If the Grizzlies were facing any other team, their performance in the first half would have been enough to secure a win, but tonight, their opponents were the Heat, and a stronger Heat compared to last season.
In the end, the Grizzlies lost to the Heat 93 to 101, marking the first time Hansen had lost an opening game since joining the Grizzlies.
Hansen scored 43 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, gave 6 assists, made 5 steals, and blocked 5 shots.
After the post-game handshake, Hansen didn’t stop to talk to the court-side reporters; instead, he went straight to the locker room.
Seeing Hansen enter with a serious look, the previously chatty locker room quickly fell silent.
"Is this what you all want? To be beaten down like underdogs on our own court, letting them spoil our championship night?" Hansen scanned the locker room with his gaze.
Players who met his gaze instinctively lowered their heads; aside from Hansen, everyone else’s performance tonight was below expectations.
And more importantly, they had genuinely lost the game tonight.
Guy, who hadn’t played, tried to stand up to lighten the mood, but Battier, quick to react, pulled him back.
"Everyone is to arrive an hour early for tomorrow’s practice. If you aren’t there, go find Chris and tell him you want to leave the team. We only need people here who are willing to fight to win at all costs."
Just as Hansen finished speaking, Tois arrived in the locker room, and he too was stunned by the severity in the atmosphere that had never been there before.
After Hansen was done speaking, Tois reminded Hansen that it was time for the press conference.
"Isn’t Hansen being a bit too stern? We only lost one regular game, and it was against the Heat. It’s normal to win or lose," Guy muttered after Hansen left.
"Our opponents, aren’t they the Heat?" Battier’s comment left Guy momentarily speechless.
At the post-game press conference, Hansen attended alone with Joerger.
"You’ve become the 12th player in NBA history to achieve a 5+5+5+5+5 in a single game, and also the first to score 40+5+5+5+5. How did you manage it?" a reporter from TNT asked Hansen.
Despite the Grizzlies’ loss, Hansen’s performance tonight was spectacular.
The closest one to the reporter’s stat reference was Olajuwon when he had scored 38 points with 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 steals, and 12 blocks against the Supersonic.
"You should prefix your stats with ’on the winning team’ since I don’t fit into the category you mentioned."
The reporter from TNT was actually trying to spin a positive angle for Hansen given the loss, but Hansen was not interested in playing along.
"How do you view tonight’s game? You were leading by 12 at the half but ended up losing," the next question came from an ESPN reporter, who was not as polite.
"Their desire for victory exceeded ours."
"Do you think the team needs to make some changes, like trades?" the reporter pressed.
"We need to become angrier. When the League fails to prioritize a team that has won two championships consecutively as number one, we should be angry. We need that anger in our play."
The next day at practice, everyone on the Grizzlies team arrived early at the gym, including Guy; no one was absent.
Hansen’s uncharacteristically forceful demeanor was impactful; more importantly, his words served as a reminder. The Grizzlies were paying hefty luxury taxes this season, and as long as Hansen objected, the management would likely be very willing to trade people away.
Before starting the practice, Hansen revealed his reason for asking everyone to arrive early.
From today onward, he had set a rule that if they lost a game, everyone would have to start practice an hour earlier the next day.
Anyone who didn’t want to could choose right there to go one-on-one with him in any basketball manner, be it American-style one-on-one, shooting, passing, or anything else.
Hearing Hansen say this, Battier hesitated, wanting to speak.
Everyone knew that Hansen’s goal was a Dynasty, as he had announced that ambition a year ago.
However, this method of using his team’s status to force others to work overtime would undoubtedly create barriers between Hansen and the other players.
Yet no one came forward to challenge Hansen one-on-one.
Because everyone knew, no matter the competition, they couldn’t beat Hansen.
Hansen was currently the best in every capacity within the team; if he wished, he could dominate the ball and rack up averages of 30+8+8 like Jordan once did.
But now, Hansen was doing what he did best, leaving other roles to his teammates.
Yet it seemed Hansen wasn’t ready to back down; he announced that today’s practice would be focused on American-style one-on-ones.
After 45 minutes, he had dominated everyone. Official source ıs 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
It left the rest drained and too demoralized to complain.
After the 45-minute practice, there was a15-minute rest.
Hansen sat alone on one side of the gym.
Battier went over to find him.
"Hansen, I know you want to win, but maybe there are better methods, like how you used to do—uniting the team and fighting together towards a common goal," Battier half-suggested, reflecting Hansen’s previous approach of engaging his teammates altogether.
"Shaun, you should know this season is different," Hansen shook his head.
If that approach still worked, he wouldn’t have opted for his current method.