Chapter 821: Chapter 821
Last season, the Celtics were just one game away from the championship, and now, with Hansen gone from the Cavaliers, their strength has significantly declined, leaving no team in the East able to directly defeat them.
As for the West, the Pelicans were swept in the finals, showing a gap in strength compared to the Celtics; the Rockets’ Paul always tends to falter at crucial moments; although the Kings have Hansen, the rest of the team are still rookies needing time to develop; the only team that could potentially threaten the Celtics is the Warriors, who are also facing uncertainties with their new season adjustments.
So, Durant is not overly confident; he’s merely stating facts.
It makes sense for him to thank Hansen, because if Hansen hadn’t left the Cavaliers, the Celtics would have only lasted another year before being dismantled like the old Heat Team.
"Well, good luck to you."
Hansen offered his blessings to Durant.
Although they have always been opponents on the court, Durant in this world deserves a championship.
By the end of August, Hansen had finished his training camp and took a trip back to East University.
After the usual visit to East University, he flew with Yao Ming to Jakarta to watch the Asian Games finals held there in person.
Since Yao Ming became the chairman of the Basketball Association, he has mainly focused on two things.
Firstly, focusing on the basics, which means focusing on youth basketball, forming various levels of youth basketball leagues to seek more fresh blood for professional basketball.
For East University, though there are many people playing basketball, the number of players officially registered professionally is pitifully low.
This is related to national conditions and the environment, and while Yao Ming can’t change the former, he actively works to improve the latter. Official source ıs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
The second is forming red and blue teams, using alternating matches to train coaches and players.
Hansen is well aware of these efforts in "history," and in fact, the early results were pretty good.
During this period, although the men’s basketball team couldn’t reach the world’s top eight like in earlier years, they still held unmatched dominance within Asia.
The turning point in "history" was the 2019 Men’s Basketball World Cup.
In that major test, due to a sideline ball error and a loss, the men’s basketball team was left only with the brave Yi Jianlian and a completely failing report card.
East University’s basketball has always been results-oriented, and a failing report card meant that Yao Ming wasn’t doing well.
From then on, Yao Ming was gradually marginalized, his policies couldn’t be implemented, and he eventually resigned in dismay.
However, now "history" has started to change significantly with Hansen’s emergence.
Though basketball isn’t a one-person game, with the NBA’s top player leading, East University’s men’s basketball team is at least at the semifinal level.
This isn’t optimism but a result of the butterfly effect Hansen brought, causing changes compared to "history."
Although Ding Yanyuhang can currently only secure a two-way contract in the NBA, he hasn’t gone through numerous numbing injections, at least he’s healthy.
Despite mostly being benched on the Warriors, Zhou Qi hasn’t been cut, and training with the Warriors has kept him in good competitive shape.
Zou Yuchen was selected by the Rockets in the second round at the 43rd spot in this year’s draft, having performed reasonably in the summer league.
The overall level of East University basketball is roughly the same as in "history," but Hansen’s presence and influence have noticeably boosted the national team’s strength.
Of course, there’s also the enthusiasm of the fans.
Even though the game was played in Indonesia, the scene was almost entirely filled with Chinese fans.
They weren’t there for East University’s basketball, but for Hansen.
Hansen didn’t disappoint, or rather, his presence there was to warm up for next year’s World Cup. Before the game, while East University’s men’s basketball team was warming up, he came down to the court, did a few dunks, instantly igniting the fans’ emotions.
The most excited, of course, were the young players of East University’s men’s basketball team.
People used to wonder what would happen if Jordan joined East University’s basketball team, but now, an even tougher teammate than Jordan is about to join them.
This time in Jakarta, it was the Red Team participating, led by Ding Yanyuhang and Zhou Qi.
Perhaps inspired by Hansen’s presence, even though it was an away game, the young men’s basketball team quickly took the lead from the start and didn’t give the Persians many chances, ultimately winning a dominant victory and taking the Asian Games championship.
This undoubtedly heightened fans’ expectations for next year’s World Cup.
Hansen returned to Sacramento from Jakarta by September, and after a brief rest, the Kings’ new season training camp finally officially commenced.
Hansen officially met his teammates.
Though many of these rookies on the Kings were chosen by him and had faced him in games, just like he remained unfamiliar with the Golden One Arena, the Kings were a team he rarely paid attention to in his previous career.
But now, he’ll be working with them to strive for the ultimate goal.
This feeling is somewhat surreal for Hansen, as the youthful exuberance in the training camp makes him start to feel a bit old.
However, the relaxed atmosphere of the training camp didn’t last long because that man arrived.
The light reflecting off his bald head created a blinding glare. Van Gundy appeared on the sideline and then administered rigorous training to the players.
Van Gundy wasn’t considered a successful head coach, as like Hollins, he was stubborn and inflexible.