When Hansen heard these words, his initial reaction was the same as when he first heard James call him "my good brother" on the plane, he thought it was fake.
But after giving it some thought, he seemed to understand it.
Because old fox Popovich, besides loving to play tricks on people, also liked to jinx players before the game, blowing bubbles of bad luck just like Barkley did.
You could tell from the way he described him as Kobe, who not only played well against the Spurs but also had epic failures in his shooting.
Whenever his mid-range touch wasn’t working, it made the Spurs much easier to beat.
So, when it came to the Grizzlies’ routine open practice that afternoon, Hansen chose to return the favor.
"Even last season I said that TD is the best player in the League, and I still stick to that, he’s as underrated now as he ever was because of his humility, he should get more MVP votes than LeBron."
If Ross could be chosen as MVP, then wouldn’t it be reasonable for Duncan, who led the Spurs to 61 wins, to be ranked higher than James with his 58 wins for the Heat?
Hansen was aiming to cast the jinx, but unexpectedly, he received quite a bit of support from Duncan’s fans, who voiced their discontent on social media over the injustice dealt to Duncan.
After all, as the core player of a team with 61 wins, Duncan didn’t even receive a single second-place vote.
Of course, Hansen didn’t care about these voices. Being low-profile has its disadvantages, but also its advantages.
If he remembered correctly, the Spurs were upset in the first round that year, but almost no one used that fact to denigrate Duncan. To imagine James or Kobe in that situation was simply unfathomable.
Therefore, double standards just wouldn’t do. Not to mention, Duncan’s championships had the fortune of Popovich’s scheming.
The next evening, the semi-finals between the Spurs and the Grizzlies kicked off at the AT&T Center.
This was a new arena built in 2002, able to accommodate over 18,000 people, and it was rare to see it filled to capacity tonight.
Even Spurs’ owner Pete Holt, who also sold tractors, was present and sat in the middle of the audience stands. Content orıginally comes from 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥
Thanks to Hansen, Holt had sold quite a few more tickets, seeing as the Spurs’ home games often had many empty seats during the playoffs.
During the pre-game warm-up, after shooting a few baskets, Hansen walked towards the Spurs’ half of the court.
Popovich was standing near the mid-court at that time, his arms folded across his chest, watching the Spurs’ half.
It wasn’t until Hansen nearly reached him that Popovich noticed his presence.
Hansen wore a smile, looking very friendly.
This reaction took Popovich by surprise, and even the Spurs players who initially noticed Hansen turned their heads back to continue warming up.
They actually preferred to believe that Hansen didn’t do it on purpose, and besides, Popovich had praised Hansen before the game, and Hansen had praised Duncan, so it seemed like there should no longer be any problems.
As for the fans’ reactions, isn’t that just like the ping pong fan circle, what does that have to do with the players?
Although Popovich didn’t know what Hansen came over for, one does not slap a smiling face, so Popovich also showed a friendly face in response.
Hansen looked for the camera angle, thanking James for letting him know where the cameras might be located before the game and what their angles would be.
Of course, unlike James, he made sure he was facing away from the camera.
Once he found the right angle, he still smiled at Popovich and then spoke up,
"I did it on purpose."
It was a somewhat cryptic sentence, but Popovich instantly understood.
Hansen was saying he had intentionally collided with Neil in the regular season, causing a patellar tendon tear!
With the continued smile, Hansen made Popovich’s spine chill.
Even if Hansen had intentionally knocked him down, he never thought Hansen could be so frightening.
But Hansen, he had done it in such a way.
Moreover, this was clearly a threat.
If Popovich dared to play dirty again, Hansen could do it once more, perhaps even more drastically, and it would still not look intentional.
Popovich was enraged; he knew he should immediately retort, "I did it on purpose too (to take out Guy)."
But those words got stuck in his throat.
He backed down because Hansen was the first in NBA history to target a head coach so blatantly and even come over to threaten him!
Even when Coach Budenholzer got up and came over, Hansen greeted him with a smile, as if he had really just come over to say hello.
Now, who wouldn’t be afraid of such a person?