Hansen felt guy was a bit schizophrenic.
After the photos were taken, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Why did you think of coming to me? I heard Derek is training with Kobe."
The lockout had the biggest impact on this year’s rookies.
Not only did they have no salary, nowhere to train, but they also lost the summer league.
So, the capable newcomers all sought out mentors, like the Derek Hansen mentioned, who is this year’s second pick, Derek Williams.
It seemed that Kyrie was also a fan of Kobe, so he should’ve been training with Kobe.
Hmm, Hansen definitely did not ask this just because Kyrie had disrupted his passing drill plans.
When Kyrie heard this, he scratched his head, which made him look quite naive; after all, he was just 19 years old.
"Because I see you as my idol," Kyrie said, seemingly a little embarrassed. Dıscover more novels at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
Hansen was taken aback.
How did he become the idol of Kyrie?!
The term "idol" is generally reserved for successful, well-established players like Kobe, Wade, or at the very least, someone as famous as LeBron.
Besides, it wasn’t just about achievement and fame; the age didn’t match up either.
Though he joined the League two years before Kyrie, he was only three years older; he certainly couldn’t be his idol!
"I heard about your confrontation with LeBron in my senior year of high school, of course, I also watched the Cavaliers’ playoffs that year. I really love your competitiveness, your struggle against fate," Kyrie explained excitedly.
Now Hansen understood; Kyrie was a bit of a natural rebel.
But, you know what, aside from his personality, his competitive spirit, even his style as a closer, were quite similar to Hansen’s.
So, if LeBron went back to the Cavaliers in the future, it would be even more justified for Kyrie to rebel against him?
After all, that’s what my idol did back in the day...
Hansen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry; he had no idea how Grant would react to this news.
But, since Kyrie put it that way, Hansen found himself unable to say what he had intended to suggest, that Kyrie train with Kobe; after all, it would seem very inappropriate to send someone away when they’ve just called you their idol.
"Kyrie, being able to score alone won’t make you a winner, you also need to learn to share the ball, like I do on the court," Hansen began to counsel.
Did he want Kyrie to improve?
Of course not, he simply wanted a better training environment.
After all, he was an idol, wasn’t he? When an idol speaks, you have to listen, right?
Kyrie nodded as if he had an epiphany.
Then, when training resumed, he was still the same old him.
The brain: got it; hands and feet: out of control.
Hansen eventually just let Kyrie be his opponent all the time, and as for Harden not being happy about it, well, he could just keep being his teammate.
A few days later, Curry left the training camp.
Not because he couldn’t stand Kyrie, but because he had an ankle injury that hadn’t fully healed from last season and had planned to undergo surgery over the summer.
Curry’s departure did not affect the training camp because, before that, Hansen had received a call from Wade.
Wade wanted to organize a training camp this year and had come directly to him for help because he couldn’t gather enough people.
When Wade arrived, Hansen greeted him with a big hug, smiling.
He was always grateful to Wade; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone last summer to scope out the situation and also persuaded Wade on the side.
The two naturally chatted about the recent finals.
The bold strategy of relinquishing control, Wade’s perfect start to his second finals, and the dismal end.
Even as he gave up control, Wade still averaged 28 points per game in the finals.
It was supposed to be the season that greatly elevated his standing in history, yet it was ruined by LeBron.
"What are you planning to do for the next season?" Hansen asked, full of curiosity.