Chapter 775: Chapter 775
Hansen’s subsequent responses were quite pragmatic, as his 86 points only allowed the Cavaliers to narrowly win, but it’s impossible for him to average 86 points per game; that’s not something humans can achieve.
"Do you have anything to say to Kobe?"
Just like O’Neal said, before today, the first person people thought of when talking about the greatest scoring performances was Kobe, but after today, that person will be Hansen.
"I hope he can get a good night’s sleep tonight," Hansen said with a laugh.
Ever since Kobe retired, he’s been enjoying life, but with his competitive nature, he’s probably going to lose sleep tonight and head to the court looking for that game feeling.
After asking Hansen, the reporters also handed the microphone to Jokic.
Jokic didn’t score much tonight, only getting 14 points, but he also had 15 rebounds and 20 assists, which is a very unusual stat line.
"I need to improve my defense; I must play more aggressively," Jokic said, scratching his head, following on from Hansen’s comments.
He’s smart enough to know that after tonight, opponents will target him more crazily than before.
Then, when asked about Hansen’s performance tonight, he broke out a Cook-style famous quote:
"Hansen and I combined for 100 points."
Because of Hansen’s 86 points, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
While Hansen and Jokic were at the press conference, fans and stars outside were already speaking out.
"What are those guys doing? How could they let Hansen score 86 points? You are disgracing the green jersey you wear!"
Already retired and now an ESPN commentator, Pierce made a passionate remark on the show.
"When Kobe scored 81 points, I found out through an email from my assistant, but this time I witnessed Hansen’s 86 points, I respect Michael, but I want to say, Hansen is already the greatest player in my heart."
As Hansen’s teammate, who has been through countless trials, Wade expressed his amazement on social media.
"Even Jesus couldn’t defend him tonight."
At the same time, Riley, watching the team’s game at the home court, expressed his amazement in front of reporters after the competition.
The camera pointed at the number 77 jersey hanging in the American Airlines Center, and it was obvious that, in Riley’s heart, Hansen had already surpassed Jordan.
"What was Hansen doing in the second quarter? He could’ve scored 100! Just kidding, I don’t think there will be another person who gets close to this score, it’s the greatest scoring performance!"
O’Neal also posted his social media update immediately after the game ended.
"This is the best player in the league, he dominated this era."
SILVA, the League President, also updated his personal social media account.
"This is like a nightmare for us, we tried everything, a rotational defense, double teams, triple teams, but he always found a scoring opportunity."
Stevens looked helpless in the post-game interview as, besides reducing defensive intensity in the last moments to win the game, he applied very high-intensity defense to Hansen.
"The craziest thing about this is that Hansen scored 86 points with only 42 shots! I can’t even do that when playing video games!"
As the second person at UA, Curry also weighed in on social media.
Of course, besides that, many fans were discussing Stevens’ man-to-man defense strategy in the final moments, as well as Hansen’s last two free throws.
In some fans’ view, after Hansen hit that difficult 2+1, the game’s outcome was no longer in doubt, but Durant still chose to foul Hansen, making those last 2 points look like stat-padding.
Afterwards, there was a series of debates surrounding this topic.
Some believe the Celtics fought to the end, while others think Durant tried to make Hansen’s scoring feat more extraordinary.
These post-game controversies are similar to why the Raptors always went one-on-one against Kobe, and these seemingly unimportant topics are what fans are enjoying the most right now.
By the next day, news reports started coming out in droves.
"Hansen and I combined for 100 points"
"After tonight, the greatest in history is undisputed"
"Legendary #77, miraculous 86 points"
"An unbreakable Christmas game scoring record"
Hansen’s 86 points dominated the news, and fans on social media were abuzz with comments.
Even people who usually don’t care about basketball were discussing this event.
This is a classic cross-over moment.
This record isn’t just Hansen’s alone but something that can elevate the entire NBA’s influence.
Hansen’s sponsors also seized this opportunity, announcing they would release commemorative Hansen editions, like UA’s limited-edition commemorative shoes, and BYD also launched an HS86 special edition car.
When Hansen walked into the training hall the next day, his teammates looked at him differently than usual.
Even though Hansen was already great, when that greatness is manifested, it evokes a sense of respect from the depths of one’s heart.
But Hansen himself, ironically, became the calmest person at that moment.
He was quite excited last night, and even chatted with Kobe for over half an hour after receiving his call.
But once the excitement subsided, it was just another regular season game for him.
Or maybe, Hansen found even greater motivation from last night’s game.
Because this Celtics team put as much pressure on him as the Heat did back in the day, but this season’s Cavaliers overall form is weaker than the Cavaliers back then.
So if they really faced the Celtics in the playoffs, they’d have to give it their all to have a chance at winning.
And to do that, they’ll have to create every favorable condition possible. The source of this content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝕟𝕖𝕥
Like home-court advantage.
By December, the Cavaliers had overtaken the Bucks to become second in The East, now trailing the Celtics by 4.5 games.
This gap isn’t small, but the season is long, they’ve only been through two months, and there is still time to catch up.
So to achieve this goal, Hansen must work harder, and make sure his teammates do too.
After handing out Christmas gifts to his teammates, "bastard Hansen" appeared again.
Only this time Hansen wasn’t forcing himself to play a role, it was a desire that came from within.
On December 31, 2017, as the final bell of the year rang, 2018 arrived.
And at this time, the league announced a piece of news: the All-Star game would undergo reforms again this year, with the biggest change being the cancellation of the traditional East vs. West format, replaced by a captain selection format.
Specifically, a player from the All-Star selections would be picked to be the captain, and they would take turns selecting players for their team.
This news sparked heated discussions among fans.
In recent years, the entertainment value of NBA regular games has continuously declined, so this fresh approach has created high expectations.
Especially since the league also announced that the player selection process would be done live, which is even more anticipated than the games themselves.
By the end of January, the All-Star voting results and reserve lists were released, along with the selection of the two team captains.
One, of course, was Hansen, undoubtedly the strongest player of this era;
This captain choice was somewhat surprising because Nike’s current top player is Durant, and Curry’s Warriors have the best record in The West.
That’s the league’s consideration. Durant is in The East, and they still need basic East vs. West confrontation, while Curry is with UA, and the first innovative event can’t be an internal UA competition.
However, this result was very well-received among fans.
After all, the NBA is an entertainment event. James might not be the strongest, but he’s undoubtedly the most entertaining.
① West starters: Curry, Harden, James, Davis, Cousins
Reserves: Lillard, Paul, Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Hayward, Draymond Green, Aldrich
East starters: Irving, Hansen, Durant, Antetokounmpo, Jokic
Reserves: Wall, Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Derozan, Towns, Embiid