O’Neal’s expression was the same as Barkley’s.
Although he wasn’t facing the peak Jordan on the court, the feeling was unmistakable.
So, had Hansen participated in some mysterious human body research at East University this past summer?
Members of the Heat Team, though never having faced Jordan directly, were already feeling a tremendous amount of pressure, not just Wade alone.
However, the good news was that the other players on the Grizzlies didn’t seem to be in top form.
Randolph’s low-post offense, defended by Bosh, missed the basket.
Turning around, Durant took the ball as the Grizzlies switched their defense; facing Randolph from mid-range, he scored the first points for the Heat Team.
With no unnecessary chatter, Hansen went straight up the court and backed up against Wade, asking for the ball.
After getting the ball, he faced Wade, called Little Gasol for a screen, and then broke through directly, jumping up for a layup in front of Perkins.
Perkins also jumped, attempting to disrupt Hansen, but Hansen, in the air, switched sides and scored with an underhand layup.
Perkins tried to turn around in mid-air to interfere, and although he didn’t succeed, the referee’s whistle blew, signaling a 2+1.
The [Vertical Jump Rule]’s impact on the Grizzlies wasn’t yet apparent, as the Heat Team hadn’t penetrated from the perimeter yet, but Hansen was already reaping the benefits.
"I should have gone to Memphis," Wade said to Hansen during the free throw.
He was referring to Hansen’s personal training camp, even watching Hansen play on the sidelines could have prepared him psychologically.
"That wouldn’t change anything," Hansen lightly said and then confidently made the free throw.
Attitude subtly affects a player’s behavior on the court, and Hansen, having decided to approach this season more seriously, had become less amicable.
Of course, his statement wasn’t entirely true, because if Wade had joined the training camp, his [Death Entanglement] might have reached its limit before the season started.
Chalmers took the ball past half-court, ready to pass it to Durant.
But he quickly noticed a change in the Grizzlies’ defense; Hansen had switched to defend against Durant.
As he hesitated on whether to switch to Wade’s side, Durant, furious, backed against Hansen and reached out for the ball.
Why was Durant furious? Because Hansen had just politely reminded him of something.
"Scarlett is about to get married. If you really care, you’d better hurry."
Hansen was telling the truth, but to Durant, it sounded like Hansen was bragging about his upcoming marriage to Scarlett.
Moreover, all the sweat Durant shed last summer was for the sake of defeating Hansen.
This time, even with Conley’s help, he wouldn’t let the ball be stolen again.
Durant received the ball and backed down against Hansen.
But to his surprise, his first push didn’t move Hansen.
This past summer, Hansen hadn’t just trained on defense; he had also bulked up again, bringing his weight back to 98 kilograms.
The purpose was twofold: to increase the aggression in his back-to-basket offense, as post-up play is directly linked to weight.
It was also to enhance the aggression in his defense, like earlier when he was boosting his defensive effectiveness through physical confrontation.
Thanks to [Death Entanglement], his increase in weight did not slow him down, but instead made him faster. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
After all, he had only added 2 kilograms, and since [Death Entanglement] is a first-class talent, the improvement was substantial.
Seeing this, Durant immediately tried to break through by turning around.
However, the moment he turned, the ball was poked out of bounds by Hansen.
Durant’s look was as incredulous as Wade’s.
This wasn’t the first time Durant was defending against Hansen. He had taken better precautions against lower-body moves, which had proven effective during last season’s finals.
But just now, Hansen had nearly stolen the ball!
Especially when he turned and saw Hansen’s face full of regret, he was infuriated.
This guy always had to put on an infuriating face!
But this time, Durant misunderstood Hansen because Hansen truly did regret it.
If [Death Entanglement] had reached its limit, just now would not have been just poking the ball out, but a complete steal.
The ball was now with Heat Team in the frontcourt, Chalmers took it and looked for Durant again.
But as he was about to pass, he saw Hansen suddenly flash from the side and attempt a steal from Durant.
Clearly, having failed in the previous interception, Hansen wanted to make up for it.
Chalmers increased the strength of his pass, trying to get the ball quickly to Durant, but the pass was too fast and flew out of bounds past Durant.
Chalmers was straightforward, immediately patting his chest to indicate it was his fault.
But at this moment, the arena was filled with excited murmurs.
They were feeling the oppressive presence Hansen brought on the defensive end.
Usually, the Grizzlies’ perimeter defense was very strong, and while Battier replacing Guy meant a drop in offense, not defense, Hansen was now disrupting even the Heat Team’s smooth offense!
The camera turned to Heat Team’s bench where Coach Spoelstra was sitting.
The capable coach was visibly tense.
In theory, with Hansen clogging up the defense right from the start, if the Heat Team used this to exhaust his energy offensively, and with the other Grizzlies not in top form, the Heat Team had a great chance of starting the season with a victory.