Hansen also shook his head with a smile.
In a way, Doncic’s words weren’t wrong.
Over the years, the NBA has been introducing various policies to encourage offense, including the 14-second second chance rule and the no-handcheck rule from back in the day, both leading to scoring explosions.
In contrast, European rules and FIBA are aligned, with smaller court sizes, no defensive three-second rule, and scoring is more challenging.
Of course, hearing this from a rookie makes it sound a bit pretentious.
After all, Doncic has only played a few preseason games, let alone the playoffs, he hasn’t even gone through a regular season yet.
"But he truly is the rookie with the most diverse offensive skills I’ve seen, and he’s a bit like you, boss, the more critical the moment, the more he dares to play." Jokic then added.
"Looks like you quite like him." Hansen, picking up on the undertone in Jokic’s words, responded.
Jokic nodded with a smile, not denying it.
Although they belong to two different countries now, in essence, they’re from the same region, speaking a similar language, sharing similar food, and even discussing a common history, so it’s easy for them to get along.
On the day of the season opener, a large number of fans gathered inside and outside the Quicken Loans Arena.
Especially around Hansen’s statue in front of the arena, there was a huge crowd taking pictures.
The statue was unveiled in the summer, but not everyone had been there to witness it then.
There were even quite a few fans at the scene holding high KT boards supporting Hansen. Dıscover more novels at 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁
Inside Quicken Loans Arena, signs like "Welcome home, Emperor" were everywhere.
All of this narrated the glory Hansen once brought to this city, something that wouldn’t fade with time.
This reached a peak when Hansen entered the arena to warm up.
The cheers from the crowd were overwhelming, just like when Hansen was still with the Cavaliers, as if nothing had changed.
Back when he was playing for the Cavaliers, Hansen would excite the crowd pregame with dunks, though he gradually let Little Jones take over that part. But tonight, under the fans’ passionate gazes, he again performed a few splendid dunks during warm-up.
This thrilled the fans, some even moved to tears.
In their eyes, Hansen’s dunks looked even more effortless than before.
Thinking it was due to personal emotions, they were unaware of the changes in Hansen’s physical condition.
When there was about half an hour left before the game, Hansen finished his warm-up and returned to the locker room.
When he re-emerged, the championship ring ceremony had already been set up on-site.
Besides coming to see Hansen, fans were also here for the ceremony of the Cavaliers’ dynasty rings tonight.
This year, Gilbert went all out on the rings. According to previous media reports, the cost of this year’s championship rings was comparable to that of the Warriors in 2015, with each ring averaging a cost in the millions.
The dazzling light under the spotlight said it all.
Before the award ceremony began, Gilbert took the microphone and gave a speech, something that wasn’t usually part of the awards ceremony.
However, no one felt his extra act was out of place, they even cheered for his speech.
This was mainly because he was thanking Hansen for everything he had done for Cleveland.
Even after the ceremony started, after awarding the management and coaching staff, Hansen was still the first player to receive a ring.
The on-site DJ elongated the tone, broadcasting Hansen’s introduction with the voice most familiar to the fans.
Since there wouldn’t be an introduction for the visiting team, this was a treatment beyond the rules.
But the Cavaliers’ players didn’t have any complaints; instead, they applauded for Hansen’s introduction.
"6 feet 7 inches, 9-time All-Star, 6-time Finals MVP, 3-time MVP, 6-time NBA Champion, from Barry University to the NBA, let’s welcome, the one and only technical terminator, the architect of the Cavaliers dynasty, the true King, Han~~sen!!"
During this introduction, fireworks shot from around the LED big screen, and a tribute video for Hansen began playing.
A player’s return to the home court after leaving the team varies, some receive massive cheers like Iverson back in the day, and some face a lot of boos like James.
But the treatment Hansen received now was exactly as the DJ described it, unique.
Hansen’s eyes couldn’t help but redden.
When the spotlight was on him, he stood up, waving to the fans in greeting, and then walked to the center of the stage.
Gilbert was already waiting there, giving Hansen a huge hug and constantly expressing his gratitude.
Silva also embraced Hansen when they shook hands.
If it weren’t for Hansen, the NBA’s current attention might have irreversibly declined, but Hansen’s presence changed many things.
Hansen took the ring from Gilbert’s hand, surprised to find that his name was spelled out in Chinese using diamonds.
It was so special and predictably expensive.
It seemed the pre-game reports were accurate, and indeed, the average cost of each was due to this one ring’s value.
Mitchell, watching the scene before him, couldn’t help but recall what Sabonis had said before.