The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 61: On What Basis?

Hansen’s free throw opportunity came, and both teams made substitutions, with James being put back on the court for the Cavaliers.

This time, after James reentered the game, the Cavaliers began to gradually gain the upper hand.

This situation was maintained even after both teams’ main players came back on the court one after another.

Moreover, it allowed the Cavaliers to ultimately defeat the Celtics 95 to 89, securing victory in the game.

The Celtics’ misjudgment of Hansen’s abilities tonight made them very passive in their response.

Plus, Hansen’s static and dynamic talent were both outstanding, and with his perimeter shooting, designing a defensive strategy specifically against him in a short time wasn’t easy.

After Hansen displayed a strong ability to score with the ball, the Celtics found themselves in a dilemma on defense.

If they continued to focus their defensive efforts on James like they did at the beginning of the game, they couldn’t stop Hansen, but if they shifted resources to target Hansen, they couldn’t contain James either.

Tony Allen, although good, lacked offensive skills, and the Celtics couldn’t afford to use him too much during the main playing period.

In the end, the Celtics chose to stick with their original defensive strategy. Hansen performed excellently, helping the Cavaliers clinch the match.

Post-game statistics showed that James made 7 out of 18 shots, scoring 22 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 7 turnovers for a near quadruple-double.

Hansen made 9 out of 14 shots, 3 out of 5 three-pointers, and 4 out of 6 free throws, scoring 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, setting a new career-high in scoring.

Such an outstanding performance also earned Hansen another opportunity to attend the press conference.

Boston is a special place, and although Windhorst was present, he did not get the chance to ask the first question.

The focus of the reporters’ opening questions was naturally on Hansen.

Hansen felt a sense of unprecedented exhilaration.

Tonight, his performance wasn’t due to trust from James—among James’ turnovers, there were several where he’d rather turn it over than pass the ball to Hansen. Nor was it the result of the team’s strategic arrangements; Brown hadn’t drawn up a single play for him. It was all about seizing every opportunity and fighting for it on his own.

This feeling, even more than scoring 25 points or breaking records, was truly exhilarating.

Moreover, there were quite a few local Boston journalists at the scene, and they showed respect when questioning Hansen.

This was respect Hansen had earned through his performance.

After several rounds of questioning, Windhorst was finally called upon.

Then, something unexpected happened again for Hansen—the reporter known as James’ personal journalist actually directed another question to him.

"You and LeBron have produced excellent chemistry. How would you assess LeBron’s performance?"

Excellent my ass!

This was another blatant lie, trying to deceive fans who hadn’t watched the game.

But was this... another attempt to win him over?

Hansen glanced at James.

At that moment, James was looking straight ahead, not at him.

But when Hansen turned back, he caught James’ seemingly casual glance in his direction.

It seemed his judgment was correct.

Though if he were James, after tonight’s game, he too would try to continue building bridges.

In James’ previous career, he had played with outside players who were good at ball-handling and scoring, such as Ricky Davis, Larry Hughes, and currently Mo Williams.

Only Williams had a stable outside shot.

Players who could space the floor while James had the ball and take over the offense when James couldn’t penetrate were exactly the kind of outside partners James wanted.

This included Kyrie Irving, who was still playing at Montclair Kimberley Academy and revered by James, who also fell into this category.

Not to mention, Hansen currently had excellent defensive abilities.

Although his overall ability was not yet comparable to any of the previously mentioned players, he had only been in the NBA for less than two months.

A voice in Hansen’s heart was telling him to say a few nice words to ease the relationship between the two. It wouldn’t be sucking up; it was just to unify the team.

But at the same time, some memories sprang from deep within his soul, reminding him that once he knelt down, he would never be able to stand up again.

The memory came from Anthony Davis.

But what Hansen was thinking at that moment was: Why should I?

Yes, why should I!

Why should he shake hands and make peace with those who targeted him after such a game?

Should he gaslight himself, telling himself this was a test from someone higher up: Congratulations, challenger, you have passed the test, and now I officially declare you one of us?

He couldn’t do it!

And there was no need to.

He was a transmigrator, the bearer of the system; if this were a novel, he’d be the protagonist.

Have you ever seen a protagonist compromise with those who targeted him?

And if this were the gaming world, James would just be another boss he had to defeat on his way to leveling up.

Even if this boss looked very strong at the moment, he couldn’t escape his fate of being slain in the end.

"LeBron did what he had to do," Hansen replied.

He didn’t attack James. Even though James played terribly today under the Celtics’ relentless pressure, and even though he was annoyed by Windhorst’s question, few would attack a teammate on such an occasion.

Strictly speaking, what he said was nonsense.

But it was enough for Hansen to express his attitude—he did not accept reconciliation.

Moreover, he was prepared to lose his starting position again.

It wouldn’t be the first time they’d done that, anyway.

He wanted to see if Brown could still withstand the pressure and keep his position as the head coach of the Cavaliers if he continued to let Carrell publish targeted news.

After the game against the Celtics, Hansen returned to Cleveland with the team.

Thomas was already in Cleveland waiting for him when he arrived.

He had already communicated with the general manager, Ferry, and Hansen was going to be very busy for the next while.

Because Hansen needed to participate in daily promotional activities for the team and was also going to talk about endorsement contracts with a few major local brands to boost his influence in Cleveland.

Clearly, this was the reward he earned for his excellent performance against the Celtics.

Sure enough, once you get stronger, many things will come to you without the need to ask—they’ll offer themselves.

Also, Hansen’s haters skyrocketed these past few days.

Because he played well, he had won over Boston’s fans?

Wake up, this is Boston!

Even Kobe didn’t win Boston fans’ applause until he retired; Hansen was far from that with just one game.

On the contrary, after the game ended, the local media in Boston reported the news that he "insulted Caucasians", including his arrogant behavior at the North Shore Garden Arena, and now he was on Boston’s blacklist.

In a wave of recent news, many restaurants in Boston had put him on their "no entry" list.

Just like he had mused before his trip to Boston—wasn’t it just a regular season game?

Now he should muse—it was just a game, right?

But this was Boston, a city that left Hansen with an unforgettable impression on his first visit.

However, this did not affect Hansen’s mood in the slightest; on the contrary, it made him look forward to the next encounter with the Celtics.

The hate he received was far greater than from playing other games.

He had previously worried about hitting the individual hate cap too slowly, but it seemed he had been needlessly worried.

Because he hadn’t even touched the NBA’s number one fan group yet.

On December 25th, the annual Christmas showdown, the Cavaliers were one of the main attractions.

The other protagonist was the defending champion, Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers.