Although Hansen didn’t think it was a good thing, because excessive consumption during the regular season would affect the playoffs, the Heat Team had already personally demonstrated this three years ago.
But such things don’t stop happening just because they occurred once, because the opportunity might only come once.
At the beginning of the season, the Heat Team’s performance was somewhat inconsistent due to a coaching change, but after entering December, they had been advancing forcefully, losing only one game in December and now firmly occupying the top spot in the East.
Not only Durant, but Wade seemed to have recovered from his knee injury, and the Heat looked stronger than ever.
The San Antonio Spurs, meanwhile, were creating their Devil home court in San Antonio, being the only team this season that had yet to lose at home.
Of course, there was the upcoming All-Star Game.
Since this was Kobe’s last All-Star Game, it had garnered a lot of attention.
But it wasn’t just about Kobe.
Because on the first day of the new year, a reporter had once again confirmed with Hansen about participating in the Dunk Contest, and Hansen had responded affirmatively.
He had also once again extended an invitation to participate together to Curry and James.
In response, Curry later also invited Hansen to the Three-Point Contest in front of reporters.
Six years ago, Hansen had defeated Curry in the All-Star Three-Point Contest and told him, "The future is yours," a sentiment Curry certainly still remembered.
Last season, Curry had defeated Thompson to finally achieve his dream of being the Three-Point Contest champion, and this year he would fight to defend his title.
It was on such an occasion that he hoped to compete against Hansen once again.
Hansen also quickly replied: YES!
This meant that Hansen would participate in both the Three-Point Contest and the Dunk Contest at this year’s All-Star Game.
Compared to those years when Hansen used the All-Star weekend as a rest period, this year he was definitely a "role model."
Busy Master Han was not just busy with the All-Star Game, he was also actively campaigning for Irving while participating in a radio show.
"I think there is no better point guard in the East this year than Kyrie."
This year was the first year of the revised All-Star voting mechanism, and although fan voting only accounted for 50%, it was still a crucial part.
And what he said was true, Irving had so far this season averaged 24.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, a 47.3% shooting percentage, and a 40.1% three-point shooting percentage, making it his best performance since entering the League.
Hansen’s campaigning had an immediate effect; in the second round of voting released at the beginning of January, Irving, who had previously been behind Wade, had now moved ahead, ranking second among guards in the East.
If the All-Star Game had been held that day, he would have joined Hansen as a starter for the East.
It was also at this time that Powell ended his brief stint in the development league.
He had only played 8 games, averaging 25 points with a 50% shooting percentage.
With such performance, he had proven with actions what Hansen had once said: he really didn’t belong there.
When mid-January arrived, a sensational news shook the entire League, even making many fans feel nostalgic.
James responded to Hansen’s invitation on social media: he would participate in the 2016 All-Star Dunk Contest! The most update n0vels are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
Those years of saying he would participate in the Dunk Contest but always emphasizing the time hadn’t come were finally over.
No one knew why James suddenly agreed to compete, because this was completely unlike something James would do.
This also sparked a wave of discussion among fans on social media.
The top-comment suggested that Nike was manipulating behind James, given that the rivalry between Nike and UA had reached an intense stage.
However, Hansen’s first reaction upon seeing this news was:
Drugs, they indeed have side effects!