "Moon Man." Moon had been a starter since joining the League and last season played for the Raptors and Heat, contributing 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 25 minutes, with a three-point shooting percentage of 35.5%.

Counting Deronthe West and Daniel Gibson, who were already on the roster, Hansen’s rookie season competition was especially fierce.

But now, having hit a plateau with "Star Catcher," he had the chance to stand out from the rest.

Before the training camp ended, Wade took Hansen aside for a one-on-one session.

In fact, the composition of this training camp indicated Wade’s intentionality.

After losing to the Hawks in a first-round game seven the previous season, the Heat team was eager to prove themselves.

Wade in particular had reached a career peak last season, and his competitive nature made him unable to accept such a result.

Perhaps that was the real reason he invited Hansen to join the training camp, and why he brought Grover into the camp.

He wanted to break through his own limits to reach a new level, one that could lead the Heat forward.

Hansen had gained weight, and his defensive prowess had finally improved to a level that could put pressure on Wade, which was actually a form of help for him.

Therefore, after receiving help, he also wished to give something back to Hansen.