This was undoubtedly a bombshell.
However, since there were no recordings of the phone call, Gilbert’s revelation was met with significant skepticism from LeBron fans.
After all, that public letter had already pitted Gilbert and James against each other like fire and water.
Now, in their view, Gilbert’s recent actions were nothing more than kicking James when he was down after a failure.
But for Knights fans, they were more inclined to believe what Gilbert said was true.
Because only then could it explain the seemingly irrational actions of the past.
Hansen also thought it was probably true—it explained why Ferry had been hinting at something higher up, as he indeed would not have known about this.
Moreover, if it wasn’t true, Gilbert probably wouldn’t have been so upset as to lose his composure and openly curse James as a traitor in his public letter.
As for James, it wasn’t just about going back on verbal promises; hadn’t he contradicted himself plenty of times before?
Hansen was partying at a nightclub with his teammates, but his decision not to participate in the Olympics had sparked huge controversy back home.
The Basketball Association took the opportunity to leverage the local media to pressure Hansen.
The moral pressure of not competing in the Olympics was immense.
Even with his team winning the NBA championship in the background, this added quite a few Anti-Fans points.
The next day, an unexpected visitor came to see Hansen.
It was Yao Ming, retired and now the full-time owner of the Shanghai Team.
Yao Ming’s visit was to check on his injuries, and he also brought him a business card from a domestic surgical expert who had helped him recover in the past.
Hansen was grateful for Yao Ming’s concern, especially since they hadn’t had much interaction before.
Secondly, Yao Ming was there to persuade Hansen.
"Playing with an injury could ruin your career, you did the right thing by skipping the Olympics this time, don’t let their pressure make you go."
Yao Ming’s advice was quite unexpected for Hansen.
Given Yao’s well-known passion for the national team.
Playing with metal pins during the Olympics as a player and jumping into the pit of the Basketball Association post-retirement.
Hansen had originally thought Yao Ming would persuade him to participate in the Olympics, but, surprisingly, it was the exact opposite. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩
But upon reflection, it made sense.
Because Hansen was now the only hope for East University basketball.
If he, like Yao in the past, were to play while injured, and it affected his entire career, that would really be a lose-lose situation.
Because he has been through the rain, he wanted to hold an umbrella for others.
After the 2008 Olympics, Yao Ming only played one complete season in the NBA, which was closely related to his comeback then.
After Yao Ming left, Hansen developed a new appreciation for this legend of East University and the national team.
The Olympics was just a minor episode; these days, the Grizzlies were preparing for the championship parade, and Hansen was using the Anti-Fans System to research the next Talent he wanted to exchange.
The playoffs this year, especially the series against the Lakers, had given him the most inspiration.
Firstly, footwork; secondly, the turnaround jump shot; thirdly, the back-to-the-basket technique.
These were not entirely independent, or they could be simply summarized as hard decoding abilities.
After all, no matter how strong your penetration is or how accurate your shooting, you need this kind of hard decoding ability when facing double teams.
Of course, this wasn’t an overnight matter.
Hansen planned to visit Olajuwon for footwork as soon as his injury healed.
Not because Kobe had succeeded, but since James had built it from nothing and then used it as a main offensive method, Olajuwon must have something significant.
Then, it was what he was doing now, preparing to exchange a Talent for hard decoding.
After weighing his options, he decided to first exchange the Talent related to the turnaround jump shot.
This was mainly for two reasons.
On one hand, the Grizzlies currently had a twin towers lineup, which actually didn’t give him many back-to-the-basket opportunities.
But the turnaround jump shot was different; it not only allowed hard decoding in double teams but could also combine with footwork for a stop-and-turn.
On the other hand, he already possessed some of the necessary Talents for the turnaround jump shot, such as core strength, jumping ability, and shooting touch.
Exchanging these Talents, he could elevate them to their peak in a shorter period.
Moreover, considering last season was a lockout season and this summer was shorter than usual, plus his current injury, he had even less time for training.
Moreover, the turnaround jump shot was also seen as one of the finishing moves necessary for back-to-the-basket plays, so it could also be considered a prerequisite Talent.
However, his Anti-Fans points were still a bit short.
In the finals, sweeping the Heat had made LeBron fans lash out at him, not participating in the Olympics brought moral criticism from some domestic fans, and with those previously accumulated, he now had over 900,000 Anti-Fans points, but that still wasn’t enough.
Now that his influence had grown, it was easier to earn Anti-Fans points; unless it was very urgent, he wouldn’t consider exchanging a First Gear Talent before a Second Gear.
Moreover, he was already planning something big.
A few days later, the Grizzlies held a massive championship parade in Memphis, broadcasted live by TNT.
The streets of Memphis were packed.
While the Grizzlies’ market was small, the city was large, and the market potential was still pretty good.
Although because of the team’s style and the city’s location, it couldn’t reach the expansion level of the Warriors’ market in "history," but it was still much better than that of the Spurs.