Chapter 752: Chapter 752

Because this is not just a simple training camp; it’s a bona fide sports academy, covering an area of 100,000 square feet, with 5 basketball courts, 5 volleyball courts, 2 beach volleyball courts, 1 soccer field, and even an e-sports training center.

This setup is extraordinarily large.

Here, attention is paid to a rarely focused-on aspect: the cultivation of sports talents.

From this perspective, Kobe and Yao Ming are doing the same thing, but due to the different circumstances in their countries, their chosen methods are quite different.

Because of Hansen’s arrival, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was even more grand than expected.

However, since it’s just opened this year, Kobe did not invite NBA stars; mostly college and high school students came.

Hansen initially just intended to show support, but he ended up sitting down and listening to Kobe’s lecture.

After listening, Hansen’s view of Kobe changed quite a bit.

Hansen had faced off against Kobe many times; Kobe is essentially a rather individualistic player, but in his lecture, he emphasized teamwork the most.

Whether this means Kobe is at heart a team player, or if his understanding of basketball changed after a 20-year career, is unknown.

And you can’t deny, in this Mamba Academy, Hansen could feel the young people’s innate fervor for the Mamba spirit.

After the lecture ended, Hansen was also preparing to leave.

To thank Hansen for coming, Kobe planned to personally take him to the airport.

Hansen didn’t refuse, but when Kobe led him to a helipad and he saw the helicopter there, he was momentarily stunned.

He wasn’t particularly opposed to helicopters; although the previous owner of this body died in a helicopter crash, it wasn’t related to him.

Previously, at Yellowstone National Park, he even went on a helicopter aerial tour with Ajalee.

But the combination of helicopter and Kobe at the same time made Hansen express his preference for traveling by car.

Kobe didn’t insist, and he also accompanied Hansen by car.

This actually made Hansen even more favorable towards Kobe.

Perhaps because of this series of good impressions, on the car ride, Hansen discussed the safety of helicopters with Kobe.

He mentioned his experience of being in a helicopter crash over the sea, saying if it were not for his ’luck,’ he might have been 8 years old already.

Unexpectedly, Kobe hadn’t really considered this issue.

"It saves a lot of time,"

Kobe’s rationale was solely based on this.

He even gave their current car ride as an example, saying it takes two hours round trip from the Mamba Academy to the airport, but with a helicopter, it’s less than an hour.

"This is a race between life and time; you’ve retired, do you really lack time?"

Before the transmigration, because Kobe’s crash was such a huge event, Hansen passively read some news about it.

For instance, helicopter crash rates are 17 times that of commercial aircraft, and although statistically, it’s less likely to get into an accident than a car, car accidents usually just result in injuries, while helicopters in the air often mean certain death.

Also, helicopters are prone to electromagnetic interference, and you might not even know how you were killed.

So all in all, helicopters should be the least worthwhile mode of transport.

Kobe chuckled, clearly still quite confident in helicopters.

"Anyway, I won’t ever use that as a mode of transport. If a crash does happen, just think about one’s wife and kids, and half a life’s worth of hard-earned wealth ending up as someone else’s gains..."

Hansen said while shaking his head, making it his last attempt to persuade Kobe out of goodwill.

Whether Kobe would listen or not was not his concern.

As September draws to a close, the new season approaches, and the training camps for various teams are gradually starting.

On the first day of training camp, someone was late reporting to the Cavaliers; JR and TT were to arrive two days later.

Fortunately, with the addition of two-way contract players this year, it didn’t affect Malone’s training plan.

However, after the training camp began, the Cavaliers’ players fell into two completely different states.

Players like Jokic, Dedmon, and Hansen were in excellent form, but players like Nene, Korver, and even Wade were noticeably not in as good shape as last season.

No one can resist the old man Time.

The good news is that Ross, West, and those new players were in good condition, all coming to Cleveland hoping to gain something.

Two days later, JR and TT returned to the training camp.

But once they joined the training, things got worse.

Compared to Wade, they weren’t just in worse condition than last season; they had no form at all!

It seems they partied all summer without much training. Thıs content belongs to 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱

In short: they fought a lifetime of battles, can’t I just enjoy myself for once?!

Expecting two guys to train all summer for a three-peat after winning back-to-back championships is unrealistic. If it were that easy, Kobe’s Lakers would have done it long ago.

This situation is predictable but hard to change.

So all Malone could do was have Lue apply intense training to these two, trying to get them in shape before the season started.

Mid-way through the training camp, Hansen discovered something unexpected.

Kuzma was more diligent than he anticipated.

It became clear one morning when Hansen woke up early to hit the gym first, only to find Kuzma already there.

It was just past 5 o’clock, and Hansen initially thought Kuzma was just another early riser like himself, but a brief chat revealed that he was up that early every day.

And his reasoning was unassailable.

"4 a.m. Los Angeles" was part of Kobe’s image, and like Hansen experienced at the Mamba Academy, some people genuinely believe in it.

So perhaps in Kuzma’s mind, though he couldn’t completely emulate Kobe, that belief drove him to stick to it.

But... as an anti-LeBron, Kobe fan, and Mamba’s Successor, Kuzma already has all the buffs stacked.

No wonder "in history," Kuzma created a legendary moment by pushing James to defend.

Since that day, Hansen couldn’t help but keep a closer eye on the team’s rookie.

Then he felt as he did when observing Mitchell in the training camp, realizing even as a transmigrator, he had insufficient or skewed info on many players.

Kuzma is quite versatile, with off-ball movement, ball handling, even rebounding, passing, all quite competent; he’s truly a formidable forward.

But what surprised Hansen the most was Kuzma’s defense.

In Hansen’s "impression," Kuzma’s defense wasn’t great, but upon careful observation, this guy used his 2.06-meter height and 2.14-meter wingspan skillfully.

Moreover, his footwork, placement in defense, and those tiny steps were skillful.

That’s right, he knew Kobe’s Little Dog Steps.

Confirmed this guy is a true Kobe fan.

Because for techniques , apart from in-person teaching, another method is learning from watching videos.

Back when Hansen first learned the turnaround fadeaway, he watched some of Jordan’s tapes.

Thus, only a true Kobe fan might have self-taught such footwork.

The Cavaliers certainly missed out on Mitchell, but drafting Kuzma yielded more returns than expected.

Upon realizing this, Hansen invited Kuzma into his Breakfast Club, sharing with him the nuances of the Little Dog Steps.

Although Lue ramped up the intensity on JR and TT, predicting their performance in the new season is still uncertain.

Moreover, if they don’t perform well, those are just bad contracts, difficult for the Cavaliers to trade.

In this context, having young players progress more, so they can step up when needed, is crucial.