Because she was about to start rehearsing, she quickly hung up the phone.
After putting down his cell phone, Hansen felt like he had eaten a piece of candy.
Swift really remembered the cake, which meant she at least considered him a friend.
That was nice too, having Swift as a friend was something he had initially thought was good.
But after the call, Hansen started to feel bored again.
He could only pull out his gaming console and start playing NBA 2K to pass the time.
It was while he was playing that Carrell called him.
It was about the All-NBA Team selections.
The NBA rules now were not the same as they had been before he crossed over, there was no proper awards ceremony; regular season awards were distributed during the playoffs.
The announcement of the All-NBA Teams was the last big award.
The All-NBA Teams were divided into three categories: All-NBA Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie Team.
Except for the All-NBA Team, which had three teams, the others had only two.
Especially the first team, it was considered the most persuasive honor in determining a player’s historical status, other than the MVP.
With averages of 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 2.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game for the season, Hansen had been selected for both the All-Rookie First Team and the All-Defensive Second Team!
Others selected for the All-Rookie First Team included Brandon Jennings, Curry, Evans, and Tai Gibson.
Griffin, who had been explosive in the Summer League, was out for the season after the event and did not have a chance to be selected, while Thabeet and Harden didn’t get enough opportunities in their rookie seasons.
This involved a trivial piece of knowledge: theoretically, the selection for the All-NBA Team should consider all five positions, but in reality, the media votes didn’t have such a restriction.
"If you were American, you would have been selected for the first defensive team," Carrell argued on the phone for Hansen.
Media voting is inherently subjective.
On the flip side, if you asked East University people to vote for the best lineup, they would instinctively favor East University players.
But for Hansen to be selected for the second team despite such biases was enough to demonstrate how impressive his defensive performance had been that season.
He had to thank the superstars he had guarded: Durant, Kobe, Carter, Pierce, and even Anthony, all of whom contributed to his achievement.
"By the way, LeBron was selected for both the first teams for the second consecutive year."
Initially, when Hansen had told Carrell to think about what it felt like to be a more renowned journalist than Windhorst, he hadn’t taken it seriously, but now he was looking forward to it.
So, naturally, he would also pay attention to James’s moves.
Hansen wasn’t surprised at all, was the media voting just a joke?
However, Hansen didn’t care about these honors, even the All-Rookie First Team award, as those didn’t really bring any substantial benefits.
What he cared about was being selected for the All-Defensive Second Team, as according to his shoe endorsement contract with UA, this would directly increase his yearly contract from two million to two and a half million dollars.
That amount of money may not seem much now, but if put into his earlier investment plans, it could produce much more than just that sum.
Hansen’s boredom didn’t last long because, just two days later, the Cavaliers and the Magic Team began their game.
He went to the Quicken Loans Arena and, as per the team’s request, shot a couple of baskets during the warm-up to throw a smoke bomb at the opponents.
Of course, after shooting, he changed back into his training suit and sat at the end of the bench as his SVIP audience.
Hansen’s mindset was pretty much that of a spectator now.
If the Cavaliers could make it to the finals, that would be great, as he still wanted to prove himself on the finals stage.
If not, that wasn’t bad either.
Apart from what was mentioned earlier, if the Cavaliers didn’t advance, wouldn’t a simple comparative test prove his importance?
Even after being subtly manipulated by James in Game 5, he kind of hoped James would lose in this round of the Eastern Conference Finals.
After all, that James wouldn’t deserve to stand on the finals stage.
In the most extreme case, if they reached the finals and James pulled the stunt he knew of granting military power, it would utterly disgust him.
But those were all things that hadn’t happened yet, and Hansen was just watching relaxed.
Setting aside those factors, he felt the Cavaliers still had a fair chance.
The main reason, of course, was O’Neal.
O’Neal had proven his vigor against the Celtics, and now facing Howard, who he completely dominated, wouldn’t he have even more room to perform?
Moreover, if the Magic Team were compared to a car, then Howard was its engine.
Once that engine was restrained, it would be difficult for the car to speed up.
What’s more, they had even traded away the driver (Turkoglu) during the offseason.
Of course, the Magic Team wasn’t completely without a chance, O’Neal’s stamina was a big problem, and if the Cavaliers’ offense was unsuccessful and the game became fast-paced, Howard could still exploit his advantages inside.
Moreover, the Magic Team had swept into the Eastern Conference Finals, with Carter shining brightly since entering the second round, scoring 20+ points in three of the four games.
Who would win was something only the game could tell.
Then, the Cavaliers won the first game 96-88. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵
O’Neal was spectacular throughout the game, notching 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.