Hansen’s eyes also held a glimmer of anticipation.
MVP was the highest honor for a player, and no player wouldn’t want to win it.
Of course, he hoped to secure it through ability, not media favor, like Kobe had done.
That would be much harder, but, as peaches are both sour and sweet, he hoped to pluck one as sweet as Kobe’s.
When the cheers finally subsided, Kobe delivered his acceptance speech.
The first people he thanked were his family members, followed by the management, and lastly, and probably most importantly to him, his teammates.
"This is a team honor, not an individual one. It wasn’t possible to achieve this through one person’s efforts alone. CP3, Paul, Ron, sorry, I still prefer calling you that, we wouldn’t be number one in the league without you, and I wouldn’t have had such an amazing season. I must thank them, my brothers, my partners, we won the MVP together."
Kobe’s speech was poised. Although he came straight from high school, his affluent background had exposed him to higher education early on, and it showed in his speaking skills.
Moreover, he definitely managed to boost the Lakers’ morale.
Hansen applauded Kobe’s words too.
Respecting your opponents was the prerequisite to defeating them. Official source ıs 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
Shortly after the award ceremony, the opening ritual of the game commenced, and both teams’ starting lineups were announced.
Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, Randolph, Little Gasol
Lakers: Paul, Kobe, Ci Shiping, Big Gasol, Jordan Hill
The Lakers completed a sweep against the Jazz in the first round, but Okafor would miss the first game of the series due to recurring knee issues.
After Little Gasol won the jump ball against Big Gasol, the game officially began.
The Grizzlies didn’t focus their offense on Hansen initially, but concentrated on attacking the lows, which turned out to be quite effective.
Even though Okafor wasn’t at his best due to the injury, with him out, Hill was at a disadvantage whether he was facing Black Bear or White Bear.
Hansen was thus freed up to focus his efforts on defending Kobe.
Five minutes into the game, both teams were tied at 10.
As Hansen had said before, the result of the first round against the Mavericks was that the Grizzlies had hit their stride.
Paul was in good form today. With Hansen guarding Kobe tightly, he used screens with Hill to continuously score over Randolph.
However, this situation was completely acceptable to the Grizzlies, as their bench players had the advantage, and they didn’t need to outscore their opponents during the starting period.
Paul quickly realized this, and he switched his defense to face Hansen.
"Ever seen an MVP player who doesn’t touch the ball?"
Paul was one of the league’s trash talk kings. As far as Hansen knew, Paul had once told Green to "bring Durant back, then you might win" in a sharp taunt.
And Paul’s words were obviously a continuation of the pregame talk, aiming to bait Hansen into going one-on-one.
To Paul’s trash talk, Hansen simply responded with a smile.
After all, Paul was a point guard. Hansen normally didn’t match up against him, so he didn’t know him well enough.
Would these leftover tricks work against him?
Hansen didn’t pay much attention to what Paul said, but Paul thought he hadn’t said enough.
And so Hansen found himself with a fly buzzing incessantly by his ear.
A fly might not bite you, but it can still be annoying.
"You’ll never win the championship, because we’re going to beat you every time."
Finally, after Paul’s relentless efforts, Hansen acknowledged him.
"You haven’t even touched the Western Conference Finals floor, have you?" Hansen politely inquired, as Paul’s face lit up with excitement.
Paul was momentarily taken aback, and then his face flushed red.
Thinking about it, he had been in the league for seven seasons, and his peak had been the 2008 Western Conference semifinals, where they lost 3-4 to the Spurs.
As Paul was about to retort, Hansen patted his chest, boasting proudly:
"That’s where I’m different. I’ve only played for 2 years, but I’ve already been there twice."
Even though he didn’t play during his stint with the Knights, he was still part of the squad that went into battle.