The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 165 - 115: Away? Home Court!_2

This meant that if Grant ever got canned, he’d be the top pick for the general manager of the Cavaliers.

"I heard you came back, so I came right over."

"Aren’t you worried about causing trouble for yourself?" Grant’s attitude reflected that of the management; Griffin’s open defiance could easily lead to his dismissal.

"What’s the big deal about coming to see a friend?" Surprisingly, Griffin was quite indignant.

Hansen smiled and patted Griffin on the shoulder, finding him quite amusing.

"By the way, I happen to have some tickets." Griffin said, pulling a stack of tickets out of his pocket.

He was evidently bringing tickets along with his visit.

Had Hansen still been with the Cavaliers, he wouldn’t have needed Griffin’s help since home team players, especially the core players, were already allocated plenty of tickets.

But for the visiting team, the tickets were quite limited.

Like last season when the Cavaliers played against the Heat away, and Hansen had to pay out of his own pocket for tickets for his Barry University teammates.

Hansen took the tickets and checked them; all the seats were pretty close to the front, some even in the first row.

"Thanks." Hansen did need a front row ticket, as Swift was coming tomorrow.

Griffin got up to leave after spotting Hollins entering the locker room.

After practice ended and he returned to the locker room, Hansen distributed the extra tickets to his teammates.

Unlike him, most NBA players had friends and family attending their games.

Although it wasn’t a lot of money, who wouldn’t want free tickets?

After Hansen had finished handing out the tickets and the players had gradually left, Conningham and Jamison also came to the locker room.

The Cavaliers had finished their morning practice and had come specifically to find him.

"Boss." Conningham’s greeting made Hansen facepalm.

Jamison just smiled and embraced Hansen tightly.

The last time Hansen left Cleveland, Jamison hadn’t had the chance to see him off because he wasn’t around.

"Let’s go grab something to eat." It’s always good to catch up after a long time.

...

The next afternoon, Hansen picked up Swift from the airport.

"Are you heading back tonight?" Hansen asked after Swift got in the car.

He was getting used to Swift’s last-minute visits, and the fact that Swift could make it at all was great.

"No, I’ll leave tomorrow morning."

Swift’s words brightened Hansen’s day.

He thought back to their last time in the SUV; although spacious, it was always a bit inconvenient.

And because Swift was pressed for time, they only had a brief taste of what was to come.

"By the way, I got the jersey right this time, and I also prepared this." Swift, chuckling, pulled a red cap with the word "handsome" emblazoned on it out of the bag.

The cap was clearly custom-made.

"Maybe skip the cap, it’s not good for you." Hansen could appreciate Swift’s thoughtfulness, but it would definitely get her criticized.

Unexpectedly, Swift put on the cap right away and beamingly asked, "Does it look good?"

"...Yes, it’s the best-looking cap on the most good-looking person." Hansen knew there was no dissuading her now.

Swift laughed happily; Hansen was always so entertaining.

...

That night, Quicken Loans Arena was packed to the brim.

Ever since Hansen and James had left the team, attendance at Cavaliers games had been low throughout the season. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

The last time the arena was full was when the Heat came to visit, and the fans spent the entire evening venting with various signs.

Unfortunately, even the struggling Heat were too much for the Cavaliers to beat.

This time, though, the scene was quite amusing.

Because many were holding up signs in support of Hansen.

Some even wore custom T-shirts with "handsome" printed on them.

When Hansen and his teammates emerged from the tunnel before the game, many fans cheered and encouraged him.

It was, frankly, weird.

Hansen felt as if he was still playing for the Cavaliers.

No, even when he had played for the Cavaliers, he wasn’t this popular.

This became even more apparent when the warm-up ended and the opening ceremony commenced.

As the visiting team, the Grizzlies’ introduction was first, with Hansen being the first player announced.

Even though the DJ’s introduction of the visiting team was brief—just a simple "Number 77, Hansen."

But at that moment, the entire Quicken Loans erupted into cheers!

This scene shocked all the players of the Grizzlies.

Even though they had witnessed Hansen’s popularity in Cleveland at the airport, this was no longer just a matter of popularity.

With the cheers this intense, you could say Hansen was the boss of the Cavaliers without any problem!

Swift on the sideline also widened her eyes.

She was a frequent visitor to NBA games and had seen many big events, but this scene was unprecedented.

She even subconsciously looked down at her own jersey.

So was this an away game? Or a home court?

It hadn’t been long since she had last seen him; how had her boyfriend’s popularity become so exaggerated?

At this moment, however, Hansen seemed quite composed.

He had realized why the audience’s reaction was so strong.

Plainly put, it wasn’t just about his popularity, but he had now become a vent for the emotions of Cleveland fans.

When betrayed by James, they could only seek some verbal satisfaction, after all, the Cavaliers couldn’t win on the court.

Especially since the management of the Cavaliers had defiantly opposed the fans, they could only shift their emotions onto him.

Turning their hatred for James and dissatisfaction with the management into support for him.

Although it was unexpected, it was not a bad thing.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both teams were announced.

Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, Randolph, Little Gasol

Cavaliers: Mo Williams, Meao, Anthony Parker, Jamison, Varejao

Little Gasol tipped the ball back to the Grizzlies’ half, and the game officially began.

The Grizzlies advanced to the frontcourt, Conley passed the ball to Hansen.

As soon as Hansen got the ball, the venue erupted with cheers, as if a switch had been flipped.

Hansen, having figured out the situation, wasn’t carried away by the cheers and passed the ball to Randolph for a one-on-one.

Jamison couldn’t handle Randolph. After Randolph pivoted towards the foul line to attack the basket,

Varejao came to help on defense, and Randolph elbowed him to the ground.

The referee’s whistle immediately sounded, calling an offensive foul on Randolph.

"Zack, that guy’s good at drawing fouls," Hansen reminded Randolph as they retreated in defense, having previously played for the Cavaliers.

"I don’t need your reminder!" Randolph responded dismissively.

The big Black Bear was really like a firecracker.

On the Cavaliers’ offense, Williams and Jamison ran a pick-and-roll, Williams passed to Jamison, and Jamison’s mid-range two-pointer scored.

Defending the pick-and-roll was the weakest link in the Grizzlies’ defense.

Randolph now also had a verbal exchange with Conley, roughly about how Conley should have helped defend immediately.

His emotions clearly weren’t right tonight.

The Grizzlies pressed on to the frontcourt, continuing to feed the ball inside to Randolph who kept taking on Jamison.

Indeed, Jamison couldn’t back down against Randolph. This time, instead of pivoting towards the free-throw line, Randolph spun along the baseline to break through.

Varejao came to help defend again. Little Gasol was calling for the ball on the weak side baseline, but Randolph didn’t pass and instead tried to force his way past Varejao.

Since he’d just been called for a foul, Randolph didn’t dare put in too much strength. Under the disruption of Varejao’s long arms, his shot hit the rim and bounced out.

But he showed his fierce side by grabbing the offensive rebound from above Varejao’s head and scoring on the second attempt, also drawing a defensive foul from Varejao.

After scoring, he went right up against Varejao’s head and began a torrent of trash talk:

"You’re just a little bitch! Soft!"

"You damn well can’t defend me, asshole!"

Before this beautiful American trash talk could break Varejao’s guard, it drew the referee’s whistle.

Randolph was hit with a technical foul.

Randolph instantly erupted in anger, storming up to the referee’s face.

Little Gasol and Conley reacted quickly, rushing to hold him back.

Unexpectedly, while Randolph was restrained, he didn’t stop his mouth, and he started cursing at the referee.

The second technical foul whistle followed immediately, and Randolph was ejected from the game.

This sudden turn of events caught everyone on the court off guard.

Hansen couldn’t understand either. Randolph was known for a bad temper, for being "unhappy," but not for losing control on the court like this.

What was going on with him tonight?

Randolph walked towards the player tunnel, and before entering, he ripped off his headband and threw it violently to the ground.

The Grizzlies, a team reliant on inside offense, lost their arrowhead in the opening play. What was a presumed easy game had suddenly turned into a difficult problem.