Their sound was resounding, impactful, and lit the atmosphere like a lightning strike of enlightenment.
Everyone was stunned.
Hansen’s words were arrogant, but they were all true.
The victory over the Magic team hinged on Hansen’s buzzer-beater.
The win against the Celtics was thanks to Hansen’s explosive 25-point performance.
And without Hansen, their starting team hadn’t even beaten the third team led by Hansen!
No one answered because, indeed, there was no refutation.
After saying those words, Hansen turned and left.
"Wait!" At that moment, someone called out to Hansen.
"Let’s play again!" It was Mo Williams, who seemed unwilling to accept his loss and was determined to win back what he lost.
"You better convince the Magic team to play another round of the Eastern Conference Finals first," Hansen said without turning around and then left the training facility straightaway.
"He’s crazy, this guy is mad!" Once Hansen had left, Varejao started shouting again.
"Shut up!" James’s face looked extremely unpleasant.
Leading the team’s starters and losing to a team of bench players led by a rookie, this was definitely the most humiliating day of his NBA career.
It was even more humiliating than being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals.
"If the outside world finds out about this, none of you will have a good ending."
After dropping those harsh words, James gestured for Ferry to have a word in private.
Brown hesitated; he knew Hansen well enough to believe that even if they didn’t talk, Hansen would definitely go out and spill everything.
After leaving the training facility, James almost ordered.
Ferry turned in shock, thinking he might have heard wrong.
After Hansen had demeaned the entire Cavaliers team in such a nearly humiliating way, James still wanted to keep Hansen?
"Tell him that everything that happened in the past was a misunderstanding. If he needs it, I can have Brown apologize to him. Keep him," James repeated.
Ferry was still perplexed.
"Are you acknowledging his ability?"
"I need this championship," James replied realistically.
Finally, Ferry understood.
As a top-tier 3D player, Hansen could fill a crucial gap in the Cavaliers’ championship puzzle, but defeating the Lakers would still be challenging.
The main problem was that when crunch time arrived, no one could match up to Kobe.
Or rather, as was the case during the Christmas battle, the Cavaliers could match the Lakers blow for blow.
But come the fourth quarter and winning time, the Cavaliers would falter.
This related to James’s technical characteristics; he wasn’t very skilled at taking game-deciding crunch-time shots.
But today, Hansen had shown that capacity, and was even stronger than ever before.
With Hansen, not only do they add a key piece to their championship puzzle, but they also gain a clutch scorer. It was a win-win.
Seeing that Ferry understood, James urged him on.
After Ferry had dashed off, James took a deep breath.
He still had scenes of facing off against Hansen on his mind, the defensive pressure the kid exerted at full force was no less than any top defender in the league!
Such a player, if you could have just one on your team, you wouldn’t let him become an opponent.
If he ended up with a championship rival, that, by damn, would be the deadliest outcome.
So, from any angle, the Cavaliers must keep Hansen.
Ferry searched all around the second floor but couldn’t find Hansen.
He started to panic, with sweat breaking out across his forehead.
If Hansen leaked the news before he found him, there would be no turning back.
He hurriedly called the security at the entrance, asking whether Hansen had left the facility.
The response he got after the call was an unexpected surprise.
"Han is in the first-floor lounge with a reporter."
Hansen, with a reporter?
Ferry’s brain worked quickly, immediately realizing that the situation was not good.
Hansen had planned this all along!
He hurried toward the locker room, pushed open the door, and saw that Hansen was indeed sitting face to face with Carrell inside, just as security had said.
Another person was seated at the entrance, Hansen’s agent Thomas.
All three men inside turned their heads in confusion.
After the day’s events had come to a close, Hansen knew that Ferry would come looking for him, but he had not anticipated it would be so soon.
And judging by the beads of sweat on Ferry’s forehead, he had come without stopping.
Was Ferry so eager to get rid of him?
However, this could be considered good news, after all, his whole purpose in making a scene was to get the Cavaliers to trade him.
Sooner rather than later was preferable, and if the deal could be settled today, that would be the best outcome.
Hansen asked Carrell to wait outside for a moment.
"Have you already started?" Ferry asked as Carrell got up.
Carrell shook his head.
Ferry sighed with relief at the sight.
This behavior made Hansen somewhat puzzled. What exactly was Ferry here for?
"We want you to stay," Ferry said straightforwardly once Carrell had left.
He hadn’t misheard, had he?
Ferry was talking about keeping him, not trading him?
"You can ask for whatever you want, of course, except for a trade," Thomas had already sat down next to Hansen by this time.
"Hansen needs to stay on the court during critical moments," Thomas interjected then.
"Naturally," Ferry replied.
"No less than 30 minutes of playtime per game."
"A tactical standing on the team second only to LeBron."
Thomas paused, turning his head to look at Hansen.
Hansen laughed. What was this?
When he had wanted to play his best, there were all these restrictions. Now that he wanted to leave, he was told everything was possible?
Of course, he knew that even Ferry wouldn’t have that kind of authority.
The only two with that kind of power were Cavaliers owner Gilbert and James.
So, was this James’s idea?
Or rather, had he managed to win James over?
It seemed that was the case.
Even though his overall strength might not be at Irving’s level, let alone Wade’s, in terms of his role on the court, he had already become a similar type of player.
Maybe he was just a Mo Williams, who might have a more one-dimensional offensive game but added a lot defensively. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝕟𝕖𝕥
Regardless of which, James would not want to let him go.
Hansen had envisioned many possible endings, but this was the one he hadn’t considered.
Not that he couldn’t think of it, he just hadn’t bothered to.
James really was someone who could bite the bullet.
"Of course, we know you’ve suffered a lot of wrongs, and if you need it, I can have Brown apologize to you," Ferry offered.
Hansen laughed again.
But this time, it was for Brown’s sake.
He felt that with all the different ways he had previously courted hate to increase his negative publicity, he was already a clown, but in Brown’s presence, he was nothing.
For a head coach to descend to this level was really going to the dogs.
But what was the point of Brown apologizing?
All of it was not at Brown’s own volition.
"What if LeBron were to apologize?" Hansen looked at Ferry.
He knew that was absolutely impossible.
Would the Chosen One apologize to someone? Wouldn’t that be the same as making him kneel?
But it was only with such an impossible condition that he could get the Cavaliers to trade him.