Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 386 James doesn't want to enter the finals (Happy New Year!)
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Celtics players worked hard to narrow the gap to within 15 points, keeping the suspense of the game going.

But as the main players of both teams came on the court and Hansen's consecutive scores helped the Cavaliers stabilize the situation on the court, the expressions of the Celtics players on the court became very complicated.

The most desperate thing in this world is not seeing hope, but giving people hope in despair and then extinguishing that last hope.

When there were 2 minutes left in the game and the score difference was still around 15 points, Stevens finally replaced the main players.

The Cleveland fans at the scene have started cheering and celebrating wildly.

Four years ago, even if Hansen returned, no one thought that Cleveland, as a sports desert, could win the championship. But now they have defeated the biggest obstacle on the road to the dynasty, and they are only one finals away from that incredible dynasty!

Surprised? Damn, no one could be more surprised than them!

Some were happy and some were sad. The Celtics players who were leaving the court could not hide their frustration on their faces.

They have made a step forward from last year, but losing 2-4 and losing 3-4 don't make much difference in terms of results.

Especially Irving, he regretted it.

Last season when he was on the Bulls, although they were swept by the Cavaliers, he knew it was because of the strength gap between the teams, not to mention that idiot Howard.

But this season, he successfully teamed up with Durant as he wished, but he still couldn't beat the Cavaliers and lost the game in Cleveland.

He knew better than anyone what level of athlete James was, and no matter who James teamed up with, he would never be able to beat Hansen.

So with the Pelicans basically certain to advance to the finals, he can now be said to be watching the Cavaliers complete their dynasty.

And he could have been a part of the Cavaliers' glorious history.

After Durant sat down, he showed more numbness. He was really numb from losing.

The final whistle interrupted their thoughts.

The final score on the field was 96 to 82, and the Cavaliers eliminated the Celtics 4 to 3 and advanced to the finals!
"I don't know. Han can't be defeated. I don't know the answer to that question."

At the post-game press conference, when reporters asked him what he would do during the offseason, Durant's answer was disappointing.

This time there was no comeback, not even any complaints, only the purest and most suffocating despair.

But what he said was completely true. Over the years, he did everything he could, such as developing support, improving the level, and building a team, but the result did not change at all.

"It's my problem. My players are the best in the league. They never gave up in the face of adversity and showed perfect execution. I made a mistake in strategic deployment. If we can't break out of the Eastern Conference next year, I will resign as head coach."

Stevens took all the responsibility on himself.

Most coaches would worry about being blamed and fired after a game like this, but Stevens wasn't worried at all.

To put it bluntly, truly capable coaches do not lack job opportunities. If Stevens really resigns from the Celtics, he will be scrambled for by other teams, and the Celtics will not let him go easily.

His move temporarily calmed the Celtics' emotions.

But the potential risk here is that the contract Durant signed with the Celtics was a 3+1 contract with a player option for next summer. If Durant leaves the team and Stevens resigns, the Celtics will really have to rebuild.

"I would rather play against the Pelicans in the finals. I've said it before, LeBron will bring a dynasty to Cleveland."

Compared to the despair on the Celtics' side, the Cavaliers were all relaxed, and Hansen even mentioned James directly without any hesitation.

There was a commotion among the reporters below the stage.

Han Sen is still as picky about James as ever!

This immediately caused a huge controversy after the game.

Although Han Sen had said this a long time ago, if Han Sen could make even such a "joke" come true, he would truly be the best among gods.

Because this not only requires strong enough strength, but also requires sufficient cooperation from the opponent.

However, Han Sen's words did have the effect of "surrounding Zhan to save Du" to some extent.

Durant would have been criticized for saying such discouraging words, because it was a critical blow to the morale of his own team.

But now all the fans' attention on social media is focused on Hansen's words, and Durant's side is not attracting as much attention.

Amid this huge public opinion, the seventh game of the Western Conference Finals began the next day.

Hansen and Rondo watched the live game together.

But he didn't intend to study the game or anything like that, as video recordings would be more useful. He just wanted to watch the show.

In terms of the difficulty of the Cavaliers dynasty, playing against the Rockets is obviously much easier than playing against the Pelicans.

Paul's injury is fatal to the Rockets' competitiveness. It's not just about how many points he contributed or how many assists he got, but about his ability to control the Rockets' offensive rhythm.

Now the Rockets can only step on the accelerator to the bottom, and all Hansen has to do is to prevent Harden's engine from stalling.

So Hansen's words are actually affecting the mentality of the Pelicans, especially James.

If James didn't make it to the finals, then losing would be losing. Anyway, they have lost for 2003 years in a row from 14 to now. It's just one more loss.

But if he got in and lost in the end, Han Sen would have to bear the biggest brunt of this incident in history, and he would definitely have psychological problems.

After all, dynasties may exist again in the future, but something like a dynasty background board is unique.

So just ask James whether he really wants to enter the finals!

Before the game started, Rondo and Hansen talked about where to go after leaving the Cavaliers.

Rondo was the only person besides Griffin and Gilbert who knew that Hansen would leave the Cavaliers in the summer.

In other words, Rondo, his college teammate and roommate, is the most trusted person in his personal team.

Han Sen’s first choice would definitely be a big city.

Note that it is a big city, not a big sports city.

Because of Hansen's current influence, wherever he goes will become a big market.

What determines the upper limit of a basketball market is not whether it is originally a big basketball market, but the population of the city where it is located.

Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio.

This is the city in the United States that currently has an NBA team and a population of over one million.

No more, no less, exactly ten teams.

"I heard that Prokhorov is selling the remaining shares of the Nets, and Canadian Chinese Cai Zhongxin has the best chance of becoming the team's major shareholder."

Rondo gave Hansen a new message.

Han Sen must be familiar with Tsai, but he doesn't know the exact time when the latter became the owner of the Nets.

In this case, the Nets can be used as an alternative option.

In New York, Tsai is definitely a better boss than Dolan. Of course, whether it is the Nets or the Clippers, Hansen only regards them as an option.

He plans to follow the example of Durant and rent a villa to have an in-depth communication with the management of these alternative options before making the final decision.

This will certainly not be an easy decision, because Hansen will be 30 years old soon, and the next contract will be the last long-term contract of his career.

In other words, if nothing unexpected happens, the next stop will also be the last stop of his career, so he must make his choice carefully.

But one thing is certain.

"Wherever I go in the summer, I'm going to ask them to make you a key member of the front office."

Hansen has not encountered management problems in Cleveland during his years like he did in Memphis. This is related to the way he returned to Cleveland and also to Gilbert as a person.

This is also a kind of luck.

The management's attitude towards players is not directly proportional to the players' strength. Jordan and the Bulls management had a falling out, and the Lakers management and Kobe also had many disagreements.

In essence, players and management represent both labor and capital, which is a cooperative relationship that is uncertain.

If you want to have the right to speak, the safest way is for team members like Rondo to enter the management level.

After serving as a judge in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, Han Sen wanted to take control of the initiative even more.

Does this sound similar to what James did with the Cavaliers?
Just the same.

There is nothing new under the sun.

In other words, James did nothing wrong in this matter, and he has absolute say in the Cavaliers.

The mistake was that he was too bad.

Victory can cover up many internal problems of a team. Similarly, after success, no one will care whether you interfere with the management.

However, such conditions are quite harsh, and only a limited number of teams can accept them.

While they were chatting, the seventh game of the Western Conference Finals had already begun.

Then, Hansen and Rondo saw a James whose offensive desire was shockingly low.

Most of the time, James just stood on the weak side with his hands on his hips and fed the ball to Davis for one-on-one play.

Davis' strength lies in cutting without the ball, and it is too difficult for him to play with the ball like this.

Han Sen couldn't help laughing in the end.

He really understands James. After he said that, James really doesn't want to play in the finals!

But what is worrying is that, perhaps due to the low morale, the Rockets' outside shooting was terribly poor tonight.

And even though James had little desire to attack, the referee was on their side.

Although Nike is weak nowadays, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. It is just not as good as UA, but it is much stronger than Adidas.

So this leads to a vicious cycle.

The Rockets had a poor outside shooting, which forced them to make more breakthroughs.

Their inability to break through allowed them to win whistles, which allowed the Pelicans' defense to shrink boldly and forced the Rockets to take more shots from the outside.

Then, the shots went in less and less.

To use the most classic words of fans, the basket was almost crooked by them.

The continuous missed shots resulted in various long rebounds, and Davis' mobility made him crazy in grabbing rebounds.

The Pelicans also frequently used Davis' rebounds to launch defensive counterattacks.

The failure of James's star-studded career back then is almost identical to the problems the Rockets are facing now.

With a good touch, it is not a problem to make the most three-pointers in history.

But once the touch is not good and there is no mid-range scoring ability, then this kind of disastrous game will be faced.

However, James was not really aiming to win tonight, which resulted in the Pelicans being unable to widen the score in a short period of time even though the Rockets smashed the basket.

Han Sen couldn't stand watching the rest of the game. This was different from the high-quality offense and defense that the Cavaliers put in during their Game 7 against the Celtics. This was just a fight between rookies.

In the end, the Rockets' mentality collapsed first. They couldn't even throw the ball in an open position, as if they were cursed.

In the end, after an extremely ugly game, the Pelicans defeated the Rockets 101-92 and advanced to the finals.

The Rockets shot 44 of 7 from three-point range, and all of their final 27 attempts missed.

This result can only be described as an unexpected surprise.

Although the referee did target them, their shots were too outrageous.

Not to mention their hot shooting form, if their shooting percentage was 30%, they would have made it to the finals.

All I can say is that the magic ball is good, but just like the magic skills in those martial arts novels, it is easy to go astray and die.

Davis was the biggest contributor to the Pelicans' victory tonight. He scored an oversized double-double of 32 points and 20 rebounds in the game, and also had 2 steals and 3 blocks on the defensive end.

With James only scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the game, it is no exaggeration to say that it was Davis who carried James into the finals.

When the game ended, Davis celebrated wildly by bumping chests with his teammates on the sidelines, and his excitement was visible to the naked eye.

You have to know that he has been with the Pelicans for so many years and has never made it to the playoffs. He even lost so much that he wanted to leave the team.

But now he made it directly to the finals in his first appearance in the playoffs, and he made it there with his own hands, so how could he not be excited!

But when the two sides shook hands at the end of the game, the expression on James' face looked even uglier than when he lost the game.

The finals opponents were finally determined to be the Cavaliers and the Pelicans.

Because of what Hansen said before, fans on social media have started celebrating after the result was confirmed.

"There's no time to mourn James Harden's missed first Finals appearance. Let's celebrate LeBron James' return to the Finals!"

"The matchups in the past three finals have been different each year, but the same thing is that both teams have James and Hansen in their lineup!"

"From the Lakers to the Warriors, and then to the Pelicans, although LeBron has changed three teams in three years, he has made it to the finals every year. This is a historical achievement that cannot be surpassed!"

"LeBron has fully demonstrated his ability to choose teammates, the kind that guarantees a place in the finals, but it's a pity that the man standing opposite him is that man."

"Mr. Zhan, every encounter is a reunion after a long separation!"

……

(End of this chapter)