The Bulls eliminated the Wizards 4-2 in the first round, with Irving having the upper hand against Wall in their matchup, averaging 26 points and 7 assists per game in the series with a shooting percentage of 46.8%, performing exceptionally well.
It’s clear that after staying with Hansen for two and a half years, his personal skills have improved significantly compared to the "historical" period.
Moreover, this encounter between the Cavaliers and Bulls in the division semifinals seems somewhat destined.
It’s important to note that the previous encounter after both teams traded was already electrifying. Newest update provıded by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩
Even before the series started, tensions had already risen.
Before heading to Cleveland, a reporter interviewed Irving, asking him about the differences between playing in Chicago and Cleveland.
"Chicago is a real big city, always full of life, vibrant, especially at night. When I’m driving on the road, I feel like I’m in a real sports city, something that Cleveland completely lacks."
Compared to his last diss against the Cavaliers, Irving’s words this time weren’t inherently problematic.
In terms of city scale and sports development, Cleveland and Chicago are not on the same level.
Even after Hansen led the Cavaliers to a championship, signaling a revival for Cleveland, there’s still a long way to go.
But the key issue is that this time, his diss was directed at the city of Cleveland, which is more serious than his previous diss of the Cavaliers.
Because national pride and such things are always allowed to be dissed or even criticized by insiders, but no outside defamation is tolerated.
After the consecutive incidents, the public realized how socially unaware Irving is since leaving Cleveland.
However, this is obviously a chain reaction, and Irving’s remarks are closely linked to previous clashes with Cavaliers fans during the regular season.
Irving’s thought process is that since they are ungrateful, he has no reason to hold back.
After the news was exposed by the media, Cleveland fans were already denouncing Irving on social media.
Previously, Malone, who had an altercation with Irving, also made a statement in front of reporters:
"Oh, I think he’s talking about Cleveland. I’m very happy to be in Cleveland."
"He can do whatever he wants. But we all know Cleveland is an outstanding sports city, a great city, with fans who 100% support their teams. I’m glad I’m here."
Not just Malone, Wade, who was part of the trade deal involving Irving, also spoke up at this time:
"You never know where you’ll end up in the future, what might happen, which team you’ll be in, who your teammates will be. Even when I left Miami, I thought the same way.
So I never want to bad-mouth a place after leaving it because when you were there, it was wonderful, and then you leave, and suddenly it’s terrible?"
Amidst this turmoil, while the Bulls arrived in Cleveland for a public training session, a journalist interviewed Bulls’ head coach Hoiberg.
Hoiberg proactively mentioned Wade during the interview.
"I’m happy with DW’s performance now. I knew he could do it. We talked several times about making him come off the bench when he was still in Chicago, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. I thought we could have succeeded."
At first glance, this sounds like a compliment to Wade, but on closer inspection, it’s easy to detect the underlying meaning.
If Wade had been willing to come off the bench for the Bulls, the team wouldn’t have been on the brink of rebuilding.
This comment quickly reached Wade’s ears. During the open training session on game day, Wade, having been enlightened by Hansen, forcefully responded to Hoiberg’s remarks:
"It’s simple. I can’t be a substitute on a rebuilding team. From a basketball perspective, I would be very unhappy, and if things don’t go well on the basketball front, nothing else will. I don’t want my family to go through this."
The implication of Wade’s words is clear: he is willing to make sacrifices, but only in the pursuit of championships. He didn’t believe the previous Bulls team had that capability.
It’s important to note that his choice to return to the Bulls wasn’t aimed at winning a championship. It was because Chicago is his hometown, and he simply wanted to play for his hometown team back then.
Later, during a pre-game interview, Hoiberg also gave a second response to Wade’s comments:
"When you have DW, Paul Gasol, and Jimmy Butler and are still considered a bad team, then there aren’t many teams in the league that aren’t."
Equating "a team in rebuild" with "a bad team" put Wade in the spotlight.
On social media, fan discussions quickly shifted from Irving to Wade.
Pre-game, the twists and turns heightened the atmosphere to the extreme.
In Quicken Loans Arena for G1, aggressive signs started appearing.
"We don’t need Kyrie, we already have DW," "Chicago will no longer rise," "Kyrie
During the opening ceremony, when Irving appeared, a storm of boos erupted from the crowd.
This time, no one cheered or applauded him.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.
Bulls: Irving, Seferosa, Butler, Gibson, Howard