Hansen put on the ring.
The cheers in the arena were already resounding throughout the stadium.
And those cheers gradually turned into a uniform "handsome."
Hansen’s emotions finally started to show; he kissed his palm and then blew a kiss to all the fans in the audience.
After taking the microphone from a reporter, he also needed to give a speech.
Since he was the last one, there was nobody else behind him, and this arrangement was also to let him, as the team leader, make a speech.
However, Hansen didn’t follow the usual path.
"The next one I want to introduce, I think the best way to describe him, he’s our 16th man, he became our strongest support with his shouts of ’Whoop that trick,’ without his support, we couldn’t have done this, and that’s you guys, the Grizzlies fans!"
His words completely sent the fans on-site into a frenzy.
At this moment, they know that what Battier said wasn’t just polite remarks; Hansen is truly their "President!"
Right after that, the familiar chant of "Whoop that trick" overtook the arena.
Hansen also made a listening gesture.
The award ceremony of the Grizzlies, at this moment, had also become a world-famous painting.
The live broadcast returned to James again, accompanied by the shouts of the fans, maxing out the camera’s storytelling.
At this time, the Nike executives were damning ESPN in their hearts. ESPN and TNT are basically competing to buy broadcast rights, and this season, TNT spent a lot of money on the regular season rights for this wave of traffic.
Fortunately, the award ceremony always has an end. After the Grizzlies championship banner rose under the gaze of the players, the lights in the arena also brightened.
Players got ready to warm up, and this year’s only Grizzlies rookie Sacre watched Guy enviously playing with his ring.
Hansen handed his ring over to him, letting him get a feel for it.
"Don’t be envious, you’ll have one at the end of this season too," he said indifferently, taking back the ring.
Hansen’s confidence not only filled Sacre with anticipation, but even Guy put down the ring and patted Sacre on the shoulder:
"If Han says you’ll have one, you’ll have one."
Rebellious as they may be, when it comes to confidence, that genuinely came from Hansen.
After all, just like Battier said, it was Hansen who changed everyone’s fate.
After the opening ceremony, both teams’ starting lineups were announced.
Thunders: Westbrook, Afflalo, James, Ibaka, Little Lopez
Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, Randolph, Little Gasol
Before the start players took to the court, James didn’t go through his powder toss routine.
Not that he was worried the Grizzlies would trick him with an empty powder bottle again, but at the press conference the Thunders held for him earlier, James had said he’d grown up and was no longer doing the powder toss.
As Hansen entered the game, even before the jump ball started, the man he was up against, Afflalo, was already sticking close to him.
Hansen was still quite surprised about Harden’s trade.
As a transmigrator, he knew from "history" that the Thunders traded Harden for the "First Generation Porcelain King," Kevin Martin.
Previously, Martin had been traded to the Hornets in the deal involving Binamu, and the Rockets’ first-round pick also went with him. He assumed Harden would go to the Hornets to become the Hornet King and lead the team with Anthony Davis.
Unexpectedly, Harden ended up with the Rockets and the Thunders got Afflalo in a savvy move.
This maneuver showed he underestimated the Thunders’ management.
Considering "history"—first trading Harden for Martin, then setting up a lineup with overlapping cores featuring Westbrook, George, and Anthony—it’s evident how good their draft picks were and how poor their trade skills.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ended up drafting a bunch of historical-level stars and failing to even reach the finals more than once.
So looking back on their trade of Durant for James, it was just business as usual.
Back to Afflalo, he’s a standard 3D player, or, to be more precise, a 3D player with talent somewhere between a starter and a star.
Similar to Seferosa, he’s excellent at defense. The difference lies in Afflalo’s three-pointer being much more productive.
The simplest data comparison: last season, both had approximately 40% three-point shooting percentages, with Seferosa possibly being a bit higher, but he shot less than 2 per game, while Afflalo could take 4.
Moreover, Afflalo also had a strong dribble penetration and post-up play, not just a pure role player.
Last season he averaged 15.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists with the Nuggets, obviously a better fit for the Thunders than Martin.
The whistle blew on the sidelines, and Little Gasol won the jump ball against Little Lopez, giving the Grizzlies the first offensive opportunity.
The mood in the arena was incredibly high after just having the award ceremony, and the cheers were already thunderous as the game began.
The Grizzlies opened with Randolph’s low-post strategy, with Hansen running off-ball to distract. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝙣𝙚𝙩
But Little Gasol’s screen didn’t manage to contain Afflalo.
Both known for their defense, Afflalo differed from Seferosa.
Seferosa was more on the confrontational side of defense, but Afflalo was more akin to the style of Tony Allen, more agile.
And Hansen noticed that Afflalo was intentionally pushing him toward the inside lane, seemingly aiming to coordinate defense with Ibaka.
That kind of defender is even more difficult to handle.
Of course, this round didn’t involve Hansen; Randolph, muscling Ibaka in the low post, turned around and scored.
From positioning to one-on-one play to scoring, Randolph’s overall feeling was completely different from last season.